(Austrian, § 190; German, § 249 [robbery]. Austrian, § 171, 460; German,
§ 242 [theft].)
It is seen from the section on fetichism, under “General Pathology,”
that pathological fetichism may become the cause of crimes. There are
now recognized, as such, hair-despoiling (Cases 78, 79, 80); robbery or
theft of female linen, handkerchiefs, aprons (Cases 82, 83, 85, 86),
shoes (Cases 68, 87, 88), and silks (Case 93). It cannot be doubted that
such individuals are subjects of deep mental taint. But, for the
assumption of an absence of mental freedom and consequent
irresponsibility, it must be proved that there was an irresistible
impulse, which, either owing to the strength of the impulse itself, or
to the existence of mental weakness, made control of the punishable,
perverse impulsion impossible. Such crimes and the peculiar manner in
which they are performed,—in which they differ very much from common
robbery and theft,—always demand a medico-legal examination. But that
the act _per se_ does not, by any means, necessarily arise from
psycho-pathological conditions is shown by the infrequent cases of
hair-despoiling[136] simply for the purpose of gain.