78 THE TREND OF THE RACE 
like something found in another, do not necessarily have any 
connection with reversion at all, but are simply the consequences 
of an abnormal inheritance, or the toxins of disease. 
To the extent that the born criminal deviates from normal 
man his peculiarities are to be regarded as the result of aberrant 
rather than reversionary development. The biometric studies of 
the English convict by Goring have shown that these deviations 
are much less frequent than is commonly represented by the 
positive school. Goring’s work was based upon careful measure- 
ments of three thousand criminals committed to prisons for 
various kinds of crime. A comparison was made of thirty-seven 
physical attributes in five different classes of criminals with the 
end of ascertaining whether or not these classes could be distin- 
guished by any average differences of structure. For the most 
part when allowance was made for average age and other differ- 
ences in the classes compared, the differences in the physical 
characters of the five groups were so small that no particular 
significance could be attached to them. In certain respects, 
however, differential characteristics were found. Those convicted 
of crimes of violence are superior to other kinds of criminals and 
to the general population of corresponding age in physical strength 
and health. Next come the sexual offenders; thieves and burglars 
occupy an intermediate position; while those guilty of forgery, 
fraud and damage to property are least developed in muscular 
strength and have the poorest health. Criminals convicted of 
forgery and fraud are of the greatest average height, while thieves 
and burglars are inferior in stature as well as weight and “‘puny in 
their general bodily habit.” Aside from general differences in 
physique, such as height, weight, obesity, strength and health, 
there are no anatomical peculiarities which differentiate criminals 
of different types or which serve to distinguish criminals in general 
from the average run of mankind. 
The criminal anthropologist might urge that the variations 
among criminals, which are admittedly in all directions, might 
tend to cancel one another in the statistical average and hence fail 
to reveal the greater preponderance of physical anomalies that 
