papers read. 



On a very Dolichocephalic Skull of an Australian 

 Aboriginal. 



By K de Miklouho-Maclay. 

 Plate 19. 



Although the index of breadth or the cephalic index of the skull 

 does not appear to modern anthropologists of so great an im- 

 portance for the classification of human races, as in the time of 

 Retzius, it remains still a very important character in Oraniology. 



A skull which has been lately acquired by the Australian 

 Museum, is a most interesting specimen as regards its very low- 

 cephalic index, which is, I dare say, a lower index than that of any 

 crania ever described before. This skull, or more correctly the 

 cranium, (the bones of the face are broken off, and the lower jaw is 

 w r anting), was, before the Museum purchased it, in possession 

 of Mr. Hume, a " Phrenologist," residing and lecturing at present 

 in Sydney, Finding the skull of great interest on account of its 

 form, I went myself to see Mr. Hume to ascertain the origin of 

 the same. Mr. Hume told me that he had had the skull in his 

 collection for about twenty years, and had picked it up himself in 

 the bush somewhere, he does not remember exactly, between 

 Toowoomba and Dalby, in 1863 or '64. According to the Statistical 

 Reports of the Colony of Queensland, the first importations of 

 South Sea Islanders (chiefly Melanesians), took place in 1867, 

 so that it is nearly certain that the skull belonged to a native of 

 Queensland. 



This cranium is remarkable for its extreme length. The Ophrio- 

 occipital length is 202 mm., the Glabello-occipital length 204 mm., 

 by a breadth of 119 mm. So that the cephalic index, calculated 

 on the ophrio-occipital length is 58.9 (the same index calculated by 

 the Glabello-occipital length is 58.3.) 



