Our Contemporaries
| Published date | 01 April 1935 |
| Date | 01 April 1935 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/0032258X3500800213 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
OUR
CONTEMPORARIES
IN the October, 1934, number of The Analyst, Dr. A. P. Laurie (p. 657)
describes up-to-date methods used in determining the authenticity or other-
wise of old paintings. He mentions
"ultropak"
illumination for micro-
scopic examination, with a sliding microscope for the examination of brush-
work and of cracks in the varnish and paint, and also the various applica-
tions of X-rays, ultra-violetlight, and infra red rays, the latter being apparently
of very limited use. He shows clearly that scientific examination of a
picture, without doing it any injury, may prove conclusively whether it is
genuine or not, and whether it has been retouched or painted over in part
at a date later than the original. N. A. Marris (p. 686) describes the
identification of glass splinters by refractive index, V.V. light, and specific
gravity in a case of theft in New Zealand (see also THE
POLICE
JOURNAL,
Vol. III, p. 235).
Vol. 59, No. 704, November, 1934. S. G. E. Stevens (p. 744) deals
with a subject which may be of great importance, namely the identification
of small particles of the herbs used in cooking, and writes:
"During
the
microscopical examination of a large number of samples it became obvious
that among the chief characteristics to which attention had to be directed
were the glands and the hairs, and the size of the former and the nature
of the latter gave useful proof of the identity of many types of herbs."
Julius Grant (p. 749) describes a new method, using a fluorescent substance,
with V.V. light, for the detection of forged water-marks, dealing
with
the
two classes usually found. An abstract is given on p. 780 of an article by
W. E. Golding and F. M. Potter on a method of determining
the"
Brittle
Point"
of bituminous road materials, which might be found useful in
certain road accident cases, where stains, etc., on tyres have to be examined.
Vol. 59, No. 705, December, 1934. H. C. Lockwood (p. 812) gives
micro-chemical methods for the identification of metallic particles in manu-
factured products which could be equally well applied to the identification
of such particles in dust from garments, etc.
Vol. 59, No. 706, January, 1935.
This
contains (p. 3) a series of articles
on Quantitative Spectroscopy and its analytical applications, which should
prove to be of considerable use in criminological work when there arises
the question of the composition of an alloy or a mixture of metals. Instru-
ments as well as methods are described.
The
Revue internationale de Criminalistique, vol. vi, NO.5, 1934, contains
an article by Dr. Chavigny (Strasbourg), who gives a brief summary of
methods for the identification of typescript and typewriters. Dr. E. Locard
(Lyon) describes William Stirling's micro-comparator or comparison
microscope, with variable distance between the objectives for dealing with
objects at different distances apart. Henri Stahl (Roumania) gives details
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