Vertebraia—Man, 11 



If we look at its rounded and globular form, we shall per- 

 ceive that the human head has a grace and beauty conferred 

 upon it that do not belong to any other form peculiar to any 

 other animal ; and even in man, the varieties having most of 

 the globular form have the most of beauty. This will appear 

 very plainly, if the investigator will take the trouble to com- 

 pare the form of the Caucasian variety with that of the other 

 four varieties, either in the actual crania of dissected subjects, 

 if he has access to such, or in the drawings with which anato- 

 mists have furnished us. The head of the Georgian female is 

 regarded, by Europeans at least, as the most perfect model of 

 human beauty. It is the most globular of all the varieties, 

 and is generally quoted as an example of the most exquisite of 

 capital forms. In the other varieties, but particularly in that 

 of the Negro, the forehead is so much flattened, and the lower 

 part of the face — the mouth and jaws — so much protruded, as 

 to suggest the degrading idea of a snout or muzzle; lowering, 

 in our estimation, excessively, the pretensions of the Negro 

 head, whether to grace or to beauty. Physiologists have even 

 instituted a standard of perfection with regard to the form of 

 the head, which they find in the facial angle of the Caucasian 

 variety. Viewing the head in profile, when the body stands 

 erect, draw a line from the greatest projection of the forehead 

 to the upper maxillary bone: this is the facial line. From 

 beneath the basis of the nostrils, draw a horizontal line meet- 

 ing the facial line: this junction gives the facial angle*, and 

 the measure of the relative projection of the jaws and fore- 

 head. The nearer it approaches to a right angle, or in other 

 words, the less prominent the jaw, the more perfect is the 

 form, and the greater the presumed sagacity of the individual. 

 But if the head of the Negro will not bear a comparison with 

 that of the Caucasian, much less will the head of any of the 

 inferior animals bear it. 



If we look at its comely covering of hair, we shall find in 

 that feature also another source of beauty. Among Europeans, 

 Eastern Asiatics, and Northern Africans, the hair of the head 

 ^rows to a great length, particularly in females. We have 

 known it to exceed the length of three feetf. Its colour is 

 black, brown, or red, according to climate, or to other con- 

 tingencies. On the fore part of the head it falls towards the 

 brow, on the back part towards the neck, and on the sides 

 towards the shoulders. It is very ornamental, and admits of 



* Blumenbach, by Elliotson, p. 388. 



[f Authentic cases, we believe, are upon record, in which the hair had 

 attained a much greater length. — Edit.] 



C2 



