The Stone Ayes of South Africa. 203 



marised in the following paragraphs.* Both Bushmen and Strand- 

 loopers crania viewed from above present a marked prominence of 

 the parietal eminences, the outline described by Sergi as byrsoides. 

 This prominence is not noteworthy in Kaffir or Zulu crania, though 

 seen to a lesser degree among the Bantu-speaking tribes on the 

 west coast to the north of the Congo. 



As seen in profile the resemblances between the Cavemen, Bush- 

 men, and Hottentots are very close, but the former are somewhat 

 larger and present fuller foreheads. In all the upper face is 

 flattened, but there is some projection of the jaw, sub-nasal prog- 

 nathism, the alveolar margin sloping obliquely forwards. This is 

 least marked in the older cave remains, and most in the skulls from 

 the Kalahari and in those of the Nama Hottentots. Prognathism is 

 a negroid character. 



The crania show the bending of the basi-cranial axis, described by 

 Huxley and Kolleston, to which further attention has been drawn 

 by Keith, who has shown that it leads to the cerebral hemispheres 

 projecting beyond the morphological anterior extremity to a marked 

 degree, and causes the prominent forehead of the negro type. A 

 ■further result of this flexion is a certain crushing of the forehead 

 into the face. These features are somewhat less marked in certain 

 specimens, notably those from the Blaawberg district, which seem 

 to be of greater antiquity. Any divergence from the negroid type 

 in early specimens is of considerable importance, and so far as the 

 present evidence goes the earlier specimens are more divergent and 

 present more primitive features. One skull — Fig. 3 — has a more 

 prominent nose and face with a greater lengthening out of the 

 •occiput, in some respects recalling the "river-bed" type of early 

 European skulls. 



All the cave and midden skulls present the character of shortness 

 in the basi-bregmatic height, measured from the front of the foramen 

 magnum to the junction of the frontal with the two parietal bones. 

 It may be noted that this character more than any other serves to 

 distinguish Hottentot from Bushmen crania, and that the Strand- 

 loopers are thus still more remote from the Hottentots and Kaffirs. 

 They are thus also removed from any resemblance to the negroid 

 type described by Verneau from the Grimaldi caves at Monaco. 

 Verneau compared the negroid Grimaldi skulls to Australians, while 

 Keith has shown their resemblance to specimens from Fiji. The 



* A first report appeared in Vol. V., and a further report will be presented as 

 soon as possible. 



