Analytical Methods for Developing Fibers as Forensic Science Proof: A Review with Comments

A review and commentary of the principal methods for developing textile fibers as evidence are given. The methods reviewed proceed from the preliminary phase of finding and handling to the subsequent phases of identification, characterization, and comparison. The latter phase is arranged to progress from methods that require only microscopic amounts of fibers and are nondestructive to those that require progressively larger amounts of fibers and are destructive. The relevant literature in the time period 1950 to 1987 is included.