Dr. Prichard on the Crania of the Fifins and Lappes. 501 



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 wormianura 

 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 

 with what we observed when considering the lateral aspect of these 

 skulls, and with what has previously been noticed by Dr. Hueck re- 

 specting the space for the cerebellum, which, upon an examination 

 of the interior of the cranium, is said to be small, in consequence of 

 the slight concavity of the inferior occipital fossa. The condyles of 

 the occipital bone are remarkably large, being, in three out of four 

 of these skulls, an inch in the long axis, and in one of them (the Finn) 

 longer. They are not unusually broad. This is not the case in any 

 other European cranium which I have examined, but is seen in the 

 Hindu, Chitamache Indian, and to a certain extent in the Esquimaux. 

 There must doubtless have been a much greater freedom of motion 

 backwards and forwards in these joints than is usually the case. 



The zygomatic arches, which are best seen at the base, are much 

 more curved than in the other Europeans, slightly less so than in 

 the Esquimaux ; and the anterior projection of the alveolar processes 

 beyond the anterior termination of the zygoma is also intermediate 

 between the European and the Esquimaux. 



