Chapter III

MEDICO-LEGAL ASPECTS OF IDENTIFICATION

- Identification is the determination of t h e individuality of a person or thing.

Importance of Identification of Person:

1. In the prosecution of the criminal offense, the identity of the offender and that of the victim
must be established, otherwise it will be a ground for the dismissal of the charge or acquital of
the accused.
2. The identification of a person missing or presumed dead will facilitate settlement of the estate,
retirement, insurance and other social benefits. It vests on the heirs the right over the properties
of the identified person.
If identity cannot be established, then the law on presumption of death (Art. 390, Civil Code)
must be applied which requires the lapse of seven years before a person can be presumed dead.
In special instances, the seven years period may be reduced to four years (Art. 391, Civil Code).
3. Identification resolves the anxiety of the next-of-kin, other relatives and friends as to the
whereabouts of a missing person or victim of calamity or criminal act.
4. Identification may be needed in some transactions, like cashing of check, entering a premise,
delivery of parcels or registered mail in post office, sale of property, release of dead bodies to
relatives, parties to a contract, etc.

Rules in Personal Identification:

1. The greater the number of points of similarities and dissimilarities of two persons compared,
the greater is the probability for the conclusion to be correct. This is known as the TJIW of
Multiplicity of Evidence in Identification.

2. The value of the different points of identification varies in the formulation of conclusion. In a
fresh cadaver, if the fingerprints on file are the same as those recovered from the crime scene,
they will positively establish the identity of the person while bodily marks, like moles, scars,
complexion, shape of nose, etc. are merely corroborative. Visual recognition by relative or
friends may be of lesser value as compared with fingerprints or dental comparison.

3. The longer the interval between the death and the examination of the remains for purposes of
identification, the greater is the need for experts in establishing identity. The process of taking
fingerprints and its examination under a magnifying lens requires the services of an expert.
When putrefaction has set in, the external bodily marks useful in identification might be
destroyed so that it is necessary to resort to an anatomical or a structural examination of the body
which requires knowledge of medicine' and dentistry.

4. Inasmuch as the object to be identified is highly perishable, it is necessary for the team to act
in the shortest possible time specially in cases of mass disaster.
5. There is no rigid rule to be observed in the procedure of identification of persons.
Methods of Identification:

1. By comparison — Identification criteria recovered during investigation are compared with

records available in the file, or post-mortem finding are compared with ante-mortem records.
Examples:
a. Latent fingerprints recovered from the crime scene are compared with the fingerprints on file
of an investigating agency.
b. Dental findings on the skeletal remains are compared with the dental record of the person in
possession of the dentist.
2. By exclusion — If two or more persons have to be identified andall but one is not yet
identified, then the one whose identity has not been established may be known by the process of
elimination.

IDENTIFICATION OF PERSONS

The bases of human identification may be classified as:

1. Those which laymen used to prove identity — No special training or skill is required of the
identifier and nc instrument or procedure is demanded.

2 Those which are based on scientific knowledge — Identification is made by trained men, well-
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seasoned by experience and observation, and primarily based on comparison or exclusion.

ORDINARY METHODS OF IDENTIFICATION

Points of Identification Applicable to the Living Person Only:

1. Characteristics which may easily be changed:
a. Growth of hair, beard or mustache — this may easily be shaved or grown within a
short time. Arrangement may be changed. Artificial hair may be worn or
ornamentation may be placed to changed its natural condition.
b. Clothing — A person may have special preference for certain form, texture, or style.
Certain groups of people are required to have specific cut, color or design, as in uniforms,
worn by students, employees of commercial or industrial establishment, or groups of
professionals.
c. requent place of visit — A person may have a special desire or habit to be in a place if
ever he has the opportunity to do so.
"Sari-sari" stores, barber shops, coffee shops, beer gardens andr ecreation halls are
common venues of visit of certain class of people. A wanted criminal may suddenly
prevent himself from going to the place he used to visit for fear that he may be
apprehended.
Grade of profession — A medical student of the upper clinical year may be recognized
by the stethoscope; a graduate or student nurse by her cap, a mechanic by his tools, a
clergyman by his robe, etc. A change of grade, trade, vocation or profession may be
resorted to as a means of concealing identity.
(Body ornamentations — Earrings, necklaces, rings, pins, etc. usually worn by persons
may be points to identify a person from the rest.
2. Characteristics that may not easily be changed:
 a. Mental memory — A recollection of time, place and events may be a clue in
identification. Remembering names, faces and subjects of common interest may be
initiated during interview to see how knowledgeable a person is.
b. Speech — A person may stammer, stutter or lisp. However, if the manner of talking is
due to some physical defects, like harelip and cleft palate, that have been corrected by
surgery, there may be a change in his manner of speech.
The manner of talking and the quality of the voice are dependent on the vocal cavities
(throat, mouth, nose and in uses) and his manner of manipulating the lips, teeth, tongue,
soft palate, and jaw muscles. The chances of two or more persons having the same size of
vocal cavities and the same manner of articulation are remote and unlikely. Whispering,
muffling and nose-holding do not change the speech characteristic.
The speech may be recorded and preserved in a good tape recorder. A known
standard may also be recorded for purposes of comparison. Identification can be achieved
through the sound spectrographs analysis.
c. Gait — A person, on account of disease or some inborn traits, may show a
characteristic manner of walking.
(1) Ataxic gait — A gait in which the foot is raised high, thrown forward and brought
down suddenly is seen in persons suffering from tabes dorsalis.
(2) Cerebellar gait — A gait associated with staggering movement is seen in cerebellar
diseases.
(3) Cow's gait — A swaying movement due to knock-knee.
(4) Paretic gait — Gait in which the steps are short, the feet are dragged and the legs are
held more or less widely apart.
(5) Spastic gait — A gait in which the legs are held together and move in a stiff manner
and the toes dragged.
(6) Festinating gait — Involuntary movement in short accelerating steps.
(7) Frog gait — A hopping gait resulting from infantile paralysis.
(8) Waddling gait — Exaggerated alternation of lateral trunk movement similar to the
movement of the duck.

In the normal process of walking the rear portion of the heel is placed on the ground. This
is subsequently followed by the other parts of the heel and the sole of the foot is pressed on the
ground. The toes are the last to be pressed followed by the lifting of the foot making another step
forward. The pressure at the rear portion of the heel and in the region of the toes is the most
forceful, hence the impression is the most.
During the process of running the foot marks are less distinct because of the slipping of
the foot and the sand or soil thrown into the marks by the pressure of the tip of the toes.

Gait Patterns:
A scientific investigation of the gait pattern may be useful for purposes of identification
and investigation of the crime scene. Gait pattern is the series of foot marks by a person walking
or running. Examination of the gait includes the direction line, gait line, foot angle, principal
angle and the length and breadth of the steps.

(A) Direction line — Expresses the path of the individual.

 (B) Gait line — The straight line connecting the center of the succeeding steps. It is more
or less in zigzag fashion especially when the legs are far apart while walking. Stout,
elderly people and those who want stability while walking have a more zigzag gait line.
(C) Foot line — The longitudinal line drawn on each foot mark.
There may be a difference in the foot line of the left and right foot.
(D)Foot angle — The angle formed by the foot line and the direction line. In normal
walking the foot angle is very characteristic of a person and cannot be altered
immediately.
However, it may be altered when a person is running, carrying a heavy weight or moving
on a rugged terrain.
(E) Principal angle — The angle between the two succeeding foot angles.
(F) Length of step — When the distance between the center points in two successive heel
prints of the two feet exceeds 40 inches, there is a strong presumption that the person is
running.
(G) Breadth of step — The distance between the outer contours of two succeeding foot
marks or steps. The more apart the legs are while walking, the greater is the breadth of
the step. (Crime Detection by Ame Svensson & Otto Wendel, p. 58)

Mannerism — Stereotype movement or habit peculiar to an individual.

It may be:
(1) Way of sitting.
(2) Movement of the hand.
(3) Movement of the body.
(4) Movement of the facial muscles.
(5) Expression of the mouth while articulating.
(6) Manner of leaning.

e. Hands and feet — Size, shape and abnormalities of the hands and feet may be the bases
of identification. Some persons have supernumerary fingers or toes far apart with bony
prominence.

Some fingers or toes are with split nails.

Foot or hand marks found in the investigation of the crime scene may be:
(1) Foot or hand impression — This develops when the foot or hand is pressed on mouldable
materials like mud, clay, cement mixture, or other semi-solid mass. The impression can be
preserved by making a cast of it with plaster of Paris.
(2) Footprint or handprint — This is a footmark or handmark on a hard base contaminated or
smeared with foreign matters like dust, flour, blood, etc.
(3) Complexion — Complexion can be determined when the whole body is exposed preferably to
ordinary sunlight. Dark complexion may be found fair with the use of bleaching chemicals, while
fair complexion may temporarily be made dark with the use of an ointment with a dark pigment.
Exposed parts of the body usually appear darker than those covered with clothing.
g. Changes in the eyes — A person identified because he is nearsighted, far-sighted, color
blind, astigmatic, presbyopic, or crosseyed.
 The eye may have arcus senilis, artificial pupils, irregular marks of the spectacles or
cataract. Color of the iris, shape of the eyes, deformity of the eyeball and the presence of disease
are useful bases of identification.
h. Facies — There are different kinds of facial expressions brought about by disease or
racial influence.
(1) Hippocratic facies— The nose is pinched, the temple hollow, eyes sunken, ears cold,
lips relaxed and skin livid. The appearance of the face is indicative of approaching death.
(2) Mongolian facies — Almond eyes, pale complexion, prominence of cheek bones.
(3) Facies Leonine — A peculiar, deeply furrowed, lion-like appearance of the face. This
may be observed in leprosy, elephantiasis and ,leontiasis ossia.
(4) Myxedemic facies — Pale face, edematous swelling which does not pit on pressure,
associated with dullness of intellect,slow monotonous speech, muscular weakness and
tremor.
The face may be round, oval, triangular or slightly square.
Distinct identifying marks may be present on the face, such as, peculiarly attractive scars,
moles, hair, nose and condition of the skin which an identifier may specially notice,
i. Left— or right-handedness — The preferential use of one hand with skill to the other in
voluntary motor acts. Ambidextrous people can use their right and left hands with equal
skill.
The best way to determine whether a person is left— or right-handed or ambidextrous is
to observe him during his unguarded moments.
j. Degree of nutrition — The determination must be in relation to the height and age. A
person may be thin, normal or stout.
This point of identification easily changes by refraining from intake of fatty foods. Some
persons are inherently skinny inspite of heavy intake of nutritive food.

