It is obvious that writing executed with a pencil or the now much-used stylograph will differ in many respects from that performed by an ordinary pen. It is not too much to say that their use will eliminate many features and introduce new ones. This change is mainly brought about by the different way in which a pencil or stylograph is held in comparison with a pen. There is a much greater sense of freedom. The pencil can be, and is, turned and twisted in the process of making a stroke as a pen cannot be, and the signs of this freedom become apparent in a more rounded stroke. Even a writer whose characters are acutely angular shows a tendency to a more graceful outline. As a matter of fact, it is comparatively rare to meet a pencilled writing that is pronouncedly angular.

The same remarks apply with only little modification to writing produced by the stylograph, and for the same reason—the ease and freedom with which the instrument is held.

There is no possibility of mistaking writing produced by a stylograph for that of an ordinary steel nib. The strokes are absolutely uniform in thickness. No nib-formed writing can be so, for it is impossible for a writer, however careful, to avoid putting pressure on his pen at some point; and the opening of the nib, however slight, must produce an apparent thickening.

Therefore, recognising these facts, the expert is always extremely careful in giving an opinion upon a writing produced by pencil or stylo unless he have ample specimens of the writer's productions done with these instruments.

At the same time, although an absence of characteristics present in pen writing would be noticeable, the main features would exist: for example, the space between words and letters would be the same; the dot over the i would be in its customary position; the bar of the t would be of the same type as heretofore. The principal changes would be in the direction of a more uniform stroke with a tendency to greater rotundity.

Persons who habitually employ the stylo very frequently develop an unconscious habit of twisting the pen at certain points so as to form a deep, rounded dot. This occurs principally at the ends of words and strokes. A magnifying-glass reveals this peculiarity at once, and, when discovered, notice should be taken of the circumstances under which this twisting is usually done. It will be found, most probably, that the trick is uniform; that is, certain letters or strokes are mostly finished with the dot.

There is a well-known public character who for years has employed no other writing instrument but the stylo. His writing possesses one peculiarity which is so habitual that in four hundred examples examined it was absent in only five. He forms this twist dot at the end of the last letter at the end of every line. The inference and explanation is that, in raising the pen to travel back to the next line, he twists it with a backward motion in harmony with the back movement. Another trick is to make the same dot in words on which he appears to have halted or hesitated before writing the next. In every such case there is an extra wide space between the word ended by a dot and that which follows. It would appear as if the writer mechanically made the dot while pausing to choose the next word. This is a striking example of the unconscious hand-gesture.

Something akin to it occurs in the handwriting of a famous lawyer. Here and there in his letters will be noticed a faint, sloping, vertical stroke, like a figure 1. Those who have seen him write explain it thus. While hesitating in the choice of a word he moves his pen up and down over the paper, and unintentionally touches it. It is such slips as these which often supply the expert with valuable clues to identity. When they occur they should be carefully examined, for in the majority of cases a reason will be found for their presence.