CRIMINAL ANTHROPOLOGY, 649 



inoffeusive and possibly uukuown person whom he may find within 

 reach of his fist or weapon ; or one torn with a desire for drink ; all these 

 are phenomona of the same features and are illustrations of disturbed 

 equilibriums. 



In these cases a conflict is engendered between the posterior brain (of 

 which this particular center is in a state of erethism), and the moderat- 

 ing centers. The facts which show these unhealthy impulsions of syn- 

 dromatic degenerates are analogous to those of other degenerates 

 whose acts are criminal, while in the preceding similar cases the center 

 moderators, in spite of their decreased energy, can, for a time at least, 

 interpose and hold a check or counterbalance on this impulsion. Upon 

 the contrary, among degenerate criminals these centers are scarcely 

 represented. They have small energy, are content to remain idle, will 

 not carry on the contest, and their feeble compulsion leaves the indi- 

 vidual without any protest from the anterior region. He is then ruled 

 by his instinct alone, and this without any counterbalance or govern- 

 ment. 



Conclusion : The infinite changes under which are presented the 

 mental differences of those who are hereditarily degenerate, though 

 they may appear much varied, can be definitely classed as follows : 



A. Predominance of intellectual faculty, but moral state defective, — 

 degenerate criminals. 



B. Moral state preponderate, but intellectual faculties and aptitudes 

 inactive or wanting. 



C. Apparent equilibrium of the faculties, but prominent defect in 

 bringing them into usage, as in application, effort, emotion, etc. 



Having gotten this conception of the degenerates, it is not astonish- 

 ing that cerebral anomalies should manifest themselves in their infancy. 

 These are the original tares which manifest themselves in the psychic 

 life. From the age of 4 or 5 years, even before a vicious education has 

 had time to influence or modify them, these young subjects will present 

 characters of impulsiveness, phenomena of mental arrest, intellectual 

 and moral anomalies, their strange decisions and uncertain actions as 

 though i^ossessed of an evil spirit and by which they can be segregated 

 from their fellows and established into a separate class. These are ex- 

 amples of perverse instinct, cruel impulses, cruelty to animals. Usually 

 these strange anomalies belong only to a special part of the brain which 

 may have been gravely affected by cerebral lesions, or thrown com- 

 pletely out of equilibrium by functional troubles which may provoke in 

 certain centers a great excitement and in others a diminution of their 

 activity. In these children one sometimes encounters a hereditary 

 pathology which may explain the troubles of their cerebral develop- 

 ment. The individual cases which serve as illustrations of these propo- 

 sitions are to be found in great number. They are set forth in medical 

 journals and are given by the standard medical authors. In each of 

 these cases and in all others known, it is remarkable that in spite of 



