656 CRIMINAL ANTHROPOLOGY. 



(4) Tbe sense of taste among criminal women is inferior to that of 

 normal women, but is more delicate than among criminal men. 



(5) Several cases of partial failure of taste among criminal men. 



V. — The sense of hearing among criminals. — Second part by Dr. Otte- 

 linghi, of Turin. 



No organ of sense comes to such perfection in criminals as that of 

 hearing. We have come to this conclusion both from our direct exam- 

 ination and from the information received from the prison guards. It 

 is without doubt true that the disuse of one sense will serve to sharpen 

 another. As is the sense of touch among the blind, so is the sense of 

 hearing among those prisoners who are condemned to silence. In our 

 prisons where silence is required the prisoners have succeeded in es- 

 tablishing means of communication which might rival the telegraphic 

 apparatus. The cells are divided by a corridor along which constantly 

 l^asses one of the guards, so that the prisoners have no opportunity of 

 communication with each other. It has come to be known definitely 

 and certainly that they communicate with each other by means of a 

 tapping or striking upon the wall or other substance. This sort of tel- 

 egraphic communicatiou may be liJcened unto the old Morse alphabet; 

 one stroke for a, two for &, and other changes and variations for the 

 other letters. They did not use the letter h : no reason was given for 

 the omission. Thus it happens that a prisoner will continue his work 

 even in the presence of the guard who is watching him, yet by the 

 strokes which he may make in his work he can communicate with the 

 other prisoners who may be within earshot, and it does not seem to 

 make much difference to them whether the surroundings are in silence 

 or amidst a deafening noise. In case of the latter they seem to bo able 

 by their fineness of hearing to pick out the taps or strokes which form 

 the letters, as one would read a book or paper silently, while around 

 him was such a noise as that if he spoke aloud he could scarcely hear 

 his own voice. 



Although the guardians wore slippers shod with cloth or felt, in- 

 tended to enable them to walk noiselessly, yet every criminal detects 

 the difference in the step of the various guards so as to tell which one 

 was approaching. 



These examinations were made upon 280 criminals in the prisons. 

 For the most part the sense of hearing was in excellent condition. 

 With their eyes bandaged, standing at a distance of 1 or 2 metres, they 

 could hear the tick tack of a watch. We attempted an experience with 

 the transmission of sound by the aid of the os craniens, but without 

 any conclusion. Our examination of insane criminals was also without 

 conclusion. In the number of autopsies which we made upon insane 

 criminals we have always found the convolution iemporo-sphenoidaJ in 

 a proportionate normal state, and have never found that among the 

 criminals condemned to silence, there seemed to be any difference in 



