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Show . m iii m 1 m S ii FALLACY OF OPERATING ON CRIMINALS An interesting after-development in a surgical case which attracted much attention about four years ago has just occurred. A prisoner serving a long sentence sen-tence in the prison at Danne-mora, Danne-mora, N. Y., was pardoned by Governor White on representations representa-tions which seemed to make it clear that he hadjbeen cured of his criminal tendencies by a surgical surg-ical operation. Following the operation, kthe prisoner's character charac-ter seemed b change. From being be-ing sullen and morose he became bright and cheerful, walked with firmer step, heldjhis head erect and appeared to be a different man. It is not surprising that a few months after the operation the governor was induced to set himtfree on parole, and there seemed to be every reason to hope that a usefull.citzen had been restored to society in place of the'criminal fcthat had2 been takenfrom it. Unfortunately'tho arrest of the parbled prisoner during the first week of "January of the present u year, for a series of burglaries with regard to wfyich hejevidenceis ample, seem3 to make it clear that the improve- ""fitffe-i-T,?11 temporary, or that the operation jmd m sih-sequent sih-sequent good conduct were steps in a schemeSto securefchis release from prison. It is of course only what Emighffibe5 expected, says The JournalaOf the A an Medical:?Association. W There is no trustworthy evidence to show thatchanges inmoral character, independent of mental deterioration, deteriora-tion, result from pressure on the brain. Sensational announcements announce-ments of improvement in such cases after surgical intervention, like those that used to be made after various surgical procedures in epilepsy, need to be controlled controll-ed by the subsequent history of the case. Immediate improvement improve-ment in such cases is usually mental rather than physical, and successes reported before many years have tested their perma- nence are liable to produce false impressions. |