322 Mr Larrey on the Physical Constitution 



both sexes imitate all the productions of pur artists and artisans 

 with the most astonishing facility ; they also acquire languages 

 with remarkable facility. 



It is highly probable that the climate of Arabia, together 

 with the sober, regular, and simple life of this race of men, who 

 owe their birth to this rich and fertile country, have contribu- 

 ted to produce that perfectibility of organization, and that rare 

 intelligence, which, in some respects, makes them altogether a 

 peculiar race. 



Independently of this elevation of the vault of the cranium, 

 and of its almost spherical form, the surface of the jaws is of a 

 great extent, and is in a straight or perpendicular line ; the or- 

 bits likewise, wider than they are usually observed in the cra- 

 niums of Europeans, are somewhat less inclined backwards; 

 the alveolar arches are of moderate size, and supplied with very 

 white and most regular teeth ; the canines especially project 

 but little, confirmatory of the assertion made by travellers, who 

 have all agreed respecting the regimen of the Arabs, that they 

 eat but little, and very seldom of animal food. We are also 

 convinced that the bones of the head of individuals of this na- 

 tion are thinner, and, as it appears to me, more dense, allowing 

 them to be of the same dimensions as those of other people. I 

 much regret that I have not been able to determine their spe- 

 cific gravity, but the experiments v/hich can be made for the 

 procuring of this result are very difficult, ajid, after all, do not 

 furnish any real certainty ; the transparency, however, of these 

 crania alone proves this peculiar density. After what I have 

 now said, it will not, I imagine, be difficult for anatomists to 

 appreciate, by an attentive examination, the diffisrences which 

 we have now indicated. 



This physical perfection of the bones of the head is equally 

 apparent in all other parts of the skeleton. In fact, I have re- 

 marked that comparatively the bones of the limbs of the Arabs 

 are more dense, and of a more compact tissue, without losing 

 any thing of their elasticity ; the eminences which afford inser- 

 tion to the cords and the fibrous bands of the moving powers 

 are very strongly marked ; and this supplies these powers with 

 so many very solid points of support, and so leads to the great- 

 est precision of movement. 



