CRIME DETECTION

Evening Post, Volume CXXXIV, Issue 17, 20 July 1942, Page 4

CRIME DETECTION

WHERE SCIENCE HELPS

LABORATORY WORK

Writers of "thrillers" and detective stories may find material for their purpose in the Dominion Laboratory report for 1940. This sedate official publication, issued under the authority of th- Minister in charge of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (Mr. Sullivan), affords some illustrations of human perfidy, stupidity, and cupidity. Incidentally, too, it demonstrates the alertness of the police and the help they receive from the scientist. So-called "exhibits" in criminal cases engage much of the attention of the Laboratory staff and well over 400 examinations were made of exhibits such as paint scrapings, glass fragments, hair, drugs, sawdust, metals, and beverages. For instance, on the chassis of a motorcar were found five pieces of human hair, one dog's hair, one horse's hair, and several fibres resembling hair, but none of these had any connection with a collision in which the car was involved. It is also shown how the microscope revealed minute fragments of glass on a tyre lever, used in breaking a window, and led to its user- pleading guilty. Yet another ingredient in a detective story: a safe had been blown open by explosives and specimens of sawdust were found' on the clothing of the accused. They were closely examined and found to be identical with the. sawdust in the safe, but "quite different from local sawdust." Many exhibits were examined in connection with cases of suspected poisoning, and great value was attached to information obtained in establishing whether or hot persons were under the influence of alcohol at time of death or during accidents. Numerous examinations were made, too, in the causes of unexplained fires. In one case it was shown that some charred sacking had been soaked in methylated spirit. Milk received particular attention from the laboratory, nearly 12,000 samples being analysed. Auckland milk supply was found to be "fairly satisfactory until near the end of the [year when much trouble was experienced through the sale of stale milk." "Wellington, City," stated the report, ("is to be congratulated on the high i standard of its milk supply." Christchurch is described as fortunate "in having a good milk supply from farms near the city." Dunedin City and suburbs furnished a smaller number of samples than in the previous year and the fall in numbers was "accompanied by a rise in the proportion which failed to comply with the regulations." THE SUSPECTED SAUSAGE. Sausages received the usual particular attention, a large number being examined for excessive preservative— sulphur dioxide —and excess" was found "in many instances," up to six times more than the law permits. It is pointed out by the Dominion Analyst, Mr. R. L. Andrew, F.1.C., who is responsible for the report, that, "apart from the possible harmful action of the preservative itself, the addition of excessive amounts of this preservative encourages the use of stale meat in sausages." He recommends the greater use of refrigerators instead of chemij cal preservatives. Artificial dyeing of brawn and lunch sausages was also detected by attention drawn to the Act forbidding the practice. Other instances of misinformation were: —Barley sugar labelled "100 per cent, glucose" found to contain 18 per cent, of that substance; "almond paste" compounded of peanuts, flavoured with oil of bitter almonds; "wheat-germ bread" containing semolina and bran, and "the germs in these samples much [ below the 10 per cent, recommended by the Wheat Research Institute";" and cornflour, generally accepted as maize starch, mixed with finely-ground rice. So-called "iodised cocoa" was found to contain so small a quantity of iodine that "it would have little, if any, effect on the treatment of goitre." This article was withdrawn from sale. lodised salt packed in bags was found to keep better than that "sold in the more expensive tins or cartons" at 8d and 6d respectively, as against 3d in bags, "Rheumatism cures" sold to householders at £2 to £7 were examined at the instance of the police. The cost of their materials was but a few pence. Samples of a beverage offered as "real beer and lemonade" and sold on unlicensed premises slightly exceeded the 3 per cent, proof spirit maximum for non-dutiable drinks. The report, as a whole, makes instructive reading for students of'human nature.