230 Life and Letterg of Francis Galton 



Another, and then held between the eye and the light. 1 hare attempted this with some BUCoeM. 

 Mv own ide* was to thmw faint images uf the several |x>rtraits, in succession, upon the same 

 sensitised photographic plaU*. I may add that it i» ])erfeutly easy to superimpasc opticjilly two 

 portraits by means of a stert>oscope and that a person who is ustnl to handling instruments will 

 find a common double eye-glass titted with 8tflreoBCOpi<' li'tisi-s \„ \m- almost as effect mil mid far 

 handier than the boxes sold in shops'." (pp. 9-10.) 



Thus was launched the firet idea of composite photogi-aphs. But Ualton 

 very rarely made a suggestion without already having applied it himself, 

 and in this case he hail chosen as his suhject "the criminals of" England who 

 have been condemned to long terms of penal servitude for various heinous 

 crimes." 



He had formed his own views on "the ideal criminal." He has three 

 peculiarities of character: (i) his conscience is almost deficient, (ii) his in- 

 stincts are vicious, and (iii) his power of self-control is very weak. His 

 instincts determine the description of his crime, and the absence of self- 

 control may be due to ungovernable temper, to sensual passion, or to mere 

 imbecility. 



Galton as a biologist is very cautious in his discussion of "vicious in- 

 stincts." He says: 



"The subject of vicious instincts is a very large one: we must guard ourselves against 

 looking upon them as perversions, inasmuch as they ma}' be strictly in accordance with the 

 healthy nature of the man, and being transmissible by inheritance, may become the normal 

 characteristics of a healthy race, just as the sheep-dog, the rt^triever, the pointer, the bull-dog 

 have their several instincts. There can be no greater popular error than the supposition that 

 natural instinct is a perfectly trustworthy guide, for there are striking contradictions to such 

 an opinion in individuals of every description of animal. All that we are entitled to say is, 

 that the prevalent instincts of each race are trustworthy, not those of every individual. A man 

 who is counted as an atnjcious criminal by society, and is punished as such by law may never- 

 theless have acted in strict accordance with hi.s instincts. The ideal criminal is deficient in 

 qualities that oppose his vicious instincts; he has neither the natural regard for others which 

 lie* »t the base of conscience, nor ha.s he sufficient self-control to enable him to consider his 

 own selfish interests in the long run. He cannot be preserved from criminal mis-adventure, 

 either by altruistic or by intelligently egoistic sentiments." (pp. 11-12.) 



Having defined the mental characters which he considers peculiar to 

 the criminal Galton next proceeded to investigate how far these peculiari- 

 ties are correlated with the physical characters, in particular with the 

 physiognomy. He divided his criminals into three mam groups taking in 

 all cases the photographs' only of men sentenced to long terms of penal 

 servitude; the groups were (<f) Murder, Man.slaughter and Burglary, (i) Felony 

 and Forgery, (c) Sexual offences. Galton believed that by continually sort- 

 ing the photographs in tentative ways certain natural classes began to appear, 

 some very well marked, and that the proportion ofthe.se in the three crime- 



' Ualton's double eyeglass with stereoscopic lenses is in the Oaltoniatia. 



' I think an exception must be made to this rule in the civsc of the four a.sp©cts on our 

 photographic plal^w referretl to alxive. But I may liav(! overlookwl some p(^ssible mirror 

 arrangement, and if not we have to remember that (ialton's luldre.ss was prepared in great 

 haste, for he had Itecn suddenly culled upon to occupy the chair owing to the ethnologist who 

 would otherwise have presided being debarred by illnuKs. 



* Identification photographs of the Home Office provided by the Surveyor-General of 

 Prisons, Sir lulmuuu Du Cane. 