Points of Identification Applicable to Both Living and Dead before

Moment of Decomposition:
1. Occupational Marks — Certain occupations may result in some characteristic marks
or identifying guides:

a. A shoemaker develops depressed sternum.

b. Painters have stains on the hands and fingernails.
c. Engineers and mechanics may have grease on their hands.
d. A dressmaker develops multiple punctured marks on finger tips.
e. Baker and miller may have flour dust on their clothings and on their bodies.
f. Mason have callosities on the palms of the hands.
g. Scars caused by burns produced by scales or sparks or red hot iron may be seen at the back of
the hands of blacksmiths.
h. Involuntary tattooing of particles of coal may be seen on the hands of miners.
i. Chemical stains may be present on the hands of dyers, photographic developers and printers.

2. Race — In the living, race may be presumed in:

a. Color of the skin:

Caucasian — Fair
 Malayan — Brown
Mongolian — Fair
Negro — Black

b. Feature of the face:

Caucasian — Prominent sharp nose
Malayan — Flat nose with round face
Mongolian — Almond eyes and prominent cheek bone
Negro — Thick lips and prominent eyes
c. Shape of the skull:
Caucasian — Elongated skull
Malayan — Hound head
Mongolian — Round head
Ked Indians and Eskimos — Flat head
d. Wearing apparel — Casual and customary wearing apparel may indicate race as well as
religion, nationality, region and custom.
3. Stature- A person ceases to increase in height after the age of 25. There is apparent shrinkage
in height after a long standing debilitating disease. There is actual shrinkage in old age on
account of the compression of the inter-vertebral and also the curvature of the spinal column.
The growth of a person rarely exceeds five centimeters after the age of 18.
The rate of growth is variable but it is most active from 5 to 7 and from 13 to 16 years of-age.
When the rate of growth is increased, the horizontal growth is relatively retarded.

Methods of Approximating the Height of a Person:

If the body is complete the height can be determined by actual measurement. Sometimes some
part of the body is missing and the actual measurement may not be possible. The following are
the methods to be used to approximate the height:
a. Measure the distance between the tips of the middle fingers of both hands with the arms
extended laterally and it will approximately be equal to the height.
b. Two times the length of one arm plus 12 inches from the clavicle and 1.5 inches from the
sternum is the approximate height.
c. Two times the length from the vertex of the skull to the pubic symphysis is the height.
d. The distance between the supra-sternal notch and the pubic symphysis is about one-third of the
height.
e. The distance from the base of the skull to the coccyx is about 44% of the height.
f. The length of the forearm measured from the tip of olecranon process to the tip of the middle
finger is 5/19 of the height.
g. Eight times the length of the head is approximately equal to the height of the person.
4. Tattoo marks — Introduction of coloring pigments in the layers of the skin by multiple
puncture. Tattoo marks may be in the form of initials, names, images or views.

Importance of Tattoo Mark:

a. It may help in the identification of the person. The image inscribed may reflect the name, date
of birth, language spoken, religion, name of spouse, etc.
b. It may indicate memorable events in his life.
c. It may indicate the social stratum to which the person belongs.
Generally, tattooing is practiced by the members of the lower economic class.
d. Lately, the presence of tattoo implies previous commitment in prison or membership in a
criminal gang.

Factors Responsible for the Permanency of Tattoo:

a. Whether the punctures are superficial or deep to reach the true skin;
b. Nature and solubility of the pigment used. Ordinary pen ink disappears in a short time while
carbon introduced to the true skin layer is usually permanent. Soluble pigments easily disappear
and may be seen in the lymph glands.

Methods of Removing Tattoos:

a. By surgical excision - Shallow tattoo may disappear by simple rubbing or superficial incision
and may leave no scar. Deep seated tattoo may be excised and usually leaves a scar.
b. By electrolysis — The needle is inserted into the tattoo mark in a sufficient number of times
using a current of 5 to 8 milliamperes.
This forms a superficial eschar, which drops off in a week or so taking the pigment with it and
leaving a superficial scar.
c. By application of caustic substance — The caustic substance is applied to the tattoo mark and
the pigment is removed with the eschar after inflammatory reaction.

5. Weight — This is not a good point of identification for it is easily changed from time to time.

6. Deformities — Congenital or acquired — deformities may cause peculiar way of walking,

body movement, facial expression, mannerisms, etc. Deformity like clubfoot, harelip, cleft
palate, cystic conditions, bony prominence, etc., may be corrected surgically.
Acquired deformities in the form of amputation, improper union of bones, depressed fracture,
deforming scars may be the bases for identification.

7. Birth marks — Birth marks may be a spot naevi, port wine, or a Mongolian blue spot. They
may be removed by carbon dioxide snow, electrocautery, or by excision. The marks must be
described as to shape, location, dimension, color and degree of pigmentation.

8.Injuries leaving permanent results - amputation, improper union of fractured bones.

9. Moles — Ordinarily they are permanent but can be removed by electrolysis, by radium or by
carbon dioxide snow.

10. Scar – A remaining mark after healing of the wound. The fibrous tissue takes the place of the
original tissue which has been injured or destroyed. A scar is devoid of specialized tissues so it
does not contain pigment, sweat or sebaceous glands. Its number, exact location, size and shape,
and whether it is elevated or depressed should be noted.
Faint scars may be made visible by making the surrounding skin red upon applying friction with
hand or by heat.
Scar which develops after a secondary infection is usually marked.
Scar increases in size in proportion with the growth of the person.
Age of the Scar — A recently formed scar is slightly elevated, reddish or bluish in color, and
tender to touch.
In a few weeks to two months, the scar has inflammatory redness and it is soft and sensitive.
Two to six months later, it becomes brownish or coppery red in color, free from contraction and
corrugation, and soft.
When the scar is white, glistening, contracted and tough, it is not less than six months.
The period of scar formation may be delayed by sepsis, poor vascularity of the part involved,
age, depth of the wound, mobility, presence of foreign body and health condition of the victim.
Scar may or may not develop if the wound is small, superficial and healed by first intention.

Characteristics of the scar may show the cause of the previous lesion:
a. Surgical operation — Regular form and situation with stitch marks.
b. Bums and scald — Scars are large, irregular in shape, and may be keloid. Scar of scald may
show stippled surface.
c. Gunshot — Disc-like, depressed at center and may be adherent to the underlying tissue.
d. Tuberculosis sinus — Irregular in shape furrowed, with edges hardened and uneven.
e. Flogging — Fine white lines diagonally across back, depressed small spot at interval.
f. Gumma — Depressed scar following loss of tissue.
g. Lupus — Bluish-white scar.
h. Venesection — At bend of elbow, on dorsum of foot, or on temporal region.
i. Wet cupping — Short parallel scars on lower part of the back and loin.
11. Tribal marks — Marks on the skin by tattooing or branding. In branding heated metal is
pressed on the skin and during the healing process a scar develops as a mark. The tribal marks
are placed in the exposed parts of the body and used to identify person or membership of a tribe
or social group.
12. Sexual organ - Male organ may show previous circumcision. In a female the uterus and
breasts may show signs of previous pregnancy.
Previous gynecological operation may be seen in the abdomen.
13. Blood examination — Blood type, disease, parasitic infection or toxic substances present may
be utilized to distinguish one person from another.

ANTHROPOMETRY (Bertitton System)

Alphonse Bertillon, a French criminologist, devised a scheme utilizing anthropometrical
measurement of the human body as the basis of identification.
Basis of the Bertillon System of Identification:
l. The human skeleton is unchangeable after the twentieth year. The thigh bone continues to
grow somewhat after the period, but this 'is compensated by the curving of the spine which takes
place at about the same age. /
2. It is impossible to find two Jjuman beings having bones exactly like.
3. The necessary measurement can easily be taken with the aid of a simple instrument.

Information Included in the System:

1. Descriptive data — Color of the hair, eyes and complexion, shape of the nose, ear, etc;
2. Bodymarks — moles, scars, tattoo marks, deformities, etc.
3. .Anthropomenical measuremen ts:
a. Body measurements – height, width of outstretched arms, and sitting height.
 b. Measurement of the head — Length and breadth of head, bizygomatical diameter, and
length of the right ear.

The following basic requirements must be included in the verbal description:

1. General impression: type, personality, apparent social status

2. Age and sex
3. Race or color
4. Height
5. Weight
6. Built — Thin, slender, medium or stout
7. Posture — Erect, slouching, round shoulder
8. Head — size, shape
9. Hair — Color, length, baldness
10. Face — General impression
a. Forehead — High, low, bulging or receding
b. Eyebrows — Brushy or thin, shape of the left foot, length of finger.
c. Mustache — Length, color, shape
d. Ears — Size, shape, size of lobe, angle of set
e. Eyes — Small, medium or large; color; eyeglasses
f. Cheeks — High, low or prominent medium cheek bones; flat or sunken.
g. Nose — Short, medium or big; or long; straight, aquiline orflat or pug.
h. Mouth — Wide, small or medium; general impression
i. Lips — Shape; thickness; color
j. Teeth — Shade, condition, defect; missing elements
k. Chin — Size, shape, general impression
1. Jaw — Length, shape, lean, heavy or medium
11. Neck — shape, thickness, length; Adam's apple
12. Shoulder — Width and shape
13. Wrist — Size, shape
14. Hands — Length; size; hair; condition of the palms
15. Fingers — Length; thickness; stains; shape of nails; condition of the nails.
16. Arms — Long, medium or short; muscular; normal or thin; thickness of the wrist.
17. Feet — Size, deformities

If a skilled investigative illustrator is available, a picture of the person to be identified

may be drawn or sketched. As a check to the sketch or drawing made, it must be shown to the
person(s) who gave the information to see whether it tallies with the person to be identified. If
available, the investigator may look at what is commonly called rougue's galary or photographic
files of wanted or missing persons for comparison with the cartographic sketch.

