Measurements and statistics in Cesare Lombroso’s archives

By Marina Laura Sardi, Universidad Nacional de La Plata

In order to decipher whether the criminal differed from the sane or the alienated man, Cesare Lombroso compared bodies, faces and skulls. This was possible, in part, because between 1864 and 1876, when he taught the clinic of mental illness at the Pavia hospital, Italy, he organized a collection of skulls, brains and facial masks of deceased persons. This collection included few criminals and, instead, a larger number of mentally ill people, as well as some soldiers who constituted a reference of honest people to compare the criminals. Along with these materials, different doctors kept record books with biographical data (name, age, place of origin, illness, etc.), anthropometric characteristics (height, weight, hairiness, presence of tattoos, etc.) and the characteristics of the organs (brain, heart, lungs, spleen, kidneys, etc.) removed during dissection.

In those years, anthropology was seeking to standardize its practices. This involved the selection of anatomical structures from which certain indicators could be read, the determination of appropriate measurements and, sometimes, the provision of instruments to measure them. Different researchers, in their own laboratories, were engaged in this quest and it would take several more years of discussions to reach some consensus.

The method of criminal anthropology, of which Lombroso was one of the main proponents, consisted of taking measurements used by physical anthropologists to differentiate races. It also consisted of the observation of “cranial anomalies”, which would predominate in criminals (Lombroso 1876, 1878, 1896), such as the presence of medial frontal suture and median occipital fossa, developed superciliary arches and frontal sinus, hollow forehead, heavy skulls, wormian bones, cranial asymmetry, and plagiocephaly, among others. However, Lombroso could normalize a method of observation and comparison after he had reviewed the old records and revised his collection of skulls.

In the archives of the Museum of Criminal Anthropology “Cesare Lombroso” (Turin, Italy) it is possible to detect some names, handwritings, strokes, marginal annotations, crossings out, counts, and mathematical calculations through which the Italian doctor constructed the indicators and the empirical corpus that allowed him to build his inferences about the relationship between the physical body and criminality. Figure 1 shows an example of the records drawn up at Pavia Hospital, numbered 162 (mask) and 163 (skull), which indicate: “Palazzoli Giovanni, 40 years old. Thief who died in February 1866 […] A tall individual, 1.70 m tall, black hair, well nourished, with a notable development of corpulence and genital organs […] Signs of tattoos. P.S. on the right arm is depicted a postillion, on the left arm a naked woman dancing on a rope […]’, a drawing of which is attached to the text. This is followed by a description of the cause of death (tuberculosis) and the characteristics of certain organs, such as “hypertrophy of the heart”. In this register, one can see the traces made in red by Lombroso of physical characteristics which, according to him, would be more frequent or more pronounced in criminals. Other annotations in blue indicate the weight of the brain, 1310 (gr), and measurements on the calotte, 188 (mm of the anteroposterior diameter), 146 (mm of the transverse diameter) and 15 mm of the maximum bone thickness and 5 mm of the minimum.

Figura 1. Record about the thief Giovanni Palazzoli. Source: Mazzo 23, 477, “Registro dei Pezzi del Gabinetto antropologico psichiatrico nel Civico Ospitale Maggiore di Pavia I”. 1864-1866. Pavia. Archivio del Museo Lombroso, Università di Torino.

Figure 2 shows two tables made by Lombroso in the last pages of the record book of his anthropological cabinet, made between 1864 and 1866. In the first table, there are data taken on the soldiers who died in the Pavia Hospital, including – from left to right – the surname (sometimes preceded by the number assigned in the same record book), the height taken on the corpse, the region of origin of the soldier (only indicated for Naples and Sicily), weight in [seeds of] millet, the weight of the skull and the weight of the brain. In the second table, there are data for seven thieves (number, surname, weight in millet, and weight of the skull (note that the last but one case corresponds to Palazzoli).

Figura 2. Measurements taken on the soldiers (above) and thieves’ skulls (below). Source: Mazzo 23, 477, “Registro dei Pezzi del Gabinetto antropologico psichiatrico nel Civico Ospitale Maggiore di Pavia I”. 1864-1866. Pavia. Archivio del Museo Lombroso, Università di Torino.

During the second half of the 19th century, the measurement of the brain was a priority issue for anthropologists, but there was little consensus on how to do this; whether through weight, lengths, cranial capacity, or the external dimensions of the skull (Topinard 1885). There was consensus, however, that all these measures had some degree of direct association; that is, taller people tended to have larger skulls and, in turn, larger brains. Measuring the brain, where possible, entailed some methodological problems (removal of blood, membranes, etc.); in addition, the brain was sensitive to the same conditions that caused death (e.g., disease and malnutrition) and to the preservation methods applied. Taking internal or external measurements of the skull, rather than the brain, was then a practical solution.

Cranial capacity could be measured by incorporating liquids or solids (sand, lead, millet, or mustard seeds, among others) through the foramen magnum, from which the volume or weight was then calculated; but it was difficult to get direct access to the cavity and the differences yielded using different materials or between different observers obscured any inference. Meanwhile, the measurement of curves, diameters, or circumferences was simple and required few instruments and training. Such measurements, however, also incorporated bones, which could be thick and bulky, leading to an overestimation of the size of the cavity.

Lombroso took numerous cranial measurements but finally decided to measure capacity with sand (in cubic centimeters). He insisted throughout his works (Lombroso 1876, 1878 1883) that most criminals had low cranial capacities (and heavy skulls) despite the fact that – to strengthen his conclusions – sand yielded higher values than other elements, and that criminals had larger than normal statures (Lombroso 1883). It is likely, then, that the weighing of millet seeds and skulls (Figure 2) were nothing more than statistical tests to evaluate differences in criminals, differences between methods, or correspondences between different indicators; which would constitute, thus, a quest to validate his conclusions and make them comparable to those of other researchers.

Bibliographic references

Lombroso, C. 1876. L’uomo delinquente studiato in rapporto alla antropologia, alla medicina legale ed alle discipline carcerarie pel Prof. Cesare Lombroso, Ulrico Hoepli, Milano.

Lombroso, C. 1878. Cranio, in Enciclopedia medica italiana diretta per le singole specialità dai dottori Albertini [et al], F. Vallardi, Milano, vol. 2.

Lombroso, C. 1883. Capacità cranica di 121 criminali. Archivio di Psichiatria, Scienze Penali ed Antropologia Criminale per Servire allo Studio dell’Uomo Alienato e Delinquente» IV, pp. 215-219.

Lombroso, C. 1896. L’uomo delinquente studiato in rapporto alla antropologia, alla medicina legale ed alle discipline carcerarie, 5ta ed. Fratelli Bocca Editori, Torino.

Topinard, P. 1885. Éléments d’Anthropologie Générale. Adrien Delahaye et Émile Lecrosnier Éditeurs, Paris.


OpenEdition suggests that you cite this post as follows:
Nathalie Richard (August 31, 2022). Measurements and statistics in Cesare Lombroso’s archives. SciCoMove — Scientific Collections on the Move. Retrieved April 28, 2025 from https://doi.org/10.58079/twt2


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