The colony is situated in the midst of a vast stretch of land in the Province of Buenos Ayres, on which fruit and vegetables are grown by a number of the patients. Others are occupied in raising fowls and pigs, which supply the colony with eggs and meat and yield a large profit when sold outside.

Professor Cabred wisely prefers agriculture of this kind to the raising of large crops of wheat or maize, because it simplifies the task of supervision necessary in any colony, and gives the colonists, whose toil is compulsory, a continual and regular occupation of an almost unvarying character. (This applies equally to the case of a penal colony.) Workmen, foremen, engineers, builders, mechanics, gardeners,—all are patients, with the exception of the Director, the doctor, and about a hundred mounted warders, who pass rapidly from one part to another and are able to intervene in suicidal or homicidal outbreaks.

A colony on these lines would be suitable for the large mass of habitual criminals, who, although unable to resist the temptations of ordinary life, are capable of useful work under supervision, and under such conditions may prove beneficial to themselves and to the community.

INSTITUTIONS FOR BORN CRIMINALS AND THE MORALLY INSANE

Asylums for Criminal Insane. We have still to consider born criminals, epileptics, and the morally insane, whose crimes spring from inherited perverse instincts. These unfortunate beings cannot be consigned to ordinary prisons, since, owing to their state of mental alienation, they do not possess even the modesty of the vicious—hypocrisy—and they never fail to pervert those criminaloids with whom they come in contact. Malcontents by nature, they distrust everybody and everything, and as they see an enemy in every warder and official, they are the centres of constant mutinies.

To confine them in common asylums would be still more injurious, for they preach sodomy, flight, and revolt and incite the others to robbery, and their indecent and savage ways, as well as the terrible reputation which often precedes them, make them objects of terror and repulsion to the quieter patients and their relatives, who dread to see their kin in such company.

Ordinary asylums are equally unsuited to those victims of mental derangement who, although devoid of the depraved instincts of the morally insane and generally of blameless career up to the moment in which they are led to commit a crime by some isolated evil impulse, have a bad influence on the other inmates. Unlike other lunatics, they do not shrink from the company of others, whom they torment with their violence and contaminate with that spirit of restlessness and discontent which distinguished them even before they became insane or criminals. Firm in the belief that they are always being ill treated and insulted, they instil these ideas into their companions and suggest thoughts of flight and revolt, which would never occur to ordinary lunatics, absorbed as they are by their own world of fancies. The condition of the inmates is thereby aggravated, and it becomes impossible to accord them that large measure of freedom advocated by all modern alienists.

To leave these madmen at large would be more dangerous still. Beneath an appearance of perfect calm and mental lucidity are hidden morbid impulses, which may give terrible results at some unexpected moment.

All these offenders—insane criminals and the morally insane whose irresistible tendencies are detrimental to the community—should be confined in special institutes to be cured, or at any rate segregated for life. No infamy would attach to their names, because their irresponsibility would be clearly recognised, and society would be secure from their attacks.

England was the first country to provide asylums for the criminal insane. In 1840 a portion of Bedlam was set aside for this purpose. Fisherton House, a special private asylum of this kind, was opened in 1844, and later others were instituted at Dundrum (Ireland) in 1850, at Broadmoor in 1863, and at Perth (Scotland) in 1858, to receive criminals who commit crimes in a state of insanity, or become insane during their trial, and all prisoners whose state of lunacy or imbecility renders them unable to conform to the discipline of a prison. Of course sanguinary and violent scenes often occur in these asylums, where the pernicious influence this type of lunatic exercises over his surroundings in ordinary asylums or prisons is multiplied and intensified a hundred-fold. Conspiracies, almost unknown in common asylums, and the murder of warders or officials are very common. Despairing of release and conscious of their irresponsibility, these wretched beings attack the warders, destroy the walls which confine them, murder and wound others and themselves; but at any rate the injury is limited to a small circle, and both harmless lunatics and common criminals are not contaminated. Moreover, even in criminal asylums, long experience with these strange pathological types and the adoption of subdivisions like those recently introduced into Broadmoor by Orange have done much towards improving the general condition and eliminating many drawbacks. According to this classification insane criminals are divided into two classes, unconvicted and convicted, the former class being subdivided into untried and tried. Untried offenders, those who are considered to have been insane before committing the crime, are sent to a common county asylum, where are also confined persons convicted of minor offences and declared insane (the percentage of cures in this class is considerable) and others suspected of shamming insanity. In this way, the better elements are eliminated and the inmates of the criminal insane asylum reduced to the worst and most dangerous types only.

CAPITAL PUNISHMENT

When, notwithstanding prisons, deportation, and criminal asylums, individuals of ineradicable anti-social instincts make repeated attempts on the lives of others, whether honest men or their own companions in evil-doing, the only remedy is the application of the extreme penalty—death.

Amongst barbarous peoples, on whom prison makes but slight impression, or in primitive communities that do not possess criminal asylums, penitentiaries, and other means of social defence and redemption, the death penalty has always been considered the most certain and at the same time the most economical means of common protection. But criminal anthropologists realise that the desire to abolish this penalty, which so often finds expression in civilised countries, arises from a noble sentiment and one they have no wish to destroy.

Capital punishment, according to the opinion of my father, should only be applied in extreme cases, but the fear of it, suspended like a sword of Damocles above their heads, would serve as a check to the murderous proclivities displayed by some criminals when they are condemned to perpetual imprisonment.

We have, it is true, no right to take the lives of others but if we refuse to recognise the legitimacy of self-defence, exile and imprisonment are equally unjustifiable.

When we realise that there exist beings, born criminals, who are organised for evil, who reproduce the instincts common to the wildest savages and even those of ferocious carnivora, and are destined by nature to injure others, our resentment becomes softened; but notwithstanding our sense of pity, we feel justified in demanding their extermination when they prove to be dangerous and absolutely irredeemable.

PENALTIES PROPOSED BY THE MODERN SCHOOL

The following tables, compiled by Senator Garofalo, a celebrated jurist of the Modern School and inserted in Criminal Man, vol. iii, show the distribution of penalties systematically arranged.

I. Born Criminals who are utterly devoid of the sentiment of pity.

Offender Crime Penalty

Murderers exhibiting Murder for lucre or Prison, penal colony, moral insensibility some other egotistical criminal insane and instinctive object asylum, or cruelty, capital punishment convicted of Murder without if recidivists. provocation on the part of the victim

Murder with ferocious execution

II. Violent and Impulsive Criminals, Criminaloids, and those guilty through insufficiency of pity, of decency, of inhibitory power, and through prejudiced notions of honor.

Offender Crime Penalty

Adults convicted of Cruelty, assault Criminal insane and battery, rape, asylum for epileptics, kidnapping or

Indefinite seclusion for a period equal to one of the natural divisions of a man's life, with period of supervision.

Minors convicted of Murder, cruelty Special reformatories, and other offences criminal insane against the person asylum if there are without provocation congenital tendencies.

Offences against Penal colony and decency deportation in cases of recidivation.

Adults convicted of Homicide provoked by Exile from native injury or place and from the genuine grievances town in which the victim's family live.

Adults convicted of Homicide in Exile, segregation self-defence for an indefinite period in some Homicide to avenge remote town or some wrong or settlement. personal dishonour

Adults convicted of Assault in quarrels, Compensation for or ill-treatment injury caused, fines, when intoxicated, reprimand, security, blows, insults, or conditional liberty. slander

Adults convicted of Mutiny and revolt Reprimand, security, imprisonment for a definite period.

III. Criminals Devoid of a Sense of Honesty

Offender Crime Penalty

Adults (habitual Theft, fraud, arson, Criminal lunatic offenders) convicted forgery, blackmail asylums (if insane of or epileptic), deportation (for sane offenders).

Adults (occasional Theft fraud, forgery, Reformatories, offenders) convicted blackmail, arson conditional liberty, of exclusion from particular profession.

Adults convicted of Peculation, concussion Loss of office, exclusion from all public offices, fines, compensation for damage done.

Adults convicted of Arson, malicious Compensation, or damage to property as a substitute, imprisonment.

Criminal lunatic asylums (if insane).

Penal colonies (for recidivists).

Adults convicted of Fraudulent Compensation for bankruptcy damage caused, exclusion from business and public offices.

Adults convicted of Counterfeiting, Reformatories, forging cheques, fines, compensation public title-deeds, for damage, exclusion etc. from office.

Adults convicted of Bigamy, substitution Seclusion for an or suppression indefinite period. of child

Minors convicted of Theft, fraud, and Magisterial picking pockets reprimand, probation, reformatory, or agricultural colony.

IV. Offenders Lacking in Industry

Offender Penalty

Beggars, vagabonds, Agricultural colony loafers for country offenders, workshop for city offenders.

V. Offenders Deficient in Misoneism (Hatred of Change)

Offender Penalty

Political, social, and Temporary exile. religious rebels

SYMBIOSIS

The punishment of offenders and the protection of society from the insane are the two chief objects of criminal jurisprudence, but criminal anthropologists aim at something higher, the utilisation of anti-social elements, thus redeeming them completely and justifying their existence in the eyes of mankind and in the scheme of nature.