EXTRINSIC FACTORS IN IDENTIFICATION

1. Ornamentations — Rings, bracelet, necklace, hairpin, earrings, lapel pin, etc.
2. Personal belongings — Letters, wallet, driver's license, residence certificate, personal cards,
etc.
3. Wearing apparel — Tailor marks, laundry mark, printed name of owner, size, style, and
texture, footwear, socks.
4. Foreign bodies — Dust in clothings, cerumen in the ears, nail scrapping may show occupation,
place of residence or work, habit, etc.
5. Identification by close friends and relatives.
6. Identification records on file at the police department, immigration bureau, hospitals, etc.
7. Identification photograph.

LIGHT AS A FACTOR IN IDENTIFICATION

1. Clearest moonlight or starlight:
Experiments have shown that the best known person cannot be recognized by the clearest
moonlight at a distance greater than 16 to 17 yards and by starlight any further than 10 to 13
yards.
a. Broad daylight:
A person can hardly recognized another person at a distance farther than one hundred yards if the
person has never been seen before, but persons who are almost strangers may be recognized at a
distance of twenty-five yards.
b. Flash of firearm:
Although by experiment, letters of two inches high can be read with the aid of the flash of a
caliber .22 firearm at a distance of two feet it is hardly possible for a witness to see the assailant
in case of a hold-up or a murder because:
(1) Usually the assailant is hidden.
(2) The assault is unexpected and the attention of the person or witness is at its minimum.
c. The flash of lighting produces sufficient light for the identification of an individual provided
that the person's eye is focused towards the individual he wishes to identify during the flash.
d. In case of artificial light, the identity is relative to the kind and intensity of the light.
Experiments may be made for every particular artificial light concerned.

SCIENTIFIC METHODS OF IDENTIFICATION

Aspects ot Identification Requiring Scientific Knowledge:
A. fingerprinting
B. Denfal Identification
C. Handwriting
D. Identification of Skeleton
E. Determination of Sex
F. Determination of Age
G. Identification of Blood and Blood Stains
H. Identification of Hair and Fibers

A. FINGERPRINTING
Fingerprinting is considered to be the most valuable method of identification. It is universally
used because:
1. There are no two identical fingerprints:
Fingerprints show unlimited and infinite varieties of form.
Two or more fingerprints may grossly appear to be seemingly alike but under a microscope or
the magnifying lens, the difference may be proven. The chances of two fingerprints being the
same are calculated to be 1 to 64,000,000,000 which is ten times the number of fingers existing
in the world.
2. Fingerprints are not changeable:
Fingerprints are formed in the fetus in the fourth month of pregnancy. During the latter stage of
pregnancy as well as after birth, the pattern enlarges, but no changes take place in the number
and arrangement of the friction ridges.
The finger may be wounded or burned, but the whole pattern with all its details will reappear
when the wound heals. If the injury is deep or beyond the layers of the skin and scar develops, it
will not deter identification. On the contrary, the scar will make a much deeper impression of the
pattern. It can be said that fingerprints are an indelible signature which a person carries from the
cradle to the grave.
* Practical Uses of Fingerprints:
1. Help establish identity in cases of dead bodies and unknown or missing persons.
2. Prints recovered from the crime scene associate person or weapon.
3. Prints on file are useful for comparative purposes and for the knowledge of previous criminal
records.
Among illiterates, right thumbprint is recognized as a substitute for signature on legal
documents. Countries differ as to which finger is used for the purpose. India uses the left thumb,
Spain uses the right pointing finger.
* Dactylography is the art and study of recording fingerprints as a means of identification.
* Dactyloscopy is the art of identification by comparison of fingerprints. It is the study and
utilization of fingerprints.
* Poroscopy is the study of the pores found on the pappillary or friction ridges of the skin for
purposes of identification.

Advantages of Using Fingerprinting as a Means of Identification:

1. Not much training is necessary for a person to take, classify and compare fingerprints.
2. No expensive instrument is required in the operation.
3. The fingerprint itself is easy to classify.
4. Actual prints for comparative purposes are always available and suspected errors can easily be
checked.

Methods of Producing Impressions:

1. Plain method — The bulbs of the last phalanges of the fingers and thumb are pressed on
the surface of the paper after pressing them on an ink pad or ink plate with printing ink.
2. Rolled method — The bulbs of the thumb and other fingers are rolled on the surface of
the paper after being rolled on an ink pad or ink plate with printing ink.

Kinds of Impressions:
1. Real impression — Impression of the finger bulbs with the use of printing ink on the surface of
the paper. Other coloring materials may be used but they are less visible and indelible.
2. Chance impression — Fingerprints which are impressed by mere chance without any intention
to produce it. Chance impression maybe:
a. Visible print — Impression made by chance and is visible without previous treatment.
Impression made by the fingers smearedwith some colored substances, like black ink, vegetable
juice, may be visible immediately after impression.
b. Plastic print — Impression made by chance by pressing thefinger tips on melted paraffin,
putty, resin, cellophane, plastic tape, butter, soap, etc.
c. Latent print — Prints which are not visible after impression but made visible by the addition of
some substances. Latent prints develop because the fingers are always covered with colorless
residue of oil and perspiration which when pressed on smooth and non-absorbent material will
cause the production of the prints.

How to Develop Latent Prints:

(1) Application of fine powder — The choice of substance to be used to make the latent prints
visible depends upon the texture and color of the material where the suspicious prints are located.
The color of the substances to be used must be in contrast with that material.

Characteristics of a good powder:

(a) It should be adhesive to the extent that it clings readily to the edges of the fingerprints.
(b) It should not absorb water.
(c) It should provide good contrast to the place where the latent print is impressed.

The following substances are commonly used to make latent prints visible:
(a) Graphite for spraying
(b) Aluminum powder
(c) Plaster of Paris
(d) Copper powder for latent prints on leather
(e) Metallic antimony
(2) Chemical development by fuming and immersion:
Fuming by iodine or arsenic acid or immersion in a solution of silver nitrate may develop latent
prints.
How to Get Fingerprint Impressions on Dead Bodies:
In cases of fresh dead bodies, the fingers are unclenched and each one is inked individually with
the aid of a small rubber roller. The paper where the print will be impressed will be placed in a
spoon shaped piece of wood and slowly and evenly rolled over the pattern.
If the fist is too tightly clenched, a small incision may be made at the base of the fingers. The
contraction may also be overcome by dipping the hands in hot water.
If the so-called washerwoman's skin is not too marked on the fingerprints of dead bodies
recovered shortly from bodies of water (floaters), the fingers may be dried off with a towel and
glycerin is injected with a syringe under the skin of the finger tips in order to smoothen the
surface. The fingerprints are then taken like that of a fresh dead body.
If the "floater" has been in a body of water for a longer time and the friction ridges have
disappeared, the skin of the fingertips is cut away. This area of skin from each finger is placed in
a small labelled test tubes containing formaldehyde solution. If the papillary ridges are still
preserved on the outer surface, the person taking the prints places a portion of the skin on his
right index finger protected by a rubber glove and then takes the print after inking the finger tip.
The same procedure as described may be applied to putrefied or burned bodies according to
circumstances.
Types of Fingerprint Patterns:
1. Arches — The ridges go from one side of the pattern to another, never turning back to make a
loop.
a. Plain arches — The ridges on one side of the impression and
flow or tend to flow out the other side with rise or wave in the center.
b. Tented arch — One or more ridges at the center to form a definite angle of 90 degrees or less
than 45 degrees from the horizontal plane.
2. Loops — One or more ridges enter on either side, recurves and terminate or tend to terminate
on the same side from which it entered.
a. Ulnar loop — Recurves towards the ulnar side of the hand or little finger.
b. Radial loop — Recurves towards the radial side of the hand or thumb.
3. Whorls — Patterns with two deltas and patterns too irregular in form to classify:
a. Simple whorls — Consist of two deltas with a core consisting of circles, ellipses, or spiral
turning to the right or left.
b. Central pocket loop- — It is like simple loop but in the core, one may find one ridge which
forms a convex towards the opening of the loop.
c. Lateral pocket loops — There are at least two loops opening at the same side.
d. Twin loop — There are at least two loops opening at the different sides.
e. Accidentals — There are no rules that can be made in this pattern. They are rare and often with
more than two deltas.

POROSCOPY (Locard's method of identification):

Examination of the ridges of the hands and fingers reveal to be studded with minute pores
which are the openings of ducts or sweat glands. These pores are permanent as the ridges are and
differ in number and shape in a given area in each person. Poroscopy, as a means of
identification, is applied when only a part of the fingerprint is available for proper means of
identification.

 Can fingerprints be effaced?

John Dillinger, a notorious gangster and a police character attempted to erase his
fingerprints by burning them with acid, but as time went by, the ridges were again restored to its
"natural" feature. The acid he applied temporarily destroyed the epidermis of the bulbs of his
fingers.

As long as the dermis of the bulbs of the finger is not completely destroyed, the
fingerprints will always remain unchanged and indestructible.

 Can fingerprints be forged?

