CEIMINAL ANTHROPOLOGY. 647 



discern the true from tlie false, and the good IVom tlie evil ; that secret 

 testimony of the soul which gives approbation for good actions, 

 which umkes reproaches for evil actions, and is a characteristic of moral 

 sense. The normal individual is not natnrally disposed to crime. If 

 he becomes a criminal (criminal of occasion as well as a criminal of 

 habit), he does so under the influence of passion, or of vicious education. 

 The influence of education is well marked in the infant and it takes an 

 exceptional importance in the categories of these unhappy little ones 

 of whom Monsieur Theophile Eoussel has taught us so much in his re- 

 markable re])ort made to the Senate on the subjects of abandoned or 

 maltreated infants, and his project of a law for their protection. 



Many of these unfortunate ciiminals fall under the influence of de- 

 plorable surroundings and examiiles because they are the subjects of a 

 heredity, which may be only nervousor may be the result of alcoholism 

 of their ancestors. This is not a natural predisposition for crime, but 

 is a pathologic tare, a degeneration that troubles the cerebral function. 

 Sometimes the center moderators of the brain are not sufficiently strong 

 to repress the unhealthy appetite and curb the improper instinct. Some- 

 times the center moderators are too feeble to repress the appetites and 

 refuse the unholy demands of these other centers which are in a state 

 of erethism ; sometimes, on the contrary, the center moderators are out 

 of equilibrium with themselves and have not that ponderation which, in 

 their normal state will regulate these instinctive phenomona. But this 

 is a pathologic state, and this study of the degenerates of these sick 

 people belongs exclusively to the medical profession and should be sub- 

 mitted to a clinical investigation. 



With this.preliminary discussion the question is separated from theory 

 and gains in i^recision and in certainty. It is now reduced to a question 

 of diagnosis. The examination still belongs to tlie doctor. That these 

 individuals will commit ofteuses and crimes is of small consequence. 

 The investigation of the doctor goes beyond the commission of the act 

 which is charged as a crime and the inquest should embrace the life of 

 the subject, his atavisms, his physical troubles, as well as the intellec- 

 tual, moral, and aflective modification which they have produced. This 

 detailed analysis and attentive research into the past life of the sub- 

 ject will serve to clear the question and will furnish the best of elements 

 of appreciation upon which the doctor can have his judgment. 



We now pass to the discussion proper of the question. The degen- 

 erate hereditaries are born with the mark of their origin. Their phys- 

 ical stamps are well known and we do not stop to investigate them. 

 They are here questions of but secondary- importance. We i)ursue at 

 present the study of the anomalies of cerebral development. According 

 to the seat and generalization of the lesions, according to the locality 

 of the functional troubles, the clinical ty])es will be variable, but in 

 spite of their diversity the insensible transitions conduct from one 



