imitation has been attempted, the copyist being frequently led into an
approach to his ordinary handwriting or into an oversight of some
special characteristics of the writing he is simulating. Even minor
points do not escape the expert's critical attention. The dotting of
the i's, or crossing of the t's, curls, loops, flourishes, intervals
between words and letters, connections, characteristics of up and down
strokes are all carefully noticed.

A glass of low magnifying power will, as a rule, exhibit erasures, and
even bring to view the erased letters. In tracing, the forger
frequently fails to cover over the first outlines, which can be
plainly distinguished. The places where the pen has been put upon and
removed from the paper may sometimes be noticed, which is in itself
strong evidence of fraud.

With the aid of a microscope the character of the alterations, certain
characteristics due to age, emotion, etc., the kind of pen used and
how it was held, the nature of ink, order of writing, with regard to
time, whether produced by the right or left hand, standing or sitting,
can often be determined. Indentations made by heavy strokes or a sharp
pen, as well as those employed as guides for the signature
subsequently written, will also be brought into prominence. Forged
signatures placed under the microscope have generally a patched
appearance, which results from the retracing of lines in certain
portions not occurring in genuine writing.

In case of disputed handwriting photography has also been employed to
great advantage. Of course the writing in question should, whenever
practicable, be compared with the original, photographic copies being
looked upon with disfavor and considered by most courts as secondary