Czolgosz Is a Low Type
Professor Starr Says He Is a Degenerate
MENTAL BALANCE LACKING
Anthropologist Gives Result of a Careful Study of the Photograph
of the Would-Be Assassin.
In the opinion of Professor
Frederick Starr, anthropologist and authority on degeneracy, of
the University of Chicago, the Bertillon photograph of Leon Czolgolsz
shows emphatically that the would-be murderer of the President is
a degenerate, says the Chicago Record-Herald. Frightful asymetry
[sic], or non-balance shown clearly by the front view, is
the striking mark of degeneracy stamped on the face of the anarchist.
Professor Starr, who is considered
to be one of the most careful and conservative, as well as among
the most interesting of the research workers at the university,
makes it a habit to refrain from studying the details of a great
tragedy until after the emotions caused by the shock have given
place to cooler judgment. He refuses to give expression to his impressions
formed in the immediate excitement of a terrible affair.
However, Professor Starr was greatly
interested last evening when a copy of the Bertillon photographs
was handed to him at the university. He glanced at it a moment,
and said quietly: “The man who shot the President.”
He laid the picture on his table,
leaned on his elbows and looked into the reproduction of the assassin’s
face fully five minutes, completely absorbed in thought. Then Professor
Starr handed it back and said: “I have nothing to say.” But on being
pressed ance, and in this photograph there is graph again and gave
the following explicit statement [sic]:
“In the first place, although this
is a photograph taken according to the Bertillon system, I don’t
believe the photograph is a good one. The profile betrays nothing.
The front view photograph is the important one, and it is difficult
to get a front view in which the subject is not turned a little
to one side or the other, thus making differences in the measurements
on the sides.
“But if the picture is a good one,
the most striking thing from the point of view of criminology is
the frightful asymmetry. Asymmetry is non-balance, and in this photograph
there is asymmetry to a notable degree.
“If this picture is well taken, he
is phenomenally degenerate. Look, to begin with, at the whole pose
of the head. You will observe a tilt to the left. If the picture
is correct the asymmetry is enormous. Not only one side of the face
and neck is shorter than the other, but one ear is too low. The
nose bends to one side. The eyes are uneven in height.
“The mouth is the only thing I can
be sure of. Whether the picture is well taken or not, we can tell
about that and the mouth is sloping. This alone indicates degeneracy.
“The general impression gained by
the photograph is that the man has suffered much from ill-health.”
The professor was here interrupted
and it was stated that the biography of Czolgosz brought this out.
The professor was quick to answer:
“I did not know that. I have not read
anything about the history of the man.”
The professor concluded his statement
of impression gained from the photograph as follows:
“On the whole many men, who are strong
characters and stand well in their community, show much stronger
marks of degeneracy than the photograph of this man. Apart from
the asymmetry, the face is not strongly degenerate.”
Dr. Starr does not believe that there
is any conspiracy, expressing it as his opinion that Czolgolsz did
not shoot the President as the result of a plot.
“I think the indications, judging
by the character of the man as indicated in the picture and by his
actions, show that he was alone in his terrible deed. He is not
a strong-minded man. The face gives the impression that he is undetermined.
But he was influenced at those meetings to do something; and the
particular idea came to him on the grounds. That his mind was not
fully made up as to the particular act, is indicated by his hesitancy.”
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