TEE PEOPLING OF TEE PEILIPPINE8. 263 



but if possible upon the remains of earlier and perhaps now extinct 

 tribes. This possibility has been brought nearer for the Philippines 

 through certain cave deposits. We have to thank, for the first infor- 

 mation, the traveler Jagor, whose exceptional talent as collector has 

 placed us in the possession of rich material, especially crania. To his 

 excellent report of his journey I have already dedicated a special 

 chapter, in which I have presented and partially illustrated not 

 only the cave crania, but also a series of other sloills. An extended 

 conference upon them has been held in the Anthropological Society.* 



The old Spanish chroniclers describe accurately the mortuary cus- 

 toms which were in vogue in their time. The dead were laid in coffins 

 made from excavated tree trunks and covered with a well-fitting lid. 

 They were then deposited on some elevated place, or mountain, or 

 river bank, or seashore. Caves in the mountains were also utilized 

 for this purpose. Jagor describes such caves on the island of Samar, 

 west of Luzon, whose contents have recently been annihilated, f 



The few crania from there which have been intrusted to me bear 

 the marks of recent pedigree, as also do the additional objects. Unfor- 

 tunately, Dr. Jagor did not himself visit these interesting caves, but 

 he has brought crania thence which are of the highest interest, and 

 which I must now mention. 



The cave in question lies near Lanang,J on the east coast of Samar, 

 on the bank of a river, it is said. It is, as the traveler reports, cele- 

 brated in the locality "on account of its depressed gigantic crania, 

 without sutures." The singular statement is made clear by means of 

 a well-preserved example, which I lay before you. The entire cranium, 

 including the face, is covered with a thick layer of sinter, which 

 gives it the appearance of belonging to the class of skulls with Leon- 

 tiasis ossea. It is, in fact, of good size, but through the incrustation 

 it is increased to gigantic proportions. It is true, likewise, that it has 

 a much flattened, broad and compressed form. The cleaning of another 

 skull has shown that artificial deformation has taken place, which 

 obviously was completed before the incrustation was laid on by the 

 mineral water of the cave. I will here add that on the testimony of 

 travelers no Negritos were on Samar. The island lies in the neighbor- 

 hood of the Visayas. Although no description of the position of the 

 slmll is at hand and of the skeleton to which it apparently belonged, it 



* Note. — In the matter of e\ddence for high antiquity and separate race 

 furnished by incrusted cave crania, Prof. William H. Holmes's paper on the 

 Calaveras skull (printed in this volume), should be studied, in which serious 

 doubts are thrown upon the value of such relies as Avitnesses. — Translator. 



t F. Jagor, Grabstiitten zu Xipa-Nipa. Zeitschrift fiir Ethnologic, 1869, 

 I, p. 80. 



+ Die Philippinen und ihre Bewohner. Verb, der Berliner Anthrop. 

 Gesellsch., 1870, session of 25th of January. 



