EXAMINATION OF BLOOD STAINS.
This branch of legal chemistry formerly gave but very unreliable results. It is scarcely ten years since the reactions that are now regarded as only secondary and confirmative in their character, and far from conclusive, were the only ones in use: these are the tests based upon the presence of iron and albumen in the blood. Since then, great progress has been made in the methods employed. It must not be understood, however, that the question under consideration always admits of an easy and decisive solution: the stains are sometimes too greatly altered to be identified; but in cases where the distinctive reactions of blood can be produced, the real nature of the stains under examination can, at present, be determined with certainty.
Fig. 21.
Fig. 22.
The tests more recently introduced consist in the production of small characteristic crystals, termed haemin crystals, and in the use of the spectroscope. Crystals of haemin (first discovered by Teichman) are formed when dry blood is dissolved in concentrated acetic acid, and the solution evaporated to dryness: they are of a brownish-red color. Brücke first suggested an analytical method, based upon this property of blood, which is equally characteristic and sensitive: It is only necessary to dissolve a minute portion of the matter to be examined (dried blood, or the residue left by the evaporation of the fluid obtained by treating the stain, or the dried blood, with cold water) in glacial acetic acid and evaporate the solution to dryness in order to obtain crystals of haemin, which can be readily recognized by means of a microscope having a magnifying power of 300 diameters. If the crystals originate from fresh blood, they appear as represented in Fig. 21; crystals from old blood are represented in Fig. 22.
The former possess a reddish-brown, the latter a lighter color.
The various methods now employed to produce haemin crystals were proposed by Hoppe-Seyler, by Brücke and by Erdman. Whichever process is used, the suspected stains are at first carefully separated from the material upon which they are deposited. If they are present on linen, or other fabrics, the stained portions, which always remain somewhat stiff, are cut off: they will present a reddish-brown color, in case the cloth is not dyed: if the stains are on wood, they are removed by means of a sharp knife; if on stone or iron, they are detached by scraping.
In case Hoppe-Seyler's method is used, the stains, separated as directed above, are macerated with a little cold water (warm water would coagulate the albumen present, and consequently prevent solution taking place): the stains become soft, striae and brown or reddish clouds are observed, especially when the dried blood is fresh, and, at the same time, the objects upon which the stains were deposited are decolorized. Upon allowing the fluid obtained in this way to spontaneously evaporate on a watch-glass, a reddish brown or brownish residue is left, from which the crystals of haemin are prepared in the following manner: An almost imperceptible amount of common salt is added to the residue, then, six to eight drops of concentrated acetic acid, and the mass thoroughly mixed by stirring with a small glass rod. The mixture is at first heated over a small gas flame, then evaporated to dryness by the heat of a water-bath. If the stains were produced by blood, a microscopic examination of the residue will reveal the presence of haemin crystals. This method presents an objection: if the stained objects have been washed with warm water previously to the examination, the albumen will be coagulated, and the blood rendered insoluble; in this case, cold water will fail to dissolve anything, and the residue will not produce crystals when treated with acetic acid.
In order to remedy this difficulty Brücke operates directly upon the stained woven or ligneous fibre, or the matter removed from the stone or iron: The materials are boiled in a test-tube with glacial acetic acid, the fluid decanted or filtered, a trace of common salt added, and the liquid then evaporated on a watch-glass at a temperature between 40 and 80°. If the stains really originated from blood, haemin crystals will now be easily perceptible upon examining the residue obtained under the microscope.
The stained fabric, the matter removed from the stone or iron, or the residue left by the solution with which the stains have been treated, is placed on the glass, a trace of chloride of sodium added, and the whole covered with a thin glass plate. A drop of acetic acid is then placed at the edge of the plates—between which it is soon introduced by capillary attraction—and the mixture allowed to rest in the cold for a few moments. The mass is next brought into solution by slightly heating, and is then evaporated by holding the plate at a considerable distance above a gas burner. The fluid is examined from time to time under the microscope: when it is sufficiently concentrated, crystals, presenting the appearance represented in Figs. 21 or 22, will be observed. These are especially well-defined, if an insoluble substance is also present between the plates—which prevents their adhering. The fluid collects by capillary attraction at the points of contact of the plates as a more or less colored layer, in which the crystals are deposited.
Should the above test fail to present distinctive indications at first, one or two fresh drops of acetic acid are introduced between the plates, and the examination is repeated. The result is not to be regarded as negative, until several trials have proved fruitless, as the stained portions are but slowly soluble, and crystallization may have been prevented by the too rapid evaporation of the acetic solution.
Haemin crystals, once seen, can hardly be confounded with other substances; still, it is well to identify them by confirming their insolubility in water, alcohol, and cold acetic acid, as well as their instantaneous solubility in soda lye.
The addition of common salt is ordinarily superfluous, as it is normally contained in the blood; but it is possible, if the stains were washed with warm water, that, in addition to the coagulation of the albumen, the solution of the salt may have taken place, in which case crystals will fail to form. The addition of salt is to remedy this possible contingency; albeit, the delicacy of the test is not affected, even if crystals of chloride of sodium are produced, as these are easily soluble in water, and are readily distinguished from those of haemin by aid of the microscope.
