The humour of every jargon lies in this—that its words are formed by the naming of that part of the denominated whole which appears to the name-giver to be the most important element of that whole. The astonishing vividness and speech-forming power often recognizable in such jargon is really somewhat atavistic when compared with the wearisome newspaper jargon (“journalese”) of our modern books among all civilized peoples. By means of precisely such a word-formation, directed towards the vivid and important, did the colloquial speech of prehistoric man originate.[27] In tattooing we recognize allied qualities of originality and force. Many criminals depict on their own skins their fate and their philosophy. Naturally, most of them adorn themselves with merely professional designs, devoid of all trace of originality; but the standard specimens of this decorative art naturally correspond to the taste of the customers, just as the standard specimens of any other decorative art correspond to the taste of the public that demands it. Æsthetically, in fact, a criminal who has his skin tattooed stands nearer to the savage Fiji Islander than he does to the European decorative taste of the common people, as displayed in the shops of the working-class quarters in which chimney “ornaments” are sold. It must be admitted that æsthetic sentiments are not very closely allied to ethical. Nevertheless, the former are emotional stirrings, and it is in this sphere that we must look for the fundamental traits of the criminal nature. It is in this that we find the significance of the tattooings so often met with in criminals, even in those who have never been convicted, who have never been in a barrack, a shop, or a factory. In Lombroso’s atlas we find reproductions of numerous fantastic tattooed designs. Thus the most important element in the psychology of the criminal is a rudimentary development of the life of feeling in general.[28] In an elaborate analysis of the mind of the criminal,[29] I have endeavoured to show that this mind is dominated by the sovereignty of the moment, a feature in which it resembles the mind of the child and the savage. Here we have an indication that in the criminal, as in the child and the savage, inhibition—the most important function of the brain—is not developed[30]; for inhibition operates under the influence of our previous experiences and of the continuous consideration of the future consequences of our present actions. Undoubtedly, it is also characteristic of the criminal by passion that, at the time of the deed, the momentary motives drive out or paralyze all past experiences and all considerations for the future. But that which, in the case of the criminal by passion, occurs but once or a few times only during life, is in the born criminal a continuous state, one which characterizes his non-criminal as well as his criminal activities.