Fig. 16)
murdered his friend without any reason, after suffering from
delusions for one year.

The characteristics of insane criminals are so marked that it is not
difficult to distinguish them from habitual delinquents. They seldom
show any fear of the penalty incurred nor do they try to escape. They
take little trouble to hide their misdeeds, or to get rid of any clue.
If poisoners, they leave poison about in their victim's room; if
forgers, they take no trouble to make their signatures appear genuine;
if thieves, they exhibit stolen goods in public, or appropriate them in
the presence of witnesses. They frequently manifest unbounded rage and
assault those present, entirely forgetting the stolen objects. Once
their crime is accomplished, not only do they give themselves no trouble
to hide it, but are prone to confess it immediately, and are eager to
talk about it, saying with satisfaction that they feel relieved at what
they have done, that they have obeyed the order of superior beings and
consider their actions praiseworthy. They deny that they are insane, or
if they admit it in some cases, it is only because they are persuaded to
do so by their lawyers or fellow-prisoners. And even then, they are
ready at the first opportunity to contradict the idea, eulogising and
exaggerating their criminal acts.

A full confession in court is not uncommon, and in the case of impulsive
monomaniacs, epileptics, and insane inebriates, the descriptions are
full of characteristic expressions, showing what was the offender's
state of mind when dominated by criminal frenzy.

Rom..., an impulsive monomaniac, who stabbed an acquaintance, felt "the
blood rushing to his head, which seemed to be in flames."

Tixier narrates that, on seeing the old man he afterward murdered pass
him on a country road, "something went to his head." Frequently such
criminals are quick to give themselves up to justice.

_Antecedents._ Unlike the ordinary offender, insane criminals are often
perfectly law-abiding up to the moment of the crime.

_Motive._ Perhaps the greatest difference between born criminals and
insane criminals lies in the motive for the act, which in the case of
the latter is not only entirely disproportionate to it, but nearly
always absurd and depends far less on personal susceptibility.

Here are a few typical cases: A father fancies he hears a voice bidding
him kill his favourite child. He goes home, has the little victim
dressed i