Lombroso’s attitude towards German materialism, by which in youth he was so powerfully influenced, is shown most clearly by two utterances of his regarding Moleschott. The first of these occurs in the preface to his Italian edition of Moleschott’s “Kreislauf des Lebens,” a translation not published till 1869, though written in the early sixties. (In the year 1854 Moleschott was expelled from Heidelberg on account of the publication of this work; from 1861 to 1879 he was professor of physiology in Turin.) The passage runs as follows (II.-III.): “At a late hour, perhaps, and yet when the time was ripe, and unquestionably with greater sincerity and fervour than has been the case with the other Latin peoples, Italy took part in the scientific movement of which this book formed the starting-point. But just because she was so tardy an adherent, and in the endeavour, as it were, to make up for lost time, some persons in this country are apt to go too far; not only do they contest the old prejudices and the false authorities, but they also deny or misunderstand facts, simply for the reason that those in the other camp admit these facts, or because these facts appear to support the old doctrines. Thus they often follow leaders who are not entirely to be trusted, such as Büchner, Renan, and Reich; and they mistake declamations and confused rhapsodies for sound arguments, oppose fanaticism with fanaticism, and offer to their enemies the tools needed for the reconstruction of the buildings which have just been razed to the ground.” The other passage occurs in his obituary notice on Moleschott, written in 1893: “The whole course of modern science shows that the impulse it received from the life-work of Moleschott is destined, not only to persist, but to make further and more rapid progress. Moreover, the reputed philanthropists, whose objection was not so much to the truth itself as to the injurious consequences which they believed would follow from its publication, must see to-day that certain truths, however dangerous and alarming they may at first appear, lead ultimately to the general advantage, and to the advantage even of that morality on which it was at first supposed they would have a damaging effect. It no longer distresses us when we see that morality, thanks to social physics and political economy, must descend from its glittering but fragile metaphysical altar, in order to find in utility a modest but secure foundation, from which it becomes possible to render harmless or to diminish that crime which hitherto has mocked at penal methods.”