8 4 8 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



LITERARY NOTICES. 



The Female Offender. By Prof. Cesar 

 Lombroso and William Ferrero. The 

 Criminology Series, edited by W. Doug- 

 lab Morrison. New York : D. Appleton 

 & Co. Pp. 313. Price, $1.50. 



The scientific study of anthropology, 

 which has risen to prominence within the 

 last few years, bids fair to yield knowledge 

 of much practical value. The anthropolo- 

 gists of several countries, and especially 

 those of Italy, have been investigating the 

 criminal class trying to see if criminals are 

 a distinct class, and what peculiarities mark 

 them off from moral persons. When a basis 

 of exact knowledge concerning criminals has 

 been obtained, it will doubtless be possible 

 to construct upon it much better modes of 

 dealing with them than are now in vogue. 

 Some results of this investigation have been 

 made known to a limited circle through con- 

 tributions to scientific journals and occa- 

 sional volumes, but now the quantity of in- 

 formation collected has seemed to warrant 

 the publication of a series of books devoted 

 to criminology. As editor of the series the 

 publishers have secured W. Douglas Mor- 

 rison, M. A., of her Majesty's Prison, Wands- 

 worth, England, a devoted student of the 

 subject, and one who has had exceptional 

 opportunities for observation. It is fitting 

 that the series should begin with a book by 

 Prof. Lombroso, who has devoted a laborious 

 life mainly to criminal anthropology, and is 

 the recognized leader of the Italian school 

 in this branch of science. Associated with 

 him as joint author is one of his most rap- 

 idly rising juniors William Ferrero. As a 

 result of their investigations, the authors re- 

 gard as a complete type of the criminal 

 woman one wherein exist four or more of 

 the characteristics of degeneration. The 

 criminal type in the female sex is rare as 

 compared with the male. The reason is that 

 women are generally occasional rather than 

 habitual offenders. When a born offender, 

 a woman is, in the majority of cases, an 

 adulteress, a calumniator, a swindler, or a 

 mere accomplice offenses which require an 

 attractive or at least a normal personal ap- 

 pearance. Atavism is regarded by our au- 

 thors as the key to female delinquency. 

 " The primitive woman was rarely a murder- 



ess, but she was always a prostitute " ; hence 

 the modern woman who degenerates atavis- 

 tically takes to prostitution rather than to 

 crimes of violence. The authors have given 

 much attention to anthropometry, and pre- 

 sent in this volume a large number of meas- 

 urements of the skull, bodies, and limbs of 

 female delinquents, also studies of brains, 

 tests of senses, etc. The subject of suicide 

 and the influence of hysteria and epilepsy on 

 crime are considered. Tattooing, which is so 

 common among male criminals as to become 

 a special characteristic, is extremely rare in 

 female delinquents. The discussions of the 

 several topics treated are illustrated and for- 

 tified by many histories drawn from criminal 

 records, and by portraits of French, German, 

 and Russian subjects. The work is a valu- 

 able contribution to a new and much needed 

 science. 



Mental Development in the Child and the 

 Race. Methods and Processes. By 

 James Mark Baldwin, M. A., Ph. D., 

 Stuart Professor of Psychology in Prince- 

 ton University. New York and London : 

 Macmillan & Co. Pp. 496. Price, $2.60. 



In this work Prof. Baldwin appears as an 

 observer, experimenter, theorizer, and critic, 

 in short, as a maker of science, in which role 

 he is quite as interesting and instructive as 

 in that of expositor. The first event which 

 led to the publication of this book was the 

 birth of a daughter in 1890, whose mental 

 unfolding was watched with unfailing atten- 

 tion. When she reached her ninth month 

 he undertook to experiment with her to find 

 out the exact state of her color perception. 

 The account of his procedure, of the re- 

 sults reached, and his criticisms thereon, 

 is given in Chapter III, entitled Distance 

 and Color Perception by Infants. Chapter 

 IV, on The Origin of Right-Handedness, de- 

 scribes the experiments undertaken to gain 

 light upon the facts and conditions of left- 

 handedness that had not before been closely 

 observed. After discussing in the earlier 

 chapters the general condition of the respon- 

 sive movements of infancy and pointing out 

 special problems, he enters in Chapter V 

 upon a description of experiments concern- 

 ing the rise of more complex movements. 

 In 1892, at the birth of a second daughter, 

 he continued his observations and planned 

 new experiments, enlarging the scope of his 



