8 INTRODUCTORY NOTE. 



siognomy, isolated in their institutions, and forming one of the primordial 

 centres of the human family," 



Of the 55 measured Egyptian heads, the largest measures but 96 cubic 

 inches; the smallest 68; while the mean of all is about 80. The crania 

 from the ancient tombs of Gizeh give an average of about 84 inches. 

 Concerning these Dr. Morton says: "The persons whose bodies had re- 

 posed in these splendid mausolea were, no doubt, of the highest and most 

 cultivated class of Egyptian citizens ; and this fact deserves to be con- 

 sidered in connection with the present inquiry. To this we may add that 

 the most deficient part of the Egyptian skull is the coronal region, which 

 is extremely low, while the posterior chamber is remarkably full and pro- 

 minent." 



Of 19 Fellah skulls, the highest measurement is 96 cubic inches; the 

 lowest 66; and the mean of all about 79. Nos. 771, 772, and 773 were 

 sent by Mr. Gliddon as Jewish crania, but Dr. Morton, guided by their 

 form, has classified them, perhaps erroneously, with the Fellahs. Mr. 

 Gliddon, in a note in "Types of Mankind" (p. 723, No. 390) says : "They 

 came from the old Jewish burial-ground, behind Muss'r-el-Ateeka, on the 

 desert, toward Bussateen ; and no Muslim is interred near a Jew." 



From the form of the skull, the mental and moral character of the peo- 

 ple, and their existing institutions, such as phallic worship. Dr. Morton 

 considers these Fellahs or Arab-Egyptians of the present day to be the 

 lineal descendants of the ancient rural or agricultural Egyptians blended 

 with the intrusive Arabian stock. 



"The skull of the Fellah is strikingly like that of the ancient Egyptian. 

 It is long, narrow, somewhat flattened on the sides, and very prominent 

 in the occiput. The coronal region is low, the forehead moderately re- 

 ceding, the nasal bones long and nearly straight, the cheek-bones small, 

 the maxillary region slightly prognathous, and the whole cranial struc- 

 ture thin and delicate. But notwithstanding these resemblances between 

 the Fellah and Egyptian skulls, the latter possess what may be called an 

 osteological expression, peculiar to themselves, and not seen in the Fel- 

 lah." 



" Of 35 adult Indostanic skulls in the collection, 8 only can be identified 

 with tribes of the Ayra* or conquering race ; nor even in this small num- 

 ber is there unequivocal proof of the affinity in question. The largest 

 head in the series, that of a Brahmin, who was executed in Calcutta for 

 murder, measures 91 cubic inches for the size of the brain the smallest 

 head 79. Two others pertain to Thuggs, remarkable for an elongated form 

 and lateral flatness. The mean of these Ayra heads is 86 cubic inches." 



* A fair race, with Sanscrit speech, whose primal seats were in Eastern Persia. They now 

 occupy the country between the Himalaya Mountains on the North, the Vindya on the 

 South, and between the Indian Ocean and the Bay of Bengal a region known as Ayra. 

 varta, or India Proper. 



