UNIT 2

Big Picture B

Big Picture in Focus: ULOb. Distinguish human hairs from that of an

animal or plant fibers

Metalanguage
In this section, the most essential terms in relation to the characteristics of
human and animal hairs will be defined:

 Hair – An appendage of the skin which occurs everywhere on a human body

except on the palms of the hand and soles of feet. Generally long and stiff.
Consists of Root, Shaft and Tip.
 Fiber – Is a natural or man-made substance that is significantly longer than it is
wide. and include those produced by plants, animals, and geological processes.

Essential Knowledge
To perform the aforesaid big picture (unit learning outcome) for the three (3)
weeks of the course, you need to fully understand the following essential
knowledge that will be laid down in the succeeding pages of discussion.

HAIR IDENTIFICATION

Hair are trace evidence that could be transferred by contact of two persons
or with environment. It is possible to differentiate human hair from animal hair by
way of their structure, scale pattern and color distribution. But even among
samples of human hair, it is also possible to tell one sample apart from another by
their characteristics.

Hair – an appendage of the skin which occurs everywhere on a human body

except on the palms of the hand and soles of feet. Generally long and stiff.
Consists of Root, Shaft and Tip.

Cuticle – the outmost covering of hair and consists of one layer of non-nucleated
polygonal cells which overlap like the scales of a fish; the free edges of the cells
are directed toward the distal end of the hair.

Cortex – the intermediate and thickest layer of the shaft, and is composed of
elongated, spindle-shaped fibrils; they contain pigment granules in varying
proportion s depending on a type of the hair.

Medulla – the central canal of the hair; it may be empty or may contain various
sorts of cells, more or less pigmented.
 Continuous Medulla – found in a large number of animals.
 Interrupted Medulla – very often in humans, monkeys, and horses.

Melanin – a natural pigment found in the cortex which produces the color in the
hair where the natural hair color depends on its amount and distribution in the
cortex.

Micrometer – an instrument attached to microscope and is used to measure the

diameter of the hair.
Medullary Index – the ratio of the size of the medulla to the diameter of a shaft.

Human vs Animal Hair

FIBER IDENTIFICATION

Types of Fibers
a. Animal – a number of fibers are derived from animal product , the most
important being wool, silk, camel’s hair and fur.
b. Vegetable – this includes most of the expensive clothing fibers like cotton,
jute, hemp, and sisal.
c. Mineral and Synthetics – first provide useful fibers like glass wool and
asbestos which is used for safe insulation, while the latter is applied
chemistry which produced a number of fibers like rayon, nylon, orlon and
Dacron.

Types of Fibers
1. Cotton Fibers – flattened, twisted fibers with thickened edges. Irregular
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 fines and are usually
seen in group formation, dissolve in 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. Jute 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 aniline sulphate, also with iodine
and sulfuric acid.

5. 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
also with picric acid. Smell of singeing in burning.

6. Silk Fibers – Manufactured silk is almost structureless, microscopically. Fiber’s

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.

7. Linen Fibers – fibers are straight and tapering to a point. Cortical are 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 luchsin and then
 in a solution of ammonium hydroxide, they assume a bright side red color.

Vegetable vs. Animal Fibers

Please note that you are not limited to exclusively refer to this module.
Thus, you are expected to utilize other books, research articles and other
resources that are available in the university’s library e.g. ebrary,
search.proquest.com etc. and other credible internet sources.

Self-Help: You can also refer to the sources below to help you further understand
the lesson:
 Nicholas, D.J. (2008). Evidence Submission Guideline #6, Forensic Fiber and Hair
Evidence Analysis. Retrieved from https://www.crime-scene-investigator.net/forensic-
fiber-and-hair-evidence-analysis.pdf
Q & A LIST. This section allows you to list down all emerging questions or issues.
Questions or issues may be also raised in the Quipper, Facebook messenger,
email and etc. If not through online, you can write your answers in this printed
module after clarification. This Q & A portion will help you in the review of concepts
and essential knowledge

Do you have any question for clarification?

Questions/Issues Answers
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