We find, in fact, in nature numerous instances of a partnership for mutual benefit between animals and plants of very diverse species and tendencies. Lichens are a living symbiosis of algae and fungi: the pagurus allows the actiniae to settle on his dwelling, where they attract his prey and in return are housed and conveyed from place to place.

In imitation of this principle, criminal anthropologists seek to devise a means of making offenders serviceable to civilisation by carefully analysing their tendencies and psychology, and fitting them into some suitable groove in the social scheme, where they may be useful to themselves and to others. Side by side with depraved instincts, criminals frequently possess invaluable gifts: an abnormal degree of intelligence, great audacity, and love of innovation. The wonderful galleries and fortifications cut out in the rocks at Gibraltar and Malta by English convicts and the complete transformation of parts of Sardinia have led criminologists to the conclusion that the ancient penalty of enforced labour was more logical, useful, and advantageous both for the culprit and the community than all modern punishments. The Mormons of America and the religious sects persecuted in Russia by an omnipotent bureaucracy, have by their energy transformed uninhabitable regions into lands of extraordinary fertility. Still greater results might be obtained, if the abnormal tendencies of certain individuals were turned into useful channels, instead of being pent up until they manifest themselves in anti-social acts, and this beneficent and lofty task should devolve on teachers and protectors of such of the young as show physical and psychic anomalies at an early age.

The colonisation of wild regions and all professions (motoring, cycling, acrobatic and circus feats) which demand audacity, activity, love of adventure, and intense efforts followed by long periods of repose are eminently suited to criminals. There are cases on record in which young men have actually become thieves and even murderers in order to gain sufficient means to become comedians or professional cyclists, and there is every reason to suppose that these crimes would never have been committed had the youths been able to obtain the required sums honestly. On the other hand, men of bad character, ready to develop into criminals, often undergo a complete transformation when they find some outlet for their intelligence and aptitudes, in becoming pioneers in virgin regions or soldiers. War, the original, perpetual and exclusive occupation of our ancestors, is eminently suited to the tendencies of criminals. All the characteristics of the criminal, impulsiveness, cynicism, physical and moral insensibility, and invulnerability are valuable qualities in the soldier in times of war, especially when waged against savage and barbarous nations, when cunning and ability have to be employed against primitive races who laugh at the rules and ethics of civilised warfare.

Amongst brigands, we find a few badly-armed individuals performing marvels of valour, and the leaders, although ignorant men, manifesting an intelligence and tactical skill that puts trained armies to shame. Could not the tendencies of criminals be used for the good of their country? The qualities developed in primitive races by constant warfare against the forces of nature are characteristic also of criminals. Let those whom nature has destined to reproduce impulsive and brutal instincts in a civil and industrial age be permitted to employ them in defending civilisation with true primitive valour against external and internal enemies, against barbarous peoples who would restrict its boundaries, or reactionary elements who seek to hinder its progress.

The Great Redeemer, who in pardoning the adulteress, said, "He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her," and the Prophet who foretold the day when the wolf and the lamb should dwell together and the lion should eat straw like the ox and should "not hurt nor destroy," divined perhaps this noble aim. If criminal anthropology is destined to lead mankind to this goal, it may well be pardoned all the harsh measures it has seen fit to suggest in order to realise the supreme end—social safety.



PART III

CHARACTERS AND TYPES OF CRIMINALS



CHAPTER I

EXAMINATION OF CRIMINALS

Criminal anthropologists are unanimous in insisting on the importance of the results to be gained from a careful examination of the physical and psychic individuality of the offender, with a view to establishing the extent of his responsibility, the probabilities of recidivation on his part, the cure to be prescribed or the punishment to be meted out to him; but besides furnishing the magistrate with a sound basis for his decisions, the anthropological examination will prove of great assistance to probation officers, superintendents of orphanages and rescue homes and all those who are entrusted with the destinies of actual offenders or candidates for crime. I have therefore decided to devote this part of my summary to a minute demonstration of the methods to be employed in these examinations, which should be conducted on the one hand with the scientific precision that distinguishes clinical diagnoses of diseases and on the other with special rules deduced from the long experience of criminologists in dealing with criminals and the insane, between whom there is so much affinity.

ANTECEDENTS AND PSYCHIC INDIVIDUALITY

The examination of a criminal or person of criminal tendencies should, if possible, be preceded by a careful investigation of his antecedents. Questions put to relatives and friends often bring to light facts relating to his past life, and give an idea of the surroundings in which he has grown up and the illnesses suffered by him during childhood (meningitis, typhus, convulsions, hemicrania, giddiness, pavor nocturnus, trauma). The prevalence of disease in the family (parents, grandparents, uncles, cousins, etc.) should be elicited and note taken not only of nervous maladies, but of arthritic, tuberculous, pellagrous, and inebriate forms, including a tendency to morphiomania. Even goitre should not escape notice, since it may indicate cretinism or any other form of degeneration. The existence of criminality in the family is of still greater importance, but it is extremely difficult to obtain any information on this head, either from the patient himself or his relatives. A certain amount of strategy must be used in eliciting facts of this kind, by suddenly asking, for instance, whether a certain individual of the same name, already deceased or confined in such-and-such an asylum or prison, is any relation of the patient.

Next should be ascertained whether he is single or married, and in the latter case, whether his wife is still living; also what profession or professions he has exercised. In this connection it should be observed that although criminals are generally successful in everything they undertake, they are incapable of remaining constant to one thing for any length of time.

Many persons, cooks, tavern-keepers, confectioners, etc., exercise callings that have a deleterious effect on the nervous centres and encourage an abuse of alcohol; others like bakers, have night work, which is equally harmful. Professions which bring poor men, servants, secretaries, cashiers, etc., into close contact with wealth, are sometimes the cause of dishonesty in those who in the absence of special temptations, would have remained upright; others provide criminaloids with opportunities or instruments for accomplishing some crime, as in the case of locksmiths, blacksmiths, soldiers, doctors, lawyers, etc.

The time of the year and other circumstances under which the crime takes place should be elicited, and it should be borne in mind that the vintage season in countries of Southern Europe and extremes of heat and cold are favourable to seizures of an epileptic nature.

When the subject under examination is a recidivist, care should be taken to ascertain at what age and under what circumstances the initial offence was committed. Precocity in crime is a characteristic of born criminals, and puberty and senility have their peculiar offences, as have the extremes of poverty and wealth.

Intelligence. As we are not dealing with an ordinary patient, who is generally only too ready to talk about his troubles, but with an individual who has been put on his guard by constant cross-examination, his suspicions should first of all be allayed by a series of general questions on his native place or the town in which he is now living, his trade, etc. "Why did you leave your native town? Why do you not return? Are you married? How many children have you?" etc. Then an attempt should be made to gain an idea of his intellectual powers by asking easy questions: "How many shillings are there in a pound? How many hours are there in a day? In what year were you married?" etc.

Affection. The affections should be tested in an indirect way. "Is your father a bad man?" or "Are your neighbours worthless people? Do they treat you with due respect? Has any one a spite against you? Are you fond of your parents? Are you aware that your brother (or mother) is seriously ill?" Questions concerning relatives and friends are of special interest, because they enable the examiner to ascertain whether they cause the patient emotion of any kind, whether he has any real affection for those beings to whom normal persons are attached, but towards whom born criminals and the insane in general do not manifest love. In the absence of instruments, we must judge of the feelings of patients by their answers and the facial changes caused by emotion, but medico-legal experts naturally prefer a scientific test by means of accurate instruments, by which the exact degree of emotion is registered. These instruments are the plethysmograph and the hydrosphygmograph.

FIG. 28 Criminal's Ear

It is well known that any emotion which causes the heart-beats to quicken or become slower makes us blush or turn pale, and these vaso-motor phenomena are entirely beyond our control. If we plunge one of our hands into the volumetric tank invented by Francis Frank, the level of the liquid registered on the tube above will rise and fall at every pulsation, and besides these regular fluctuations, variations may be observed which correspond to every stimulation of the senses, every thought and above all, every emotion. The volumetric glove invented by Patrizi (see Fig. 25), an improvement on the above-mentioned instrument, is a still more practical and convenient apparatus. It consists of a large gutta-percha glove, which is put on the hand and hermetically sealed at the wrist by a mixture of mastic and vaseline. The glove is filled with air as the tank was with water. The greater or smaller pressure exercised on the air by the pulsations of blood in the veins of the hands reacts on the aerial column of an india-rubber tube, and this in its turn on Marey's tympanum (a small chamber half metal and half gutta-percha). This chamber supports a lever carrying an indicator, which rises and falls with the greater or slighter flow of blood in the hand. This lever registers the oscillations on a moving cylinder covered with smoked paper. If after talking to the patient on indifferent subjects, the examiner suddenly mentions persons, friends, or relatives, who interest him and cause him a certain amount of emotion, the curve registered on the revolving cylinder suddenly drops and rises rapidly, thus proving that he possesses natural affections. If, on the other hand, when alluding to relatives and their illnesses, or vice-versa, no corresponding movement is registered on the cylinder, it may be assumed that the patient does not possess much affection.

