[...]... devoted to highly technical examinations by skilled specialists Forensic odontology and anthropology are ©1997 CRC Press LLC relatively recent forensic specialties, although there were isolated instances of their forensic application in the past Education in the various fields of the forensic sciences varies from on-the-job training in bench work in a small law enforcement department’s crime laboratory to. .. with various means of documentation by photography, which he developed to a fine science for criminalistics when he photographed crime scenes and formulated a technique of contact photography to demonstrate erasing on documents He employed casting techniques for tool marks and used comparison methods to establish the identity of tools In 1902, he contributed to the “latent print technique” by utilizing... was created in 1877 Its purposes were to elevate the status of the medical examiner’s office to assist him in the discharge of his duties, to collect and utilize such facts as have medicolegal value, to excite a ©1997 CRC Press LLC general interest in the subject of forensic medicine, and to promote its successful cultivation Every member was required to forward to the corresponding secretary a full... accidents has brought into the picture those who develop and apply engineering principles to the solution of the cause of accidents Thus, forensic engineering has been added to the other areas of the forensic sciences Biology The examination of plant life, insects, soil, trees, dirt, seeds, and pollen, as well as blood analysis, can be a means of developing new resources to a forensic investigation... and circumference of bullets and tool marks and also used ultraviolet light experimentally in forensic medicine Carl Popp, a commercial chemist in Germany, developed an interest in the forensic application of chemistry as well as serologic and toxicologic examinations He further identified fingerprints and applied photography to forensic fields He was one of the first to analyze debris for evidence in... pathologist, some of whom later became active in the forensic sciences on a full time basis One of the earliest applied forensic sciences was photography It was used as early as 1859 to demonstrate evidence in a California case Enlarged photographs of signatures were commonly presented in court cases involving forgery Crime-scene documentation also used photography Firearms examination was primarily nonscientific... documents, forensic odontology, ©1997 CRC Press LLC anthropology, jurisprudence, psychiatry, and a general section Other sections are developing in such fields as engineering, geology, and microscopy Special Areas of the Forensic Sciences Pathology The discipline of forensic pathology is a specialty of medicine and a subspecialty of pathology It was developed to study the problems related to unnatural... year of special training in forensic pathology and special certification for pathologists already board certified in general pathology Specialized education for forensic pathologists has been available for less than 30 years Certification is the final acknowledgment of training and experience This has only recently been achieved in forensic toxicology, forensic odontology, and forensic psychiatry through... came to his death.” 3 The duties of a coroner in Maryland were defined as follows: 3 “Upon notice or suspicion of any person that hath or shall come to his or her death entirely within the limits of that hundred as you conveniently may to view the dead body and to charge the said persons with an oath truly to inquire and true verdict to grant how the person viewed came upon his or her death according to. .. appointed to assist him The abstract of the autopsy published in the minutes of the Provincial Council dated July 30, 1691, reads: The Doctors and Chirurgeons appointed to view the late Governours Body, pursueant to the order of this board returned under their hands and seales, that the late Gouvernour dyed of a defect of his blood and lungs occasioned by some glutinous tough humor in the blood which stopped . Editor Contributors Acknowledgments 1 Introduction to Forensic Sciences WILLIAM G. ECKERT 2 Historical Development of Forensic Sciences WILLIAM G. ECKERT 3 The Role of the Forensic. G. Introduction to forensic sciences, second editon/ William G. Eckert Originally published: New York: Elsevier, 1992 Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-8493-8101-0 1. Forensic.