274 [Sept., 1845. 



Dr. Morton offered some remarks on the skulls deposited 

 by him this evening. 



1. The four embalmed heads were brought from the Egyptian 

 catacombs, by Dr. C. Pickering. Two present all the character- 

 istics of the Negroid variety, or that in which the negro conformation 

 predominates ; the hair, especially in one of them, is long, but 

 harsh and somewhat wiry ; in the other it is cut short and presents 

 a finer texture. 



A third head of this series also exhibits some mixture of the 

 Negro race, but the little hair that remains is remarkably fine. 



The fourth has lost the facial bones, and is therefore not capable 

 of being precisely determined; but judging from the cranium,' it is 

 of Caucasian origin, and the hair, which is short and curly, is of a 

 very fine texture. 



2. The two ancient Peruvian heads possess great interest. They 

 were obtained by Dr. John Houstoun, an intelligent officer of the 

 British Navy, who politely sent them to Dr. Morton, with the fol- 

 lowing memorandum: "From an ancient Indian town called 

 Chiuchiu, or Atacama Baja, on the river Loa, eight leagues from 

 Calamo, and on the western edge of the desert of Atacama. Here 

 there are extensive remains of Indian houses, and a loop-holed 

 fortress built of mud. The huacha, or native burial place, is in a 

 terrace of soft sandstone, or volcanic tuffa. The bodies are nearly 

 all buried in the sitting posture, with the hands either placed on 

 each side of the head, or crossed over the breast." These crania 

 have been moulded by an artificial process into the upwardly- 

 elongated or sugar loaf form, being thus very high and broad in 

 front, with a short antero-posterior diameter, both the forehead and 

 occiput bearing evidences of long-continued compression. These 

 heads correspond precisely with the descriptions given by the 

 earliest Spanish travellers in Peru, and especially by Cieza and 

 Torquemada, who saw the natives in various parts of the country 

 with heads moulded precisely in this manner;* which was also 

 once in use among the Natchez tribes of the lower Mississippi, and 

 in various parts of Mexico. 



3. Two admirably characterized Indian crania, from ancient 

 cemeteries in Missouri, whence they were obtained by a zealous 



*See Crania Americana, p. 116. 



