NATURAL SCIENCES OF PHILADELPHIA. 405 



Four of the Kanaka skulls in the collection, (564, 695, 1300, and 1308,) 

 have elongate or shelving occiputs. In three others, (566, 572,) the occiput 

 is rounded. In two skulls from Oahu, (1023, 1024,) the occipital region is 

 prominent ; in another (1022) it is more rounded. Three Tahaitian crania 

 (1017, 1019, 1020,) exhibit protuberant and shelving occiputs. In two other 

 Tahaitian heads (1016, 1021) the occiput is more rounded, and in still 

 another (1018) it is broad and flat. The crania of Sandwich Islanders, in the 

 Chatham collection, possess rounded occiputs. In an Otahaitian skull the 

 occiput is prominent. 



There are three Marquesan skulls in the Academy's collection. In one of 

 these, from Nukahivah, the occiput is narrow and shelving, and the occipital 

 boss quite protuberant. In another, also, from Nukahivah, and a third from 

 Christina, the occipital region is fuller and less prominent. 



All the New Zealand crania in the Academy's collection exhibit the elongate 

 and narrow form of occiput. In five New Zealand skulls in the Chatham 

 Museum, " the occiput is not prominent, but well rounded off." 



In a Feejee specimen from Bau, (1029) the occipital region is narrow and 

 protuberant.* 



Three Arickaree skulls, of the Upper Missouri, exhibit the same shelving 

 occiput and prominent occipital protuberance, seen in the Swedish, Cimbrian, 

 and Ostrogoth crania. They are long, oval skulls, and resemble, in their 

 general configuration, the Swedish crania, as may be seen by comparing 

 together No. 649 (Arickaree), and No. 1247 (Swede). One of the Arickaree 

 skulls (No. 748), presents a somewhat modified occipital form. It is like that 

 represented in plate 35 of Crania Americana, or fig. 2 of plate 96 of Vimont's 

 Atlas. The superiorly flattened form of the occiput is also seen in the 

 Assinaboin skulls, though less strongly marked. These crania are broader 

 and less oval than the preceding. The same occipital form is also very well 

 marked in Nos. 632 and 635 of the Cherokee group. These two crania are 

 long ovals. In the other specimens of this group, the occipital protuberance 

 is less prominent, and the whole hind-head more evenly rounded in the line 

 of prolongation of the sagittal suture. These Cherokee skulls differ from each 

 other in several particulars. In two Chetimache skulls, from Louisiana, the 

 occipital region is flattened nearly perpendicularly from the superior spinous 

 ridge upwards. In the Chippeway or Ojibway skull, No. 684, the hind-head 

 is shelving ; in No. 683 it presents a different form, as seen in plate 28 of 

 Crania Americana. Two of the"Kootenay crania (Nos. 744, 745), have the 

 occiput protuberant and elongated. In No. 1227 the hind-head is flat. Two 

 of the Creek skulls (Nos. 441, 579), are short heads with broad, globular 

 occiputs. No. 751, a long, oval skull, has the superiorly flattened hind-head 

 and prominent occipital protuberance well marked. In its general form, this 

 head strongly calls to mind the Cimbric type or configuration. In No. 1454 

 the occiput is rounded. Dr. Morton, writing in 1839, says that " the present 

 Creek nation is said to embrace the remains of no less than fifteen different 

 tribes, which they have conquered at various times." This fact may explain 

 the discrepancy in forms exhibited by the different specimens of this group. 

 The Dacota skull (No. 605) has a globular occiput. In No. 112, the occipital 

 region is very much elongated and shelving, as in the Creek skull (No. 751). 

 The occiput of No. 204, resembles that of the Cayuga skull, figured in plate 35 

 of Crania Americana. The Huron cranium (No. 15) is beautifully lithographed 

 in Crania Americana, pi. 37. Reference to it will show that the occiput is so 

 flattened as to slant or incline from above downwards and backwards, and to 



* One half of the crania contained in the Polynesian group of the Morton collection 

 were procured by Dr. Thos. J. Turner, who is preparing a monograph on the cranial and 

 other physical characteristics of this interesting race, several varieties of which he wae 

 able to study practically during his cruise in the Pacific. 



I860.] 



