Fig. 6
a) Cortical strata of the circumvolutions of the parietal lobes of a normal person.
b) Cortical strata of the circumvolutions of the parietal lobes of a criminal epileptic.
1. Molecular stratum. 2. External granular stratum. 3. Stratum of the small pyramidal cells. 4. Stratum of the large pyramidal cells. 5. Deep stratum of the small nervous cells or the deep granular stratum. 6. Stratum of polymorphic cells. S.B. White matter.
These anomalies in the limbs, trunk, skull and, above all, in the face, when numerous and marked, constitute what is known to criminal anthropologists as the criminal type, in exactly the same way as the sum of the characters peculiar to cretins form what is called the cretinous type. In neither case have the anomalies an intrinsic importance, since they are neither the cause of the anti-social tendencies of the criminal nor of the mental deficiencies of the cretin. They are the outward and visible signs of a mysterious and complicated process of degeneration, which in the case of the criminal evokes evil impulses that are largely of atavistic origin.
Sensory and Functional Peculiarities of the Born Criminal
The above-mentioned physiognomical and skeletal anomalies are further supplemented by functional peculiarities, and all these abnormal characteristics converge, as mountain streams to the hollow in the plain, towards a central idea—the atavistic nature of the born criminal.
An examination of the senses and sensibility of criminals gives the following results:
General Sensibility. Tested simply by touching with the finger, a certain degree of obtuseness is noted. By using an apparatus invented by Du Bois-Reymond and adopted by my father, the degree of sensibility obtained was 49.6 mm. in criminals as against 64.2 mm. in normal individuals. Criminals are more sensitive on the left side, contrary to normal persons, in whom greater sensibility prevails on the right.