The peculiarity of the Lombrosian doctrine was in the attempt made by it to "stamp a preconceived idea with the hall-mark of science; to support an _à priori_ conception of 'abnormality' by an alleged scientific method of investigation;" but the methods of Lombroso were scientific only in name. He sought to solve those infinite and delicate relations which exist in all human or social conditions by _observation_ alone. He brought much acumen, a great diligence, and imagination to the examination of the subject, but his field of observation was limited. If criminality were a morbid state, with signs comparable to those of disease, observation alone would suffice; but, in fact, there are no characteristics, physical or mental, peculiar to criminals, which are not shared by all people. It is common to speak of poverty, drink, neglect, &c., as the "causes" of crime; but such a causation can only be established by the statistical method of averaging large numbers, with the view of proving that the tendency to anti-social conduct is, in fact, associated with the personal, economic, and social condition of an individual. "The science of statistics," says Dr. Goring, "is essentially a science of method; and, as applied to criminal man, it may be described as a system of methods whereby comparison, based on a strict anthropometrical survey of the different sets of individuals, may be effective in providing legitimate, simple, and intelligible description of the criminal, and of crime, and of the fundamental inter-relationships of criminality." The author of the work approaches his inquiry with an open mind regarding the common _à priori_ belief that all men are morally and mentally equal, in the absence of definite pathological cause. This belief is common to all ages. In early days, anti-social conduct was regarded as a sin against the light, _i.e._, against the teaching of religion and the word of God. The punishment of crime was, therefore, an affair for the ecclesiastical tribunals. The distinction between sin and crime evolved but slowly, and the lay punishments of the Classical Schools were largely affected by the religious law. Later, the anti-social man was regarded as a pathological product--the victim of disease; and it is one of the fashions of to-day to regard him as 'a social product'--the victim of adverse social environment.