20 



scmJ^cM 



[Vol. Vm., No. 17B 



court ; we have reason to know that a catalogue 

 of the birds to be exhibited has been printed off, 

 but the birds themselves do not seem to have yet 

 arrived in England. We imagine that some such 

 accident must have happened also to the exhibits 

 of the Australian museum at Sydney, for this 

 institution, which was well represented at the 

 fisheries, has here a very poor show, which would, 

 indeed, be improved were the specimens named. 

 The finest set in the New South Wales court is the 

 magnificent collection of shells lent by Dr. Cox, 

 who is well known for his interest in zoology ; the 

 specimens are not named, but the catalogue gives 

 their localities. 



The Straits Settlements court is badly lighted, 

 and appears to be cramped for space ; this must 

 exj)lain why the really valuable collection of fish 

 made by Dr. Eowell of Singapore has been 

 placed on the wall with an eye rather to decorative 

 effect than to scientific use. Dr. RoweU's collec- 

 tion contains also some good Crustacea, among 

 which we notice a well-preserved example of the 

 palm or robber crab (Birgus latro), the air-breath- 

 ing apparatus of which has been described by 

 Professor Semper. 



In the neighboring court of British Guiana, we 

 were most struck with the collection of nests of 

 wasps, bees, and ants ; but it is a pity that httle 

 information is given as to the species by which 

 they were severally constructed. 



In the court of the Bahamas there is a wonder- 

 ful collection of more than sixty specimens of 

 Oreaster reticulatus, which offers the zoologist an 

 opportunity for making a careful inquiry into the 

 range of variation of this species. There are 

 four, six, and seven rayed forms, as well as the 

 more ordinary quinquiradiate specimens. 



In the Barbadoes court there is an exceedingly 

 interesting exhibit in the two specimens of 

 Holopus rangi, which are lent by Sir- Rawson 

 Rawson. This very rare crinoid, described in 

 1837 by D"Orbigny, was incompletely known till 

 Dr. Herbert Carpenter gave an account of the 

 three specimens obtained by Sir Rawson when 

 governor of the Windward Islands, and one in 

 the possession of the Museum of comparative 

 zoology at Cambridge, Mass., in his report on the 

 stalked crinoids of the Challenger expedition. 

 Holopus has been personally seen by so few 

 naturalists, that they wiU be glad to have an op- 

 portunity of inspecting this enigmatic form for 

 themselves; it is appropriately placed in a jar 

 with a specimen of Pentacrinus muelleri, and, 

 as that jar has flat sides instead of being round, 

 the visitor will be able to see the specimens free 

 from the distortion which is inseparable from a 

 rounded jar. 



In the Natal court there is a large collection of 

 Lepidoptera and other insects in drawers, and a 

 collection of birds which have, we believe, been 

 examined by Captaiu Shelley, who is an authority 

 on the avifauna of Africa. There is also a lai-ge 

 case of insects in drawers in the Straits Settle- 

 ments court, which have, no doubt, been examined 

 by Mr. Distant. 



The dugong in the Queensland court is, if our 

 memory serves us rightly, a finer example than 

 either shown by New South Wales in 1883 ; here, 

 too, is a fine sawfish. The trophy of mother-of- 

 pearl shells in the West Australian court is im- 

 pressive. As to the spat of the pearl oyster 

 shown in the Ceylon court, we will only say that 

 the exhibiter is not at one with the authorities 

 of the British musevim, or with the specimens 

 exhibited in the shell gallery of the Natural his- 

 tory department of that institution ; the small 

 Avicula vexillum is not the young of A. furcata. 



A THEORY OF CRIMINALITY. 



In Italy, during the last few decades, a number 

 of scientific men, mostly physicians, have devoted 

 themselves to a careful study of criminal types. 

 Their point of view is a strictly scientific one : 

 they regard a crime as the expression of a danger- 

 ous trait of character. The character is more im- 

 portant than the act. Moreover, the criminal is 

 not a spontaneous, capricious product : he does 

 not stand alone, but belongs to a class. Thus the 

 antlu'opology of the criminal classes becomes a 

 distinct object of study. Again : criminality is 

 essentially a morbid phenomenon, and is a defect 

 analogous to insanity or idiocy. In this aspect the 

 criminal is a psychological study. To characterize 

 the spirit of this movement in a few words, one 

 may say that it lays stress on the criminal rather 

 than on the crime. 



Foremost among the representatives of this view 

 is Dr. Lombroso, the editor of a journal devoted 

 to this movement, and author of a comprehensive 

 work on the defective classes {Vuomo delinquente). 

 Dr. Lombroso has recently stated his theory of 

 criminality in a review article {Nouvelle revue, 

 May, 1886), and it may be worth while to take 

 advantage of this convenient statement by pre- 

 senting it to English readers. 



In general, one may recognize three types of 

 causes of the outbreaks against the social order, — 

 physical, social, and anthropological. Among the 

 first may be mentioned climate. In the Argentine 

 Republic the sharp changes of temperature favor 

 a revolutionary character in the inhabitants. The 

 season of year influences the amount of crime : 

 crime predominates in the warm months. Of 193 



