The Detection of Forgery

ding forger runs as follows:--"He has a habit of rubbing his right thumb against the middle finger as if turning a ring. He frequently strokes his right eyebrow with right forefinger when engaged in writing; when perplexed, he bites his lower lip and clenches and unclenches his fingers."

Now there are, probably, thousands of people who do every one of these things singly, but the chances are millions to one against there being two people who do them all as described in the official placard. In like manner there may be a multitude of writers who form an f or k with a peculiar exaggerated buckle. Thousands more may make certain letters in the same way, but to assume that there are two persons who possess equally the whole twelve characteristics noted by the expert is to strain coincidence to the breaking-point of absurdity.

Therefore, it follows that it is the weight of cumulative evidence of similarity in the production of unusual tricks of style that proclaims a common authorsh