MODULE 4

HAIR AND TEXTILE FIBERS

The examination of hair and textile fibers is an important phase in criminal investigation.
Almost all crimes of violence include the possibility of physical contact between the criminal
and the victim. During these bodily contacts, it is quite possible that there may be transfer of
head or body hairs or of textile fibers onto each other’s clothing. The successful investigation of
crime of violence such as rape, murder, assault, kidnapping, hit and run, etc. are frequently
materially assisted by the result of the examination of hairs and fibers. Hairs are very resistant to
decomposition and putrefaction thus they often remain as a means of identification long after
others such as facial and fingerprints have been destroyed.

The examination of hair tends to identify the perpetrator of a crime by placing him at the
scene of crime or with the victim. In the negative sense, human hair may often be shown not to
have come from a particular individual. The obvious differences of color, length and texture can
distinguish one hair from another and serve to eliminate a suspect. The use of hair as a positive
identification is more uncertain and no expert in his right senses will venture to give a definite
statement as to individual origin of hair.

COLLECTION, PACKING, PRESERVATION AND TRANSPORTATION OF HAIR

1. All of the hair in the questioned specimens should be submitted but do not mix hairs at
different places.
2. In vicious assault and murder cases, obtain the clothing of the victim from the hospital or
morgue to avoid the loss of evidence by careless handling and prevent the clothing from
being destroyed.
3. Representative samples of hair from the victim as well as the suspect should be obtained
if possible. –to be a representative head, hair samples from a particular individual it
should consist of at least a dozen hairs from different areas of the scalp and preferably
full-length hair.
4. Don’t mix known samples of hair from different parts of the body.
5. The hair should be placed in a folded paper or in a white mailing envelope, but the
corners of the envelope should be sealed with scotch tape.
6. Do not secure the hair samples to a piece of paper with scotch tape because this will
damage the hair.
7. All foreign fibrous debris should be removed from the submitted specimen .
8. Fragmentary hairs or underdeveloped hairs are not suitable for examination.

Hair- is an appendage of the skin which occurs everywhere on the human body except on the
palms of the hand and soles of the feet.

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There are two kinds of hairs; (Among mammals, including human beings,)
1. Real hair - generally long and stiff
2. Fuzz - generally short, fine and at times curly and wooly.

Anatomically, hairs consist of 3 parts:

1. Root – portion embedded in the skin
2. Shaft – portion above the surface of the skin. It is the most distinctive part of the hair.
3. Tip – sometimes termed point. The distal end of an uncut hair.

Parts of shaft:
1. Cuticle – outermost covering of the hair. It is consists of one layer of non-nucleated
polygonal cells which overlap like the scales of fish.
2. Cortex – the intermediate and the thickest layer of the shaft and is composed of
elongated, spindle shaped fibrils which cohere. They contain pigment granules in varying
proportion depending on the type of the hair.
3. Medulla or Core – is the central canal of the hair that maybe empty or may contain
various sorts of cells more or less pigmented and begin more or less near the root.

The medulla can be continuous or interrupted. It is continuous in a large number of animals and
very often interrupted in humans, monkeys and horses. The relation between the diameter of the
medulla and the diameter of the whole hair is of great importance. The diameter can be
measured under the microscope with an eye piece micrometer or by micro-photography with a
ruler. This relation is named Medullary Index.

The Medullary Index:

1. Hair with narrow medulla (less than 0.5) belongs to human and certain monkey hairs.
2. Hair with medium medulla (approx. 0.5) belongs to cow, horse and others.
3. Hair with thick medulla ( larger than 0.5) belongs to almost all other animals.

COMPARISON BETWEEN HUMAN AND ANIMAL HAIR

HUMAN ANIMAL

1. Medullary Index is less than 0.5 1. Medullary index is more than 0.5
2. Medulla maybe present 2. Medulla always present
3. Scale pattern is fine and each one 3. Scale is coarse and overlaps less than ½
Overlaps the other more than 4/5
4. Pigment granules are fine 4. Pigment granules are coarse

OTHER ASPECTS OF HAIR EXAMINATION

1. Determination of characteristics by race

2. Determination of characteristics by sex
3. Determination of the region from which the human hair has been removed

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4. Determination of the approximate age of individual

1. Characteristics by race – In most instances it can be determined whether a human hair

came from Negroid, Mongoloid, or Caucasian race.

Negroid Race Hair:

1. Contain heavy pigment distributed unevenly
2. A thin cross section of the hair is oval in shape
3. Hair is usually kinky with marked variation in the diameter along the shaft.

Mongoloid Race Hair:

1. Hair contains dense pigment distributed more evenly than Negroid race hair
2. Cross section of the hair will be round to oval in shape.
3. Hair is coarse and straight with very little variation in diameter along the shaft of the hair.
4. Usually contains a heavy black medulla or core.

