Miscellanea 
233 
there stands out in bold relief the dark and discreditable blot of recidivism, perpetually hanging 
like a pall"..., &c. &c. The author has evidently had a wide experience of the evil he describes ; 
but we are not convinced that he sees very clearly either the inherent nature or the intent 
or causation of this evil. For instance, in one part of the book the recidivist is described as " an 
irrepressible Frankenstein, rearing its hydra-head, and stalking through the land with limbs of 
brass." From this we take it that the recidivist looms in the imagination of the author as a 
monster, uncontrolled, and at large, a constant menace to Society, which is responsible for its 
creation. In another place, however, the writer states in plain, dogmatic English his confident 
belief that not only is every kind of social, economic, and environmental condition a principal 
cause of recidivism, but that another principal cause is to be found in the spiritual constitution 
of the delinquent. This second opinion, besides negativing the Frankenstein theory, leaves us 
in wonderment as to what other possible agency, apart from the supernatural, could be further 
quoted as a cause of recidivism. It is evident the book has been written to influence social 
reformers, and others of the general public interested in social questions, rather than to be 
a guide to serious students of sociology. 
The subject of this book is treated in the main discursively, and with a general sprinkling of 
statistics that are more pretentious than helpful. In Chapter I, dealing with general statistics of 
crime, some figures and diagrams are presented of the number of the general population who are 
apprehended, imprisoned and convicted every year. It is stated that from these figures " Great 
Britain's recidivism can be seen at a glance " — a statement based upon the inference that the 
number of recidivists existing in prison corresponds to the total number of recidivists in exist- 
ence ; a most fallacious inference. To estimate the true dimensions of Britain's Blot, it is 
obviously necessary to know not only the number of imprisoned recidivists, relatively to the 
population at large, but also how many of the population at large are recidivists out of prison. 
That is to say, how many recidivists now free have already been in prison, and how many will 
find their way to prison before they die. No attempt has been made to answer this interesting, 
subtle and elusive statistical question. Chapters II and III deal with the age, education, occupa- 
tion and geographical distribution of delinquents. The i^art jjlayed by illiteracy in the making of 
criminals, is asserted and deplored ; as is also deplored the fact that a large majority of criminals 
are drawn from the labouring classes. In view of the fact that out of Britain's population 
of 38 millions, over 30 millions belong to the class of general labourers, and are presumably 
illiterate, it is quite idle, without the aid of a correlation calculus, to attempt to form any 
estimate of the causal association between these conditions and crime. In Chapter V, which 
consists of eight pages, a general survey is undertaken of no fewer matters than criminal 
anthropology, criminal anthropometry, criminal physiognomy, biometrics, and national eugenics. 
Some measurements are also given of the mean head length, head breadth, and stature of 370 
criminals. The next chapter grants five pages to an exposition of criminal lunacy and eight 
pages to a discussion of legal and metaphysical conceptions of free will, criminal responsibility, 
and punishment. In Chapter VII, which deals with the causation of recidivism, degeneracy 
and heredity, answers to all of these problems are successfully begged in twelve pages. The 
conclusion that physical and mental characters are inherited in the same way, and at the 
same rate, seems to the author " a natural," as well as " a feasible " conclusion : but he asserts it 
to be "the climax of absurdity" to suppose that the criminal breeds the criminal. The remaining 
chapters deal with criminal jurisprudence and penology. 
To those who prefer a wide approximate view to an accurate perception of detail, who prefer 
opinions to facts and rhetoric to figures the book should appeal sympathetically. To bio- 
metricians it will probably not be of very great interest. 
Biometrika vii 
