610 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XII. No. 303. 



habitats, and the modiflcation of their organs 

 by adaptation to environment, Sll the conclud- 

 ing chapter of this remarkable little volume. 

 Directions are given for hunting cave animals 

 and observing their habits. Authorities are 

 conscientiously and carefully quoted, with fewer 

 mistakes than might have been anticipated in 

 a work of this comprehensive nature, and with 

 evident intention to give due credit to investi- 

 gators on both sides of the Atlantic* In con- 

 clusion, we accept M. Martel's handbook as an 

 admirable and timely contribution to current 

 scientific literature. 



Horace C. Hovet. 



The Criminal: Ris Personnel and Environment. 

 A Scientific Study. By August Deahms, 

 with an introduction by C. Lombeoso. New 

 York, The Macmillan Co. 1900. 8vo. Pp. 

 402. 



In a brief introduction to this book Profes- 

 sor Lombi'oso congratulates the author on his 

 ' lucid exposition ' and ' profound and original 

 thought,' stating, further, that he has seldom 

 met with so clear an exposition of his own 

 views. This testimonial is not altogether cal- 

 culated to carry weight, for even those who 

 acknowledge a discriminating admiration for 

 Lombroso's genius are well aware that a sound 

 critical faculty is not one of the elements of 

 that genius. It is possible that even the author 

 himself may have been surprised at the excess 

 of this appreciation ; for Mr. Drahms is by no 

 means so much in sympathy with Lombroso, 

 as Lombroso is with Mr. Drahms. In his pre- 

 face the latter states that "the strictly anthro- 

 pological features here brought out have been 

 accepted mainly as the properly accredited 

 data of trained writers, the latchets of whose 

 shoes I am not worthy to unloose, but whose 

 conclusions nevertheless are taken under a 



■* On page 114 M. Martel inadvertently attributes 

 to another my discovery of the prehistoric quarries of 

 jasper and alabaster in Wyandot Cave, Indiana. My 

 exploration was originally made in 1855, and my ac- 

 count of the quarries was published in the Am. Jour, 

 of Science and Art, in 1878 ; whereas the account 

 quoted from the Proceerlings of the American Phil. 

 Society did not appear till 1895. 



genei-al demurrer ; in which respect, however, 

 I have the consolation of knowing that I am in 

 excellent company." Any one who carefully 

 studies this statement will know how far this 

 book is likely to prove useful to him ; in its 

 vague phraseology and its non-committal def- 

 erence to people of all views, it is characteris- 

 tic of the author's attitude throughout. He 

 attempts to cover the whole field of criminal 

 anthropology and criminal sociology. But not 

 only do the original facts he has brought for- 

 ward scarcely occupy a couple of pages ; his 

 acquaintance with the facts brought forward by 

 others is nearly all second-hand, derived from 

 sources already easily accessible in English, nor 

 is any reference made to even the more impor- 

 tant investigations of recent years, such as Wink- 

 ler's attempt to deal with the data of criminal 

 anthropology on a mathematical basis, or Stein- 

 metz's studies of the evolution of punishment. 

 He loosely discusses views to which he never 

 gives precision by definite citation of authorities, 

 and when he mentions authorities he is unable 

 in a large proportion of cases even to spell 

 their names. It is not impossible for a prison 

 chaplain to do good work in this field, as Mr. 

 W. D. Morrison has shown in England. But 

 Mr. Drahms reveals no signs of that clear 

 vision and intellectual grip which enable a man 

 to conquer defects of scientific training. He 

 takes a sane common-sense view of things, and 

 as regards the treatment of criminals this leads 

 him sometimes even to an advanced position, 

 as when he advocates an unrestricted indeter- 

 minate sentence. But the possession of aver- 

 age sanity and common-sense is an inadequate 

 equipment in writing a book which is promi- 

 nently announced as 'a scientific study.' 



It is necessary to state this clearly even at 

 the risk of hurting the feelings of an amiable 

 and well-intentioned writer. In the more ab- 

 stract sciences there is no temptation to care- 

 less work ; but in the anthropological and psy- 

 chological sciences there is a temptation, even 

 for an honest writer, to mask his scientific in- 

 effectiveness under the human interest of his 

 subject matter. In so far as he succeeds he 

 discredits the science with which he occupies 

 himself. The study of the criminal has suf- 

 fered severely from this cause, and a book on 



