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
Tosetti was of honest extraction, his grandparents and parents having
died at an advanced age (between sixty and ninety) without having
manifested nervous anomalies, vices, or crimes. Tosetti himself,
although fond of drinking, was rarely, if ever, intoxicated, and was an
individual of quiet, peaceful aspect with a benevolent smile and
serenity of look and countenance. His hair had become grey at an early
age, and he was devoid of any degenerate characteristics except
excessive maxillary development. [Height 5 feet, 7 inches (1.70 m.);
weight, 158 lbs. (72 kilogrammes); cranial capacity, 93 inches (1531
c.c.); cephalic index, 84 (brachycephaly; characteristic of the
Piedmontese); tactile sensibility, 3 mm. left, 2.5 mm. right; general
sensibility, 83 right, 78 left; sensibility to pain, 55 right, 45 left.
The sensibility was, therefore, almost normal without any trace of
left-handedness. Analysis of urine--absence of earthy phosphates common
to born criminals. Tendinous reflex action feeble, few cutaneous
reflexes, no tremors. The field of vision was not much reduced but
manifested a few peculiarities, due no doubt to the abuse of alcohol.]
Psychologically, Tosetti appeared to be a man of average or perhaps
slightly less than average intelligence. He was quiet, very respectful,
not to say servile, entirely devoid of impulsiveness of any form, and
averse to quarrels, on which account he was rather despised by his
companions. His natural affections were normal, and he was a good son
and brother; he was excessively timid and disconcerted by the slightest
reproof from his employer. He was rather fond of wine, though not of
liquors. His sexual instincts he had lost very early, a fact which
caused his companions to indulge in many jokes at his expense. His
stinginess bordered on avarice, and he had never changed his trade.
During his trial he showed no resentment against anyone, not even the
police and warders, of whom he said on one occasion, "They have treated
me like a son."
The examination proved beyond a doubt that Tosetti was not a born
criminal, and was incapable of committing the action of which he was
suspected--the murder of a child for purely bestial pleasure.
To obtain stronger proof, my father adopted the plethysmograph and found
a slight diminution of the pulse when Tosetti was set to do a sum;
when, however, skulls and portraits of children covered with wounds
were placed before him, the line registered showed no sudden variation,
not even at the sight of the little victim's photograph.
The results of the foregoing examination proved conclusively that
Tosetti was innocent of a crime which can only be committed by sadists,
idiots, and the most degenerate types of madmen, like Vacher and Verzeni
and all bestial criminals, who have reached the summit of criminality
and unite in their persons the greatest number of morbid physical and
psychic characteristics.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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