There is a considerable controversy regarding the possibility of forging fingerprints or
making a simulated impression or a perfect replica of impression of fingers. Various experiments
were conducted by authorities and although they could almost make an accurate reproduction,
still there is no case on record known or have been written that forgery of fingerprints has been a
complete success. The introduction of modern scientific equipment, new techniques and up-to-
date knowledge in crime detection will always foil the attempt.
DENTAL IDENTIFICATION

The role of the teeth iri human identification is important for the following reasons:

1. The possibility of two persons to have the same dentition is quite remote. An adult has 32
teeth and each tooth has five surfaces.
Some of the teeth may be missing, carious, with filling materials, and with abnormality in shape
and other peculiarities. This will lead to several combinations with almost infinite in number of
dental characteristics.
2. The enamel of the teeth is the hardest substance of the human body. It may outlast all other
tissues during putrefaction or physical destruction.
3. After death, the greater the degree of tissue destruction, the greater is the importance of dental
characteristics as a means of identification.
4. The more recent the ante-mortem records of the person to be identified, the more reliable is
the comparative or exclusionary mode of identification that can be done.
In order to make an accurate dental record available for purposes of comparison with that of the
person to be identified, Presidential Decree No. 1575 was promulgated, requiring practitioners of
dentistry to keep records of their patients. It provides the following:
"Whereas, the identification of persons is a necessary factor in solving crimes and in
settling disputes such as claims for damages, insurance, and inheritance; _
Whereas, in these cases where the identification of persons cannot be established through
the regular means, identification through dentition has been proven to be necessary and effective;
Whereas, however, records of dentition of persons are often not available due to the lack
of systematic recording of dental practitioners of the dental history of their patients.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the Philippines, by

virtue of the powers vested in me by the Constitution, do hereby order and decree the following:
Section 1. It shall be obligatory upon all practitioners of dentistry to keep and maintain an
accurate and complete record of the dentition of all their patients which shall include a history
and description of the patient's dentition and the treatment made thereon.
Section 2. Upon the lapse of ten years from the last entry, dental practitioners shall turn over the
dental records of their patients to the National Bureau of Investigation for record
purposes: Provided, that the said practitioner may retain copies thereof for their own files.
Section 3. Any violation of the provisions of this Decree shall be punishable by a fine of not less
than one hundred pesos but not more than one thousand pesos.
Section 4. This Decree shall take effect immediately.
Done in the City of Manila, this 11th day of June, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen
hundred and seventy-eight.
However, the absence of dental records will not absolutely negate dental identification.
Members of the family, close associates and friends may be witnesses to prove identity of
dentition.

Causes of Unreliability of the Dental Records:

An ante-mortem dental record may be available but may be insufficient, and in some instances
unreliable for purposes of comparison with the post-mortem findings because:
1. The dentist, in the course of diagnosis and treatment of the patient, may only concern himself
with the affected teeth and may not care to have a detailed examination of the other teeth.
2. There may be no uniformity in nomenclature of the location and condition in the charting of
the teeth.
3. Although there may be a law obliging dentists to have a record of their patient, the law does
not mention the agency which will enforce it.
4. The dentist may have a record but may no longer be reliable on account of the lapse of time.
There may be changes in the teeth which are not seen by the dentist.

For purpose of uniformity, the following are the description of location for dental identification:
1. Teeth position:
a. Anterior — From cuspid to cuspid inclusive (it includes cuspid, lateral and central incissor).
b. Posterior — All bicuspid and molar teeth.
2. Surface:
Occlosal — O — Surface which is in contact with the opposing teeth when jaws are in occlusion
(closed).
Mesial — M — Surface in direct contact with the adjacent tooth towards the midline.
Distal — D — Surface in direct contact with the adjacent teeth away from the midline.
Buccal — B — Surface facing the lip or cheek.
Lingual — L — Inward directed surface of the teeth.
3. Restoration:
Amalgam (silver filling), gold inlay, gold foil, silicate, acrylic, temporary cement, crown.
4. Prosthesis:
a. Fixed prosthesis — bridge
b. Removable prosthesis:
(1) Complete denture
(2) Partial denture
5. Root canal treatment (endodentia).

Dental Features Which May Be Included in the Description for

Identification:
1. Malposition, overlapping, crowding and spacing teeth.
2. Number and location of deciduous or permanent teeth.
3. Missing (unerupted or extracted) or supernumerary teeth.
4. Peculiar shape, size, direction of growth of individual teeth.
5. Missing piece or fragment due to decay or trauma.
6. Restoration, prosthesis (surface, morphology, configuration and material).
7. Root canal therapy on x-ray examination.
8. Bone pattern on x-ray examination.
9. Complete denture (type, shade and material).
10. Relationship of bite.
11. Oral pathology (tore, gingival hyperplasia, etc.).

Other Aspects of Identification Which May Be Reflected in Dentition:

1. Personal, occupational and cultural traits:
a. Cigarette smokers may have smoke marks mainly on the lingual surface of the anterior upper
teeth.
b. Seamstress, carpenter, cobblers may hold pins or nails between incissors and may cause
formulation of groove.
c. Wind instrument musicians may have altered position of their teeth due to mouth formation
necessary for playing the instrument.
d. Pipe smokers may develop an oval-shape notch at the occlusal surface or irregular gaps
located at the angle of the mouth.
e. Sandblasters and stone mason may cause abrasions on the labial or occlusal surface of their
teeth.
f. Poor oral hygiene, with many decayed teeth and no restorations infers individual of low
economic status. Extracted teeth are also not replaced by bridgework.
g. Excessive fruit juice drinker or carbonated drinks may cause dissolution of the enamel
structure of the front teeth.
h. Mutilation of teeth by filing or inlaying with precious metals or stone, not done professionally,
may indicate tribal customs and cultural peculiarities.

2. Age
9 yrs 12 permanent teeth (8 incisors and 4 molars).
11 yrs 20 permanent teeth (8 incisors, 8 premolar and 4 molar).
13 yrs 28 permanent teeth and no deciduous teeth.
8 to 10 yrs Calcification begin at the 3rd molar.
25 yrs Root-ends of 3rd molar completely calcified.
Beyond 25 yrs. . . . Ends of the root of the 3rd molar have been completely calcified.
After 30 yrs Carries frequently develop at the cementum.
There may be gingival recession, decay attack
of the root surface.

3. Sex
Examination for the presence of Barr bodies from palatal
scrappings. j

C. HANDWRITING
A person may be identified through his handwriting, handprinting and handnumbering.
Sec. 23, Rule 132, Rules of Court — Handwriting, how proved:
The handwriting of a person may be proved by any witness who believes it to be the handwriting
of such person, and has seen the person write, or has seen writing purporting to be his upon
which the witness has acted or been charged, and has thus acquired knowledge of the
handwriting of such person. Evidence respecting the handwriting may also be given by a
comparison, made by the witness or the court, with writings admitted or treated as genuine by the
party against whom the evidence is offered, or proved to be genuine to the satisfaction of the
judge.
The genuiness of any disputed writing may be proven by any of the following ways:
1. Acknowledgement of the alleged writer that he wrote it; Statement of witness who saw
the writing made and is able to identify it as such;
By the opinion of persons who are familiar with the handwriting of the alleged writer, or by the
opinion of an expert who compares the questioned writing with that of other writings which are
admitted or treated to be genuine by the party against whom the evidence is offered.
Sec. 44, Rule 130, Rules of Court — Opinion of ordinary witnesses:
The opinion of a witness regarding the identity of handwriting of a person, when he has
knowledge of the person or handwriting; the opinion of a subscribing witness to a writing; the
validity of which is in dispute, repecting the mental sanity of a person, 6he reason for the opinion
being given, may be received as evidence.

Some Practical Uses of Handwriting Examination:

1. Financial crimes (bogus checks, cr'xlit card fraud, embezzlement).
2. Death investigation (suicide notes, hotel registration cards, letter of explanation),
3. Robberies (pawnshop notes, cashing of stolen checks),
4. Kidnapping with ransom (demand note, threatening letter).
5. Anonymous threatening letters.
6. Falsification of documents (deeds of conveyance, receipts).
* Bibliotics is the science of handwriting analysis. It is the study of documents and writing
materials to determine its jgerqjineness or authorship. One who had acquired special knowledge
of the science of handwriting for purposes of identification is known as bibliotist or more
commonly known as handwriting expert or qualified question document examiner.
* Graphology is the study of handwriting for the purpose of determining the writer's
personality, character and aptitude. It is a pseudo-science and merely explains the characteristics
of the handwriting reflecting the character, weakness, personal idiosyncracies, mannerisms and
ambition of the writer. It must not be confused with bibliotics.
Handwriting is a complex interaction of nerves, memory and muscular movement. It is
influenced by several factors and may be changed or modified during the life-span of a person.
Writing is a conscious act, but on account of a repeated act it becomes habitual and
unconscious. The writer concentrates more on the subject-matter of the writing than on the way
the letter are formed which make up the writing.
Worry, anxiety, anger, fegling of insecurity, age, and drunkenness
may cause variation of a person's handwriting. ~