FIG. 25 A VOLUMETRIC GLOVE (see page 224)

FIG. 26 HEAD OF A CRIMINAL Epileptic

Thus when Bianchi and Patrizi spoke to the notorious brigand Musolino about life in his native woods, his mother, and his sweetheart, there was an immediate alteration in the pulse, and the line registered by the plethysmograph suddenly changed, nor did it return to its previous level until some time afterward.

My father sometimes made successful use of the plethysmograph to discover whether an accused person was guilty of the crime imputed to him, by mentioning it suddenly while his hands were in the plethysmograph or placing the photograph of the victim unexpectedly before his eyes.

Morbid Phenomena. When examining a criminal or even a suspected person, who is nearly always more or less abnormal, it is advisable to investigate the more common morbid phenomena he may be subject to, on which he is not likely to give information spontaneously because he is ignorant of their importance. He should be questioned about his sleep, whether he has dreams, etc. Mental sufferers nearly always sleep badly and are frequently tormented by insomnia and hallucinations. The inebriate imagines he is being pursued by disgusting, misshapen creatures, from which he cannot escape. Epileptics, and frequently also hysterical persons have peculiar obsessions. They fancy they cannot perform certain actions unless they are preceded by certain words and gestures.

The susceptibility of the patient to suggestion should also be tested, to determine what value can be attached to his assertions. Sufferers from hysteria and general paralysis are like children, highly susceptible to suggestion, not necessarily of an hypnotic nature. If you tell an hysterical person with conviction that he suffers pain in a certain part of his body, is feverish or pale or something of the sort, he will inform you spontaneously after a few minutes that he feels pain or fever, etc. After a crime of a startling nature has been committed by some unknown person, it not unfrequently happens that some hysterical subject, generally a youth, who imagines he has been accused of the crime by the neighbours or his acquaintances, becomes convinced that he is really guilty and gives himself up to the police.

Speech. Special attention should be directed during the examination to the way in which the patient replies to questions and his mode of pronunciation. There may be peculiarities of pronunciation and stammering, characteristic of certain forms of mental alienation, or at any rate of some nervous anomaly; or articulation may be tremulous and forced, as in precocious dementia and chronic inebriety. In other cases the words are jumbled and confused, especially if long and difficult. In the first stages of progressive paralysis the letter r is not pronounced. To test this anomaly, which is of great importance in the diagnosis, the patient should be requested to pronounce difficult words, such as, corroborate, reread, rewrite, etc.

In order not to lose such valuable indications, in cases where personal examination is impossible, phonograph impressions of conversations between the patient and some third person will serve as a substitute.

The inquiry may reveal still more serious anomalies in the ideas, intelligence, and mental condition of the patient. Sometimes the answers given are sensible but are followed by nonsense. Other patients, especially when afflicted with melancholia, speak unwillingly, as if the words were forced from them, one by one. Idiots, cretins, and demented persons are sometimes incapable of expressing themselves. Some patients who have had apoplectic strokes substitute one word for another, "bread" for "wine," etc., or elide one part of the sentence and only repeat the last word.

Memory. To form an idea of the memory of the subject, questions should be put to him concerning recent and remote personal facts and circumstances, the year in which he or his children were born, what he had for his supper on the previous evening, etc., etc.

Visual memory may be tested by giving the patient a sheet of paper, on which are drawn various common objects, letters, or easy words. He should be allowed to look at these for five or ten seconds and requested to enumerate them after the paper has been withdrawn. In order to test the memory of sounds, the examiner should utter five or six easy words and ask the patient to repeat them immediately afterwards.

To test sense of colour, a picture on which various colours are painted is placed before the patient, as well as a skein of wool of the same shade as one of the colours in the picture, which he is requested to point out.

Handwriting is very important, particularly in distinguishing a born criminal from a lunatic, and between the various kinds of mental alienation.

Monomaniacs and mattoids (cranks) who give the police the most trouble often speak in a perfectly sane manner, but pour out all their insanity on paper, without an examination of which it is not easy to detect mental derangement. They write with rapidity and at great length. Their pockets, bags, etc., are always full of sheets of paper covered with small handwriting, sometimes scribbled in all directions. The matter is generally absurd or simply stupid, consisting of endless repetitions.

Individuals in the first stage of paralysis make orthographical errors, which coincide with their mistakes in pronunciation, like Garigaldi, instead of Garibaldi. Care must be taken to test this defect thoroughly. If the patient is fairly well-educated, his signature, which is the last to alter, is not sufficient; nor are a few lines a satisfactory test, since he can easily concentrate his attention on them, but he should be requested to write a page or two and be exhorted to make haste.

Alcoholism and paralysis generally give rise to tremulous handwriting with unsteady strokes, as in old people. After epileptic seizures and attacks of hysteria the writing is shaky. The slightest trembling of the hand is detected if Edison's electric pen be used.

In progressive general paralysis and some forms of dementia shakiness is so excessive that it becomes dysgraphy, with zigzag letters. The handwriting of persons subject to apoplectic strokes has often the appearance of copper-plate. Monomaniacs intersperse their writings with illustrations and symbols. They write very closely in imitation of print, as do mattoids, hysterical persons, and megalomaniacs, and use many notes of exclamation and capital letters. Their writings are full of badly-spelled words, scrolls, and flourishes.

Criminals guilty of sanguinary offences generally have a clumsy but energetic handwriting and cross their t's with dashing strokes. The handwriting of thieves can scarcely be distinguished from that of ordinary persons, but the handwriting of swindlers is easier to recognise, as it generally lacks clearness although it preserves a certain uniformity. The signature is usually indecipherable and enveloped in an infinite number of arabesques.

Clothing. The manner in which a patient is dressed often gives an exact indication of his individuality. Members of those secret organizations of Naples and Sicily, the Camorra and Mafia, are fond of dressing in a loud manner with an abundance of jewelry. Murderers, epileptics, and the morally insane, who lead isolated lives, attach no importance to dress and are frequently dirty and shabby. (See Fig. 26, A. D., a morally insane epileptic, the perpetrator of three murders.) Swindlers are always dressed in faultless style, the cinaedus is fond of giving his costume a feminine air, and monomaniacs trick themselves out with ribbons, decorations, and medals: their clothes are generally of a strange cut. The cretin and the idiot go about with their clothes torn and in disorder and not infrequently emit a strong odour of ammonia.

PHYSICAL EXAMINATION

Having carefully investigated the past history of the subject and made a minute study of his abnormal psychic phenomena, the expert should proceed to the examination of his physical characters.

Chapter I of Part I contains a detailed description of the principal physiognomical anomalies of the criminal that may be discerned by the naked eye. They will now be briefly recapitulated.

Skin. The skin frequently shows scars and (in the epileptic subject to seizures) lesions on the elbows and temples. Marks of wounds inflicted in quarrels and attempted suicide are frequent in habitual criminals. The forehead and nose must be examined for traces of acne rosacea frequent in drunkards, and for erythema on the back of the hands, characteristic of pellagra. Ichthyosis, psoriasis, or other skin diseases are very common in cases of mental alienation, and scurvy often indicates long seclusion in prison.

Tattooing. Great care must be taken to ascertain whether the subject is tattooed, and if so, on what parts of his body. Tattooing often reveals obscenity, vindictiveness, cupidity, and other characteristics of the patient, besides furnishing his name or initials, that of his native town or village, and the symbol of the trade he refuses to reveal (sometimes such indications have been blurred or effaced). (See Fig. 27.)

One of the chief proofs showing the untruthfulness of the statements made by the Tichborne claimant was the fact that his person was devoid of tattooing, whereas it was well known that Roger Tichborne had been tattooed.

Tattooing often reveals the psychology, habits, and vices of the individual. The tattooing on pederasts usually consists of portraits of those with whom they have unnatural commerce, or phrases of an affectionate nature addressed to them. A pederast and forger examined by Professor Filippi was tattooed on his forearm with a sentimental declaration addressed to the object of his unnatural desires; a criminal convicted of rape was covered with pictorial representations of his obscene adventures. From these few instances, it is apparent that these personal decorations are of the utmost value as evidence of hidden vices and crimes.

Wrinkles. We have already spoken of the abundance and precocity of wrinkles in born criminals. They are also a characteristic of the insane.

The following are of special importance: the vertical and horizontal lines on the forehead, the oblique and triangular lines of the brows, the horizontal or circumflex lines at the root of the nose and the vertical and horizontal lines on the neck. (The ferocious leader of a band of criminals at twenty-five, and a savage murderer under thirty years of age.)

Beard. The beard is scanty in born criminals and often altogether absent in epileptics. On the other hand, it is common in insane females and in normal women after the menopause. Degenerates of both sexes frequently manifest characteristics of the opposite sex in the distribution of hair on the body. A tuft of hair in the sacro-lumbar region, suggestive of the tail of the mythological faun, is frequently found in epileptics and idiots, and in some cases the back and breast are covered with thick down which makes them resemble animals.

