196 SCIENCE PROGRESS. 



hillmen of Chota Nagpur (8 7 "4). The low-caste men of 

 Bengal proper have a less prominent nose root (which is a 

 simpler way of saying a smaller naso-malar index, 111*7 to 

 1 1 3 '8) than those of Behar; though more prominent than 

 the people of the Chittagong Hills, of Sikkim, and the 

 Himalaya, or than them of Chota Nagpur, which facts, on 

 the other hand, would seem to imply a greater infusion of 

 Aryan blood in Behar than in Bengal. The Chota Nagpur 

 people again are not quite so flat faced as — have a rather 

 more prominent nose root than — the Chittagongers and 

 Sikkimites (110*4 to 107*1 and 108*6). And lastly, the 

 Bengalis approximate somewhat to the last-mentioned tribes 

 in kephalic index, the order in that respect being as fol- 

 lows : — 



Oudh, etc., - 72*8 x Bengal,- - 76*9 



Punjab, - - 74*2 Chittagong, - 79*9 



ChotaNagpur, 74*9 Sikkim, etc., - 80*7 



Behar, - - 75*7 



and the high average of the Bengalis not being due to the 



low-caste men included ; for it affects both high and low, 



the very highest averages being those of the Brahmans 



(78*7), the Kayasths (the writer caste, of doubtful origin but 



high in rank) (78*3), and the Chandals, a very low caste 



(78*1). The average of the Brahmans of Behar is only 



74*9, and that of those of Oudh and the north-west 73*1 



apparently. 2 



Here seems to be a kind of crux. The most likely 

 ways out of it are the following, for some of the discrepancies 

 seem beyond the possible range of the personal equation. 3 



1 See further on. 



2 This is possibly an under-statement ; see further on. 



:: Mr. Risley's figures, having so wide a basis, need no confirmation 

 except with reference to the possible interference of the personal equation. 

 I may mention, however, that five Bengali Brahmans and Kayasths, whom I 

 measured long ago, yielded an average index of 80-3. The measurements 

 in Barnard Davis's Thesaurus, a great many of which refer to the crania of 

 natives of Dacca in Eastern Bengal, are also corroborative. Davis mentions 

 a very important point, that Bengali skulls are often obliquely deformed, 

 probably from some peculiarity in the way of nursing: this may perhaps a 

 little exalt the index. 



