Simulators of insanity are generally psycho-physiologically, and often
anatomically, degenerate, and their inferiority obliges them to resort
to violence and trickery--the traits of savage races--to counter-balance
their natural disadvantages. The simulation of insanity resembles in its
motive the mimicry of certain insects which assume a protective
resemblance to other and noxious species. Naturally inferior individuals
tend to imitate characters of a terrifying nature (psychic in this case)
which serve to protect them and enable them to compete with others who
are better equipped for the battle of life.

MENTAL DERANGEMENT AND CRIMINAL MONOMANIA DEMONSTRATED BY THE
ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXAMINATION

In June, 1895, Michele Balmi, aged 30, was arrested for stabbing Maria
Balmi in the neck and hands. The deed had been committed in broad
daylight and apparently without any motive, but the accused asserted
that it was done in revenge, because the girls were always jeering at
him.

From evidence given, it appeared that far from insulting Balmi, the
girls of the village were in the habit of avoiding him as much as
possible on account of his lubricity. The testimony of other witnesses,
including the mayor of the place, showed that he was looked upon
generally as a semi-insane person, because in a very short time he had
squandered all his inheritance and had quite ceased to work.

_Somatic Examination._ Body fairly well nourished, height 5 ft., 3 in.
(1.60 m.), weight 150 lbs. (68 kilogrammes). Shape of the skull
apparently normal but more exaggeratedly brachycephalic than the mean
cephalic index of the Piedmontese, which is 85; probable capacity
90 cu. in. (1475 c.c.), or slightly below that of a normal male skull,
but proportioned to the low stature.

General sensibility and sensibility to pain and touch more obtuse on the
left, the general sensibility of the right hand being 68 and the left
81. Dolorific sensibility, 35 right and 41 left; tactile sensibility,
1.5 right, 3.5 left. The strength tested by the dynamometer showed 47 on
the right and 54 on the left, which proved that the subject was
left-handed.

The field of vision manifested extraordinary irregularities, with
serious scotoma on the inner side of the right eye; on the left side the
eye showed only slight scotoma but there was myopia on the inner side.

_Psychic Examination._ The behaviour of the subject was very strange.
From the very first day of his impris