The hair covering the head is generally thick and dark, the growth is often abnormal with square or triangular zones growing in a different direction from the rest, or in small tufts like those inserted in a brush. Still more frequently do we find anomalies in the position of the vortex, or that point whence the hair-growth diverges circularly, which in normal persons is nearly always situated on the crown. In degenerates it is frequently on one side of the head and in cretins on the forehead. Precocious greyness and baldness are common in the insane criminals, and cretins, on the contrary, show these initial signs of senility at a much later period than normal persons.

Teeth. The greatest percentage of anomalies is found in the incisors; next come the premolars, the molars, and lastly the canines. In criminals, especially if epileptics, the middle incisors of the upper jaw are sometimes missing and their absence is compensated by the excessive development of the lateral incisors. In other cases the lateral incisors are of the same size as the middle ones, and sometimes the teeth are so nearly uniform that it is difficult to distinguish between incisors, canines, and molars, a circumstance which recalls the homodontism of the lower vertebrates. After the incisors, the premolars show the greatest number of anomalies. While in normal persons they are smaller than the molars, in degenerates they are frequently of the same size or even larger. Supernumerary teeth, amounting sometimes to a double row, are not uncommon. In other cases there is extraordinary development of the canines. Inherited degeneracy from inebriate, syphilitic, or tuberculous parents frequently manifests itself in rickety teeth with longitudinal and transverse striae or serration of the edges, due to irregularities in the formation of the enamel. In idiots and epileptics, dentition is often backward and stunted; the milk-teeth are not replaced by others, or are almond-shaped and otherwise of abnormal aspect.

Ears. The ears of criminals and epileptics exhibit a number of anomalies. They are sometimes of abnormal size or stand out from the face. Darwin's tubercle, which is like a point turned forward when the helix folds over, and turned backward when the helix is flat, is frequently encountered in the ears of degenerates. The lobe is subject to a great many anomalies, sometimes it is absent altogether, in some cases it adheres to the face or is of huge dimensions and square in shape. Sometimes the helix is prolonged so as to divide the concha in two. Idiots often show excessive development of the anti-helix, while the helix itself is reduced to a flattened strip.

Eyes. The eyebrows are generally bushy in murderers and violators of women. Ptosis, a species of paralysis of the upper lid, which gives the eye a half-closed appearance, is common in all criminals; but more frequently we find strabismus, a want of parallelism in the visual axes, bichromatism of the iris, and rigidity of the pupils.

Nose. In thieves the base of the nose often slants upwards, and this characteristic of rogues is so common in Italy that it has given rise to a number of proverbs. The nose is often twisted in epileptics, flattened and trilobate in cretins.

Jaws. Enormous maxillary development is one of the most frequent anomalies in criminals and is related to the greater size of the zygomae and teeth. (See Fig. 27.) The lemurian apophysis already alluded to is not uncommon.

Chin. This part of the face, which in Europeans is generally prominent, round and proportioned to the size of the face, in degenerates as in apes is frequently receding, flat, too long or too short.

These anomalies may be studied rapidly with the naked eye, but height, weight, the proportions of the various parts of the body, shape of the skull, etc., should be measured with the aid of special instruments.

Height. Criminals are rarely tall. Like all degenerates, they are under medium height. Imbeciles and idiots are remarkably undersized. The span of the arms, which in normal persons about equals the height, is often disproportionately wide in criminals. The hands are either exaggeratedly large or exaggeratedly small.

FIG. 27 ANTON OTTO KRAUSER Apache (see page 236)

The height of a patient must be compared with the mean height of his fellow-countrymen, or, to be more exact, of those inhabitants of his native province or district who are, needless to say, of the same age and social condition. The average height of a male Italian of twenty is 5 feet 4 inches (1.624 m.), that of a female of the same age, 5 feet (1.525 m.). The distances from the sole of the foot to the navel and from the navel to the top of the head are in ratio of 60 to 40, if the total height be taken as 100.

FIG. 29 Anthropometer

These measurements may be effected very rapidly by using the tachyanthropometer invented by Anfossi (see Fig. 29). It consists of a vertical column against which the subject under examination places his shoulders, a horizontal bar adjustable vertically until it rests on the shoulders, and can be used at the same time for ascertaining the length of the arms and middle finger: a graduated sliding scale in the vertical column for rapid measurements of the other parts of the body and a couple of scales at the base for measuring the feet.

Weight. In proportion to their height, criminals generally weigh less than normal individuals, whose weight in kilogrammes is given by the decimal figures of his height as expressed in metres and centimetres.

FIG. 30 Craniograph Anfossi

Head. The head, or rather the skull, the shape of which is influenced by the cerebral mass it contains, is rarely free from anomalies, and for this reason the careful examination of this part is of the utmost importance. We have no means of studying subtle cranial alterations in the living subject, but we can ascertain the form and capacity of his skull. This is rendered easy and rapid by means of a very convenient craniograph invented by Anfossi (see Fig. 30), which traces the cranial profile on a piece of specially prepared cardboard.

FIG. 31 Pelvimeter

In the absence of a craniometer, measurements may be taken with calipers, the arms of which are curved like the ordinary pelvimeters used in obstetrics (see Fig. 31), and a graduated steel tape.

The following are the principal measurements:

1. Maximum antero-posterior diameter, which is obtained by applying one arm of the instrument above the root of the nose just between the eyebrows and sliding the other arm over the vault of the skull till it reaches the occiput. The distance between the two arms furnishes the maximum longitudinal diameter.

2. The maximum transverse diameter or breadth of the skull is measured by placing the arms of the calipers, one on each side of the head on the most prominent spot.

3. The antero-posterior curve is obtained by fixing the graduated tape at zero on the root of the nose (on the fronto-nasal suture) and passing it over the middle of the forehead, vertex, and occiput to the external occipital protuberance.

4. The transverse, or biauricular curve is obtained by applying the steel tape at zero to a point just above the ear, and carrying it over the head in a vertical direction till it reaches the corresponding point on the other side.

5. The maximum circumference is obtained by encircling the head with the steel tape, touching the forehead immediately above the eyebrows, the occiput at the most prominent point, and the sides of the head more or less at the level, where the external ear joins the head, according to whether the position of the occipital protuberance is more or less elevated. (See Figs. 32, 33.)

6. The cranial capacity is obtained by adding together these five measurements, the antero-posterior diameter, maximum transverse diameter, antero-posterior curve, transverse curve, and maximum circumference. For a normal male the capacity is generally 92 inches (1500 c.c).

FIG. 32 FIG. 33 Diagram of Skull

7. The cephalic index is obtained by multiplying the maximum width by 100 and dividing the product by the maximum length, according to the following formula:

W x 100 ———- = X (cephalic index). L

If the longitudinal diameter is 200 and the transverse diameter 100, the cephalic index is 10,000 divided by 200 = 50.

The cephalic indices of degenerates, like their height, have only a relative importance; that is, when they are compared with the mean cephalic index prevalent in the regions of which the subject is a native. The cephalic index of Italians varies between 77.5 (Sardinians) and 85.9 (Piedmontese).

Skulls are classified according to the cephalic index, in the following manner:

Hyperdolichocephalic under 66 Dolichocephalic 66-75 Subdolichocephalic 75-77 Mesaticephalic 77-80 Subbrachycephalic 80-83 Brachycephalic 83-90 Hyperbrachycephalic above 90

We shall find among criminals frequent instances of microcephaly, macrocephaly, and asymmetry, one side of the head being larger than the other. Sometimes the skull is pointed in the bregmatic region (hypsicephaly), sometimes it is narrow in the frontal region in correlation to the insertion of the temporal muscles and the excessive development of the zygomatic arches (stenocrotaphy, see Fig. 5, Part I., Chapter I.), or depression of the bregmatic region (cymbocephaly).

Face. We have already remarked on the excessive size of the face compared with the brain-case, owing chiefly to the high cheek-bones, which are one of the most salient characteristics of criminals, and to the enormous development of the jaws, which gives them the appearance of ferocious animals (see Fig. 5). To these peculiarities may be added progeneismus, the projection of the lower jaw beyond the upper, a characteristic found only in 10% of normal persons, receding forehead as in apes, and the lemurian apophysis already mentioned.

Arms and Hands. With the exception of the excessive length as compared with the stature, anomalies in the arms are rare, but the hands show some interesting characteristics, which have already been described in the first chapter of Part I, an increase or decrease in the number of fingers and syndactylism or palmate fingers. Also the lines in the palm and those on the palmar surfaces of the finger-tips show deviations from the normal type resembling characteristics of apes.

Feet. Degenerates and more especially epileptics, frequently have flat or prehensile feet and an elongated big-toe with which, like the Japanese, they are able to grasp objects.

