History of Hair and Fiber Analysis

Hair Analysis History

- The importance of examining a hair or fiber was recognized in the early stages of forensic science.

 - In France, 1857, one of the first forensic science reports was published involving the scientific study of hair. This introduced the idea of hair and fiber analysis.

Hair under a microscope

 - The field expanded rapidly after microscopic hair examination became known in the early 20th century.

- Professor John Glaister's "Hairs of Mammalia from the Medico-legal Aspect," was published in 1931 and became a renowned and widely used resource for hair analysis information.

John Glaister examining his hair collection

 - In 1977, John Hick's "Microscopy of Hairs: A Practical Guide and Manual" laid out the groundwork for the use of hair evidence by the forensic examiner. This established the relevance of hair and fiber analysis in the crime field.

 - Forensic hair analysis has played a major role in courts since it the beginning of the 1900s. The academic and scientific world had to see hair analysis as an established science.

Hair evidence is iniatated into courts

- Publications made by John Glaister and later, John Hicks, confirmed the accuracy and validity of hair science. Microscopic hair and fiber comparison help to convict felons who could otherwise go free, and also overturn wrongful convictions.

Where criminals end up when hair
evidence is analyzed properly

Fiber Analysis History

- Fibers are considered a form of trace evidence that is often transferred from the clothing of a suspect to the clothing of a victim during a crime.

 Fiber left in carpet

- Textile fibers can also be transferred from rugs or blankets by contact between two individuals, between an individual and an object, or between two objects.

 - Analysis of fibers that are found on a victim will involve determining the types of fibers present at the scene.

Fibers can be analyzed under a microscope to help identify
various characteristics that can lead to positive identification

- Fibers found throughout the crime scene will not be as significant as a fiber found on a victim (that is not present anywhere else at the scene). This is because if a similar fiber is found on a suspect, it can be a powerful piece of evidence linking the suspect to the crime.

 - French scientist Edmond Locard discovered that people constantly pick up and transfer bits of dust, hair, fibers and other "trace" material without being conscious of it. Locard realized that these material exchanges were key to analyzing a crime scene, and the "Locard Exchange Principle" became the foundation of forensic science in the early 1900s.

Biography on Edmond Locard and
his "Locard Exchange Principle"

 - German pathologist Rudolf Virchow showed that hairs were not unique enough to positively match a suspect to a victim.

Rudolf Virchow

 - In the United States, Paul L. Kirk established the fundamentals of microscopic hair analysis used by scientists today. His textbook, "Crime Investigation," is still an important text in criminal investigation.

Paul L. Kirk