ENRICO FERJRI ON HOMICIDE. 833 



crime ; but this is usually due not so mucli to internal resistance 

 (active inhibition) as would occur in normal man, as to an exter- 

 nal and present force (passive inhibition), which hinders its exe- 

 cution, such as an unexpected incident which takes the place at 

 times of this defect of inhibition, giving to the delinquent the 

 resisting force which he lacks. And this brings us by a natural 

 transition to insane homicide. The author arrives at the conclu- 

 sion that there does not exist a special form of homicidal " mono- 

 mania," but that all the forms of madness may be accompanied by 

 homicidal excess. Hence the criterion that he has adopted in his 

 symptomatology of homicidal mania. He differs from the classifi- 

 cation that is purely clinical and descriptive, and frequently insuf- 

 ficient for the scientist as for the magistrate. His favorite genetic 

 criterion of the initial idea and the action of homicide in the in- 

 sane delinquent is very useful in achieving a good result from the 

 important and very distinct comparisons between the delinquent 

 and the criminal madman, and the delinquent and common or 

 non-criminal madman. As a basis for this comparison it is neces- 

 sary to distinguish the insane delinquent from the non-insane, a 

 matter of deep importance not only for science but also for juris- 

 prudence, because from this distinction arise the various degrees 

 of imputability and the divers means of social defense to be 

 adopted. It is further needful to distinguish in these madmen 

 the insane conduct exclusively due to their intellectual degen- 

 eracy from that criminal one which is also due to the lack of the 

 moral sense. In point of fact, in non-delinquent madmen the 

 greater abnormities are to be found in the intellectual func- 

 tions, while in the delinquent abnormities of the moral sense are 

 most marked. Of course, this is a mere academic discussion, for 

 a real and sharp natural distinction between the forms discussed 

 can not exist, and the non-insane delinquent and the insane are 

 fundamentally equal when it comes to be a question of criminal 

 manifestations. 



Let us now consider the psycho-pathological symptoms of 

 homicide. Ferri, with his rich array of facts, of opportune eluci- 

 dations and examples, undertakes this examination, dividing this 

 last section of his book into two groups which deal with the mo- 

 ment of the homicidal act and the attitude of the insane murderer 

 before, during, and after its execution and during his trial ; and 

 finally, as a last chapter, he adds the conclusions to be drawn 

 from the antecedents of the criminals life and the recidivity of 

 the insane homicide. 



The deliberation in this unhappy person is due either to the 

 slow invasion of the homicidal idea (homicidal obsession) or to 

 momentary impulse. Hence two distinct generic types of psycho- 

 pathological characteristics. The first type, in which the decision 



VOL. XLIX. — 64 