* Movements in Writing:
1. Finger movement — The letters are made entirely by the action of the thumb, the pointing and
middle fingers. Such is found among in dispute, respecting the mental sanity of the signer; and
the opinion of an intimate acquaintance respecting the mental sanity of a person, the reason for
the opinion being given, may be received as evidence.
In order for an ordinary witness to be qualified to express his opinion, it must be shown
that he has some familiarity with the handwriting of the person in a way recognized by law.
2. Hand movement — The letters are produced by the action of the hand as a whole with the wrist
as the center of action and with some action of the fingers. Most of the illegible, scratchy and
angular writings of women are produced by such movement.
3. Arm movement — The movement in writing is made by the hand and arm supported with the
elbow at the center of the lateral swing. Many of the good writings are written in this manner.
There is more speed, rhythm and freedom in this way of writing.
4. Whole arm movement — The action is produced by the entire arm without any rest. The source
of motion comes from the shoulder. Writing on a blackboard is a good example of whole arm
movement.
The Form, Style and Characteristics of the Handwriting of a Person are Basically Determined
By:
A.Primary factors:
1. Survival of the letters are formed when a person begins to write.
Children who were under the same tutelage during their initial period of learning how to write
have the tendency to develop similar writing habits.
2. Inclusion of some characteristics due to admiration of a peculiar design in writing.
3. Identifying characteristics may be the result of the great volume of writing done.
4. The presence or absence of physical abnormalities or defects originating from illness, injury,
psychological variations and other similar conditions.
B. Secondary factors:
1. The position of the writer, e.g. sitting, standing, lying, arm high or low, and other similar
variations not normally observed in his ordinary writing habit.
2. Temporary physical or psychological disturbances, such as excitement, fear, pain, exhaustion,
injury to thd hand or arm, etc.
3. Other external temporary variables, such as writing without glasses, bad lighting, irregular
surface, external interference.
4. Physical and chemical factors:
a. Writing instrument:
(1) Ballpen — It. usually leaves rounded line showing no tip separation even when pressed
heavily. Smudge may be deposited on the line. The ink, not being a true liquid, does not flow
into the fibers and spread in the same way as fluid ink does.
(2) Fountain pen — The lines are more or less round but when pressure is increased there is
separation of the nib which is easily detected. There is evenness in the flow of ink.
(3) Steel pen — There is unevenness in the flow of ink and leaves a scratchy appearance.
(4) Pencil — Lead of pencils is compose of graphite and clay with kaolin as binder. Soft pencils
have greater proportion of graphite while hard ones have relatively more clay. Cheap quality
pencils have frequently gritty impurities which scratch the paper, while high-grade pencils are
free from such grit.
Paper:
(1) Color — Color can be well appreciated with a good light.
Dirt, stain or fading condition may not show the true
color of the paper.
(2) Surface appearance — It may be smooth or rough. The surface may be damaged or wrinkled.
(3) Watermarks - Exposure of the paper to a strong light may reveal the watermarks of the
manufacturer or the type of paper.
(4) Weight and thickness — The thickness may be measured by means of the paper micrometer.
Papers are designated in weight which is in turn related to the thickness of the sheet.
Ink:
(1) Iron gallotannate ink — Commonly used in "blue-black" ink and still the basis of the greatest
number of commercial ink. The changes in the paper may provide some indications of the age of
the writing.
(2) It may be a solution of a single or a mixture of dyes.
This is a common constituent of "washable" inks.
(3) Logwood ink — Made of logwood extract with salts of iron, copper, or chromium.
(4) Carbon ink — It is a fine suspension in water of carbon with stabilizing agent. India ink is an
example of this type of ink.
(5) Ballpoint ink — A thick suspension of dye in a liquid which is usually a drying oil

Instruments Necessary in Questioned Document Examination:

1. Photographic instruments are primarily used to view the writing in sufficient magnification
for detail examination and preparation of evidence for presentation in an investigative or
judicial body.
2. Magnifying lens and stereoscopic binocular microscope — These two instruments are useful
to determine line quality, quaver, uncertainty, patching, over-writing, crowding, and other
unusual appearances of writing. Presence of obvious obliteration, erasure or alteration may
become more visible.
3. Ultraviolet lamp and infra-red radiaton — Chemical erasures may be made visible, invisible
ink, writing may be made legible, identification of paper and resealing of the envelopes with
different mucilage can be seen through these instruments, feasuring caliper, lighting
facilities.
4. Measuring calipher
5. Good lighting facilities

Purpose of Handwriting Examination:

1. Whether the document was written by the suspect.
2. Whether the document was written by the person whose signature it bears.
3. Whether the writing contains additions or deletions.
4. Whether the document such as bills, receipts, suicide notes or checks are genuine or a
forgery.

Points to be Considered in Questioned Document Examination:

Size, slant, spacing, proportion of the letters, speed and rhythm in writing, shading and
change of position in pen hold, pressure, penlift, initial and terminal strokes, alignment, etc.
Inasmuch as handwriting examination is basically comparative, the standard for such
comparison must be suitable and sufficient. The greater the variation in a way of writing, the
greater is the amount of standard writing needed to form a reliable impression.

Handwriting examination done by comparison with known standards:

To determine whether a certain instrument or document has been written by a certain
person, it is necessary to compare the writings on such instrument or document with some
standard writings of the same person for the purpose of comparison and determine the
similarities.
The standard (exemplar) writings with which the questioned writing has to be compared
are of two types:
1. Collected (procured) standards — These consist of handwriting by the person who is
suspected to have written the questioned document. It may be found in the private or public
records of the person or from other possible sources. Provided it is clear and sufficient, it is the
most appropriate standard.
2. Requested standard — These are standards made by the alleged writer of the document in
question upon request of the examiner or the persons interested in the examination. Inasmuch as
one of the characteristics of good exemplar is that it must be contemporaneous with the date the
questioned document was made, the use of the requested standards is applicable only to recently
written questioned documents, like extortion letter, "poison" notes, letter of threat or ransom, etc.
Considering that it is a request from a suspected maker of the questioned document, there is a
strong possibility for it to be written in a disguised way.
Steps to be Undertaken to Minimize Conscious Efforts to Disguise the Requested Standard:
1. The writer should be allowed to write sitting comfortably at a desk or table and without
distraction.
2. The suspect should not, under any condition, be shown the questioned document or be
provided with instructions on how to spell certain words or what punctuation to use.
3. The suspect should be furnished with a pen and a paper similar to those used in the questioned
document.
4. The dictated text may be the same as the contents of the questioned document, or at least
should contain many of the same words, phrases, and letter combinations found in the document.
In handwriting cases, the suspect must not be given any instruction on whether to use upper-case
(capital) or lower-case lettering.
5. Dictation of the test should take place at least three times. If the writer is making a deliberate
effort to disguise his writing, noticeable variations should appear between the three repetitions.
Discovering this, the investigator must insist upon continued repetitive dictation of the text.
6. Signature exemplars can best be obtained when the suspect is required to combine other
writings with a signature. For example, instead of compiling a set of signatures alone, the writer
must be asked to completely fill out twenty to thirty separate checks or receipts, each of which
includes a signature.
7. Before requested exemplars are taken from the suspect, a document examiner should be
consulted and shown the questioned specimens (Criminalistics by Richard Saferstein, p. 336).
Handwriting Characteristics of Illiterates:
1. They seldom follow any rule or baseline although at the beginning a position above the
baseline is taken which continues in an ascending or descending course. Baseline is the ruled or
imaginary line upon which the writing rests.
2. The tendency of the writing is to be raised involuntarily in the last letters of the word made by
the extension of the fingers while the hand is being held in a fixed position.
3. The loop letters are often slanted too much because the upstrokes are made too long or nearly
straight.
4. Very unlikely to produce facsimile signatures in size, arrangement and proportion of parts.
5. The writing is not rhythmic, but made up of disconnected unskilled movement impulses which
are not likely to be related in an exactly identical way.
6. Tremor or involuntary trembling is seen due to inability to control the pen in motion because
of not being familiar with and self-conscious to the process of writing.
7. Formation and angle of letters are irregular and definitely show lack of knowledge of size and
proportion.
8. Same speed is utilized from beginning to end and seldom is the pen raised to get a new
adjustment.
9. Illiterate pencil-writing is usually produced with much pressure and may show the habit of
wetting the pencil lead frequently.
10. In anonymous writing, illiteracy is indicated by faulty arrangement of words, lines,
paragraphs and pages.
11. Combination of script forms and Roman capitals, or pen or pencil printing, containing freak
forms, abbreviations or punctuation marks are individual creations.

Handwriting Characteristics of Old Aged Persons:

1. Due to lack of muscular control, the handwriting will not usually show fine lines
continuously but the strokes are mostly rough and made with considerable pressure.
2. With the presence of tremor, the changes of direction are numerous and omission of parts
of letters of strokes are common.
3. The concluding parts are often made with a nervous haste and carelessness and they may
be much distorted.
4. Even with much tremor, the handwriting will usually show free connecting and terminal
strokes made by the momentum of the hand.
5. Often shows very uneven alignment and may disregard entirely a line near which they are
written.
6. Usually shows an unusual and erratic departure from its intended movement, particularly
in the downward strokes.
7. There is a loss of individual departure from its intended movement, particularly in the
downward strokes.
8. There is a loss of individual rhythm as indicated by malformation and irregularity of
speed in the writing of small letters.

Disguised Writing:
Disguised writing is the deliberate attempt on the part of the writer to alter his writing
habit by endeavoring to invent a new writing style or by imitating the writing of another person.

Physical Methods of Disguising Handwriting:

a. By changing the direction of the slant. The forger may employ a backhand slant, instead of the
usual forehand slant.
b. By increasing or decreasing the speed in writing.
c. By deliberate carelessness that will produce inferior style of writing.
d. By making the letters unusually large or small.
e. The forger may use the left hand instead of the right hand.
f. Hand printing may be substituted for script.

Characteristics of Disguised Writing:

a. Inconsistent slant
b. Inconsistent letter formation
c. Change of capital letters
d. Lack of free-flowing movement
e. Lack of rhythm
f. Unnatural starts and stops
g. Irregular spacing
h. Writing with unaccustomed hand (Criminalistics by Richard Saferstein, p. 692).
Signature forgery:
Signature forgery examination is the most common activity of a questioned document
examiner. A signature may be found on a document which appears that a person has participated
in its execution and the person denied that he had signed it. Such signature may be found in
checks, deeds of conveyance, anonymous letters, receipts, etc.

Classification of Signature Forgery:

a. Traced forgery — The outlining of a genuine signature from one document onto another where
the forger wishes it to appear.
Traced forgery is basically drawing and consequently lacks free natural movement inherent in a
person's normal writing.

Ways of Achieving Traced Forgery

(1) The paper wherein the signature is to be copied is placed on top of the document containing
the signature. By means of a strong light underneath, the forged signature is traced from the
genuine, either directly or lightly by a pencil outline and then over-writing the pencil outline.
(2) By placing the paper to receive the signature tracing underneath the document bearing the
genuine signature and by indented outline on the underneath page, or by interweaving the
documents with carbon paper to produce a carbon outline on the forged paper.

b. Simulated forgery — An attempt to copy in a freehand manner the characteristics of a genuine

signature either from memory of the signature or from a model. It is accomplished without
outline.
The quality of the simulated signature varies with the writer's skill as a penman, the difficulty of
the signature being imitated, the writer's ability to recognize and incorporate the details, his
ability to concentrate on the important feature of the signature and his ability to discard all of his
own natural habit of writing.
c. Spurious forgery — One prepared primarily in the forger's own handwriting wherein little or
no attempt has been made to copy the characteristics of the genuine writing.
(Modern Legal Medicine, Psychiatry and Forensic Medicine by W. Curran et ai, p. 1235).

