to the investigation only of the normal or regular factors and laws of form. The thought will present itself to the careful reader, How come those innumerable perversions of character which are observed in the feeble-minded, idiotic, insane, eccentric, and congenital criminal? To which class of form do their peculiar shapes belong, and what law of form shall we apply to their singularly malformed features, organs, limbs, and bodies? This question is pertinent, for regular, natural law does not apply to them, nor would its application produce an intelligible and satisfactory answer. In order that there should be room for evolution, for progress, the creative power, or Nature, has set in motion primarily the law of the sphere. This form is the only one which could produce regular rotatory motions in every direction; hence, it is the form of flexibility, and when we have an instrument which is capable of curved motions, we then have an instrument which can by interference be arrested in its perfect curvation, and by its very flexibility be perverted or changed in its original design from its natural course; hence, its movements can, if interfered with, originate discordant and abnormal manifestations of form, sound, and motion. The muscular apparatus is the principal motive apparatus of the body, and is built upon the plan of perfect curvation, and in its normal state will produce perfect curves in every outline, motion, and movement of the body, hands, and vocal organs. Now, when human ignorance, or ignorant and already vitiated human parents or ancestors have brought forth perverted offspring-an idiot, a congenital criminal, or defective child, for example-we observe some one or more of the following phenomena, viz., obliquity of the vision (as in crossed eyes), angularity of the head, which should be rounding; or, in others, the slanting of one foot, and skew of the eye (cat-like), the extreme slope of the shoulders, the crooking of the mouth (the normal type of which is the straight line); crooking of the lower joint of the leg, the normal form of the bone being also straight; a devious, winding, serpentine gait, or else a purposeless, unintelligent shuffle from side to side; angular gestures, or awkward, half-curving ones; crooked features of the face; much too flexible fingers, hands, and limbs, and voices either extremely harsh, discordant, and bass, or else extremely soft, silly sweet, and insincere, lacking in volume and reality, or lisping. We know, when we observe all these, that there has been an infraction of the laws of normal form, and that (ignorantly, of course) parents or ancestors have united who were unfit and wholly inadapted to perpetuate normal types, as is often observed in the union of two consumptives, or those with a tendency to insanity, epilepsy, or possessed of a torpid liver, and other defects of form and organization.

These are some of the signs and forms of perverted or defective beings, who are neither natural, artistic, nor scientific. They are the products of violations of the laws of Nature, Art, and Science-true illegitimates, having upon their escutcheon, the face, the bar sinister. These signs and forms have been observed in association and singly in congenital criminals, such as liars, sneakthieves, confidence-operators, and in the several grades of defective mentality, weak morality, or idiocy, and in the several stages of eccentricity tending sometimes to madness, and sometimes to the border-land of genius. Observe these peculiarities of form, sound, and motion where we may, they indicate that a separate and distinct principle of form must be applied to them in order to unravel the hidden depths of their characters and to seek the mainspring of their motives.

THE LAW OF SCALENISM, OR PERVERSION.

This is the law which will apply to such defective beings, and is the only one which will interpret their true character. The law and form of the skew is their normal type, and in order to improve or alter their natures for the better the most enlightened scientific treatment is demanded. For the credit of humanity I will say that idiocy, feeble-mindedness, and dipsomania are regarded as diseases and defects and are treated as such. In former ages they were regarded as possessions by demons.

Very little justice is accorded the congenital criminal who daily violates some of the ten commandments. He is regarded as being a willful violator of these moral laws, and is not understood to be acting under an irresistible and, to him, a natural impulse. The law of his being is oblique, askew, and slanting; not straight, square, upright, and downright. His form or features are also of similar shape. If he have no rich or influential friends to shield and pay for his delinquencies, he is thrust into prison, where he meets hundreds even more defective than himself, and here, instead of being purified and elevated, raised above his former self by being straightened and squared by intelligent scientific treatment, he graduates in crime, and is able upon making his exit to outdo all his former criminal exploits, and add his quota to the criminal element of the country by propagating a brood of his own sort, and so perpetuate skewism, or the law of the abnormal.

In geometry a scalene is a triangle, having its sides and angles uneven; in fact, it is all awry and askew, a ludicrous burlesque upon a true triangle, and looks like a good triangle on a "spree."' Just so do the poor victims to man's ignorant building look when contrasted with the best forms; they are awry, out of joint, not in

harmony with the persons and conditions about them. They demand our largest philosophy, justice, and love, and, like the Arabian philosopher, we should pray: "Oh God, be good to the wicked (defective), for Thou hast been sufficiently kind to the good in making them such."

It is this abnormal principle of the skew which we have now under consideration, and which produces the various and innumerable malformations which are the result of the ignorant human builders or defective parents, who unite in producing such wretched burlesques upon human nature as are found in every community. The title of this law I have adopted from Mr. Andrews, and will now make its practical application. There is a law operative throughout Nature by which an attempt in prenatal life is made to return to normal types. Were not this the case the world would be now filled with monstrosities instead of the passably regular forms which prevail. Another principle of form and growth is observed in the artistic modifications which occur in the changing of the form of the infant from a globular vegetative shape to the later ovoid, curved, or square form which it assumes in adult life, and which becomes its final or completed shape. The vegetative adult always retains this form, and its accompanying comparative infantile condition of intellect. The same soft, fluidic, fatty form is characteristic of some idiots, feeble-minded persons, and many who are lacking in good, square, moral natures, or strong and sound judgment.

