The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1872-07-23
A New Detective.


the uses Of the microscope, in the man
agement of which he was an adept.
"Now," he said, IL will tell you a
story of what happened to myself; one
which l think we'll illustrates the i'm
portance of this instrument to society,
though l was put in very unpleasant
position, owing to my acquaintance
with it. l have, as you know, given a
great deal of attention to comparative
anatomy, especially to the structure of
the hair as it appears under the mi
croscope. To the unassisted eye, in
deed, all hairs appear very much alike,
except as it is long or short, dark or
fair, straight or curly, coarse or fine.
Under the microscope, however, the
case is very different; the white mans
is round, the negro's oval, the mouse's
apparently jointed, the bats jagged,
and so on. Indeed, every animal has
hair of peculiar character; and, what
is more, this character varies according
to the part from which it is taken-an
important circumstance, as will appear
from my story, which is this:
l once received letter by post, con-
tanning few hairs, with request that
1 would examine them, and adding
that they would be called for in a few
days. Accordingly, l submitted the
hairs to the microscope, when dis
covered that they were from the human
eyebrow, and had been bruised. |
made note to that effect, and folded
it within an envelope, ready for the
person who sent them. In few days
stranger called and enquired wheth-
er / had made the investigation. "Oh
yes" l said; "here they are, and you
will find them and their description in
this envelope" handing it to him at
the same time.
He expressed himself as being much
obliged, and offered me fee, which,
however, l declined, telling him that
/ could not think of taking anything
for so small a matter. 1t turned out,
however, Of more consequence than l
had imagined, for within a week | was
served with a subpoena to attend as q
witness to a trial for murder. This
was very disagreeable, as | have said
but there was no help for it now. The
, case was thus A man had been killed
by blow from some blunt instrument
on the eyebrow, and the hairs sent tc
me for examination had been takeI
from a hammer in the possession of the
suspected murderer. | was put in The
witness-box, and my testimony tha
"the hairs were from the human eye
brow and had been bruised" was jus
the link in the chain of evidence whicl
!. suficed to convict the prisoner. Th,
! Jury, however, were not easily satisfied
that my statement was worth anything
and it required the solemn assuranc,
of the Judge that such a conclusion wa
within the reach of science to convinc
. them that they might act upon it.
: One juryman in particulaR-an OLE
p. farmer-was very hard to satisfy.
- "Does thee mean to say" said he
: chat thee can tell the hair of any an
> imal ?"
answered that I would not tax
upon myself to assert positively that
. could do so, although | believed
could.
WELL" said he, "Pll prove thee"
e The prisoner, as said, was convict
u ed, and l went home. In busy lif
u of extensive practice l forgot all abou
e my obstinate old farmer. About tw
u years afterward, however, a person, a
IL utter stranger to me, called upon m
e with few hairs screwed up in piec
u of paper, which he asked me to exam
&c inc and report upon.
Q sis this another murder caseW il
T. quired: "for if SO, l will have nothin
Ie to do with it. 1 have had enough {
W that sort of work"
% "No-no," said he, "it is nothing {
~ the kind. 1t is only matter Of cur
=, osity which | should be very muc
IL obliged to you if you would solve an
1e if you will do it 1 will call or send fi
'e the result of your examination in a fe
IS days time" Having received this a
y surance, / undertook the investigation
y When he was gone and l had leisur
put the hairs under a microscop
s and soon discovered that they we
~ taken from the back of a Norway ra
d. Two or three DAYS afterward, as l WI
to sitting in my room, an old tarme
I'd looking man was ushered in.
or "Well," said he, "has thee looked
Nv them hairs ?"
ed "Yes," l answered, "and find tn
ek they are taken from the back of
IN Norway rat"
ed "Well, he exclaimed, $50 they al
ry Thou hast forgotten me, but | ha'
nd not forgotten thee. Dost thou recC
.e- lect the trial of murder at l.. assize
g; l said l would prove thee. and so
on have, for them hairs came from &
ed back of rats skin my son sent fro
if Norway"
n So the old gentleman was quite sa
,er isfed with the proof to which he hi
N put me, and l, as you may sup?o'
as was we'll pleased that my skill and S