Evening star., 1900-10-06
SUBJECT FOR STUDY
Mental and Physical Attributes of
the Criminal Glass.
PROPOSED GOVERNMENT LABORATORY
Its Prime Object Would Be the
Suppression of Crime.
REMARKABLE MUSEUM

Written for The Evening Star.
A very elaborate scheme Is on foot to es-
tabliSh in Washington, as an adjunct to
oAo - Uncle Sans departments. novel
criminofeeical laboratory. The national
prison congress has just adopted a resolu-
ton asking the general government to Gre
ate such an important institution. Noted
scientists and philanthropists are behind
the enterprise. Such a laboratory would
Of course, be brand new to America. Its
prime aim would be the suppression of
crime. Uncle Sam maintains here many
laboratories wherein are studied the physi-
cal ills to which human and animal flesh
is heir. The many advocates Of the GRIM
inological laboratory are aware that mans
moral ailments-and the wholesale pesti-
lences which they breed-are quite as in
furious and should be quite as thoroughly
understood.
The 10000 criminals annually convicted
in the United States offer the best possible
material for systematic study. Nine-tenths
of these are believed to be criminals by oc-
caslon,' whose crimes are due to evil social
surroundings. The other tenth are believed
to be criminals by instinct" who are in
corrigtbles. Our entire criminal popula-
ton is much better catalogued and much
more Systematically installed than any
other class OF animate specimens worthy of
study. They are always accessible and
grouped together in such manner as to ia
vor comparisons. 1t is proposed to study
and measure them by a system far more
elaborate than that invented by Ber-
tElon-of Dreyfus trial fame-which has
been adopted by many of our states. The
new system embodieS measurements OF
criminal brains and criminal character as
we'll as criminal bodies. 1t is proposed to
measure criminals not only at the time of
imprisonment, but at uniform intervals dur
ing their terms. at the same time compa r.
ing them with law-abiding men. Thus may
be studied the effects of various periods Of
prison life
Are Most Criminals Born In Winters
Age and time of birth of criminals will
be studied. among other things. There is
theory that more criminals are born in
cold than in warm weather. and that help
less infants of the poorer classes, when
beginning life during the cold months,
when food is scarce. are apt to enter the
world under moral handicap; There is
another theory which has 1t that moral
degeneracy occurs to human beings in
waves, corresponding with age Teething
time and the age of puberty seem to mark
the crests of the first two evil waves.
There may be others, and, If SO, science
would like to discover them. 1t is fur
ther proposed to determine whether there
Is any possible connection between race
type ana crime some dntnrOpOlOSlStS
claim that the criminal is often a rever-
sion to primitive man-in other words,
that he has the nature of one of his brutal
ancestors of prehistoric times cropping out
in himself.
Left-handedness in criminals will come
in for another share Of study, according to
one of the preliminary schemes for the
laboratory. 1t is believed that this defect
is much more general among wrongdoers
than among normal men. Scientists who
make profession of studying human be-
fngs are attaching increasing Importance to
the hand This member is found to be
closely connected with the mind and char
acter-not with respect to the lines of the
aim, but the general formation and pose
of the hand. The natural poses of the hand
are thought by some anthropologists of the
school to be sure indiceS to instinct.
Possibly there is criminal hand quite
as typical as the now famous criminal
ear"
RevOlutionize Criminal PhrenoloGy.
The criminal head"-both inside and out
side-will, of course, come in for the large
share of this novel research. Whether
long -headedness, Observation-Disclosures, high
headedness or shallow medicines is a
characteristic Of the criminal type can be
deduced from measurements OF thousands
of prisoners. 1t is further proposed to
make careful measurements of all facial
features The criminal eye for instance,
may thus be discovered. Eyes too close to-
gether are believed by some anthropologists
to denote approach to the brutality of the
ape; eyes too far apart to denote a tendency
toward idiotic degeneration. Such the
theories. Advocates of the projected labora-.
tory want to replace mere theories by facts
supported by statistics of thousands Of
cases. Many students who have measured
great numbers of human beings further
claim that thickness of lips denotes an
imal nature. The old-fashioned "phrenol-
ogy" and ''physiognomy'' are now looked
DSeudO-ScienceS
who measure and study live human beings
see a new relationship between shape Of
head, features or expression and character.
The minds, nervous systems emotions
and dispositions Of criminals will offer
themes for still more serious study. The
effects of various punishments upon these
Will also be pryed into. 1t is claimed that
solitary confinement and other forms Of
prison discipline produce insanity.
Studying the Senses.
Whether the sensations Of criminals are
more or less dulled than those of normal
individuals is another mooted question. The
weight of available evidence is that while
acuteness of sight and hearing is character
fstic Of the intellectual classes, who use
those senses most in daily work, acuteness
of smell and taste is characteristic of the
more animal classes. Smell is generally
very acute in criminals. They and the in
sane appear to enjoy many odors sickening
to normal man. The acuteness of smell in
criminals examined according to the new
system will probably be measured by the
"ofactometer." One end of a glass tube
comprising part of this instrument, is held
in the nostril. The other end extends into
a hollow cylinder made Of porcelain and
saturated with oil of peppermint. BY push
ing the outer end of the tube further and
further into the cylinder less and less of
the latter's perfumed surface is subjected
to the inhalation. By so manipulating the
device. while an indicator registers the de-
gree of entrance, point is reached where
the subject ceases to appreciate the odor
His acuteness of smell can thus be accu-
rately measured and compared with that
of other persons. The writer was lately
shown remarkable device for comparing
the powers of discrimination between diff
ferent odors and tastes. 1t was known as
the smell and taste piano." Fifteen hun
dred odors and as many tastes were bottled
in phials, arranged in a sort of scale, SIM
liar odors and tastes being grouped to-
gether. The subject, who began at one end
of the series and smeled tasted his way
to the other. could scarcely appreciate diff
ferences as he progressed. But when the