The principle of identification of handwriting is also applicable to hand printing and hand
numbering.

Typewriter Identification:
The identification of the typing machine used in a questioned document, like that in ballistics
examination, may be on the basis of:
1. Class characteristics — those characteristics which serve to distinguish it from any other
machine, such as:
a. Manufacturer's characteristics
b. Size and design of the type
c. Line and letter spacing
2. Individual characteristics:
a. Defects in the type face — Unusual manner of letter formation due to factory defect, misuse of
the machine or wear and tear.
b. Defects in the alignment — Malpositioning spacing and alignment may be modified by
loosening of the hinges and positioning of the letters on account of wear and tear and changes in
the spring pressure.
c. Other machine defects:
(1) Skipping space
(2) Irregular margin stops
(3) Improper letter spacing
(4) Improper ribbon actions
A typewriter has 44 keys with 88 characters, each operating independently of one another and
each being capable of damage or having inherent defects. Consequently, a variety of
combinations of these defects may be the basis of typewriter identification.
The questioned document may be compared with those made by the suspected typewriters.

D. IDENTIFICATION OF THE SKELETON

Occasionally, before a physician is called to examine a dead body, the soft tissues have
already disappeared and only the skeletal system remains. Ail the external identifications have
already disappeared.
In this particular case we resort to the study of bones. hi the examination of bones, the following
points can be determined approximately:
1. Whether the remains are of human origin or not.
2. Whether the remains belong to a single person or not.
3. Height.
4. Sex.
5. Race.
6. Age.
7. Length of interment or length of time from date of death.
8. Presence or absence of ante-mortem or post-mortem bone injuries.
9. Congenital deformities and acquired injuries on the hard tissues causing permanent
deformities.

How to Determine Whether the Remains Are of Human Origin or Not:

The shape, size and general nature of the remains especially that of the head, must be
studied. The oval or round shape of the skull and the less prominent lower jaw and nasal bone
are suggestive of human remains. A complete lay-out of the whole bones found and placing each
of them on their corresponding places in the human body will be helpful. The presence of dental
fixtures, rings on the fingers, earrings in the case of women, hair and other wearing apparels,
together with the remains are strong presumption of human remains.

How to Determine Whether the Remains Comes from a Single Individual or Not:
A complete lay-out of the bones on a table in their exact locations in the human body is
necessary. Any plurality or excess of the bones after a complete lay-out denotes that the remains
belong to more than one person. However, congenital deformities as supernumery fingers and
toes must not be forgotten. The unequality in sizes, especially of the limbs may be ante-mortem.
Height:
Several formulae using different constants have been forwarded in the approximation of
the height of a person by measuring the long bones of the body.
1. The femur is measured from the head to the apex of the inner condyle. If the femur has been
measured in the oblique position and not straight, add 0.23 for male and 0.33 for female to the
length before using the above formulae.
2. The tibia is measured from the upper articular surface to the tip of the malleolus. If the tiDia
has been measured with, and not without, the spine, subtract 0.96 for male, and 0.87 cm. for
female, from the length before using the above formulae.
3. The humerus and radius are measured in their greatest length.
(Taylor's Principles and Practices of Medical Jurisprudence, S. Smith, 10th ed., Vol 1, p. 155).
4. Inasmuch as the formulae for male and female skeletons are different, it is necessary to
determine the sex of the skeleton before the formulae may be applied.
C. Stature from bone:
Dupertuis and Hadden's General Formulae For Reconstruction of
Stature From Lengths of Dry Long Bones Without Cartilage (Constant Terms in Metric and
Adapted to English System)
D.Topinard and Rollet, two French anatomists devised a formula for the determination of the
height for males and females.

Determination of the Sex of the Skeleton:

In determining the sex of the skeleton, the following bones must be studied:
A. Pelvis D. Femur
B. Skull E. Humerus
C. Sternum
A. Pelvis:
Differences Between a Male and a Female Pelvis:
Male
1. Heavier construction wall more pronounced.
2. Height greater and flays off its wall more pronounced.
3. Pubic arch narrow and less round.
4. Diameter of the true pelvis less.
5. Curve of the iliac crest reaches a higher level.
6. Narrow greater sciatic notch.
7. Body of the pubis narrow.
8. Iliopectineal line sharp.
9. Obturator foramen eggshaped.
10. Sacrum short and narrow.

Female
1. Lighter construction wall less pronounced.
2. Height lesser and flays off its wall less pronounced.
3. Pubic arch wider and rounder.
4. Diameter of the true pelvis greater.
5. Curve of the iliac crest is of the lower level.
6. Wide greater sciatic notch.
7. Body of the pubis wider.
8. Iliopectineal line rounded.
9. Obturator foramen triangular.
10. Sacrum long and wide.

B. Sternum:
C. Femur:
D. Humerus:
E. Cranium:

Determination of the Race of the Skeleton:

It is becoming more difficult to determine the race because of the amalgamation of races. For
practical consideration there is hardly no race that is absolutely pure.

The following points may be used in determining the race in the remains of a person:
A. Extrinsic Factors:
1. Color of the skin
2. Facial features
3. Nature of the hair
4. Mode of dressing
B. Indices:
1. Skull:
2. Pelvis

Determination of the Duration of Interment:

The period from the time of death up to the time of examination may be determined by
the nature and presence of the soft tissues and the degree of erosion of the bones. Ordinarily, all
the soft tissues in a grave disappear within a year. However, it is influenced by several factors.

The Bases of the Estimate for Duration of Interment are:

1. Presence or absence of soft tissues still adherent to the bones.
2. Firmness and weight, brittleness, dryness of the bones.
3. The degree of erosion of the surface of the bones.
4. The changes in the clothings, coffin, and painting.

Determination of the Presence or Absence of Ante-Mortem or Post-mortem Injuries:

a. Individual bones must be examined in detail for possible fractures.
b. Importance must be laid on whether these injuries in the bones occurred during life or in
the process of exhumation. Note the presence of vital reaction, principally the signs of
repairs.

Superimposed Photography:
This is a special method of determining the person to whom the skull belongs. The
negatives of the picture of the skull and the suspected individuals are superimposed and printed.
This will show whether the contour of the skull fits the contour of the face of the suspected
person.
E. DETERMINATION OF SEX

Legal Importance of Sex Determination:

1. As an aid in identification:
Habit, social life, manner of dressing, physical features and inclination are generally dependent
on the sex. These points are useful in identification.
2. To determine whether an individual can exercise certain obligations vested by law to one sex
only:
3. Marriage or the union of a man and a woman:
Any male of the age of sixteen years or more, and any female at the age of fourteen years or
more, not under any of the impediments mentioned in articles 80 to 84, may contract marriage
(Art. 54, Civil Code).
4. Rights granted by law are different io different sexes:
Majority commences upon the attainment of the age of twenty one years (Art. 402, Civil Code).
Notwithstanding the provisions of the preceding article, a daughter above twenty-one but below
twenty-three years of age cannot leave the parental home without the consent of the father or
mother in whose company she lives, except to become a wife, or when she exercises a profession
or calling, or when the father or mother has contracted a subsequent marriage (Art. 403, Civil
Code).
5. There are certain crimes wherein a specific sex can only be the offender or victim:
a. In rape (Art. 335, Revised Penal Code), seduction (Art. 337 &
338, Revised Penal Code), abduction (Art. 342 & 343, Revised
Penal Code) or abuse against chastity (Art. 245, Revised Penal
Code) a woman is the victim.
b. In case of prostitution, the offender must be a woman:
For purposes of this article, women who, for money or profit, habitually indulge in sexual
intercourse or lascivious conduct, are deemed to be prostitutes (Art. 202, No. 5, Revised Penal
Code).
c. In adultery the offender is a married woman and in concubinage the offender is a husband.
Differences in the social role of the sexes used to be clearly marked but now they are less than
they used to be. Dress, hairstyle, general bodily shape provide an immediate and accurate answer
to the vast majority of cases.
Genital test:
The presence of penis indicates a male, its absence and the presence of a vaginal opening,
indicates a female. We may look for the testes in the scrotum and if they are absent we must not
conclude that the individual is not a male. They may be in the abdomen or inguinal canal
undescended.
3. Gonadal test:
Presence of testes in male and ovary in female. This will involve exploration of the
abdomen and in some cases a histological examination of the gonad to see whether its
microscopic structure is characteristically ovarian or testicular.
4. Chromosomal test:
Shortly after the war, Barr noticed that there was a difference between cells derived from
men and women suitably stained and examined under the microscope. The nucleus of the cells is
a densely staining area in the cell itself and Barr noticed that there was a small part of nucleus
which stained deeply than the rest in woman's cells but not in cells from men. He observed this
in white cells from the blood and cells obtained by scraping the mucous membrane of the mouth.
This is called Barr bodies. (Medico-Legal Journal, Part 3, Vol. 40, p. 79).

Problems in Sex Determination:

Sex determination may be possible and can scientifically be distinguished on account of
the biological structure differences; however, in the following instances there will be no way to
determine the sex:
1. Gonadal agenesis — Sex organs (testes or ovaries) have never developed.
2. True hermaphrodism — A state of bisexuality. The gonads of both sexes are present which
may be separated or combined as ovotestis.

Evidences of Sex:
1. Presumptive evidences:
a. General features and contour of the face.
b. Presence or absence of hair in some parts of the body.
c. Length of the scalp hair. Generally, the female has long hair in the scalp than that of the male.
d. Clothes and other wearing apparel, but not in a transvestite.

