Murder can be divided into a great many different classes. What the hand principally recognizes is that of the abnormal tendency toward crime, the class of crime itself being traced by the type of hand in respect to the inclinations of the subject. That some people have a natural predilection toward murder cannot, I think, be doubted. There are born criminals as well as born saints. It depends upon the development of the will, in keeping with the surroundings and circumstances, whether the criminal tendencies will be developed or not. The destructive tendency as exhibited by children does not denote their want of sense, but denotes the innate sense of destruction before it has been curbed by the fear of consequences, by the will, or the surroundings that are brought to bear upon the nature. Some people born into the world have this propensity more developed than others; the slightest flaw in their surroundings being responsible for the after-evolution of the criminal. Again, I do not hold that to be criminal, in giving way to passion, to temptation, is to be weak-minded. On the contrary, crime can only be considered in relation to the individual. What is temptation to one is not temptation to another. I do not hold that because of such things crime should go unpunished; on the contrary, crime must be dealt with for the protection of the community: but what I do hold is, that crime should be punished in accordance with the individual and not in accordance with the crime. A familiar instance is furnished in the case of a boy tried for theft in New York in March, 1894. He was proved guilty of stealing a loaf of bread, and sentenced to fourteen years’ imprisonment.
It therefore follows that in the study of crime one must place one’s self as far as possible in the position of the criminal. (It is astonishing how p. 150 many different expressions one finds in the face of a picture from different points of view.)
As regards the hand, it divides murder into three very distinct classes:
1st. The murderer made so by the instinct to kill, as exhibited in the brute creation, through passion, fury, or revenge.
2d. The murderer made so by the greed of gain; the nature that will stop at nothing in order to gratify the covetous tendency.
3d. The utterly heartless disposition which feeds on the sufferings of others; the nature that will even live on friendly terms with the victim—the one that will, as it were, deal out death in drops of honey; the person who cannot be touched by the longings for life exhibited by the sufferer, and who, though keenly alive to the danger, feels in that danger a sense of delight, and, with utter lack of moral consciousness, takes more pleasure in such work than in the gain it brings.
The first class is very ordinary. The man or woman becomes a murderer by circumstances. Such an individual may be thoroughly good-natured and kind-hearted, but some provocation excites the blind fury of the animal nature, and when the deed is done, such a one is generally crushed and broken by remorse.
In such cases the hand shows no bad sign more than ungovernable temper and brute passion. It is, in fact, the elementary hand, or a near approach to it. The line of head is short, thick, and red, the nails short and red, and the hand heavy and coarse. The most remarkable characteristic, however, will be the thumb. The thumb will be set very low on the hand; it will be short and thick in the second phalange, and the first phalange will be what is called “the clubbed thumb” (Plate VIII.), very short, broad, and square: this is found almost without exception in such types. If in such cases the Mount of Venus is also abnormally large, sexual passion will be the destroyer; when not unusually developed, the greatest failing will be that of ungovernable temper.
In the second class none of these points will be abnormal; the most striking peculiarity will be the line of head, which will be heavily marked, but with a decided growth upward (Plate XXIV.); it will be found in an abnormal position, rising high toward Mercury, or far before it reaches that p. 151 point it completely leaves its place on the right hand; as the propensities become stronger, it enters the line of heart, takes possession of it, as it were, and thus completely masks all the generous impulses or kind thoughts of the subject. (See previous remarks on the line of head, Part II., Chapter IX., page 96.) The hand is usually hard, the thumb not abnormally thick, but long, very stiff, and contracted inward. The entire formation gives covetous propensities, and an utter want of conscience in the pursuit of gain.
The third class, to the student of human nature, is the most interesting, though it may be the most terrible.
It is the hand of the subtlest nature in regard to crime. There will be nothing abnormal in connection with the hand itself. It will be only by examination of all the characteristics that the treacherous side of this nature will be discovered. The leading features, however, will be a very thin, hard hand, long, the fingers generally slightly curved inward; the thumb long, and with both phalanges well developed, giving both the ability to plan and the strength of will necessary for execution; it will rarely, if ever, be found bent or inclining outward, although such a formation exists at times on the hands of the first-mentioned class.
The line of head may or may not be out of its proper position. It will, however, be set higher than usual across the hand, but will be very long and very thin, denoting the treacherous instincts. The Mount of Venus may be either depressed on the hand, or very high. When depressed, such a subject will commit crime simply for the sake of crime; when high, the crime will be committed more for the sake of satisfying the animal desires.
Such are the hands of the skilled artists in crime. Murder with such persons is reduced to a fine art, in the execution of which they will study every detail. They will rarely, if ever, kill their victim by violence—such a thing would be vulgar in their eyes—poison is the chief instrument that they employ, but so skilfully that the verdict is usually “Death from natural causes.”