A DETECTOR OF FALSEHOODS.

Dunstan Times, Issue 3143, 13 November 1922, Page 7

A DETECTOR OF FALSEHOODS.

Thus writes the Kalamazoo (Michigan) correspondent of an American paper : It is well for George Washington that the cherry tree incident happened when it did and not after the invention el the retinoscope, a device perfected by Dr "Chester Brownell, a Kalamazoo optician, as a fib detector. If George Washington's father had possessed a Brownell retinoscope, the lather of our country would receive far less credit from juvenile history readers than is now accorded him. and he would have come out of the cherry tree incident with a well-defined taint on his voracity. With his thoughts on his father's retinoscope, not so far from his father's favorite leather strap, the future commander-in-chief would have exclaimed, according to Dr BrownelT: "Oh, father. I cannot tell a. lie without getting myopic or [Hypermetropic or something, as the retinoscope will reveal to your paternal eyes an error of refraction in mv vision. So I have decided to be truthful. 1 did it with my little hatchet." The machine which is able to detect lying is able to go even farther and indicate to the observer when the person under examination is contemplating an untruth, since even thinking about or trying to imagine a falsehood, it is claimed, produces an error of optical refraction plainly revealed in the retinoscope. The possibilities of the new device in the court room as well as around the hearthstone are almost unlimited, the inventor declares. In the near future perhaps 110 court room will be considered adequately equipped unless the judge dons the helmet-like retinoscope and glues his eyes on the lace and optical orbs of each witness as he or she takes the stand. The domestic uses of the retinoscope would, for instance, be of invaluable assistance to wifey when sho listens to the answer to the question: "Where have you been to be getting home at this time of night?"