All these anomalies vary in number and degree according to whether the subject examined is a born criminal or a criminaloid, and according, also, to the special type of crime to which he is addicted. Thieves commonly show great mobility of the face and hands. Their eyes are small, shifty and obliquely placed, and glance rapidly from one object to another. The eyebrows are bushy and close together, the nose twisted or flattened, beard scanty, hair not particularly abundant, forehead small and receding, and the ears standing out from the head. Projecting ears are common also to sexual offenders, who have glittering eyes, delicate physiognomy excepting the jaws, which are strongly developed, thick lips, swollen eyelids, abundant hair, and hoarse voices. They are often slight in build and hump-backed, sometimes half impotent and half insane, with malformation of the nose and reproductive organs. They frequently suffer from hernia and goitre and commit their first offences at an advanced age.

The cinaedus is distinguished by his feminine air. He wears his hair long and plaited, and even in prison his clothing seems to retain its feminine aspect. The genitals are frequently atrophied, the skin glabrous, and gynecomastia not uncommon.

The eyes of murderers are cold, glassy, immovable, and bloodshot, the nose aquiline, and always voluminous, the hair curly, abundant, and black. Strong jaws, long ears, broad cheek-bones, scanty beard, strongly developed canines, thin lips, frequent nystagmus and contractions on one side of the face, which bare the canines in a kind of menacing grin, are other characteristics of the assassin.

Forgers and swindlers wear a singular, stereotyped expression of amiability on their pale faces, which appear incapable of blushing and assume only a more pallid hue under the stress of any emotion. They have small eyes, twisted and large noses, become bald and grey-haired at an early age, and often possess faces of a feminine cast.

SENSIBILITY

This external inspection of the criminal should be followed by a minute examination of his senses and sensibility.

FIG. 34 Esthesiometer

General Sensibility and Sensibility to Touch and Pain. Tactile sensibility should be measured by Weber's esthesiometer, which consists of two pointed legs, one of which is fixed at the end of a scale graduated in millimetres, along which the other slides (see Fig. 34). After separating the two points three or four millimetres, they are placed on the finger-tips of the patient, who closes his eyes and is asked to state whether he feels two points or one. Normal individuals feel the points as two when they are only 2 mm. or 2.5 mm. apart; when, however, tactile sensibility is obtuse (as in most criminals) the points must be separated from 3 to 4.5 mm. or even more, before they are felt as two. Obtuseness varies with the type of crime committed habitually by the subject; in burglars, swindlers, and assaulters, being approximately double, while in violators, murderers, and incendiaries it stands in the ratio of 5 to 1 compared with normal persons.

In the absence of an esthesiometer, a rough calculation may be made by using an ordinary drawing compass or even a hairpin, separating the two points and measuring with the eye the distance at which they are felt to be separate.

General Sensibility and Sensibility to Pain are measured by a common electric apparatus (Du Bois-Reymond), adapted by Lombroso for use as an algometer. (See Fig. 35.) It consists of an induction coil, put into action by a bichromate battery. The poles of the secondary coil are placed in contact with the back of the patient's hand and brought slowly up behind the index finger, when the strength of the induced current is increased until the patient feels a prickling sensation in the skin (general sensibility) and subsequently a sharp pain (sensibility to pain). The general sensibility of normal individuals is 40 and the sensibility to pain, 10-25: the sensibility of the criminal is much less acute and sometimes non-existent.

Sensibility to Pressure. Various metal cubes of equal size but different weight, are placed two by two, one on each side, on different parts of the back of the hand. The patient is then asked to state which of any two weights is the lighter or heavier. This sense is fairly acute in criminals.

Sensibility to Heat. Experiments are made by placing on the skin of the patient various receptacles filled with water at different temperatures. If great exactitude is desirable, Nothnagel's thermo-esthesiometer should be used. This is an instrument very similar to Weber's esthesiometer, but the points are replaced by receptacles filled with water of varying heat and furnished with thermometers. The patient must state which is the colder, and which the hotter spot. Sensibility to heat is less acute in criminals than in normal individuals.

Localisation of Sensibility. After the patient has been requested to close his eyes, various parts of his body are touched with the finger and he is asked to point out the exact spot touched. Should he not be able to reach it with his finger, a statuette should be placed before him on which he should mark with a pencil the part touched. Normal persons are always able to localise the sensation exactly: inability to do so signifies disease of the brain or some kind of anomaly.

Sensibility to Metals is tested by placing discs of different metals, copper, zinc, lead, and gold, or the poles of a magnet, on the frontal and occipital parts of the patient's head. Sometimes he feels pricking or heat, giddiness, somnolence, or a sense of bodily well-being. In general, criminals show great sensibility to metals; in hysterical persons this sensibility reaches an extraordinary degree of acuteness. By applying a magnet to the nape of the neck, the sensations of such individuals become polarised, that is, what appeared white to them before becomes black; bitter, what was formerly sweet, or vice versa. This is an excellent way of distinguishing between bona-fide cases of hysteria and sham ones. My father once detected simulation in a soi-disant hysterical patient by means of a piece of wood shaped and coloured to represent a magnet. On application of either magnet, the real or sham one, the patient's sensations were identical, whereas hysterical persons experience very diverse sensations and are able to distinguish very sharply between the contact, not only of wood and metal, but of the different kinds of metal, and are particularly sensitive to the magnet.

FIG. 35 ALGOMETER (see page 246)

FIG. 36 CAMPIMETER OF LANDOLT (Modified) (see page 249)

Sight—Acuteness of Vision—Chromatic Sensibility—Field of Vision. Visual acuteness is tested by holding letters of a specified size at a certain distance. Sight is generally more acute in criminals than in normal persons; not so, chromatic sensibility, which is tested by giving the patient a number of skeins of different coloured silks, and requesting him to arrange them in series. Persons afflicted with dyschromatopsia confuse the different colours and the different shades of the same colour. Colour-blind people confuse black and red.

Especially important is the examination of the field of vision, as the seat of one of the most serious anomalies discovered by the Modern School, the presence of peripheral scotoma, frequently found in epileptics and born criminals. To test this anomaly, use should be made of Landolt's apparatus (Fig. 36). This consists of a semicircular band, which can revolve around a column. The patient rests his chin on a support placed in front of the semicircle in such a manner that the eye under examination is exactly in the centre, and looks directly at the middle point of the semicircle, corresponding to 0 in the scale: the testing object, a small ball, is passed backwards or forwards along the semicircle. A graduated scale, placed on the semicircle, marks the point limiting the field of vision, and the result is registered on a diagram. The average limit of the normal field of vision is 90 mm. on the temporal side, 55 mm. on the nasal side, 55 mm. above and 60 mm. below (see Fig. 42). If a suitable instrument is not available, a series of concentric circles may be traced on a slate and the patient placed at a certain distance with one eye covered. The examiner then touches the different points of the circles with his hand and asks the patient whether he can see it when his eye is fixed on the central point. In this way the various points limiting the field of vision are noted and furnish, when united, the boundary line.

FIG. 37 Diagram Showing Normal Vision

Hearing is generally less acute in the criminal than in the normal individual, but does not show special anomalies. It may be tested by speaking in a low voice at a certain distance from the patient, or by holding an ordinary watch a little way from his ear.

Smell. Olfactory acuteness is tested by solutions of essences of varying strength, which the patient should be requested to place in order, indicating the one in which he first detects an odour. Ottolenghi has invented a graduated osmometer which is easy to use. The criminal generally shows olfactory obtuseness.

Taste is tested in the same way as smell, by varying solutions of saccharine or strychnine dropped on to the patient's tongue by means of a special medicine dropper. The mouth should be rinsed out each time. Normal persons taste the bitterness of sulphate of strychnine in a solution 1:600,000; the sweetness of saccharine in a solution 1:100,000. The sense of taste is less acute in criminaloids than in normal persons, and is specially obtuse in born criminals, 33% of whom show complete obtuseness.

Movements. Normal individuals in a state of repose remain almost motionless, and their gestures are always appropriate. Lunatics and imbeciles have a habit of speaking and gesticulating even when they are not interrogated. Nervous diseases manifest themselves in facial contortions or slight spasmodic contractions. In melancholia and all forms of depression, the patient does not gesticulate but remains immovable like a statue with his eyes cast down. Degenerates manifest a fairly varied series of involuntary motions,—twitchings of the muscles, as in chorea, tonic and clonic convulsions and tremors. In senility, chorea, and Parkinson's disease, the tremors are incessant and continue even when the body is in a state of repose; in sclerosis, goitre, and chronic inebriety they accompany voluntary movements, and in this case they are easily detected by making the patient lift the tip of his finger to his nose or a filled glass to his lips. The nearer the hand approaches its goal, the more intense the oscillations become. Above all, the examiner should not fail to ask the patient to put out his tongue. If it protrudes on one side, it is a sign of a serious nervous alteration and nearly always denotes the beginning or remains of paralysis, or partial apoplectic strokes.

