Dr. Prichard on the Crania of the Finns and L'appes. 499 



Again, from the same point of view the skulls of the Lappes present 

 a central eminence or ridge, upon looking at the outline of the fore- 

 head (being the line of junction of the two halves of the frontal bone), 

 which is much less marked, in fact scarcely discernible in the Finn, 

 and altogether absent in the European, being on the contrary very 

 strikingly prominent in the Esquimaux. Examined anteriorly, how- 

 ever, a general view of these skulls gives us exactly opposite results ; 

 for the sagittal suture, which is now the median line, and the con- 

 tinuation backwards of the frontal suture of early life, upon looking 

 at the outline or horizon of the skull, is seen to project decidedly 

 more in the Finn than in the Lappe ; in both more than in other 

 Europeans. Hence we may fairly lay down, that the skulls of the 

 Finns and Lappes have (as far only as the vault of the cranium, ex- 

 clusive of any effect produced by the width of the face, allows us to 

 conclude,) more tendency to the pyramidal form than the European, 

 l)ut less than the Esquimaux. 



Examining these skulls anteriorly, taking into consideration the 

 face, the triangular form is very evident, partly in consequence of 

 the fact above mentioned respecting the vault of the cranium, and 

 partly in consequence of the great width betvveen the external sur- 

 faces of the malar bones, which in actual measurement in the two 

 Lappes and the two Finns exceeds the length of the same diameter 

 in other Europeans by at least half an inch, and in one case by nearly 

 an inch, being equal to the same diameter in the Esquimaux ; in the 

 latter, however, which exhibits the pyramidal shape in a remarkable 

 degree, the form is owing as much to the shape of the forehead as 

 to the lateral projection of the anterior roots of the zygomatic pro- 

 cesses. This width across the face is, as has been correctly observed 

 by Dr. Hueck, not owing to the increased breadth or altered shape 

 in the malar bone, so much as to the altered width and direction of 

 the malar process of the superior maxillary bone. 



The outline of the external surface of this bone, viewed from a 

 point exactly in front of the skull, that is to say, the line which 

 runs from the furthest molar tooth that is visible from this point to 

 the suture connecting the malar and superior maxillary bones, is, in 

 the generality of European crania, either vertical, or sometimes even 

 inclined inwards and upwards in the first part of its course, after- 

 wards turning outwards to form the commencement of the zygoma. 

 In the Esquimaux this line runs obliquely upwards and outwards, at 

 an angle of 45° from its commencement ; and in the skulls of the 

 Finns and Lappes it is intermediate to the two directions, being 

 however still inclined outwards. This obliquity is also decidedly 

 more marked in the Finns than in the Lappes. 



Upon this the anterior view, more of the lateral aspect of the 

 lower jaw is seen than is ordinarily observed, in consequence partly 

 of the greater distance between the condyles, which will be again 

 noticed in the examination of the base of the skull, and partly from 

 the fact that the angles project more in a lateral direction, the entire 

 bone being apparently more developed than in other Europeans. 



With respect to some more minute points regarding these skulls, 



2 L2 



