THE BLACK RACES OF OCEANIC A. 



747 



vrhich seemed to exist in all the adult Tasraanians, and which resulted 

 from the disposition of the parietal bosses, they being very prominent, 

 almost conical, and situated at an equal distance from the coronal and 

 lambdoidal sutures. Between these prominences existed, on each side 

 of the sagittal suture, itself placed in a hollow, an antero-posterior 

 groove which contributed to give the skull its peculiar characteristic 



Fig. 4. Skull of a Papuan Negrito of Rawak. 



Fig. 5. Skttll of a Tasmanian. 



form. It results from this considerable development of the parietal 

 bosses that, below them, the figure of the skull was descending without 

 swelling out, the maximum transverse diameter being nearly on a level 

 with them. The antero-posterior curve was developed regularly to the 

 occipital bone, which was very much swelled out, so that at this level 

 the curve was slightly inflected upward ; at the summit of the occipital 

 crest it was often abruptly inflected downward. The forehead was 

 quite narrow. The face was not much raised, and exhibited brutal 

 forms. The arches of the brows were prominent, and appeared more 

 projecting than they were, on account of the sunken position of the 

 root of the nose. The nasal bones, convex and pinched above, were 

 deeply hollowed in their lower part, and were then lifted up to flatness 

 in front. The very wide nasal orifice almost formed an equilateral 

 triangle. The superior maxillary was notably prognathous, but the 

 teeth, much less oblique than the bone, descended sometimes even 

 vertically, and were of considerable size. The horizontal branch of 

 the inferior maxillary was robust and thick, while the ascending branch 

 was thin and narrow. The mandible was very short, so that the teeth 

 had to be projected considerably forward to meet those of the superior 

 maxillary. The chin was retreating. 



The Malays gave the name of Papuans to the Oceanian negroes in 

 general. The term, which mgm^es frizzled, is properly applied to the 

 group who are distinguished by their bushy hair, and is now reserved 

 for the race whose representatives are more or less numerously found 