The indications furnished by means of the spectroscope are less reliable than those given by the production of haemin crystals; moreover, the spectroscopic examination requires favorable weather for its execution. Still, the test should be employed in all possible instances. The course pursued is the following:
The aqueous fluid, with which the stains have been treated, is placed in a watch glass, and evaporated in vacuo over sulphuric acid; the last remaining portion of the fluid being united in the bottom of the glass by causing it to collect in a single drop. When the evaporation of fluid is completed, the watch-glass is placed before the narrowed slit of a spectroscope, and a ray of diffused light (or better, light reflected from a heliostat) made to pass through the part of the glass containing the residue. If the stains originate from blood, the absorption lines of haemoglobin, consisting of two large dark bands, to the right of the sodium line (Frauenhofer's line D), will be observed in the spectrum. In case both of the above tests fail to give positive results, it is almost certain that the stains examined were not caused by blood. If, on the contrary, the reactions were produced, scarcely any doubt exists as to the presence of blood. Under these circumstances it is advisable to confirm the results by means of the tests that have been previously spoken of as being formerly exclusively employed; these are the following:
a. 1/2 to 1 c. c. of ozonized oil of turpentine, i. e. turpentine which has been exposed to the air sufficiently long to acquire the property of decolorizing water that is slightly tinted with indigo—is introduced in a test-tube, and an equal volume of tincture of guaiacum added (the latter tincture is prepared by treating an inner portion of the resin with alcohol, until its brownish color is changed to a brownish-yellow).
If upon adding some of the substance under examination to the above mixture a clear blue coloration ensues, and the insoluble matter thrown down possesses a deep blue color, the presence of coloring matter of the blood is indicated. The mixture also imparts a blue color to moistened spots from which the blood stains have been as completely extracted as possible. Unfortunately sulphate of iron gives the same reaction.[X]
b. Upon heating the fluid obtained by treating the stains with cold water in a test-tube, its brown or reddish color disappears, and greyish-white flakes of coagulated albumen are thrown down. The precipitate acquires a brick-red color, when treated with an acid solution of nitrate of mercury containing nitrous acid. The albumen is also coagulated by the addition of nitric acid: it assumes a more or less yellow color, if heated with a slight excess of the acid. Chlorine-water, especially upon heating, likewise precipitates albumen in the form of white flakes.
c. If the fluid is acidulated with a few drops of acetic acid, and a drop of ferrocyanide of potassium added, a white precipitate, or, at least, turbidity is produced.
d. The flakes of albumen, separated by heating, dissolve in caustic alkalies to a solution, from which they are re-precipitated by nitric acid, or chlorine water.
e. Upon treating blood stains with chlorine-water, a solution which contains chloride of iron, and acquires a red coloration by the addition of sulphocyanide of potassium, is formed.
f. Should the stains have failed to be affected by cold water (which, as has already been remarked, is the case when they have been previously washed with hot water), they are treated with weak soda lye. Nitric acid, hydrochloric acid, and chlorine water will produce in the solution so obtained a white precipitate, which exhibits the general properties of albumen previously described. In case the stains are deposited upon linen, it is necessary to replace the soda by ammonia, in order to avoid dissolving the fabric.
g. Solutions of the alkalies, which dissolve the albumen, leave the coloring matters intact, and consequently do not decolorize the fabric. If the latter is afterwards subjected to the action of hydrochloric acid, the coloring matter is dissolved, forming a solution that leaves upon evaporation to dryness a residue containing iron, which gives a blue coloration with ferrocyanide of potassium, and a red coloration with sulphocyanide of potassium.
h. The coloring matter of blood dissolves in boiling alcohol, to which sulphuric acid has been added, to a brown dichroic fluid (appearing green by transmitted light, and red by reflected light). A mixture of rust and blood exhibits the same phenomenon.
i. If substances containing blood are heated in a dry tube, an odor resembling that of burnt horn is emitted. In case the stained fabric is a substance that would produce this odor, (such as wool, silk, or hair), the test naturally loses all value.
j. If the fluid obtained by treating the stains either with water or alkali is evaporated with a little carbonate of potassa, and the residue heated, at first at 100°, then to redness, in a glass tube to which a fresh quantity of carbonate of potassa has been added, cyanide of potassium is formed. When cold, the tube is cut above the part containing the fused mixture, the mass heated with iron-filings and water, the fluid filtered, and the filtrate then acidulated with hydrochloric acid: ferrocyanide of potassium will be present in the fluid, and upon adding a drop of solution of perchloride of iron a green, or blue, color will be produced, and a precipitate of Prussian blue gradually thrown down.
If the stained cloth is non-nitrogenous (per ex.: hemp, linen, or cotton), instead of treating it with water, it may be heated until pulverulent, mixed with carbonate of potassa, the mixture calcined, and the operation then completed as just described. This test having given affirmative results, the operations should be repeated with an unstained portion of the cloth, to remove all doubt that the indications obtained do not really originate from the fabric.
In the present state of science, it is impossible to discriminate chemically between human and animal blood. M. Barruel, it is true, is able, not only to accomplish this, but also to distinguish the blood of the various species of animals by its odor! But this test has a somewhat hypothetical value for scientific purposes. In regard to the crystals of haemin, they do not present sufficient difference to allow the blood of different animals to be distinguished. We have not yet treated of the globules. It often occurs that these minute organs are so altered as to be no longer recognized in the microscopic examination; when, however, the stains are tolerably recent, they may be detected by examining the moistened stained cloth, directly under the microscope: a discrimination between animal and human blood is then possible: corpuscules of human blood possess the greater size: those of the sheep, for instance, have only one-half the diameter of the former. It is, however, but seldom that this distinction can be made use of.[Y]