New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1911-09-24
SCIENCE AS A DETECTIVE
Pursuing Crime Through Labora-
tory Test Tubes.


the direction OF traffic, the queling of strike
riots-tbese activities. AYERS Ainsworth Nit
cheu. a British authority on the investisa-
ton OF crime, will never again evolve tne
| skilled detective Time was when a police
man became a detective through NE eAp'''
ence in the station house
| To-day the investigator OF crime ana l'S
/ methods must enter the detective service
/ nv another door-that Of applied sclence'
That is to say. the criminal in our age ne
comes more and more Of scientist. me
swindler and the murderer are PROVING
/ themselves psychologists Of power, chemists
of great knowledge, electricians OF genius
The great detective, must meet the great
/ criminal upon a plane OF intellectual equdi-
ity. He fails to do that nowadays ana
/ this circumstance accounts for the relative
! Iv large amount Of undetected and myS-
| ferrous crime.
Let us consider for instance, the crime oil
murder. The general public has little ldea
of the number Of murders that pass unde-
tected owing to the chemical experiences
revealed in dsposing Of the body OF the
victim This is the scientific problem IN
yolvcd in all murder. The bungling murder
or does not know how to dispose OF the
body Of his victim. whereas the scientific
i criminal can do so.
with what increasing advantage and sue
cess the weapons forged by scientific re-
! search can be utilized in the war or society
mon the criminal has been shown in varl-
Gus recent trials. OF all modern agencies
electricity. saws Mr. Mitchell. Is one OF the
most effective. II not for detecting. at least
for capturing the criminal The man In
the street is not quick at grasping the pos
sfhilities Of a novel invention. AT first II Is
popularly regarded as = new toy matter
Of amazemeut and Of amusement but oil nc
moment I'm the practical affairs OF men %
II was I'm our own day with the telephone
tho phonograph. the bioeraph, the miracle
of the N-ray. of raLium and OF wireless
telaaraphv. \ great invention must prove
itself and 50 liy Still We find 1t hard 10
believe that the utility Of the telegraph was
once I'm such grave doubt that even "he"
il transmitted messages with speed over
hundreds Of miles the public could NOT take
If seriously Not until the telegraph MAD
shown its utility in the capture OF crit'I'
nails did II acquire any reputation with pup
lie men as useful invention instead OF
,rianc toy Prior to that time the inVen-
tion had been little better than "A failure
from commercial point of view
The telegraph has learned lot about de-
tective work since that time. II has even
dabblcd in photography and Is now aole
not merely TO describe but to depict a lug''
tive criminal The last word $50 tar' az
any rate) on this subject appears to ne
the telectograph invented by Thorne BAKER
| which. saws MI Mitchell. may also he
used with wireless installations tor the
transmission OF simple pictures or diagrams
/ and by means of which it would be easy
| for q ship at sea to send or to receive por-
traits" Indeed. a picture of the late KING
Edward was actually transmitted in TINS
manner.
I'm every department of crime nowadays
science seems to have lent a hand TO make
easy the work Of the criminal ThlS CIR
cumstance greatly dscourages the layman
who does not realize that We're the detec-
tive also an applied scientist the forger, the
thief and the murderer would be quickly
appreheuded The criminals own finger
, pripts. as every one knows, are an intal-
. Uhle means Of Identification, but the re-
tort and the microscope OF the analyst are
equally fatal to the adopts I'm the higher
and more scientific departments Of crime,
In the old days the murderer caught red
handed could safely deny the bloodstain
was human The microscope was unable 10
contradict him BY method recently dis
covered the analyst examining the minut-
est stain of blood. dry and scarcely dis
,cernible 10 the naked eye, on the garment
/ Of a suspect can tell to certainty the spe-
cies Of animal i'm the veins of which II
So. but aNP
ton 10 the rule The blood of the anthro-
poid ape gives the same reaction as hu-
man blood. "One might fancy the spirit
Of Darwin rejoicing in this singular con-
| Grmation Of his theories" Mr. Mitchell
says
! Tho cautious murderer who resorts to the
/ subtle agency OF poison has even more rea-
son to dread the analyst, with his test tube
and his microscope, than has his brother
I'm crime who adopts the cruder method of
bone breaking and blood letting. On this
head it Is noteworthy that deal OF non
| sense. from a scientific standpoint, has been
written by historians about Cesar Borgia
and his sister. Their poisons were 50 subtle
and so deadly that the loss of their secret
is described as a blessing TO mankind. The
/ modern poisoner has fluid, powder and per-
! fume far more subtle and far deadher al
/ his disposal, yet among them are none that
| could elude the scrutiny Of modern science.
Under the pitiless eye Of the microscope
/ the most skilful and delicate handiwOrk OF
! the forger is of no avail Does he trace
the forgery over pencil the microscope
shows the pencil marks along the edges
Current Literature.