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
_The Teeth._ These are specially important, for criminals rarely have
normal dentition. The incisors show the greatest number of anomalies.
Sometimes both the lateral incisors are absent and the middle ones are
of excessive size, a peculiarity which recalls the incisors of rodents.
The teeth are frequently striated transversely or set very wide apart
(diastema) with gaps on either side of the upper canines into which the
lower ones fit, a simian characteristic. In some cases, these spaces
occur between the middle incisors or between these and the lateral ones.
=FIG. 4
HEAD OF CRIMINAL
(see page 14)=
=FIG. 5
HEAD OF CRIMINAL
(see page 18)=
Very often the teeth show a strange uniformity, which recalls the
homodontism of the lower vertebrates. In some cases, however, this
uniformity is limited to the premolars, which are furnished with
tubercles like the molars, a peculiarity of gorillas and orang-outangs.
In 4% the canines are very strongly developed, long, sharp, and curving
inwardly as in carnivores. Premature caries is common.
_The Chin._ Generally speaking, this part of the face projects
moderately in Europeans. In criminals it is often small and receding, as
in children, or else excessively long, short or flat, as in apes.
_Wrinkles._ Although common to normal individuals, the abundance,
variety, and precocity of wrinkles almost invariably manifested by
criminals, cannot fail to strike the observer. The following are the
most common: horizontal and vertical lines on the forehead, horizontal
and circumflex lines at the root of the nose, the so-called crow's-feet
on the temple at the outer corners of the eyes, naso-labial wrinkles
around the region of the mouth and nose.
_The Hair._ The hair of the scalp, cheeks and chin, eyebrows, and other
parts of the body, shows a number of anomalies. In general it may be
said that in the distribution of hair, criminals of both sexes tend to
exhibit characteristics of the opposite sex. Dark hair prevails
especially in murderers, and curly and woolly hair in swindlers. Both
grey hair and baldness are rare and when found make their appearance
later in life than in the case of normal individuals. The beard is
scanty and frequently missing altogether. On the other hand, the
forehead is often covered with down. The eyebrows are bushy and tend to
meet across the nose. Sometimes they grow in a slanting direction and
give the face a satyr-like expression (see Fig. 5).
The blemishes peculiar to the delinquent are not only confined to the
face and head, but are found in the trunk and limbs.
_The Thorax._ An increase or decrease in the number of ribs is found in
12% of criminals. This is an atavistic character common to animals and
lower or prehistoric human races and contrasts with the numerical
uniformity characteristic of civilised mankind.
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