Transvestism is a form of sexual deviation characterized by an overwhelming desire to

assume the attire and be accepted as a member of the opposite sex.
e. Figure — Females have prominent pelvis, while those of the males are slender.

g. Voice and manner of speech.

Evidence of Sex in Mutilated or Decomposed Body:

1. General physical and muscular development.
2. Hairiness of the scalp, face, chest, pubes and other parts of the body.
3. Prominence of the Adam's apple.
4. Amount of subcutaneous fat in specific parts of the body.
5. Presence of linea albicantes, enlarged nipple, cutex in fingernails and lipstick or coloring
materials.
6. Presence of prostate gland in male or uterus and ovary in female.
If in doubt, a microscopic examination must be made on the suspicious ovarian or testicular
tissue.

F. DETERMINATION OF AGE ^
Legal Importance of Determination of Age:
As an aid to identification:
Mention of the age of the wanted or missing person will create an impression of the
physical characteristics, social life and psychic and mental behavior of that person. Although it
may only be presumptive, it may be useful in identification.
Determination of criminal liability:
Art. 12, Revised Penal Code — Circumstances which exempt from criminal liability — The
following are exempted from criminal liability:
1.
2. A person under nine years of age.
3. A person over nine years of age and under fifteen, unless he has acted with discernment, in
which case, such minor, shall be proceeded against in accordance with the provisions of article
80 of this code.

Determination of right of suffrage:

Suffrage shall be exercised by citizens of the Philippines not otherwise disqualified by
law, who are eighteen years of age or over, and who shall have resided in the Philippines for at
least one year and in the place wherein they propose to vote for at least six months preceding the
election. No literacy, property, or other substantive requirement shall be imposed on the exercise
of suffrage. The Batasan Pambansa shall provide a system for the purpose of securing the
secrecy and sanctity of the vote (Art. VI, Sec. 1, Philippine Constitution as amended in 1984).

Determination whether a person can exercise civil rights:

Majority commences upon the attainment of the age of twenty one years.

The person who has reached majority is qualified for all acts of civil life, save the
exceptions established by this Code in special cases. (Art. 402, Civil Code).

Determination of the capacity to contract marriage:

Any male of the age of sixteen years or upwards, and any female of the age of fourteen
years or upwards, not under any of the impediments mentioned in articles 80 to 84 may contract
marriage (Art. 54, Civil Code).

As a requisite to certain crimes:

Rape — Rape is committed by having carnal knowledge of a woman under any of the following
circumstances:
1. By using force or intimidation;
2. When the woman is deprived of reason or otherwise unconscious; and
3. When the woman is under/twelve years of agej even though neither of the
circumstanceTm^ntioned in the two preceding paragraphs shall be present (Art. 335, Revised
Penal Code).

Infanticide — The penalty provided for parricide in article 246 and for murder in article 248 shall
be imposed upon any person who shall kill any child less than three days of age (Art. 255,
Revised Penal Code).

Seductions:
Qualified seduction — The seduction of a virgin over twelve years and under eighteen years of
age, committed by any person in public authority, priests, house-servant, domestic, guardian,
teacher, or any person who, in any capacity, shall be entrusted with the education or custody of
the woman seduced, shall be punished by prision correccional in its minimum and medium
periods (Art. 337, Revised Penal Code).
Simple seduction — The seduction of a woman who is single or a widow of good reputation, over
twelve but under eighteen years of age, committed by means of deceit, shall be punished by
arresto mayor (Art. 338, Revised Penal Code.
d. Consented abduction — The abduction of a woman victim over twelve and under eighteen
years of age, carried out with her consent and with lewd designs shall be punished by the penalty
of prision correccional in its minimum and medium period (Art. 343, Revised Penal Code).

Determination of the cause of death:

The amount of blood or blood stains found in the scene of the crime or found inside the body of
the deceased outside the blood vessels may imply that the cause of death of the person is
hemorrhage.

Determination of the direction of^ escape of the victim or the assailant:

The shape of the blood or blood stains will give the investigator an idea on the direction of the
source of blood. Usually, in small drops, the tapering end of the blood spot is towards the
direction of the moving source of blood.

Determination of the approximate time the crime was committed:

Although there are variations as to the color and soluble changes as to regards the age of the
stain, we can only say that when there is too much change, it is not very recent.

PRELIMINARY OR GROSS EXAMINATION OF THE STAIN:

1. Determine the material, make, color of the article stained.
2. Note which surface has been stained and the color of stain. Recent blood stains are dark-red.
3. Study the direction of the origin of the blood stain. The spot of blood is usually tapering
towards the direction of the source. A fall will give a splash appearance.
4. For small and discolored stains, the use of a lens or ultra-violet light may be useful.
5. Determine the amount by the degree of soaking, size and intensity of color.

PHYSICAL EXAMINATIONS:
1. Solubility test:
Recent blood shed is soluble in saline solution and imparts a bright red color.
Stains which have been exposed to air become dry; haemoglobin is transformed to meth
hemoglobin or hematin. If the stain hasbeen kept in damp places for a long time; hemoglobin is
transformed to hematin.
2. Heat test:
Solution of the blood stain when heated will impart a muddy precipitate.
3. Luminescence test:
Stains on dark fabric mixed with mud, paint, etc. emit bluishwhite luminescence in a dark room
when sprayed with one of the two solutions:
a. 3-amino-phthalic-acid-hydrazide-HCL 1 gram
Sodium peroxide 5 grams Distilled water 1,000 cc.
b. 3-amino-phthalic-acid-hydrazide-HCL 1 gram
Sodium carbonate 50 grams
Hydrogen peroxide (10 Vol.) 50 grams Distilled water 1,000 cc.
The substance responsible for the reaction is hematin. Older stains therefore react better than
new ones. Although the solutions are said not to interfere with further tests, unsprayed specimen
of the material must be kept for the serologic test. (Lyon's Medical Jurisprudence for India by
S.P.S. Greval, 1953, p. 303).
CHEMICAL EXAMINATIONS:
1. Saline extract of the blood stain plus ammonia will give a brownish tinge due to the formation
of alkaline hematin.
2. Benzidine test:
A piece of white filter paper is pressed firmly on the suspected stain. Benzidine reagent is
dropped on the paper, then followed by drops of active hydrogen peroxide. A positive result will
show blue color. A positive result is not conclusive, because an oxidizing agent will give a
positive blue color reaction. Benzidine test has the sensitivity up to 1:300,000 dilution.
Benzidine reagent:
Benzidine sulphate is dissolved in glacial acetic acid to form 10% solution.
3. Guaiacum test (Van Deen's Dyas' or Schombein's Test):
To a white filter paper pressed and rubbed on the surface of the stain, the solution of the
alcoholic tincture of guaiacum is added and then hydrogen peroxide or ozonic ether is applied by
drops.
If blood is present, a blue color is imparted by the mixture. It is not conclusive like the benzidine
test because potato skin, iron rust, cheese, blue and indigo may give a positive reaction to the
test. The guaiacum test is positive up to 1:5,000 dilution.
4. Phenolphthalein test (Kastle-Meyer Test):
A drop of the Kastle-Meyer's reagent is dropped on a white filter paper with the stain and left for
at least ten seconds. A positive result will show a pink color after the addition of hydrogen
peroxide. This test is not conclusive but sensitive up to
1:80,000,000 dilution. This test proves only the presence of peroxidase.
Kastle-Meyer's reagent:
5. Leucomalachite Green test:
This test which was recommended by Adler in 1904 is quite useful, but it is not so sensitive as
the benzidine test. It depends upon the fact that leucomalachite green is oxidized to malachite
green with a bluish-green or peacock-blue color by hydrogen peroxide solution. The reaction
occurs also with a solution of the blood pigment previously boiled. On the other hand, the
reaction is negative when iron is removed from haemoglobin forming hematoporphyrin.

MICROSCOPIC EXAMINATIONS:
Saline extract of the stain is examined under the microscope.
Note the presence of red blood cells, leucocytes, epithelial cells and microorganisms. The
presence of red blood cells will conclusively show that the stain is blood. By microscopic
examination, we can differentiate the origin or the part of the body it came from. Menstrual
blood will show abundance of vaginal epithelial cells and Doederlein's bacilli.

MICRO-CHEMICAL TESTS:
1. Hemochromogen crystal or Tokayama test:
A fragment of the suspected material is placed on a slide glass and a drop of hemochromogen
reagent is added. A cover glass is placed on top and heated gradually for a time, then examined
under the microscope. Crystals varying from salmon color to dark brown and pink and which are
irregular rhomboids or in clusters, may be seen. This test is positive to any substance containing
hemoglobin.
2. Teichmann's blood crystals or Hemin crystals test:
On the microscopic slide is placed fragments of the stain and a drop of water with trace of
sodium chloride added. Add glacial acetic acid and evaporate to dryness under a cover slip. Dark
Drown rhombic prisms of chloride of hematin are formed. This is considered as the best of the
micro-chemical test.
3. Acetone-haemin of Wagenhaar test:
A particle of dried stain or a fiber of the stained fabric is placed on a glass slide and covered with
a cover slip with a needle interposed to prevent direct contact of the cover slip with the slide.
A drop of acetone is run under the cover slip so that the material is surrounded and a drop of
diluted oxalic or acetic acid is then added. When examined under high power microscope, small
dark, dichroic acicular crystals of acetone-haemin are seen.

