Democratic Sentinel, Volume 16, Number 26, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 15 July 1892 — The Scales Turned by a Hair. [ARTICLE]

The Scales Turned by a Hair.

The case was one of assault, and two men Were suspected of the deed. A single hair was found on the clothing of the victim, and this hair was duly pictured in the form of a photomieograph. (It may be as well, perhaps to point out here that by this term is meant the enlarged image of a microscopic object’, the term microphotograph being applied to those tiny specs of pictures which can only be seen when magnified in a microscope.) A., one of the suspected men, had a gray beard, and a hair from his chin was photographed and compared with the first picture taken. The difference in structuse, tint, and general appearance was so marked that the man was at once liberated. The hair of the other man, 8., was examined, and bore little resemblance to that found on the victim. The latter was now more carefully scrutinized and compared wijbh the other specimens. The photograph clearly showed, for one thing, that the hair was pointed; it had never been cut. Gradually the conclusion was arrived at that it belonged to a dog, “an old, yellow, smooth-haired, and comparatively short-haired dog.” Further inquiry revealed the fact that B. owned such a dog, a fresh hair from which agreed in every detail with the original photograph, and the man was convicted. He subsequently confessed that he alone committed the crime.— —Chambers’ Journal.