Degeneracy: Its Causes, Signs and Results

by Eugene S. Talbot

FIG. 24.

The angle between 80° and 90° may be accepted as an ideal by which to study degeneracy. This factor alone, however, can not be accepted: the evolution of the face itself must be also taken into consideration. It is obvious that in the struggle for existence and supremacy between the brain and the face (both expressions of vertebrate advance), stress may be concentrated on one particular part. Whence result certain factors which modify the conclusion to be drawn from the facial angle. The hollowed out condition of the face from the supra-orbital ridges down to and including the base of the nose (illustrated in Johanna) merits attention here. The same condition is observable in the negro, only it extends farther down and includes both jaws. One jaw, however, may alone be affected. Most of the Chinese, Japanese, Eskimo, Polynesians, Australians, Aryan Caucasic Africans, and some American Indians, possess this feature. As has been already remarked, the facial regions of man and the ape up to a certain point are similar. Not until the sense organs of man begin to develop are changes noticeable in facial expression. If, through heredity or constitutional defect, that part of the brain which presides over development of the facial bones lose its control, arrest of development of that particular tissue results at any period between birth and the twenty-fifth year, while other parts of the head and face continue to develop. With this understanding Camper’s method can be safely applied to certain cases. If a line be dropped from the supra-orbital ridge to the upper lip in its most prominent part (Fig. [23]), it will be found here that in place of the face presenting the full appearance illustrated in Fig. [19] and Fig. [22], it has the hollow appearance observable in Johanna and in Fig. [25]. This is due to arrest of development of the bones of the face and the upper jaw. The extent of depression depends upon the time of arrest, the frontal development of the skull, and the position of the upper jaw. The nose may present and retain the appearance of that of a child six months old, or any other shape up to normal development, but will not protrude from the face nor present a normal symmetrical appearance. It has the appearance of having been driven into the face. It has been claimed that the bridge of the nose is pushed out by the advancing brain and cranium. This may be true to a certain extent, but one is not necessarily dependent on the other, since an arrested nose is frequently found in a fully developed cranium (Fig. [24]), which is not unlike Fig. [23] and a “throw-back” to Fig. [20]. This is due to the fact that in the struggle for existence the bones of the face and skull base became arrested early in life, while the brain and cranium continued to advance. The lower jaw is usually normal since, while the tendency to arrest may be present in a slight degree, mobility of the jaw often causes such increased nutrition of the part that normal development in many cases thereby results. Overlooking this fact has often led to the assertion that a large lower jaw exists when, in reality, this appearance is due to an arrest of the face and upper jaw, the lower remaining normal. The expression of degeneracy is rather in the arrest of the upper jaw than in the normal lower (see Fig. [23]).

The criminals of the Elmira Reformatory, and those of the Pontiac Reformatory, present marked instances of this stigma, nearly 50 per cent. being so affected. Arrest of the lower jaw may occur alone, or may be associated with arrest of development of the face (Fig. [25]). When this is the case a deep, broad groove extends from below the eyes downward and backward to the lower jaw, also showing a lateral arrest of development, producing a hatchet-shaped face. The upper part of the face may be normal, and the lower jaw arrested antero-posteriorly.

FIG. 25.

FIG. 26.

It has been broadly asserted that this is an atavism, but more probably it is an expression of that phase of evolution whereby both jaws are becoming subservient to the advance in evolution represented by the gains of the brain and cranium. When both jaws are arrested Camper’s disobedience of the rules of art, whereby the facial angle is increased over 90°, occurs. This condition has been found in many degenerates. Almost invariably in connection with the arrest of development of the face occurs arrest of the bones of the nose. The diameter of the nasal cavities is much smaller than normal. Owing to the unstable condition of the nervous system there is also hypertrophy of the turbinate bone and mucous membrane of the nose and throat, tonsil hypertrophy, arrested development of the chest walls and lung tissue, and unstable mucous membranes throughout the lungs. Such a degenerate face, body, and unstable nervous system is a fruitful soil for the germs of tuberculosis. In these cases even a casual glance will show that the two halves of the face and head are not symmetrically developed. It looks as though the two halves were made separately and joined together, one half higher than the other. This condition is excellently illustrated in Fig. [26]. In this case the left half is higher than the right. (Frequently the right side is the higher.) There is arrest of the upper and lower jaw. The left corner of the mouth is higher than the right. The left half of the lower jaw is higher than the right, the body of the lower jaw is longer, the ramus is shorter. The left eye and ear are higher. The left supra-orbital ridge is higher. The ears stand almost at right angles, while the malar processes are quite prominent. Viewing the face from a three-quarters’ angle (which should always be done in making an examination, or photographing the degenerate face for study) it will be found that there is not only arrest of development of the bones of the face, but also of the lower jaw.