Muscular Strength is measured by a common dynamometer (Fig. 38), which the patient is requested to grasp with all his might. Compressive strength is tested by compressing the oval. In order to test tractive strength, the dynamometer is fastened to a nail at the point C, and the patient pulls with all his strength at D. The effort is registered on a graduated scale and is of importance for detecting left-handedness and measuring the extraordinary force that is displayed in certain states of excitement.

Fig. 38 Dynamometer

Reflex Action consists of movements and contractions produced by an impression exciting the nerves of the cutis (cutaneous reflex) or tendons (tendinous reflex).

Cutaneous Reflex Movements may be tested by placing the patient in a recumbent position and stroking methodically certain parts of the body, the sole of the foot (plantar reflex), the under side of the knee-joint (popliteal reflex), the abdominal wall (abdominal reflex). Certain reflex movements are of special importance: the cremasteric reflex, on the inner side of the thigh (obtuse in old people and individuals addicted to onanism), the reflex action of the mucous membrane covering the cornea (suspended during stupor, coma, and epileptic convulsions), and the pharyngeal reflex along the isthmus of the fauces (absent in hysterical persons).

The dilatation and contraction of the pupil in accommodation to the distance of the object viewed or in response to light stimuli is undoubtedly the most important cutaneous reflex movement. It may be tested by requesting the patient to look at a distant object and immediately afterwards at the examiner's finger, placed close to his eye, or bringing him suddenly from semi-darkness into the light. If the pupil reacts very slightly to the light, it is called torpid: if it does not react at all, it is called rigid. Rigidity of the pupil always denotes some serious nervous disturbance. In certain diseases, especially tabes, the pupils do not respond to light stimuli, but accommodate themselves to objects.

Tendinous Reflex Action may be tested in every part of the body, but the rotular reflex movement is generally sufficient. The patient is asked to sit on the edge of the bed or on a chair with his legs crossed. If he is healthy, the reflex movement is fairly strong, but in some illnesses spastic movements may be provoked and extend to the abdomen (exaggerated reflex action); in others no reflex is forthcoming. This is one of the first symptoms of tabes.

FIG. 39 HEAD OF AN ITALIAN CRIMINAL

Urine and Feces. As the functions are anomalous, the chemical changes must also be anomalous, owing to the correlation of organs. In born criminals there is a diminished excretion of nitrogen, whereas that of chlorides is normal. The elimination of phosphoric acid is increased, especially when compared with the nitrogen excreted. Pepton is sometimes found in the excretions of paralytic persons in whom there is always an increased elimination of phosphates and calcium carbonate.

The temperature is generally higher than in normal persons, and, more important still, varies less in febrile illnesses.

* * * * *

For the reader's convenience, I have drawn up a list of the different points that should be noted in a careful examination.

Table showing the Anthropological Examination of Insane and Criminal Patients (drawn up by Tamburini, Strassmann, Benelli, and Mario Carrara).

A—Anamnesis. Name—surname—nationality—domicile—profession— age—education. Economic and hygienic conditions of native place. Family circumstances—pre-natal conditions—infancy—puberty. Causes to which decease of parents may be attributed. Cases of insanity—neurosis—imbecility—perversity—suicide—crime—or eccentricity in the family. Progressive diseases or trauma in the subject. Offence and causes thereof.

B—Physique. Skeletal development—height—span of the arms.

C—Physical Examination. Muscular development. Colour of hair and eyes. Quantity and distribution of hair. Tattooing. Craniometry: Antero-posterior diameter—transverse diameter— antero-posterior curve—transverse curve—cephalic index—type and anomalies of the skull—circumference—probable capacity— semi-circumference (anterior, posterior)—forehead—face, length, diameter (bizygomatic and bigoniac)—facial type—facial index— anomalies of conformation and development in the skull, in the face, in the ears, in the teeth, in other parts.

D—Functions.

E—Animal Life. Sensibility: meteoric—tactile—thermal—dolorific and muscular—visual—auditory—of the other senses. Motivity: Sensory left-handedness—motory left-handedness—voluntary and involuntary movements—reflex action (tendinous or muscular, abnormal, chorea).

F—Vegetative Life. Muscular strength. Circulation. Respiration. Thermo-genesis. Digestion: Rumination—bulimy—vomiting—dyspepsia—constipation— diarrhoea. Secretions: Milk—saliva—perspiration—urine—menstruation. Dyscrasia: poisoning.

G—Psychic Examination. Language—writing—slang. Attention—perception. Memory (textual)—reason. Dreams—excitability—passions. Sentiments: Affection—morality—religion. Instincts and tendencies. Moral character—industry. Physiognomical expression. Education—aptitudes.

H—Morbid Phenomena. Illusions—hallucinations—delusions— susceptibility to suggestion.

I—Offences. Cause of first offence: Environment—occasion—spontaneous or premeditated—drunkenness. Conduct after the offence: Repentance—recidivation.



CHAPTER II

SUMMARY OF THE CHIEF FORMS OF CRIMINALITY TO AID IN DISTINGUISHING BETWEEN CRIMINALS AND LUNATICS AND IN DETECTING SIMULATIONS OF INSANITY. A FEW CASES SHOWING THE PRACTICAL APPLICATION OF CRIMINAL ANTHROPOLOGY

The cases described in this chapter show the necessity of being able to estimate correctly accusations made against insane persons by criminals or normal individuals. Since, moreover, criminals are prone to sham insanity in order to avoid punishment, I sum up the characteristics that distinguish the various types of criminals. With regard to insane criminals, it must be remembered that every form of mental alienation assumes a specific criminality.

The idiot is addicted to bursts of rage, savage assaults, and homicide. His unbridled sexual appetite prompts him to commit rape. He is sometimes guilty of arson in order to gratify a childish pleasure at the sight of the flames.

The imbecile or weak-minded egotist is a frequent though unnecessary accomplice in nearly every crime, owing to his susceptibility to suggestion and incapability of understanding the gravity of his actions.

Melancholia is often the cause of suicide or homicide (as a species of indirect suicide). The sufferer generally confesses and gives himself up to the police. Delusions that he is being poisoned or insulted are often the cause of the murders committed by this type of lunatic.

Maniacs commit robbery, rape, homicide, and arson, and behave indecently in public.

Stealing is common among those afflicted with general paralysis, who believe everything they see belongs to them, or do not understand the meaning of property.

Dementia causes general cerebral irritation, which frequently results in murder and violence.

Hysterical persons invent slanders, especially of an erotic nature. They are given to sexual aberrations and delight in fraud and extravagant actions to make themselves notorious.

Persons subject to a mania for litigation offend statesmen and others.

Epileptics, of whom born criminals and the morally insane are the most dangerous variety, are familiar with the whole scale of criminality. Their special offences are assault and battery, rape, theft, and forgery. The first offences are committed intermittingly at the prompting of attacks of cortical irritation, the last two almost continuously owing to a state of constant irritation.

To distinguish between genuine insanity and simulation, it must be remembered that exaggeration of the symptoms is one of the chief characteristics of shamming. The simulator exaggerates the morbid phenomena and manifests a greater inco-ordination of ideas than does the genuine lunatic who gives sensible replies to simple questions, whereas the simulator talks nonsense. For instance, if a simulator is asked his name, his answer will show no connection with the question. He will say, perhaps: "Did you bring the bill?" or if asked how old he is, will answer: "I am not hungry."

Above all, in order to distinguish between dementia, idiocy, cretinism, and an imitation of these forms, a minute somatic examination is necessary. It should be remarked that in idiots, imbeciles, and cretins we generally find hypertrophy of the connective tissues, earthen hue, scanty beard, stenocrotaphy, malformations of the skull, ears, teeth, face, and especially jaws, and there are invariably anomalies in the field of vision, lessened sensibility to touch and pain (which cannot be simulated since pain invariably produces dilatation of the pupils), meteoric sensibility, attacks of hemicrania, neuralgia, hallucinations, and even convulsions, epileptic fits, tremors disposing to propulsive forms, and, psychologically, absence of natural feeling, sadism, and the inability to adopt a regular occupation.

When dealing with a simulation of epilepsy, it must be borne in mind that the epileptic always manifests salient degenerate characteristics, especially asymmetry of the face, skull, and thorax; and a careful investigation reveals neurosis of some kind in the family and trauma or serious illness in childhood. During the seizure, the pupil does not react (this cannot be simulated) or there is excessive mydriasis. The sudden pallor, and the exhaustion which follows the fit, are absent in the simulator, nor does he bite his tongue or injure himself in other ways. Furthermore, he reacts at the application of ammonia, and as he is not in that state of asphyxia in which the epileptic lies during the fit, the closing of his mouth and nostrils likewise produces a reaction.

Hysteria. Here the detection of shamming is more difficult, since deceit is a characteristic of this disease. Tests with metals, to which hysterical persons are extremely sensitive, suggestion and hypnotism should be resorted to. The character of the crime should be specially considered, because, as we stated, the foundation of hysteria is an erotic one, and offences committed by the hysterical are nearly always of this nature in the means or the end.

An examination of sensibility with suitable instruments, and of reflex action, is to be recommended in all cases.

