he soon tires of mere mechanical repetition of
the same things in a given sequence, and strives to convey some
ulterior idea by the manner of joining these parts. This gives life
and language to sculpture and painting, and gives character to
handwriting. Tracing signatures is one of the most common and
dangerous methods of forgery. Some specimens of traced signatures are
illustrated and explained in an Appendix at the end of this book.

CHAPTER III

HOW FORGERS REPRODUCE SIGNATURES

Characteristics Appearing in Forged Signatures--Conclusions Reached by
Careful Examinations--Signatures Written with Little Effort to
Imitate--What a Clever Forger Can Do--Most Common Forgeries of
Signatures--Reproducing a Signature over a Plate of Glass--A Window
Frame Scheme for Reproducing Signatures--How the Paper is Held and
the Ink Applied--How a Genuine Signature is Placed and Used--A
Forger's Process of Tracing a Signature--How to Detect Ear Marks
of Fraud in a Reproduced Signature--Prominent Features of
Signatures Reproduced--Method Resorted to by Novices in Forging
Signatures--Conditions Appearing in All Traced Signatures--Reproduction
of Signatures Adopted by Expert Forgers--Making a Lead-Pencil Copy of a
Signature--Erasing Pencil Signatures Always Discoverable by the Aid of
a Microscope--Appearances and Conditions in Traced Signatures--How to
Tell a Traced Signature--All the Details Employed to Reproduce a
Signature Given--Features in Which Forgers are Careless--Handling of
the Pen Often Leads to Detection--A Noted Characteristic of Reproduced
Signatures--Want of Proportion in Writing Names Should Be
Studied--Rules to Be Followed in Examining Signatures--System Employed
by Experts in Studying Proof of Reproduced Signatures--Bankers and
Business Men Should Avoid Careless Signatures.

In detailing matters which experience suggests as importantly
connected with the examination of disputed signatures, there are none
more essential to a proper consideration of the subject than an
understanding of those characteristics often appearing in forged
signatures, and by which they are distinguished as such. When the
features occurring as a concomitant of most forgeries are understood,
their appearance may suggest a short and easy route to reach a
conclusion: yet the careful and conscientious examiner will, even with
these indications present in a disputed signature, institute a very
careful and detailed study of the latter by com