Caucasian Race hair:

1. Hair contains very fine to coarse pigment and more evenly distributed than is found in
Negro or Mongoloid.
2. Cross section will be oval to round in shape
3. Usually straight or wavy and not kinky.

2. Characteristics by sex: Sex cannot be definitely determined from hair examination. Male
hair is generally larger in diameter, shorter in length, more wiry in texture than that of a female.
Male hair average approximately 1/350 of an inch in diameter. Female hair averages
approximately 1/450 of an inch in diameter.

If a hair is as much as 6 inches in length and has a split end, these are good indication that the
hair is from a female, though not a positive proof. Pinning, curling, brushing and combing the
hair will cause the tip ends to split. Most males have their haircut short.

3. The region of the body from which the human hair has been removed.
The region of the body from which the hair has been removed can be determined with
considerable accuracy through length, size, color, stiffness, curliness and general gross
appearance.
a. Scalp hair – they are more mature than any other kind of human hair.
b. Beard hair – coarse, curved, very stiff and often triangular in cross section
c. Moustache – usually triangular in shape in cross section and very stiff.
d. Hairs from eyebrow, eyelid, nose and ear – short stubby and have wide medulla. Eyebrow
and eyelashes are usually very short and has a sharp tip.
e. Trunk hair – vary in thickness along the shaft and are immature but are somewhat similar to
head hairs. They are fine, long tip ends.

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f. Limb hair – similar to trunk hairs but usually are not so long or so coarse and usually contain
less pigment.
g. Axillary hair- are fairly long with unevenly distributed pigment. They vary considerably in
diameter along the shaft and have frequently a bleached appearance. It has an irregular shape
and structure. Looks like pubic hair but the ends are sharper and the hair is not curly.
h. Pubic hair – similar to axillary hairs but are coarser and do not appear bleached. More wiry,
have more constriction and twists and usually have continuous broad medulla. Have many
broken ends because the clothing rubs off against it.

4. The approximate age of an individual through hair examination

The approximate age of an individual cannot be determined from hair examination
with any degree of certainty except in infant hairs. Infant hairs are fine, short in length,
have fine pigment and are rudimentary in character.
Children’s hair through adolescence is generally finer and more immature than
adult hair but cannot be definitely differentiated with certainty.
If it is noted the pigment is missing or starting to disappear in the hair, it can bbe
stated that the hair is from adult. It is common for a relatively young person to have
prematurely gray or white head hair but not body hairs. The root end of hair from an aged
person may show a distinctive degeneration.

PHASES OF THE EXAMINATION OF HAIR:

1. The hairs should first be observed microscopically in the condition that they were
obtained. Any foreign material such as blood, semen or dye should be identified, if
present in sufficient quantity for testing. It should also be examined for evidence of
natural or artificial curl and to determine how the hair was severed.
2. The hair should be cleaned with a mixture of equal portions of alcohol and ether.
3. The scales forming the cuticle of the hairs should be examined. The size (relation of
the width to the length), the general shape and the irregularity of the scales should be
compared.
4. Finally, cross section of the hairs in both the questioned and known samples should be
made with a microtome and compared, noting the general shape, the size, appearance,
and the distribution of the pigment and the proportions of the parts of the hairs.

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TEXTILE FIBERS

In general, the word “textile” is derived from the Latin word “textilis” and the French word
“textere” which means to waive, hence textile fiber means fibers that can be converted into
yarns. A yarn consists of fibers or filaments which have been twisted together. A thread is three
or more yarns tightly twisted, singed, polished in a smooth condition for use in sewing.

Classification of textile fibers:

1. Natural fibers
Subdivided into:
a. Vegetable (Celluloses) Ex: Seed fibers, woody fibers, Leaf, fruit or nut fibers
b. Animal (Proteins) Ex: Wool and hair, silk, reclaimed and extracted animal
fibers.
2. Synthetic fibers
Subdivided into:
a. Organic Ex: Rayons, nylons, casein, resin fibers
b. Inorganic Ex: Glass fibers, fine wire filaments, steel wool

Test of Textile fibers:

1. Burning or Ignition test – It is a preliminary macroscopic examination. A test that

determines whether fiber is mineral, animal or vegetable fiber.

2. Fluorescent test – used to determine the general group to which a fiber belongs. In
general, the vegetable fibers exhibit a yellow fluorescence in ultra-violet light, whereas
the animal fibers show bluish fluorescence.

3. Microscopic Examination – In general, it is the most reliable and best means of

identifying fiber.

4. Chemical Analysis of fibers - If the sample submitted for analysis is fairly large, such as
a piece of cloth or a number of large threads, it is suggested that a chemical analysis be
made to supplement the microscopic examination and confirm the results obtained from
that procedure.