, drafts, and business paper generally
and how same can easily be detected. The system he recommends is now
in use in nearly every bank in Europe and the result of his work and
his recommendations should be carefully read and the system applied by
the banks and business houses of the United States, when occasion
requires.

The following article has been specially prepared for this work; and
if its recommendations are carefully carried out it will prove a sure
rule for the detection of forged and fraudulent handwriting:

"Although my experiments were not always carried on under the most
favorable circumstances, their results were eminently satisfactory and
will prove a boon to the banking and business world. A piece of paper
was handed to me for the purpose of determining if part of it had been
wet and if another part of it had been manipulated for the purpose of
erasing marks upon it; in other words, whether this part had been
rubbed. The sample I had to work upon had already gone through several
experiments. I had remarked that the tint of the paper exposed to the
vapor of iodine differs from that which this same paper assumes when
it has been wet first and dried afterwards. In addition to this I
realized that when sized and calendered paper, first partially wet and
then dried, is subjected to the action of iodine vapor, the parts
which have been wet take on a violet tint, while those which had not
been moistened became either discolored or brown. The intensity of the
coloration naturally varied according to the length of time for which
the paper was exposed to the iodine.

"There is a very striking difference also when the water is sprinkled
on the paper and the drops are left to dry off by themselves in order
not to alter the surface of the paper.

"Thorough wetting of the paper will cause the sprinkled spots to turn
a heavy violet-blue color when exposed to vapor while the parts which
are untouched by the water will become blue.

"If, after sprinkling upon a piece of paper and evaporating the drops
thereon, this piece of paper is thoroughly wet, then dried and
subjected to the action of iodine, the traces of the first drops will
remain distinguishable whether the paper is dry or not. In the latter
case the trace of the first sprinkling will hardly be distinguishable
so long as the moisture is not entirely got rid of; but as soon as
complete dryness is effected their outlines, although very faint, will
show pla