SPECTROSCOPIC EXAMINATIONS:
This examination depends on the principle that blood pigments have the power to absorb
light of certain wave length and produce certain characteristic absorption bands on the spectrum.
By means of the spectroscope we can determine the presence of the following substances:
1. From fresh blood stains:
a. Oxyhemoglobin
b. Hemoglobin
c. Reduced hematin or hemochrogen
2. From older stains:
a. Methemoglobin
b. Alkaline hematin
c. Hematoporphyrin
d. Reduced hematin
3. Other blood preparations:
a. Acid hematin
b. Alkaline hematin
c. Carboxyhemogiobin
d. Hematin

BIOLOGIC EXAMINATIONS:
1. Precipitin test:
This test is to determine whether the blood is of human origin or not.
Principle of the test:
By injecting an animal, usually, a rabbit, with defibrinated blood of unrelated animal, an anti-
serum is produced in the blood of the animal injected. The serum of this animal injected is
capable specifically of precipitating the serum of the unrelated animal whose blood serum has
been injected. However, closely related animals may also give the same response.
Preparation of the anti-human serum:
A dose of 1.5 cc. to 2.0 cc. per kilogram body weight of human defibrinated blood is
injected intravenously in the marginal vein of the rabbit's ear. The dose is then repeated every
third day with three or five injections. The titre of the rabbit serum is tested with the human
serim. If the anti-human rabbit serum has sufficient power to produce a ring of haziness at the
junction of the two sera, then the titre is sufficient for the examination of the unknown.
 Some biologists prefer combined intravenous and intraperitoneal injection of the serum
but the result is the same.
If the titre is sufficiently strong the rabbit is bled to death and the serum is oollected for the
examination of the unknown.

Substances responsible for a false negative reaction:

a. Mineral acids
b. Corrosive sublimate
c. Chloride of lime
d. Sulfate of copper and iron
e. Bisulphide of carbon and sodium
f. Nitrate of silver
g. Thymol
h. Permanganate of potassium

Value of the precipitin test:

If positive result is obtained, we can tell in a more or less conclusive way that the blood
stain is of human origin; although anthropoid ape may give the same result.
The same test and technique may be made to determine whether muscles, secretions,
bones and other body fluids are of human origin or not.
Certain materials like alcohol, formaldehyde, corrosive sublimate,
lysol, creoline, carbolic acid, acids and alkalies destroy the property of blood to react with
precipitin.

2. Blood grouping:

Principle of the test:

All human beings have their blood belonging to any of the four principal blood groups. A
normal suspension of human red blood cells when mixed with its own serum or serum of a
similar group will make the red blood cells suspension remain even. But if suspended in the
serum of another group, the red blood cells clump with one another and this is called
agglutination. The red blood cells contain agglutinogens and the serum contains agglutinins.

Grouping is true not only with blood but also with other fluids of the body like saliva,
vaginal secretion, seminal fluid, milk, urine and others.
Age of the Blood Stains:
When blood is exposed to the atmosphere or some other influences, its hemoglobin is
converted to meth-hemoglobin or hematin.
The color is changed from red to reddish-brown. The presence of acid accelerates the
formation of hematin. These changes take place in warm weather within 24 hours. Blood of one
week old and that of six weeks may not present a difference in physical and chemical properties.

Differential Characteristics of Blood from Different Sources:

1. Arterial Blood:
a. Bright scarlet in color.
b. Leaves the blood vessel with pressure.
c. High oxygen contents.
2. Venous Blood:
a. Dark red in color.
b. Does not spill far from the wound.
c. Low oxygen content.
3. Menstrual Blood:
a. Does not clot.
b. Acidic in reaction owing to mixture with vaginal mucous.
c. On microscopic examination, there are vaginal epithelial cells.
d. Contains large number of Deoderlein's bacillus.
4. Man's or Woman's Blood:
There is no method differentiating a man's blood from a woman's blood. Probably, the
presence of sex hormone in female blood may be a point of differentiation.
5. Child's Blood:
a. At birth, it is thin and soft compared with that of adult.
b. Red blood cells are nucleated and exhibit greater fragility.
c. Red blood cells count more than in adult.

H. IDENTIFICATION OF HAIR AND FIBERS

How the Hair and Fibers Change Color:
1. Addition of a substance that will coat the outer surface of the hair so as to impart a different
color.
Example: Salts of bismuth, lead, silver and pyrogallic acid.
2. Addition of substances which bleach or change the natural
color of the fiber or hair.
Example: Hydrogen peroxide, chlorine and diluted nitric acid.
Characteristics of the Different Kinds of Fibers:
1. Cotton Fibers:
Flattened, twisted fibers with thickened edges. Irregularly granulated cuticle. No
transverse markings. Fibers show spiral twist. Fibers swell in a solution of copper sulphate and
sodium carbonate dissolved in ammonia. It is insoluble in strong sodium hydroxide but soluble
in strong sulfuric acid and partially dissolved in hot strong hydrochloric acid.
2. Flax Fibers:
Apex tapering to fine point. Transverse sections are polygonal and show a small cavity.
The fibers consist of cellulose and give blue or bluish-red color
when treated with a weak solution of potassium iodide saturated in iodine and sulfuric acid.
The fibers which show transverse lines and are usually seen in group formation, dissolve in a
solution composed of copper sulphate and sodium carbonate in ammonia.
3. Hemp Fibers:
Fibers show transverse lines and consist of cellulose.
Large oval cavities are seen in transverse sections. The end is usually blunt, and there is often a
tuft of hair at the knots. Stains are bluish-red with phloroglucin, and yellow with both aniline
sulphate and weak solution of potassium iodide saturated in iodine with sulfuric acid.
4. Abaca Fibers:
Fibers are smooth without transverse or longitudinal markings.
The cavities are large and uniform.
 The walls are lignified.
The tips are fine points.
5. Jute Fibers:
Fibers are quite smooth without either longitudinal or transverse markings.

The fibers have typical large cavities which are not uniform but vary with the degree of
contraction of the walls of the fibers which are lignified.
The ends are blunt.
The fibers are stained red with phloroglucin and yellow with aniline sulphate, also with
iodine and sulfuric acid.
6. Wool Fibers:
These fibers can easily be distinguished from vegetable fibers since the former show an
outer layer of flattened cells and imbricated margins.
The interiors are composed of fibrous tissues but sometimes the medulla is present.
They do not dissolve in a solution composed of copper sulphate, sodium carbonate and
ammonia.
Stain is yellow with iodine and sulfuric acid and also with picric acid.
Do not dissolve in sulfuric acid.
Smell of singeing on burning.
7. Silk Fibers:
Manufactured silk is almost structureless, microscopically.
Fibers stain is brown with iodine and sulfuric acid and yellow with picric acid.
They dissolve slowly in a mixture of copper sulphate, sodium carbonate and ammonia.
8. Linen Fibers:
Fibers are straight and tapering to a point.
Cortical area shows transverse lines which frequently intersects, simulating a jointed
appearance.
The medullary region shows a thin dense line.
They do not dissolve in concentrated sulfuric acid.
If placed in 1% alcoholic solution of fuchsin and then in a solution of ammonium
hydroxide, they assume a bright red color (Medical Jurisprudence and Toxicology by Glaister,
8th ed„ P. 110).

The Vegetable and Animal Fibers may be Differentiated as Follows:

1. Ignition test:
a. Animal fibers — Burn and fuse; smell of burnt hair, fused and globular; fume turns red litmus
to blue.
b. Vegetable fibers — Rapid combustion, end charred and break sharply; smell of burning wood;
vapour turns blue litmus to red.

2. Chemical tests: Use of concentrated nitric acid:

a. Animal fibers — Turn yellow.
b. Vegetable fibers — No change in color.
3. Picric acid test:
a. Wool and silk — Yellow.
b. Cellulose — No change.
4. Millon's Reagent test:
a. Wool and silk — Turn brown.
b. Cellulose fibers — Turn black.
5. Soaked in tannic acid:
a. Wool and silk — No change.
b. Cellulose fibers — Black.
6. Heated with 10% NaOH:
a. Wool and silk — Dissolve.
b. Cellulose — Not affected.
Once the fibers are found to be of animal origin, the next step is the examination to determine
whether these fibers are human hair or hair of other animals:

Parts of the Hair:

1. Cuticle — The outer layer of the hair.
2. Cortex or middle layer — Consists of longitudinal fibers bearing the pigment.
3. Medulla or core — Contains air bubbles and some pigments.
Differences Between Hair Forcibly Extracted and Naturally Shed Hair:
If a hair-root has been extracted forcibly, the bulb is irregular in form due to rupture of the sheath
and shows an undulating surface, together with excrescences of different shapes and sizes. A
naturally shed bulb has a rounded extremity, a smooth surface, and most probably show signs of
atrophic or fatty degeneration, especially in an elderly person (Medical Jurisprudence and
Toxicology by Glaister, 8th ed., p. 99)

Other Points in the Identification of Hair:

1. Characteristics of the hair:
Hair on body surfaces is fine while those from the beard,
mustache and scalp are very thick.
Hair from the eyebrows and lashes is tapering gradually to fine points.
2. Length of the hair:
Hair from the scalp grows 2.5 cms. a month.
Beard hair grows at the rate of 0.4 millimeter a day.
3. Color of the hair:
The color of the hair may be black, blonde or brunette.
Hair from older persons may be white or gray.
The hair may be artificially colored by bismuth, lead or silver salts. It may be bleached by
addition of hydrogen peroxide, chlorine or diluted hydrochloric or nitric acid.
How to detect presence of coloring or bleaching material in hair:
a. Examination of hair may show pigments at nodes.
b. The new portion of the hair recently grown has a different color from the treated part.
c. The hair in other parts of the body may not correspond in color.
d. The scalp may be dyed.
e. The texture of the hair may be altered.
4. Does the Hair Belong to a Male or a Female?
In many instances it is quite impossible to state the sex from the hair, but certain points may be
worthy of mention: Hair on the scalp of male are shorter, thicker and more wiry than that of
female's.
Eyebrow hair of a male is generally long and more wiry than that of a female's.
(From: Recent Advances in Forensic Medicine by Sydney Smith and Glaister, p. 121).

Estimations of Age Based on the Hair:

This is quite difficult and the examiner hesitates in giving his opinion. However, there are some
points of distinction:
Hair of children are fine, short, deficient of pigments and, as a rule, devoid of medulla.
At the adolescent age, hair may appear at the pubis. Hair on the scalp becomes long, wiry, and
thick.
In the case of older persons, the color is usually white or gray, with marked absorption of
pigments and degenerative changes.