500 Dr. Prichard on the Crania of the Finns and Lappcs. 



the superciliary ridges are -well-marked, the ossanasi, and the ascend- 

 ing processes of the superior maxillary bones present a flatter and 

 broader anterior surface than the European, and the cavities and fora- 

 mina are well-marked. [In all these four skulls the supraorbital 

 opening for the frontal nerve and artery is a complete foramen upon 

 the left side, and merely a notch upon the right.] 



In consequence of the greater width of the superior maxillary 

 bone, the shape of the circumference of the orbit is not so round as in 

 the generality of European skulls, where the external inferior angle 

 is the lowest, but it is square, with the angles rounded ; and for the 

 same reason the space for the antrum is increased, while the depth 

 of the infraorbital or canine fossa is very materially decreased : in 

 one of the Finnish skulls this surface, from the inferior edge of the 

 orbit to the alveolar processes, is almost plane. There is nothing 

 remarkable in the nasal aperture. The shape of the orbit differs 

 materially from that of the Esquimaux, where it is almost round, and 

 from that in the skull of an Indian of the Sioux tribe, where it much 

 resembles the European. 



The distance from the inferior edge of the nasal aperture, that is, 

 from the anterior nasal spine to the margin of the alveolar process, 

 is in every specimen of these skulls of the Finns and Lappes decidedly 

 less than in any other European with which I have compared them. 

 The teeth are much ground. 



A lateral view of these crania shows that the forehead is some- 

 what more receding than in the generality of Europeans, although the 

 difference is not great, probably not more than is frequently seen be- 

 tween two specimens of the same tribe. 



The general shape of the head resembles that of the European 

 anteriorly, but the posterior part does not project so much. There is 

 a marked difference between the posterior projection of the Finns 

 and Lappes and that of the Esquimaux, the latter being much more 

 prominent. 



The line which represents the outline of the ossa nasi, &c., i.e. the 

 profile of the face of the skull, presents much less marked irregulari- 

 ties than the European in general. Thus 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, 



