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Show t&h T J'UJCl iSii tJlOi jfiii, bY f)ifwV lhr (Vine Afw Jktegh k a Bill VII iliii tK,n u A?fC rf SSillil m -T te:iiPlJ Science bxplains the (t'&y lljlllilfli Lfc3A ' Ingenious Use of Chemicals ' J- LlflWKS " A1 N4' I the Nefarious Traffic . wM .ifA'friir- . 'Writings t-r 4iJ-VcS !' ""C:V f'Wl ftf J All K Brought Kji a A r 7 ! v -rH M toLigk NirT ; ; " ' 1 ' . 1 1) :' W and B' ! : i i ! !c "When the proper chemicals were applied there appeared on her back what looked like a grotesque ' 1 "Ua i Wjt- i skiQ 1 ! bug on a twig. When photographed and studied it turned out to be a map of one of U "" ' -a-. ' Ui-iVrt 8 V V' ' """Gv i the most important French fortifications." h!"-t( Ji ft.' I '1 I 8- . rfr L A EUROPEAN dispatch reports the seizure seiz-ure of a woman spy carrying military secrets from allied countries con-j con-j cealed on the skin of her -back. v j The. secret message, which contained im-portant im-portant military information intended for I Germany, was written in invisible ink. The French Secret Service agents ' detected its "Vpresenee by close scrutiny and found the method of developing it after a long series of tests. This episode illustrates well the extraordinary extraordi-nary ingenuity which is employed by the German General Staff in organizing spy work and gathering military secrets from allied countries. Hundreds of thousands of persons per-sons are probably employed in this woi-k and every imaginable method of smuggling i information back to Germany is tried. On j the other hand, the allied officers are equally alert in hunting spies and have their own methods of gathering information. The female skin offers an unusually dangerous dan-gerous channel of communication. A chivalrous chival-rous allied officer might, hesitate to inflict humiliation on a woman and would be very apt to overlook such a place of concealment. In such cases not only is the message written in invisible ink, but it is also in secret code. It is therefore hidden behind a perfect network net-work of defences. - Many kinds of invisible writing are known to science, and most, if not all, of these can be practised on the human skin. It should I be remembered that one of the earliest forms L of writing material parchment was made of animal skin, .and that the human skin Xdoes not differ greatly from this. For every form of invisible writing there is an appropriate method of development. The "secret service" or "intelligence" officer offi-cer who is entrusted with the work of catching catch-ing spies and detecting secret messages must be an expert chemist, a scientific criminologist criminolo-gist and an advanced student of military affairs. He must be able to detect every kind of secret writing. There are a number of colorless substances that may be used as inks which become visible visi-ble on the application of heat onl'. Lemon juice will turn yellow on exposure to the fire. A very weak solution of aqua fortis, oil of vitrol, common salt or saltpetre will turn yellow or brown on exposure to heat. j A weak solution of chloride of cobalt and ! chloride of nickel is turned a beautiful green j hy heat. A solution of acetate of cobalt, with a lit-cohalt lit-cohalt turns green when heated and disappears disap-pears on cooling. A dilute solution of chloride of copper becomes be-comes a fine yellow at moderate heat and disappears on cooling. A solution of acetate of cobalt, with a lit-" lit-" nitrate added to it, turns rose-colored wt)en heated and disappears again when cold. A very efficient form of secret writing is !?a.ae with a solution of acetate of lead. ih's becomes visible when cigarette smoke is blown on it and also when other forms of heat are applied. A "sympathetic ink" is one that becomes visible and vanishes again as required. It is said the Germans have used for this purpose a fairly strong solution of phenolphthalein. "Writing done with such a solution on ordin- ary whitepaper is quite invisible when dry, . but when placed for a few seconds in ammonia ammo-nia the writing becomes a pink color, which fades as the ammonia evaporates. Sulphate of copper and sal-ammouiae, in equal parts, dissolved in water', make a colorless color-less writing which becomes yellow when heated. Onion juice acts in the same way. Writing done with a weak infusion of galls turns black when moistened with weak copperas water. A weak solution of sulphate of iron turns blue when moistened with a weak solution of prussiate of potash or black with infusion of sails. New milk, writ-tenten writ-tenten on white paper, is made legible leg-ible by sprinkling with coal dust or soot. An invisible ink prepared with nitrate ni-trate of bismuth dissolved in water, will be invisible when dry but is made visible again when immersed in water. "Writing made with a solution of ferrocyanide of potassium po-tassium is de.velop-ed de.velop-ed by pressing over the dry invisible invis-ible characters a piece of blotting paper moistened ?rith. a solution of iron sulphate. A pure dilute tincture of iron is developed by a blotter moistened with strong tea. The invisible inks are perhaps The Design on the Woman Spy's Back, (f "rjtl; V v rloW-e for" i The Map of the Fortifications It Proved to Be When Redrawn According to the Secret Code. x V i j j i i i i " How an Apparently