The law of the skew obtains to some extent in the lower orders, among vegetables and animals, as witnessed in the several malformations of form and perversions of character. The latitude allowed to Nature, coupled with ignorant interference, is the cause of these "freaks," as they are termed. In order that progress or evolution should have scope a certain degree of freedom of action is essential; hence, these abnormal phenomena.

Disease is a temporary return to abnormal or perverted types; so true is this, that we find that even the handwriting of those who have had nervous shocks becomes altered and appears irregular, skewed, shaky, or angular,-like the features and limbs of the paralytic. Interference with the normal law of form by the union of inadapted parents or by disease, afterward produces similar results, viz., perversions of function and form. It need not be supposed that all criminals, feeble-minded or insane persons are incarcerated in jails and asylums. Moving about in society are large numbers of the skewed, oblique criminal, eccentric, semi-insane, semiidiotic, and feeble-minded individuals, but often in such comparatively slight degree or so shielded as to escape these penalties.

Many elegantly-dressed dames have been detected in the act of shoplifting and "kleptomania," as stealing is termed when exhibited by the rich, but is set down to individual "peculiarities" of the subject, and is hushed up by the payment for the articles taken. Congenital liars and the congenitally feeble-minded (in varying degrees) are observed in every circle and sphere of society. It is only when their acts become unendurable that they are restrained (either publicly or privately) of their liberty. One class of detestable criminals, as a rule, are seldom punished, never adequately. I refer to those lecherous fiends who are prowling about in every community seeking to debauch innocence, and who leave death and destruction in their train. These immoral monsters (for they are neither brute nor human) should be deprived of their power to perpetuate such crimes as are often proved upon them; for it is perhaps impossible to teach them better or to make them able to control their morbid sexual impulse in any reasonable manner whatsoever, for this impulse is a primitive one, the next most powerful to hunger; hence, a part of the real being itself.

As before stated, straightness, perpendicularity, and horizontality are inherent properties of bone,-true curving of muscle. If the bone has not sufficient mineral matter in its composition to make it straight and firm the character suffers through a deficiency of integrity. If the muscle is rigid and does not curve properly and easily, then we find the excess either of will or stupidity. If the muscle curves imperfectly, we find awkwardness of movement, gesture, position, and inability to execute mechanical movements with dexterity, precision, and accuracy, as is observed in the feeble-minded and in many professional criminals. When the ravages of paralysis are discernible in the face, at times they assume a skewed or crooked appearance owing to the perversions of the nervous system. This is another proof that abnormal action tends to abnormal form and skews the features affected. When the muscles are too soft and flexible and the bones small and soft, abounding in animal matter, the subject is apt to be too flexible, too yielding for morality, and shifts his position and opinion with every wind that blows; hence, suffers through want of firmness, decision, rectitude, or a positive opinion. Many sneak-thieves possess great flexibility and the capacity for turning and shifting; hence has arisen the vague, instinctive idea that a man too supple in his movements is dangerous.

The peculiar lack of grace, beauty, and aptness on the part of professional or congenital criminals has long been the subject of observation on the part of prison surgeons in Europe, where there exists an hereditary class of criminals, born in and bred to

crime. All classes of defective beings also exhibit peculiarities of slant, skew, or oblique lines and movements, which are observed in the gait, attitude, position of the body and limbs, the set of the feet, and slant of the shoulders; all these reveal perverseness. In some cases it does not assume criminal or idiotic proportions, but simply tends to awkwardness and willfulness, to cranky or inapt methods of working, walking, etc. This is the method of operation of the principle or spirit of the skew, slant, or oblique line, often observed more particularly in the various features, members, and outlines of the human family. It produces neither a true curve nor a straight line, nor a true angle and square; yet tends or attempts to evolve both. Where the slant predominates it will show in some one or more of the features, limbs, or outlines of the body, or in the walk, the gesture, the voice, and pursuits. In some persons it is indicated by sophistical writings, or in poor attempts at works of art, or in hoarse, discordant, or shrill vocalization, and in various and numerous social and commercial irregularities.

Eccentricity of manner is another manifestation of abnormal development. It sometimes results in insanity as well as talent, as in Dean Swift and Mary Lamb, the gifted writers. In others it is allied to genius, and is sometimes characteristic of criminals.

The law of the slant or skew operates differently from the law of the angle; yet angular people are sometimes judged by the law of the slant. It is true that angular persons are slightly eccentric and peculiar, yet, as a rule, are honorable, sometimes unpleasantly so in their manifestations of the square principle, and show it by projecting their opinions (as well as their elbows) forward at inopportune times. They lack tact, and are disagreeably blunt in their enunciation of unpleasant truths. What this class of persons lack is the rounding, yielding, agreeable curving principle, the angular element being disproportionately great, thus opposed to symmetry of form as well as to symmetry of character, yet harmonizing with the elements and principles of form which are dominant in them.

There is always an attempt on the part of the dominating forces of being to produce harmony, equilibrium, and symmetry in all things. This is Nature's method pre-eminently; it also is the endeavor of Art and is the supreme law of Science. When a failure to produce these ends occurs it results from interference in some way with the laws involved. The monstrosities and abnormal developments observed in the vegetable, animal, and human kingdoms are the result of violated laws, whether we are able to trace them to their origin or not. Giants, dwarfs, hunchbacks, two-headed