they can lay hands on; conversely, when
granted some of their unreasonable requests, it serves at once to
appease them for the time being at least. Their conduct, however, is
very detrimental to the prison regime, as discipline cannot be
maintained with such disturbing elements about. Their interpretations of
discipline are considered as delusions of persecution, their outbursts
of temper as typical maniacal outbreaks, and consequently they are
shipped off to an insane asylum. Now the question arises whether we are
doing our duty by society in declaring these individuals as
irresponsible for their acts. In other words, should these individuals
with marked and incorrectible criminalistic tendencies, be, so to speak,
licensed to ignore the law in its entirety by giving them the protection
of an insane asylum? Of course, from a broad, humane point of view, we
must realize and appreciate that there is something distinctly wrong
with these individuals, that their mental endowments are the essential
factors which determine their behavior. On the other hand, we must not
forget that these individuals fully realize that once they have been
sent to an insane asylum, they are protected from punishment by law for
all future time and they are ever ready to utilize this knowledge, as
has been my experience with quite a number of recidivists, who somehow
never get into an insane asylum until they are in the hands of the law.
The scope of this paper will not permit me to enter into an extensive
discussion on the treatment of these cases. I will say this,
however,--that we are very far from having solved satisfactorily the
question of the care of this particular class of insane criminals. As
this paper is not primarily a discussion of the degenerative psychoses,
I will refrain from reporting further cases. I believe I have shown by
the preceding two cases that the mental disturbances of the degenerative
individuals are essentially psychogenetic in origin.

REFERENCES

[1] VAN RENTERGHEM, A. W.: _Journal of Abnormal Psychology_, Jan.-Feb.,
1915.

[2] KRAEPELIN, E.: "Psychiatrie." Achte Auflage. Leipzig, 1910. Bd. 1.

[3] REICH: "Ueber Akute Seelenstoerungen in der Gefangenschaft."
_Allgem. Zeitschr. f. Psych._, 1871, Bd. 27, p. 405.

[4] MOELI: Ueber irre Verbrecher, 1888.

[5] GANSER: "Ueber einen eigenartigen hysterischen Daemmerzustand."
_Archiv f. Psych._, 30, 1889.

[6] RAECKE: "Hysterischer Stupor bei Gefangenen." _Allge