The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-07-12
SCIENCE AS DETECTIVE
HOW AN EXPERT SETS TO WORK To
DETECT CRIMINALS.
Blood and Hair the Chief Reliance
Use of the SpectrOscOpe-A Sher-
lock Holmes in Real Life.


ern times will be that of Adolph l.. Luet-
CERT soon sbe tried in this city for the
murder of his wife. The fact that the guilt
or innocence of the accused will have to
be determined from the testimony of ex-
perts alone renders the case virtually
unique in American annals of crime, and
will establish a valuable precedent as to
the value to be attached to scientific ex
pert testimony when practically without
confederation. In this science has, how
ever, often lent it's aid in the solution of
murder mysteries.
The most common objects submitted to
the analytical chemist for examination are
stains suspected to be those Of human
blood. The first thing that the expert seeks
to determine is whether the stains are
really those of blood. They might have
been produced by fruit, dyes or paint. This
question is easily answered A strip Of the
stained portion is cut off and suspended by
a thread in q test tube containing little
distilled water. Gradually streaks of col
oring matter will be seen descending to the
bottom Of the tube, forming a layer Of deep
red if the stain be recent, or of a reddish
brown if the stain be an old one. Several
strips are treated in a similar manner until
a sufficiently dark solution is obtained. To
this solution little dilute ammonia is
added, which should not alter the color to
either green or crimson, though it may
brighten it little.
The solution is now boiled, when the color
will be destroyed if blood be present, and
there will be a dirty green precipitate Any
stain which is unaffected by diluted am
monia but has it's color destroyed by boiling
with the formation of a precipitate is due
| to blood Very small quantities of blood
detected Dntt1nV drOD
| solution on white plate and adding to it
| a drop of alcoholic tincture of guaiacum
| and a drop Of an ethereal solution of hy-
| drogen. If even a trace of the coloring
| matter of the blood be present a blue color
| VIII almost lmmedlately appear; one crop
| Of blood in five thousand of the solution
| can be detected in this manner, and stains
| of ten years standing have been deter
Since 1862 the spectroscope has been
brought into play in the detection of blood
stains In that year Hoppe-Seyler discoV-
red that when light is passed through a
solution of blood and received upon prism
the spectrum produced presents character
istic black bands, the corresponding por-
tions Of the light having been absorbed by
the coloring matter of the blood. In 1864
Professor Stokes found that two distinct
spectra could be obtained from blood. de-
pending upon the state of oxidation of the
coloring matter. The one correspondent to
arterial and the other to venous or deoxi-
died blood. Under the microscope charac-
teristc crystals of haemoglobn and its
compounds are readily recognized
A DIFFICULT. PROBLEM.
Although the recognition of blood stains
presents no difficulty to the chemist when
he is called on to identify the stains as
having been produced by human blood the
problem becomes extremely difficult. The
only method known to science is micro
| measurements of the diameter of the red
blood corpuscles. Unfortunately for exact
science the corpuscles of human blood may
be COMPOUNDED with those of the opossum
the guinea pig. the dog and other animals
According to Professor Warmley a we'll
known expert, the average diameter of the
blood corpuscles in man is the 1880 of an
inch. in a monkey 1882, in an opossum
1-3l45, in guinea pig 1925 and in a dog
1861 of an inch. The range in size of the
blood corpuscles In man is from 1-2S9S Of an
inch to 1889.
scopist to mistake the blood of mammal
within this range other than man for that
of a human being. In referring to this
matter of discrimination Professor Warm
ley remarks: THE difference found to eX-
list in the average size Of the corpuscles of
mammalian blood enables the microscopic
to discriminate readily the blood of certain
animals including man, from that of other
animals of this class: In a case some years
ago it was claimed that certain blood stains
were from the blood of a rabbit. Now, If
on examination the corpusces We're found
to measure 1880 of an inch it would be
| quite certain that the blood was not that
| OF a rabbit, which measures 1868 of an
inch bat it would not prove the blood hu-
man as the result would be. equally con-
sistent with the blood of a number Of ami
mails. The Corpuscles are virtually the
same size in the guinea pig, muskrat, seal,
beaver, Opossum and capybara, while those
of other animals are but slightly larger
and might be reduced in size to those OF
man.
mine with great certainty that a blood Is
not of a certain animal and is consistent
with the blood of man; but in no instance
does it, in itself enable US to say that the
blood is really human or Indicate from
what particular species of animal it was
derived"
The blood corpuscles in birds are so much
smaller than those in mammals that they
are easily distinguished. In a murder case
tried In the State of Ohio some few years
ago it was claimed that some spots on the
hat of the accused were from the blood of
a turkey. This was testified to by two
friends Of the accused The corpuscles how
ever, were proved to be those of a mammal
by their size, those of a turkey being only
1885, of an inch, while they were of a di-
ameter within the range Of human blood
corpuscles. In another case where the stains
on man S clothes were alleged to be those
of sheep he had been killing. the microscope
showed corpuscles OF sleeps blood inter
mixed with those wholly inconsistent with
the blood of that animal, but quite consist
ent with human blood.
DIR. JESERICH'S WORK.
DIR. Jeserich, the eminent chemist, of
Berlin. mas made study Ut the application
l
past fifteen years, and has been wonder
fully successful in the domain of photo
micrography. He is the scientific detective
of Germany to whom the police refer every
doubtful problem, and the story of some
of the cases unraveled reads like pages
from the memoirs of Sherlock Holmes. The
doctor relates case where a man, accused
of murder and upon whose ak marks of
blood had been found, explained them away
by declaring that he had killed goat eight
days before his arrest. Corpuscles CORE
found upon the ak, and were Photographic
cally compared with those of genuine goats
blood. The photographs showed distinctly
the difference between the corpuscles and
one photograph-much enlarged-shown at
the trial proved that the ak had been wiped
the streaks caused by the wiping being dis
tinctly visible.
The Identification of human hair is a
problem with which the chemical expert is
often confronted in medico-legal inVestga-
tons. Thanks to the advanced stage of
micro-photography ii has been Shorn of
vast deal of its difficulties. DR. Jeserich
had to deal with a number of cases where
the identification played an important part.
About twelve years ago a murder of
most atrocious character was committed
in Westphala, and a small white ha ir
found upon the body of the victim a young
girl. was submitted TO DR.. JcSerich for Sx-
animation. The police supposed that the
hair belonged to the suspected murderer,
an elderly man with gray hair and beard.
submitted for comparison The photo
micrographs made showed a great resem-
blance between the two hairs. Both had
the same pith in the center, the same air