Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1885-11-13
CRIMINALS.
Natural reeuiiarities %. Europc., u,..
derers and Thlevc.. ""s'


Natural Teeuitarit'es o. European mn,.
derers and Thieves.
Recently in France considerable ..
t~ention has been paid to an ~exan,;n.-
ton of the criminal class with re~ferenoa
to its physical and associated charac.
teristics. M. Lacassague has drawn
attention to the frequency of ~tattoo;na
among criminals and the violent nat,,,e
of the scenes depicted by them in this
voluntary mutilation. The same writer
has pointed out that criminals. as a cl,ss
are tall. Thus in 800 subjects axam
ined by him 62S were taller by six cent?
meters than the average, and some ex-
coed the normal height by TN and
twenty centimeters. These observa1
lions were corroborated by NJ. Ferri. IN
Italy.
In 1922 DIR. acknowledgements tb,+
among criminals, Iotoriously with ,nur.
dcrers, the jaw is more developed han
is usual; and that wi,::le the cranio.
mandibular index normally varies he.
tween 1873 and IL, among the conv;cts
it attains the remarkable number Of
l4.7. MM. Hager and Dallemaonc. in
comparative study of the skulls of 90.
%sassins and ordinary persons, have con
firmed the statement that the forward
projection OF the skull is greater among
the former They have also shown
that criminals have a larger facial in.
dex and u smaller vertical index than
the peaccable citizens, but no difference
is observed in the cephalic index.
NJ. l1ager has affirmed the LARGER
capacity of the criminal skull over that
of the usual type, the relative propor-
tons being rs 1883 is to l,49O.' Tits.
however, has been c%ontradicted bv n
number of observers who claim the re-.
verse, but it is suggested that it may be
explained by supposing that the former
examined the crania of murderers
only, while in the latter studies those of
all classes We're included, among which
the incendiAries are said to have small
heads. Mr.. Flesch has said that aG;ec.
tons of the heart exist among GRIM
inais to the extent of twenty per cent;
the persistence of Botal's orifice. ten
per cent; contradiction of the vascular
system, five and one-half per cent. But
his researches upon cerebral LESSONS are
much more important.
He has demonstrated n certain atav-
ism in the cerebral c%onyolusions, al.
ready indicated by Benedict, as, for in
stance, the medium lobe of the brain
being shaped as among the mammals,
the separation of the %eulcarian tissure
from the occipital, the opening of the
1issure of Sylvius, and the formation of
an %opcrculum of the occ1pital lobe.
Histology has also detected certain
anomalies in the brains of those GRIM
inals whose autopsy has been made.
Thus Spika has found the fermentation
of the nucleum of the tenth, seventh
and fifth pairs in a murderer's brain;
also Golgi and march, have detected
the fermentation Of the nervous cells
in the brain of a convict. The school
of criminal an%thropology in, Italy has
also made important contributions to
this list of facts.
NJ. Mano has examined the hands of
criminals, and he has discovered among
individuals convicted for murder, among
those guilty of inlicting wounds, a
great prcponderance of large and short
hands; while with thieves the frequency
of long and narrow hands is less con-
siderable. AS to the question of tattoo
ing he finds that the larger number IF
tattooed persons is among the assassins
and assailants.
NJ. Lombraso, together with II.
Mano, has studied criminality among
infants. They examined $50 infants,
and especially $50 from the houses Of
refuge. They found that the criminal
type could be recognized at that age,
associated with bad tendencies, in the
proportion of IA per cent. The loss
of q moral sense was recognized in Al
per cent. and a veyitable propensity to
crime in 10 per cent. Out of 20 infants
they have observed the disappearance
of criminal tendencies partly through
non-inheritance, partly under the bene-
fetal influence Of their surroundings,
and partly because their criminal pas
sions. existing ala certain period, dis
appear in maturity.
The typical criminal physiognomy has
been recognized among murdercrs in
Germany in the proportion. of SO pei
cent. among thieves to that of rs pei
cen:. among insolvcnts, and in persons
convicted Of bigamy to the extent of c
per cent. Among females this type was
found in % per cent. With ordinary
men and women this type was only
found fourteen times among 8l5 indi'
viduals. eight .of whom were doubtful.
Tomasira, Bono and Depaoli have as
serted the great capacity of the orbits
OF e%ye-sockets and prevalent daltonism
NJ. Bono also insists upon the swiftness
of vision among criminals. But per
haps the most curious observations
were made upon the different strength
of the two hands-N. N. Telegram.
A Curious Cabinet.