1.320 



VARIETIES OF MANKIND. 



tained that the profile view is the most cha- 

 racteristic, and that the " facial angles " of 

 the different races vary so greatly and so con- 

 stantly, that upon this character alone a valid 

 distinction might be founded. By Blumen- 

 bach, on the other hand, it was considered 

 that the comparison of the breadth of the 

 head, particularly as seen in the vertical 

 aspect, is the method by which the most 

 strongly-marked differences are brought into 

 view. By Professor Owen the importance of 

 the basal aspect has been especially dwelt upon, 

 in his comparison of the skulls of the higher 

 Quadrumana with that of Man, as more fully 

 indicating the relative proportions and extent, 

 and the peculiarities of formation, of different 

 parts of the cranium, than any other method. 

 By Dr. Pritchard, again, the importance of 

 the front or facial view has been clearly 

 shown, in regard, at least, to one variety of 

 cranial conformation. Lastly, by Prof. Ret- 

 zius, the length of the cranial cavity in pro- 

 portion to its breadth is considered as the 

 character of greatest importance; this being 

 regarded by him as indicative of the relative 

 development of the posterior lobes of the 

 cerebral hemispheres, and of the degree in 

 which they cover-in, or extend beyond, the 

 cerebellum. As we have already seen, the 

 superior development of these posterior lobes 

 constitutes a marked difference between the 

 cerebrum of Man and that of the higher 

 Quadrumana ; and in this respect it would 

 appear from the evidence afforded by cranial 

 conformation *, that there is a marked differ- 



ence among the several races of mankind. 



The only method of comparison which can 

 be fairly relied on, is that in which all the 

 points of difference are taken into account; 

 and as this has been done more fully by Dr. 

 Prichard than by any other ethnologist, his 

 arrangement will be taken as the chief guide 

 in the present instance. If we were to select 

 from a large collection of human crania, 

 brought together from all quarters of the 

 globe, those which differed most widely from 

 each other, and which might, therefore, be 

 considered as types of certain peculiarities of 

 conformation, and if we were then to com- 

 pare these more closely, so as to eliminate 

 those which might be regarded as presenting 

 mixtures or combinations of the most di- 

 vergent types (just as in studying the solar 

 spectrum, the optical investigator eliminates 

 all the colours which can be generated by ad- 

 mixture, and leaves only the three primaries, 

 red, blue, and yellow), we should find our- 

 selves reduced at last to three forms, which 

 would probably be the crania ( I ) of a 

 Negro of the Guinea coast, or of a Negrito 

 of Australia, (2) of a Mongolian or Tun- 

 gusian of Central Asia, or of an Esquimaux 

 or Greenlander, and (3) of a native of 

 Western or Southern Europe. The most 

 marked feature of the first of these would 

 be the projection of the jaws ; hence this 

 type is called by Dr. Prichard the prog- 

 nathous. That of the second would be the 

 breadth and flatness of the face, which, with 

 the narrowness of the forehead, gives to 

 the facial aspect somewhat of a pyramidal 

 form, which is the designation applied to this 



Fig. 807. 



Fig. 808. 



Fig. 809. 



Prognathous Cranium of a native Australian of the Western Port tribe. 



of the Royal College of Surgeons.) 



(From a specimen in the Museum 



type by Dr. Prichard. The third form would 

 not be distinguished by any particular fea- 



* The author would remark, however, that this 

 evidence cannot by any means be implicitly relied 

 on ; since the relative positions of the different parts 

 of the encephalon may vary, without a corresponding 

 alteration in their development, as is seen when the 

 form of the cranium has been altered by compres- 

 sion. Of the fallacy of inferences drawn from an 

 inspection of the cranium, as to the development of 

 the different parts of the encephalon, we have an 

 example in the assertion of Gall, that castration oc- 

 casions atrophy of the cerebellum ; a statement 

 which has been completely negatived by the ob- 

 servations of Leuret. 



tures so much as by an absence of the longi- 

 tudinal projection of the first, or the lateral 

 projection of the second, and by a general 

 symmetry of the whole configuration, which 

 ma} be characterised as oval or elliptical; such 

 being the form presented when the cranium is 

 viewed either facially, basally, or vertically. 

 The distinctive characters of these three types 

 will now be more particularly considered ; 

 and the European type may be conveniently 

 taken as the standard of comparison, since it 

 is in many respects intermediate between the 

 two others; one of these departing from it in 

 one direction, and the other in the opposite. 