PRACTICAL APPLICATION OF CRIMINAL ANTHROPOLOGY

The minute study of the criminal admits of infinite applications. It is generally used in deciding to which category of crime a particular offender belongs, whether he is a born criminal, a morally insane subject, an occasional criminal, or a criminaloid; but in certain cases the examination may be of value in establishing the innocence of an accused person, or in recognising in an accuser an insane individual whose accusation originates in some delusion and not in a knowledge of the facts.

AN ACCUSED MAN PROVED INNOCENT BY THE ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXAMINATION

On the 12th of January, 1902, a little girl of six, living at Turin, suddenly disappeared. Two months later, the corpse was discovered hidden in a case in a cellar of the very house the little victim had inhabited. It bore traces of criminal violence and the clothing was in disorder. Various persons were arrested, among them a coachman named Tosetti, who had been seen joking and playing with the child on several occasions.

Tosetti was of honest extraction, his grandparents and parents having died at an advanced age (between sixty and ninety) without having manifested nervous anomalies, vices, or crimes. Tosetti himself, although fond of drinking, was rarely, if ever, intoxicated, and was an individual of quiet, peaceful aspect with a benevolent smile and serenity of look and countenance. His hair had become grey at an early age, and he was devoid of any degenerate characteristics except excessive maxillary development. [Height 5 feet, 7 inches (1.70 m.); weight, 158 lbs. (72 kilogrammes); cranial capacity, 93 inches (1531 c.c.); cephalic index, 84 (brachycephaly; characteristic of the Piedmontese); tactile sensibility, 3 mm. left, 2.5 mm. right; general sensibility, 83 right, 78 left; sensibility to pain, 55 right, 45 left. The sensibility was, therefore, almost normal without any trace of left-handedness. Analysis of urine—absence of earthy phosphates common to born criminals. Tendinous reflex action feeble, few cutaneous reflexes, no tremors. The field of vision was not much reduced but manifested a few peculiarities, due no doubt to the abuse of alcohol.]

Psychologically, Tosetti appeared to be a man of average or perhaps slightly less than average intelligence. He was quiet, very respectful, not to say servile, entirely devoid of impulsiveness of any form, and averse to quarrels, on which account he was rather despised by his companions. His natural affections were normal, and he was a good son and brother; he was excessively timid and disconcerted by the slightest reproof from his employer. He was rather fond of wine, though not of liquors. His sexual instincts he had lost very early, a fact which caused his companions to indulge in many jokes at his expense. His stinginess bordered on avarice, and he had never changed his trade.

During his trial he showed no resentment against anyone, not even the police and warders, of whom he said on one occasion, "They have treated me like a son."

The examination proved beyond a doubt that Tosetti was not a born criminal, and was incapable of committing the action of which he was suspected—the murder of a child for purely bestial pleasure.

To obtain stronger proof, my father adopted the plethysmograph and found a slight diminution of the pulse when Tosetti was set to do a sum; when, however, skulls and portraits of children covered with wounds were placed before him, the line registered showed no sudden variation, not even at the sight of the little victim's photograph.

The results of the foregoing examination proved conclusively that Tosetti was innocent of a crime which can only be committed by sadists, idiots, and the most degenerate types of madmen, like Vacher and Verzeni and all bestial criminals, who have reached the summit of criminality and unite in their persons the greatest number of morbid physical and psychic characteristics.

A few months after my father had diagnosed this case, an assault of the same nature was committed on another little girl living in the same house. In this case, however, the victim survived and was able to point out the criminal—an imbecile, afflicted with goitre, stammering, strabismus, hydrocephaly, trochocephaly, and plagiocephaly, with arms of disproportionate length, the son and grandson of drunkards, who confessed the double crime and entreated pardon for the "trifling offence" since he had always done his duty and swept the staircase, even on the day he committed the crime.

Other cases of this kind might be cited, but one instance will suffice. I may, however, mention a case in which my father demonstrated the innocence of an unfortunate individual who had been sentenced to ten years' penal servitude and released at the expiration of his sentence. By means of a thorough examination, which showed a complete absence of criminal characteristics, my father declared the man to be innocent of the crime for which he had been imprisoned; and subsequent investigations resulted in his rehabilitation and the discovery of the actual culprit.

ACCUSATION PROVED TO BE FALSE BY THE ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXAMINATION

An individual named Ferreri suddenly disappeared, and ten days later his corpse was found down a well. The evidence of several persons led to the arrest of the owner of the well, a certain Fissore, a man of very bad reputation, with whom Ferreri had been seen on the day of his disappearance.

On being arrested, Fissore admitted having committed the crime, but not alone, and named as his accomplices three others, Martinengo, Boulan, and a prostitute, named Ada. All three strenuously denied their guilt. They all appeared perfectly normal.

But after a month of investigations, Martinengo, a tipsy porter of thirty-five, the son and grandson of drunkards, who at first had advanced an alibi, after being confronted several times with Fissore, admitted his complicity, and in the latter's absence added various details to his (Fissore's) version.

The four accused persons were examined anthropologically with the following results:

Boulan had the appearance of an honest country notary with broad forehead, precocious grey hairs and baldness, small jaws and a well-shaped mouth. He was a quiet man and had only once come into conflict with the law, but for an action which is not a crime in the eyes of an anthropologist (striking a carabinier who had ill-treated his father). He worked hard at his trade, which was that of a journeyman baker, and showed his kindly nature by substituting for sick comrades. He showed great attachment to all his companions, relatives, and family, and was generally beloved. In short, he was an honest, hard-working man. His alibi was corroborated by several persons who had been playing cards with him on the evening of the crime.

The second prisoner, Ada, although a prostitute, had never shown other criminal tendencies; she had adopted her calling in order to maintain her father and children, of whom she was very fond.

Martinengo, who had admitted his complicity, had no previous convictions. He was, however, an individual of earthy hue, with precocious wrinkles. Height, 5 feet, 3 inches (1.60 m.); span of the arms, 5 feet, 7 inches (1.70 m.); flattened, nanocephalous head, normal urine (phosphates 3.1), but anomalous reflex action and senses. Rigid, unequal pupils, tongue and lips inclined towards the right, shaky hand, astasia, aphasia, strong rotular reflex action, absence of cutaneous and cremasteric reflexes, illegible handwriting—a defect of long standing, since it was also found in writing dating back nine months before his arrest, uncertainty and errors of pronunciation (bradyphasia and dysarthria), complete insensibility to touch and the electric current, which gave him no sensation of pain. On the other hand, he was subject to unbearable pains in various parts of the body.

He was in the habit of laughing continually, even when reprimanded, or when sad subjects were mentioned. In spite of sharp pains in the epigastric region, he appeared to be in a strange state of euphoria or morbid bodily well-being, which prevented him from realising that he was in prison. He manifested regret when taken from his cell, where he said he had enjoyed himself so much in passing the hours in reading. Occasionally he had hallucinations of ghosts, lizards, mice, etc.

At night, he seemed to suffer from acute mental confusion, which caused him to spring out of bed. Sometimes he was seized by a fit of chorea, followed by deep sleep.

These phenomena led my father to the conclusion that Martinengo was an inebriate in the first stage of paralytical dementia.

The demented paralytic and the imbecile, like children, are easily influenced by the suggestions of others or their own fancies. Mere reading may produce a strong impression on such minds, as in the case of the little girl who accused the Mayor of Gratz of assault, because she had listened to the account of a similar case; and the impression is intensified when, as in the case of Martinengo, it is preceded by arrest, seclusion in a cell, the remarks of magistrates, warders, etc.

In order to test Martinengo's susceptibility to suggestion, my father told him that his cell was a room in the "Albergo del Sole," the name of a hotel in his native town. At first the idea amused him, but after a few days he began to mention it to other persons and at last he firmly believed in it. A few months later, he was transferred in a state of paralysis to the asylum, and there he was fond of boasting of the "Albergo del Sole" where he had been staying a few months before, and where they had treated him to choice dishes, etc.

We now come to Fissore, the accuser of the other three. Investigation of his origin showed that a male cousin had died raving mad, a female cousin had died in an asylum, a great-uncle on the maternal side had been crazy and had committed suicide; another cousin was weak-minded and subject to fits; another, a deaf-mute, had died in an asylum; another great-uncle was a drunkard and a loafer; one sister was an idiot, the other had run away from home, and a brother had been convicted several times.

Giuseppe Fissore had suffered from somnambulism and pavor nocturnus (fear of darkness) when quite a child; when a little older, he used to get up in the night, walk about and try to throw himself out of the window. At school he shunned the company of other boys and grew violently angry when called by his name. When ten years old, he was bitten by a mad dog and while being tended in Turin by the wife of an inn-keeper, had an epileptic seizure. At thirteen, he was seized by another fit, and in falling broke his arm. His restless and capricious character led him to change his occupation a great many times; he became, in turn, baker, carpenter, forester, and farm-labourer. He appeared to have little affection for his mother and still less for his father, with whom he had come to blows on one occasion. At the age of twenty, in a quarrel with some companions, one of them struck him with a sickle and fractured his skull. He had been convicted several times of theft, assault, etc.

