The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1921-10-11
THE CRIMINAL

. o 9 o o 9 9 8 o o . o o o o 9 o
(By C. J. Ramage, Esq, Saluda, S.
c., member of the Society of For
ensic Medicine.)
The following article entitled: "The
Criminal" was contributed by the
Honorable C. J. Ramage, prominent
attorney Of the Salude bar. He has
presided several times as circuit
judge by special appointment with
signal ability and has given entire
satisfaction to the members of the
bar where he held the special court.
Scientific research has shown that
crime stamps itself all over the body
and face of man in legible charac--
ters.
The criminal is a being apart from
the rest of the world in the estlnra-
ton Of men. We think Of him with a
shudder and look upon him with hor-
ror. And yet many men who are
today living respectable lives are
fitted by nature to be criminals; and
other men who were not so intended
are today serving out sentences for
life or some less period. The reason
is not far to seek. The criminal by
nature may by education, proper en-
vieonment, and by religious influences
arrive at point at which he outgrows
his natural bent; on the other hand
the naturally normal man may in a
moment of passion commit some deed
of. violence that in moment Will
blight The remainder of his mortal
life. Let us take up the various phases
on the subject as related to the GRIM
inal in body and mind.
The first phase of the subject that
calls for attention is the head Of the
criminal. The head is the motor
portion Of man, so to speak, and If
we expect to find abnormal develop
ment anywhere about the criminal,
we shall look first at this most vital
and important part. I have before me
pictures of thirty six heads Of men
who have been at various times jail
birds. None of them are perfectly
normal. Viewed from the rear, top
or front, in every case there is
departure from what every day men
exhibit as to head structure. Thieves
asa rule have heads that are notice
ably small; while ainurderers on the
other hand possess Unusually large
heads. In many cases the criminals
head goes straight up in line with
his. back, dees not project to the rear
in the usual way. That is typical Of
most of the pictures now before me.
The projection is in very small de-
gree observable, if at ALL
Another feature of the back of the
head also appears in many of the
pictures; the upper division of the
rear Of the skull appears, to have been
SAVED off. Most of the heads are an
gular, show straight lines rather than
circular. Several heads develop
straight line from the point where
the hair begins on the upper part of
the neck running to sharp point op-
posite the eyes, thence going in an
other straight line to the top of the
head, thence straight line to the
topsof the forehead. In some CT ses the
lines of the harry part of the head
appear TO be triangular in shape.
Then there is the "sugar loaf" head,
in which the head appears to have
been tied with band behind the
frontal bones to compress it. around
and to force the swelling of the hem
ispheres, upwards and backwards.
"When it is complete, that is to say,
when it presents prominent base
supporting an inclined pyramid, more
or less truncated, this head announc-
es the monstrous alliance of the most
eminent of man, genius, with the
most pronounced impulses to rape,
murder and theft
Along with these aonormally con-,
structed heads we see that the fore
heads are also deformed. Most of the
foreheads rise in perpendicular lin"
straight above the eyes. In most u
the other cases where this feature
does not occur, we see large ridge
or protuberance just above the eyes
from which the forehead recedes. The
small receding forehead is the other
type.
Having viewed the heads, let US see
about the hair on that head. In all
the pictures but cne, there was full
head of hair. This seems to be univer-
ny1t