992 



OF THE BRANCHES OF THE HUMAN FAMILY. 



of smell and hearing. The aperture of the nostrils is very wide, and the in- 

 ternal space allowed for the distribution of the olfactory nerve is much larger 

 than in most European heads; the posterior openings of the nasal cavity are 

 not less remarkable for their width, than the anterior. The external auditory 

 meatus is also peculiarly wide and spacious; and the orbital cavities have 

 been thought to be of more than ordinary capacity, but this last is by no 

 means a constant character. 



835. A second type of cranial conformation, very different from the pre- 

 ceding, belongs principally to the Nomadic races which wander with their 

 herds and flocks over vast plains ; and to the tribes which creep along the 

 shores of the Icy Sea, and live partly by fishing, or in part on the flesh of 

 their reindeer. This form, designated by Dr. Prichard as the pyramidal 

 (Fig. 372), is typically exhibited by various nations of Northern and Cen- 

 tral Asia ; and is seen in an exaggerated degree in the Esquimaux. Its 



FIG. 372. 



Front and basal views of the Pyramidal Skull of an Esquimaux. 



most striking character is the lateral or outward projection of the zygoma, 

 which is due to the form of the malar bones. These do not project forwards 

 aud downwards under the eyes, as in the prognathous skull ; but take a 

 lateral or outward direction, forming, with the zygomatic process of the 



temporal bone, a large rounded sweep 



FIG. 373. or segment of a circle. From this, 



in connection with the narrowness 

 of the forehead, it results that lines 

 drawn from the zygomatic arches, 

 touching the temples on either side, 

 instead of being parallel (as in Eu- 

 ropeans), meet over the forehead, so 

 as to form with the basis a triangular 

 figure. The upper part of the face 

 being remarkably flat, the nose also 

 being flat, and the nasal bones, as 

 well as the space between the eye- 

 brows, being nearly on the same plane 

 with the cheek-bones, the triangular 

 space bounded by these lines may be 

 compared to one of the faces of a 

 oval skull of a European. pyramid. The orbits are large and 



deep ; and the peculiar conformation 

 of the bones which surround it, gives to the aperture of the lids an appear- 