He manifested only a few physical anomalies,—exaggerated facial asymmetry, due to the disproportionate development of the left side of his skull, Carrara's lines in the palm of his hands, and a scar resulting from the fracture of his skull; but the convulsions, the pavor nocturnus, the two fits, and other characteristics showed him to be an epileptic and an abnormal individual, and explained how he could have accomplished a murder single-handed, which was moreover rendered more easy by the fact that the victim had been drinking heavily. Nor was the crime without a motive, since the murdered man had been robbed of a large sum of money. The total lack of moral sense that distinguished Fissore explains why he should have sought to implicate three persons who had never wronged him for the pleasure of harming and enjoying the sufferings of others. In fact, during his trial he made many false accusations against the police merely for the sake of lying, which is characteristic of degenerates.

Irrefutable alibis and a mass of evidence in favour of the three others corroborated the anthropological diagnoses and led to their acquittal, while Fissore was convicted of the crime.

SIMULATION OF DEMENTIA AND APHASIA BY MORALLY INSANE SUBJECT

In August, 1899, a certain E. M. (see Fig. 44) was removed from prison to an asylum. Although only eighteen, he had been convicted several times of theft and robbery. As a child he had always shown a strong dislike to school and was given to inventing strange falsehoods. In one instance, he asserted that he had killed and robbed a man, although it was known that he had not left the house during the time.

After six months in prison, he began to show signs of mental alienation, with insomnia, loss of speech, and coprophagy. Whenever the cells were opened, he made wild attempts to escape by climbing up the grating. He was often seized with epileptic convulsions.

On the 30th of August, 1899, he was examined medically with the following results:

Stature, 5 ft., 1 in. (1.55 m.); weight, 130 lbs. (59 kilogrammes). Other measurements could not be obtained, owing to the subject's obstinate resistance. His skeletal constitution appeared to be regular and his body well nourished. His skull was brachycephalic, with strongly developed frontal sinuses, and fine, long, dark-brown hair. In the parieto-occipital region were a scar and lesion of the bone, the marks of a wound received during one of his dishonest adventures. He had a normal type of face with frequent contractions of the mimic muscles; the hair-growth on the face scanty for his age. Extremely mobile eyes of vivacious expression, slight strabismus. An examination of the mouth showed a slight obliqueness of the palate, and the mucous membrane was rather pale. The colourless skin was inclined to sallowness.

The functions showed an extraordinary degree of cutaneous anaesthesia and analgesia. In winter and summer the patient wore only a pair of trousers and a thin jersey covering his chest and leaving the arms bare; these he was fond of adorning with ribbons and medals. He was in the habit of slipping pieces of ice between his clothing and skin, and pricking himself on the chin with a needle for the purpose of inserting hairs in the holes. On one occasion, one of the doctors came quietly behind him and thrust a needle rather deeply into the nape of his neck, apparently without producing any sensation. Various tests were made by pricking him with a needle when asleep, but without causing the slightest reflex movement on his part.

Psychology. He was subject to strange impulses, which appeared to be irresistible. On one occasion he was caught cutting off the head of a cat, and at times he would devour mice, spiders, nails, excrements, and the sputum of the other patients. He committed acts of self-abuse publicly, with ostentatious indecency; was in the habit of snatching at bright objects and frequently tore his clothes. His obstinate mutism procured him the nickname of "the mute," but he talked in his sleep and replied to questions by signs.

At first, medical men judged him to be in the first stages of dementia, but the course of the symptoms and certain biological and psychic data obtained from the examination led them to the conclusion that the case was one of simulation by a morally insane individual.

In the first place, the patient's look expressed a certain amount of confusion and constant distrust; furthermore, it was noticed that the filthy, indecent, and cruel acts practised by him were committed only when he knew he was being observed. The warders often saw him retire to a quiet spot and vomit all the nauseous substances he had swallowed publicly. As soon as he believed himself to be secure from observation, the usual apathetic look on his face was replaced by one of vivacity and intelligence.

In November of the same year, although he had not discarded his air of imbecility, he gave abundant proofs of intelligence. He helped the asylum barber, and showed skill and neatness in the way he soaped the other patients' faces, but if a doctor appeared on the scene, he would daub the soap clumsily in their eyes and mouths. In playing cards he showed no lack of skill and never missed an opportunity of cheating.

All these facts pointed to shamming, and the suspicions of medical men were amply confirmed by his escape on the 26th of November. The manner in which he had prepared and executed this plan showed great astuteness on his part. Some time before, he had completely changed his clothes and dressed with a certain amount of elegance. He left a note bidding an affectionate farewell to everyone. Later on, he confessed to a fellow-prisoner that he had prepared everything beforehand for his escape as soon as he should have sufficient money. He also asserted that he had felt pain when pricked.

Some of the peculiarities manifested in this case, aphasia, insensibility, and coprophagia, have been noticed in other simulators, and it is easy to see why morally insane persons, who are naturally insensible and filthy in their habits, should adopt these peculiarities as traits of their insanity. The stubborn resistance offered by the subject to all attempts to apply diagnostic instruments, except those for measuring insensibility, may be explained by fear lest the simulation should be detected.

Simulators of insanity are generally psycho-physiologically, and often anatomically, degenerate, and their inferiority obliges them to resort to violence and trickery—the traits of savage races—to counter-balance their natural disadvantages. The simulation of insanity resembles in its motive the mimicry of certain insects which assume a protective resemblance to other and noxious species. Naturally inferior individuals tend to imitate characters of a terrifying nature (psychic in this case) which serve to protect them and enable them to compete with others who are better equipped for the battle of life.

MENTAL DERANGEMENT AND CRIMINAL MONOMANIA DEMONSTRATED BY THE ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXAMINATION

In June, 1895, Michele Balmi, aged 30, was arrested for stabbing Maria Balmi in the neck and hands. The deed had been committed in broad daylight and apparently without any motive, but the accused asserted that it was done in revenge, because the girls were always jeering at him.

From evidence given, it appeared that far from insulting Balmi, the girls of the village were in the habit of avoiding him as much as possible on account of his lubricity. The testimony of other witnesses, including the mayor of the place, showed that he was looked upon generally as a semi-insane person, because in a very short time he had squandered all his inheritance and had quite ceased to work.

Somatic Examination. Body fairly well nourished, height 5 ft., 3 in. (1.60 m.), weight 150 lbs. (68 kilogrammes). Shape of the skull apparently normal but more exaggeratedly brachycephalic than the mean cephalic index of the Piedmontese, which is 85; probable capacity 90 cu. in. (1475 c.c.), or slightly below that of a normal male skull, but proportioned to the low stature.

General sensibility and sensibility to pain and touch more obtuse on the left, the general sensibility of the right hand being 68 and the left 81. Dolorific sensibility, 35 right and 41 left; tactile sensibility, 1.5 right, 3.5 left. The strength tested by the dynamometer showed 47 on the right and 54 on the left, which proved that the subject was left-handed.

The field of vision manifested extraordinary irregularities, with serious scotoma on the inner side of the right eye; on the left side the eye showed only slight scotoma but there was myopia on the inner side.

Psychic Examination. The behaviour of the subject was very strange. From the very first day of his imprisonment he seemed to be perfectly calm and composed, as though nothing had happened. When asked how he found prison life, he only remarked: "I certainly thought the food was better."

When asked why he had committed the crime, he replied:

"Crime indeed! I have only done my duty. Those women were always annoying me. Even in the night, they would come tapping at my window and calling me [acoustic hallucinations] and they insulted me because they wanted me to marry them."

"Did they insult you during your absence from Italy?"

"Yes, they worried me all the time I was in America. It was no use changing my occupation. I tried everything; first I was a musician, then a barber, then I tried weaving, but they went on just the same, until I lost my situations through them and had to leave the country."

"Have you ever been insane or suffered from pains in the head?"

"At Chicago, all of a sudden, a doctor called on me, but I have never been mad and should be all right if those women would leave me alone. After all, I only wanted to give them a lesson."

He showed a profound and unshaken belief in his own assertions, such as is rare in simulators or in sufferers from melancholia, but is peculiar to monomaniacs, especially if subject to delusions and convinced that they are the object of general persecution.

Careful investigation of the crime showed that it was entirely without motives and had been committed openly without any attempt to escape or to establish an alibi. It bore no resemblance to ordinary crimes and was clearly a case of monomania with hallucinations. This diagnosis was confirmed by the fact of the anomalies in the field of vision and sensibility, the acoustic hallucinations, and, psychologically, the anomalous nature of the affections and moral sense.

It was impossible to suppose that any of these peculiarities had been simulated, because the subject was far too ignorant to be aware of the importance of hallucinations and alterations in the senses and affections. Moreover, his whole bearing was that of a man profoundly convinced that he had done his duty, and he had no motive for shamming to escape punishment, since it evidently never entered his head that he ran any risk of incurring it. He was sent to an asylum.