54 Cincinnati Society of Natural History. 



bers of the Madisonville Society. A skeleton about six feet in length, 

 -and finely developed in all respects, was found lying in a horizontal 

 position, with head to south and face upward. The cranium of this 

 skeleton, which is numbered 4 on a table of cranial measurements, 

 now in course of preparation, is in a remarkabl}^ good state 

 of preservation, a circumstance which is accounted for, in part 

 at least, by the perfect development and compact texture of the 

 osseous tissue, being in these respects in marked contrast with 

 those referred to b}' Dr. Bessels in his letter before cited. It is the 

 cranium of a male, apparently in the prime of life, the teeth being all 

 present and perfect, with the exception of a decided flattening 

 of their crowns from use; an estimate of its age would prob- 

 ably place it somewhere between 40 and 45 years. 



It is especially noticeable for its large size, having an internal 

 capacity of 1,660 cubic centimeters; thus exceeding by 150 c. c. the 

 average of European skulls, according to Barnard Davis,* and ranking 

 among the largest aboriginal crania on record.f 



It exceeds the average of 14 other male crania from this cemetery by 

 266 c. c; that of 39 crania from mounds in the United StatesJ by 

 286 c. c. 



In shape it is S3"mmetrical to the e3^e in all aspects, and would be 

 classed among the Brachj^cephali, in common with the large majority 

 of its fellows, having an index of breadth of -840. The anterior 

 cerebral development is not in proportion to its total capacity, the 

 forehead being low, narrow and somewhat retreating, rather more so 

 in fact than the general average of crania from this cemetery, some 

 of which approach the classical in profile; its deficiencies in these 

 respects are amply compensated for, however, by its great width in 

 the bi-parietal region, and at the base. There are no traces of the 

 occipital flattening, so common among aboriginal skulls, but in this 

 respect, as in others, it is an exception. The right occipitomastoid 

 suture contains a Wormian bone, about one inch in length, and half an 

 inch in width, and there are traces of a similar one on the opposite 

 side. The lambdoidal suture is obliterated at some points, but the 



* Vide Thesaurus Craniorum, p. 360. 



t Four of the largest known American Crania are mentioned by Carr, in the 11th An. 

 Rep. Peabody Museum, 1878, p. 383, viz: 1,825 c c from Tennessee, Stone Grave Mounds, 

 No. 12,797 Peabody Museum; 1,785 c. c. from an Illinois Mound, Army Med. Mus.; l,70i c. 

 c., Shawnee Indian, Schoolcraft on "Indian Tribes of the United States," vol. ii , p. 330; 

 1,688 c- c, Tennessee Stone Grave Mounds, Smithsonian Collection of Dr. Jones. In addi- 

 tion to these, there is one in the Peabody Mus (No. 13,250), from the Santa Barbara Islands, 

 California, with a capacity of 1,680 c- c. 



X Vide Check List Army Med. Mus., cited by Carr, 11th An. Rep. Peabody Museum. 