Innocent Sketch of a Landscape Turns Out to Be When Decoded a Picture of a Fort Showing the Gun Emplacements. most commonly used between the lines of an ordinary letter where they would have had a chance of escaping detection during the earlier stages of the war. Now it is usu-U to confiscate all papers on the person of a suspected neutral passing out of a belligerent bellig-erent country, and it is for this reason that tho practice of writing on the skin has been restored to. Some of these mks onn be detected on the spy's skin by a. skilled finger, others by CopyrU 'ft means of the microscope and others by usi of heat. The developers vary from cigaretti smoke to prussiate of potash and other dan gerous chemicals. . It is in the use of liquic developers that the difficulties of the office searching for a hidden message becomi great. If he used the wrong developer h might wash out all traces of the message. The officer, therefore, proceeds in the fol lowing way: When he has ascertained the probable location of the writing he uses firsl lit. 1918, by the Star Company. Great Britain Righ : fA cipKereJ f fi , 5 ' - '""4 fc-.'- v r-' ' 4 I ' f V ',,1 i E -.r t.;?.:-.; -J. fc.' ft.t. W-.j:. mid: V v-..; v- srny.'tl.- " r v j l . . " "i The Fate of the Spy. An Actual Photograph After an Execution of a German Spy a. in France. the developers that will do no injury. Then he takes a tiny drop of one of the others and applies just enough of it to the skin to reveal re-veal the presence of the substance he is looking look-ing for. The secret writing may be a series of code ciphers or it may be a drawing that ingeniously ingeni-ously conceals some details of a fortress. General Baden Powell, of the British Army, the founder of the "Boy Scouts," has given some interesting details of the 'nethods of making secret drawings of fortresses in his book, "My Adventures as a Spy." Ability to draw well is a valuable accomplishment accom-plishment of a spy. "When ho wishes to take an exact map of a fortress he may, for instance, draw a well-executed picture of a butterfly, with plenty of peculiar markings ; on its wings. These markings indicate quite 5 clearly to one who is in the secret the number num-ber of guns in a fortress, their size and ar-' ar-' rangement. r The drawing of a stained glass window of s intricate pattern has served to hide an as-: as-: tonishing amount of information about a fortress. The kind of fortresses General Badcn-! Badcn-! Powell described have become of little im-; im-; portance during the present war. It was ta Reserved. How an Apparently Innocent Picture of a Leaf Conceals Important Information Regarding Defenses. De-fenses. A Small Forts; B Mined Areas; C Guns. The Outline of the Leaf Veins Shows tht Contour of the Main Fortifications. proved early in the war that the elaborate fixed constructions of steel and concrete were of little'value against modern artillery. Their place . has been taken by vast earthworks spread over a great territory which can be . modified to suit the changing conditions of the straggle. Information concerning these works are, " of course, eagerly desired by the enemy and, while aeroplanes are perhaps principally depended de-pended on, drawings smuggled out of the country in one way or another still play an important part in military spy work. Many reports from Europe indicate that women have done much of the most dangerous danger-ous and daring spy service during the war.. A great deal of mystery surrounds the subject. sub-ject. Neither, side cares to advertise the methods which have been successful in smuggling smug-gling military intelligence. It was announced, an-nounced, for instance, that Matahari, a Dutch-Oriental dancer, had been executed for espionage in France. Newspaper reports credited her with having secured early information infor-mation concerning the construction of the British "tanks," and with conveying it to the Germans. She had had a long career of successful and daring espionage, lasting -probably for two years. She made her headquarters in Paris, but made frequent trips to England. Then she made journeys to Holland and to Spain, and it was evidently at Ihcse times that she conveyed much of her information to the Germans. It is reasonable to believe that she earned code messages secretly writ-j ten on her skin. ' "Women of the type who are hired as spies show themselves extraordinarily daring and resourceful. They are quicker than men at throwing pursuers off the scent, more ready with excuses and better able to avert suspicion. sus-picion. An outburst of tears, due to thoughts of the loved ones 8t home, will often drive all suspicions out of the mind of the officer whose duty it is to look for spies. Women have also a great and wonderful capacity for concealing documents. They have been known to hide them in the heels of their shoes, under their hair, in the lining of their corsets and in other strange places. There are millions of persons passing between be-tween neutral and belligerent countries and every one has some possibility of conveying military information of importam-e. To prevent pre-vent their operations taxes the limit 'of human ingenuity. The Swiss, for instance, are able to watch military operations in four warring countries. Air, water and the depths of the earth are used as channels of secret communication. |
