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Page 48
From stature we shall pass to weight. Lombroso and Marro say that the
weight of Italian criminals is superior to the weight of the average
Italian citizen. On the other hand, the weight of London criminals is
almost the same as that of London artizans, but inferior to the weight
of the artizan population in the large English towns taken as a whole.
Average weight of London criminals (300) 136 pounds; average weight of
London artizan (318) 137 pounds; average weight of artizans in large
towns generally, 138 pounds. The London criminal is considerably
inferior in weight to the well-to-do classes, as will be seen from Mr.
Galton's Health Exhibition statistics. Average weight, Health
Exhibition, 143 pounds; average weight, most favoured class (Roberts),
152 pounds. These figures show that the criminal class in London is
seven pounds lighter than the well-to-do, and sixteen pounds lighter
than the most favoured section of the population.
Hardly any investigations have been made in this country respecting
the skulls of criminals, and the inquiries of continental
investigators have so far led to very conflicting results. It is a
contention of Lombroso's that the skulls of criminals exhibit a larger
proportion of asymmetrical peculiarities than the skulls of other men.
On this point Lombroso is supported by Manouvrier. But Topinard, an
anthropologist of great eminence, is of the opposite opinion. He
carefully examined the same series of skulls as been examined by
Manouvrier--the skulls of murders--and he discovered no marked
difference between these and other skulls. Heger, a Belgian
anthropologist says that the skulls of delinquents do not differ from
the skulls of the race to which the delinquent belongs. In fact, till
more exactitude is introduced into the methods of skull measurement,
all deduction based upon an examination of the criminal skull must be
regarded as untrustworthy. A striking instance of this was witnessed
at the proceedings of the Paris Congress of Criminal Anthropology held
in 1889. When the skull of Charlotte Corday, who killed the
revolutionist Marat, was subjected to examination, Lombroso declared
that it was a truly criminal type of skull; Topinard, on the other
hand, gave it as his opinion that it was a typical female skull. On
this point Topinard was supported by Benedict.[34] As long as such
divergencies of view exist among anthropologists it is impossible to
place much stress upon inquiries relative to the conformation of the
criminal skull. Before a beginning can be made with inquiries of this
character, there must be some fundamental basis of agreement among
investigators as to what is to be accounted asymmetrical in skull
measurements and what is not. Even then it will have to be remembered,
before coming to conclusions, that no skull is perfectly
symmetrical--every one showing some variation from the ideal type.
When the extent of this variation has been absolutely demonstrated to
be greater in the case of criminals than among other sections of the
community, we shall then be approaching solid ground. At present we
must wait for further light before anything can be said with certainty
with respect to the criminal skull.
[34] See _Revista Internacional de Anthropologia Criminal y
Ciencias Medico-Legales, Marzo e April de 1890_.
Just as little is known at present about the brain of criminals as
about the skull. Some years ago Professor Benedict startled the world
by stating that he had discovered the seat of crime in the
convolutions of the brain. He found a certain number of anomalies in
the convolutions of the frontal lobes, and he came to the conclusion
that crime was connected with the existence of these anomalies. But he
had omitted to examine the frontal convolutions of honest people. When
this was done by other investigators, it was found that the brain
convolutions of normal men presented just as many anomalies, some
investigators (Dr. Giacomini) said even more than the brains of
criminals. According to Dr. Bardeleben, there is no such thing as a
normal type of brain. Weight of brain is a much simpler question than
brain type, but so far it is impossible to say whether the criminal
brain is heavier or lighter than the ordinary brain. The solution of
this comparatively simple point is beset by a certain number of
obstacles. It is not enough, Dr. Binswanger tells us, to weigh the
brains of criminals and the brains of ordinary persons and then strike
an average of the results. The height and weight of the persons whose
brains are averaged are essential to the formation of accurate
conclusions; till these important factors are taken into account, all
deductions based upon weight of brain only rest upon an unsure
foundation.
But supposing we had a trustworthy body of facts bearing upon the
weight and structure of the criminal brain, we should still require to
know much more of brain functions in general before satisfactory
conclusions could be drawn from these facts. We know something, it is
true, of the physiological functions at certain cerebral regions, but
as yet nothing is known of the localisation of any particular mental
faculty, whether criminal or otherwise. A conclusive proof that the
study of the brain, as an organ of thought, is still in its infancy,
is found in the fact that the fundamental question is still unsolved,
whether the whole brain is to be considered one in all its parts, so
far as the performance of psychic functions is concerned, or whether
these functions are localised in certain definite centres. Till these
fundamental difficulties are cleared away, the presence of anomalies
in certain convolutions of the brain will not prove very much one way
or the other.[35]
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