The Modern Science of Criminology without anthropology, degenerates into
a barren sentimentalism. The title of Professor Gross’s work is misleading, for “Criminal Psychologyn suggests the psychology of the criminal. As a matter of fact the book is concerned with the psychology of the witness, rather than of the criminal. Instead of giving a German view of the methods of the science of criminology in general, it is concerned only with the practical application of psychology by those who have to do with the administration of the criminal law.
In contrast with the
style of treatment adopted in Sefior De Quiros' treatise, that of Professor Cross is extremely thorough, and so copious in illustration as to furnish most agreeable reading. The writer's learning is vast, and he draws upon an enormous fund of illustration, in his voluminous discussion
of factors entering into the mental states of judges, jurors, experts and witnesses. Correct observation of out ward expression is of great importance. The physical signs of character must be closely studied in examining witnesses, differences between man and woman must be admitted, allowance must be made for the influences of heredity, envi
ronment and temperament. Much atten tion is paid to mistakes of the senses, and
533
"Everybody, I might say, knows the convincing quality that may lie in the
enormous leathery fist of apeasant. . . . We feel that we have here to do with a. man who is honest, who presents him
self and his business as they are, who holds fast to whatever he once gets hold of, and who understands and is
accustomed to make his words impres sive.
And we gain this conviction, not
only through the evidence of honest labor, performed through years, but also through the stability and determina tion of the form of his hands. “On the other hand, how often are
we filled with distrust at the sight of a carefully tended, pink and white hand of an elegant gentleman —whether be cause we dislike its condition or its shape, or because the form of the nails recalls an unpleasant memory, or be cause there is something wrong about the arrangement of the fingers, or be cause of some unknown reason.
We
are warned, and without being hypno tized regularly discover that the warn
ing is justified.
Certain properties are
sure to express themselves: coldness, prudence, hardness, calm consideration,
greed, are just as indubitable in the hand as kindness, frankness, gentleness and honesty. “The enchantment of many a femi
to the psychology of error in its innumer
nine hand is easily felt. The surrender,
able phases. Accuracy of representation
the softness, the concession, the refine ment and honesty of many a woman is so clear and open, that it streams out, so to speak, and is perceivable by the
in women and children is comprehen sively considered.
The volume is in two parts, the first dealing with “The Subjective Con ditions of Evidence (The Mental Ac
tivities of the Judge)" and the second with "Objective Conditions of Criminal
Investigation (The Mental Activity of the Examinee)." The style of the book may be illustrated by quoting a passage typical of the thoroughness
with which by-paths are explored: —
senses. “To explain all this, to classify it scientifically and to arrange it serially, would be, nowadays at least, an un
scientific enterprise. These phenomena pass from body to body and are as reliable as inexplicable. Who has never observed them, and although his atten tion has been called to them, still has
