Criminal Man, According to the Classification of Cesare LombrosoLombroso, Gina
Science
Criminal Man, According to the Classification of Cesare Lombroso
Lombroso, Gina
Criminal anthropology; Criminology
_Tattooing._ Great care must be taken to ascertain whether the subject
is tattooed, and if so, on what parts of his body. Tattooing often
reveals obscenity, vindictiveness, cupidity, and other characteristics
of the patient, besides furnishing his name or initials, that of his
native town or village, and the symbol of the trade he refuses to reveal
(sometimes such indications have been blurred or effaced). (See Fig. 27.)
One of the chief proofs showing the untruthfulness of the statements
made by the Tichborne claimant was the fact that his person was devoid
of tattooing, whereas it was well known that Roger Tichborne had been
tattooed.
Tattooing often reveals the psychology, habits, and vices of the
individual. The tattooing on pederasts usually consists of portraits of
those with whom they have unnatural commerce, or phrases of an
affectionate nature addressed to them. A pederast and forger examined by
Professor Filippi was tattooed on his forearm with a sentimental
declaration addressed to the object of his unnatural desires; a criminal
convicted of rape was covered with pictorial representations of his
obscene adventures. From these few instances, it is apparent that these
personal decorations are of the utmost value as evidence of hidden vices
and crimes.
_Wrinkles._ We have already spoken of the abundance and precocity of
wrinkles in born criminals. They are also a characteristic of the
insane.
The following are of special importance: the vertical and horizontal
lines on the forehead, the oblique and triangular lines of the brows,
the horizontal or circumflex lines at the root of the nose and the
vertical and horizontal lines on the neck. (The ferocious leader of a
band of criminals at twenty-five, and a savage murderer under thirty
years of age.)
_Beard._ The beard is scanty in born criminals and often altogether
absent in epileptics. On the other hand, it is common in insane females
and in normal women after the menopause. Degenerates of both sexes
frequently manifest characteristics of the opposite sex in the
distribution of hair on the body. A tuft of hair in the sacro-lumbar
region, suggestive of the tail of the mythological faun, is frequently
found in epileptics and idiots, and in some cases the back and breast
are covered with thick down which makes them resemble animals.
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