Legal chemistry and scientific criminal investigation / by A. Lucas.

  • Alfred Lucas
Date:
1920
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Legal chemistry and scientific criminal investigation / by A. Lucas. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    16/200 (page 4)
    At this stage the package should not as a rule be opened but, whenever it is opened, this should be done by the expert himself. It is convenient to keep one general register in which the particulars enumerated above are recorded and in which all articles received are entered in order of date, each being given a special number, the numbers being consecutive in any one year. The serial number of the article and the year should be marked on the outside of the package. When the expert himself takes the samples, particulars should be written on each at the time and full and exact notes made as to when and how and under what circumstances they were taken and, immediately on arrival at the laboratory, they should be registered and numbered in the usual mariner. If a large number of articles of any one kind are being con- stantly received it will be found convenient to have more than one general register, though it will rarely, if ever, be necessary to have more than two, one for the class of articles that predominates and a second for miscellaneous cases. In addition to the general register or registers, however, a series of abstracts, one for each kind of article, in which the results of the analyses are summarized, will be found useful. These are for quick reference to the details of the cases. In the Poisons abstract, for example, there would be a separate page for each kind of poison found and another for cases where the results were negative and, under each heading, the cases would be entered in numerical order, with details in tabular form showing the nature of the article analysed and the amount of poison present. In the Counter- feit Coin abstract, such particulars as the denomination of the coin, the year, weight, specific gravity, composition and whether struck or cast, would be given in tabular form. Thus at a glance the number of cases of any particular kind and the details of each case can be seen. With regard to the reports, an exact copy of each must be kept and, as these are frequently too lengthy to be conveniently transcribed into a register, it is generally best to keep typed copies in separate files according to the nature of the case, though a brief summary in the general register will be found useful. The general register should also show the number and page