the
other and the relative amount of the two contributions to the joint
signature be stated?

This is a question which is naturally asked during the trial of a case
involving the consideration of a guided hand. From the comparatively
small number of experiments made in this direction it would be too
hazardous to answer it in the affirmative, but it may be said that
some of the characteristics of each hand can usually be made apparent
by the system of measurement, and the indications seem to point to the
probability of being able to increase the number of characteristics
elicited in proportion to the number of observations made. If the
significance of every part of every stroke could be properly
interpreted, it follows that a complete separation of characteristics
would be effected, but this would require an indefinitely large number
of observations to be made and a quite unattainable skill in
explaining them.

See specimens of guided signatures in Appendix.

CHAPTER XVI

TALES TOLD BY HANDWRITING

Telling the Nationality, Sex and Age of Anyone Who Executes
Handwriting--Americans and Their Style of Writing--How English,
German, and French Write--Gobert the French Expert and How He Saved
Dreyfus--Miser Paine and His Millions Saved by an Expert--Writing
with Invisible Ink--Professor Braylant's Secret Writing Without
Ink--Professor Gross Discovers a Simple Secret Writing Method With a
Piece of Pointed Hardwood--A System Extensively Used--Studying the
Handwriting of Authors--How to Determine a Person's Character and
Disposition by Handwriting.

It is possible for a trained expert in handwriting to tell with a fair
degree of accuracy the nationality, sex, and age of any one who
executes writing of any kind. A study of the handwriting of the
different nations makes it comparatively easy to recognize in any
questioned specimen the nationality of the writer. The aggregate
characteristics of a nation are reflected in the style of handwriting
adopted as a national standard. The style most in use in the United
States is the semi-angular, forward-slant hand, although the vertical
round-hand is now being largely taught in the public schools and will
affect the appearance of the writing of the next generation quite
appreciably.

Frequently educational and newspaper critics compare unfavorably
American writing with that of other nations. The writer has
investigated the subject by collecting from many countries copy-