SCIENCE COMBATS CRIME.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIX, Issue 18025, 25 February 1922, Page 2 (Supplement)

SCIENCE COMBATS CRIME.

NUMEROUS METHODS USED. ..CLUES FOUND IN LABORATORY. A year or two ago a criminal in Berlia swallowed thirty-two keys and a lover to hide the evidence of his trade. He was X-rayed quite recently, and the alien objects wero discovered. But science has, not always such crude material to deal vsith in tracking down the evil-doer. In fact, the latest devices of photo-mico-graphy, of radium, and of tho spectroscope spin a web so subtle that it is uncanny. What small knowledge of science may aid the criminal is nothing compared with the forces marshalled on tho side of tho law. Take, for example, the ordinary finger print test. Nine peopk) out of ten imagine that a burglar has only to wear rubber gloves—as they do in tho films—to be safe. Yet it is a long time ago since Stockis, the well-known criminologist, proved by experiment that the wearing' of leather or india-rubber gloves need not prevent the formation of finger prints. Dr. Locard put the theory into practice and identified a gloved burglar without any otfier proof than his finger prints, the mark of which, although not so clear as that oi : the naked hand, contained the essential features. This branch of criminal investigation is rarely perfect. Suppose a murder has been committed. On the excellent Paris system the police are called in, and instead of removing all traces that might "lead to a conviction, they photograph the room and the body and auy finger prints discernible. Every smooth surface is examined, and if the object cannot be removed to the laboratory the print is powdered over with white lead if on a black surface, or red lead if on a light surface, and the excess of powder is dusted off lightly with a brush. As no two human finger prints are alike the photogfaph is incriminating, and may be taken as evidence, although it has been urged finger prints, like bank notes, may bo forged.

Delicate Finger-Print Dlues. Everyone has heard of the French sysIcm invented by M. Bertillon, t and, of course, Scotland Yard keeps a record of known criminals. The work of identification iis an art in itself. There is first the recognition of characteristic points, and anything from twenty to forty of these are numbered. The shape, position, and number of some hundreds of pores found to be identical in a number of photographs should impress the most sceptical jury if the print ha s been enlarged anything up to forty-five times. A case of burglary in Lyons (France) may be quoted as an example. Not a single 1 witness was brought forward against

Boudet and Siminon, the accused. But a

rosewood cabinet from which'the jewels • had been stolen was covered with fingerprints, conveniently left by the thieves. It only remained for the police to look up the archives in the criminal laboratory to find the silent accusation. Thirteen prints from Boudot'g hand presented 78 characteristic points; and two prints made by Simmon's hand showed 94 points of comparison. In the case of the middle finger of Boudet's left hand 901 pons were identified', while in Siminon's palm more than 2000 homologous pores wero pointed out to the jury. On this'evident only the men. were sentenced to five years* hard labour.

In an American city a robbery of h clothing store led a police department to

make extensive use of etching fingerprints on glass. The only dues left by the burglars on the window were too faint to be photographed. Hydrofluorio acid wag applied, and except where the oil from the criminals' fingers offered protection, the acid bit into the glass, and the various markings of the finger-tips showed up clearly against the sunken area. This story is remarkable, but has some unsatisfactory features when we consider the delicate work of dactyloscopic and poroscopic analysis. But the police claimed that juries were more impressed by the original markings'than by enlarged photographs. Use ot the Dictograph.

A notorious " firebug" was caught in INew Jersey by means of that other deadly instrument for detecting crime, the dictograph. Henry J. Sloan, of a large film,

entered into negotiations with Lighter, a

■well-known criming!, for the burning of an important plant, in order to gain the

insurance money. But a dictograph registered the vhole of the conversation without the knowledge of Lighter. There are numerous crises of big coups being prevented by detectives forewarned by this marvellous little instrument, which is easily concealed. . Behind the closed doors of the police laboratory in every large city of the civilised world t'iie most fascinating work proceeds daily. k A strand of wool under a microscope may decide for some wretched man, between freedom and the scaffold. The scientist can tell whether a razor has been wiped with a handkerchief or a piece of paper; he can identify the bloodstains which the prisoner thought had been removed, and by means of X-rays the cleverest forgery can be detected. Instantly one thinks of the French War Bond theft, the forger using chemicals to alter tho date of payment, which was written in ink. Photographed in ultra, violet light, the erased date, invisible in ordinary light, can be seen plainly. Recently a man was convicted for being in possession' of counterfeiting apparatus, but only a genius in crime or an utter fool would attempt forgery (except of signatures) in these days. It k like trying to burgle the Bank of England, and gradually science will make all crime on a big scale equally difficult, or else make defection a practical certainty. False Teeth Clue.

Some problems, such as identifying iuman remains winch have been dismembered or burnt, are slill difficult of solution. The Landrui case is, an illustration of this, but it also points to the fact that even the ablest criminals make stupid mistakes. The sensational Boston murder, many ycar g ago now, in which a Professor of Harvard University killed his creditor and burnt the corpse in a furnace belonging to the medical college,_ presented the 6ame d : ffleulty, although ' the scientific means of detection have been improved upon in the meanwhile. The accused, Dr. Webster, was an authority on anatomy and did his sinister work* well; but ho overlooked one thing—a set of false teeth helonging 'o the lower jaw of the victim. The omission cost him his life. If a would-be murderer cares to become an expert on poisons there are still one or two means by which he can avoid even being suspected. But obviously the secrets of toxicology must not become general knowledge. Where physical science fails mental mental science begins. The authorities in England are more cautious in experimentation than those on the Continent jnd in die United States. But in the future hypnotism is likely to Drove valu«£Oe in detecting crime. A cruel expertment was tned some time ago on a virtuous v,ctim to whom certain suggestions were made. She resisted them, fi ******* enme before the accused is claiming the a S ■J (l ,°/Ki ,hychol ? gi6 . tß ' «er R witb tL\ ' i Flections of the Third Degree. But for an innocent man to en dure such mental torture is. about as use M as the> ordcalg of five and scalding wat« in the Dark Ages. »*«""g