Review: A Study of Hairs and Wools
| Published date | 01 October 1931 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X3100400422 |
| Date | 01 October 1931 |
| Subject Matter | Review |
REVIEWS
635
POLICE LAW
:
AN
ARRANGEMENT
OF
LAW
AND
REGULATIONS
FOR
THE
USE OF
POLICE
OFFICERS. By CECIL C. H. MORIARTY, O.B.E., B.A.,
LL.B. 1931. (Second Edition.)
5s.
(Butterworth
&
Co., London.)
THE
want of this comprehensive handbook, dealing with all the laws and
regulations which it is necessary for a police officer in England to know in
order to discharge
his
duties efficiently, has necessitated a second edition.
The first edition was reviewed in the April number of the
Police
Journal
for 1929.
The author has taken the opportunity of adding new items, and
has
re-
written Chapters 24
and
25,
Part
v,
dealing with traffic law rendered neces-
sary through the alteration in the law, made by the Road Traffic Act, 1930,
and has added an Appendix.
A
STUDY
OF
HAIRS AND WOOLS belonging to the Mammalian group
of Animals, including a Special Study of Human Hair considered from
the Medico-Legal Aspect. By JOHN GLAISTER,
JUNR.,
D.Sc., M.D.,
J.P., Barrister-at-Law
;
Prof. Forensic Medicine, Cairo.
E2.
(University
Press, Cairo.)
STRAWS
shew which way the wind blows and mere hairs may put Society on
the track of a criminal. In the monumental work before us Prof. Glaister
exhibits the likenesses of, and differences between, hairs derived from
'
Man
'
and from several scores of other Mammalia in some thousand or more illus-
trations taken directly from his microphotographic camera
'
unenlarged and
unaided.'
This
research has necessitated the employment of a special
technique which the author describes in detail.
He has naturally devoted something like a quarter of the whole book to the
study of human hairs, taking into consideration age, sex, bodily situation,
effects of dyes, modes of removal, and the influence of the prevalent fashions
of hair dressing in both sexes. Prof. Glaister has endeavoured to produce
a standard photographic
'
catalogue
'
as
an
aid
to those concerned in similar
investigations
;
but warns us, that it is
no
substitute for exhaustive and patient
macrosco ic and microscopic comparative examination-for which purpose
conclusions from any single hair, as the occurrence of a grey one among the
normal hairs of a brunette is not uncommon.
On comparing the photographs of hairs from different sources some of the
differences relied upon for identification must seem to the inexpert mere
differences of degree which might little impress a jury
:
nevertheless (we may
remember that) the shepherd knows
his
sheep individually
;
while cotton
graders are said to
'
distinguish between some thirty-two shades of creamy
white the whole of which would be grey to the bleacher.'
The likeness between human hairs and those of the great apes is em-
phasized, but here one misses a comparative study of the hairs of the various
races of man.
Errata are numerous (those on p. 14,l.
2
:
p. 20,l.
21
:
p. 40,l.
6
are not
noted) but can hardly be said to detract from the great value of this very
painstaking and well arranged contribution to our knowledge.
A
copious
bibliography completes the text.
a stock
o
P
human and animal hairs should be at hand-and against drawing
Vide
The
PoliceJournal,
Jan.
1931,
p.
53.
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