Zoological Society. 291 



ties than the European in general. Thu? although, as I have before 

 observed, the superciliary ridges are well-marked, the frontal bone 

 does not overhang the ossa nasi, as in the latter, where a decided 

 angle is formed. In the Esquimaux the line from the forehead to 

 the nose is nearly straight, and in the skulls of an Indian of the Sioux 

 tribe and a Chitamache Indian the curve is very regular and open. 

 The junction of the nose and forehead in the Lappes and Finns is 

 therefore more angular than either of the three last-mentioned crania, 

 but much less so than the European. 



" Upon this the side view another remarkable fact is observed. The 

 occipital bone being not so much developed downwards as in other 

 Europeans (we observed just now that it had less posterior projection 

 also), and the posterior edge of the lower jaw, from the condyle to 

 the angle, being longer than in the latter, upon placing the skull 

 upon a table or any plane horizontal surface, the inferior maxilla 

 merely touches it by its angle, not resting upon the base of the jaw, 

 as we observe in the English, Irish, ancient Irish (cast), Sioux, 

 Italian and Mulatto skulls. The only ones which have this character 

 in common with the Lappes and Finns are the Negro and the skull 

 of a Hindu. 



"The angle of the lower jaw is certainly more obtuse, seen upon 

 comparing skulls in which the molar teeth remain perfect. In the 

 form and direction of the coronoid process there seems to be no great 

 difference. 



*' The temporal fossae are well-marked, and in one of the Finnish 

 skulls the anterior inferior angles of the parietal bones are connected 

 to the great wings of the sphenoid by means of an os wormianum 

 upon either side. This is not unfrequently the case in other crania. 



" The general shortness of the face which has been observed to exist 

 in these skulls, is more plainly seen by viewing them from the side, 

 when we find that the inferior edge of the malar bone is very little 

 higher than the edge of the alveolar process. This is owing not so 

 much to the want of development downwards of these processes, 

 although I have already noticed the shortness of the space between 

 the nose and the mouth, but to the great breadth (from above down- 

 wards) of the malar bone, measured from its free inferior border to 

 its junction with the external orbital process of the frontal bone ; 

 and it is a remarkable fact, that this measurement, in all the speci- 

 mens of the skulls of Finns and Lappes, considerably exceeds that 

 of any of the other specimens of European nations, and is equal to 

 that of the Esquimaux and American skulls. The breadth of this 

 surface of the malar bone in one Finn much exceeds that of any 

 which I have had an opportunity of measuring. 



" Thus the shortness of the face is more apparent upon the lateral 

 view of the cranium, in consequence of the additional width of the 

 malar bone. 



*' The general shape of the basis cranii presents nothing very stri- 

 king, with the exception of the zygomatic arches. The foramen 

 magnum is of a more oval form than usual, and there appears to be 

 scarcely as great a development of the occipital bone. This agrees 



