»o. 1641. AMERICA* INDIA* SKULLS— HRDLICKA. 173 



In connection with this specimen it is possible to point out :i les- 

 son which relates to the importance of properly posing the object 

 for ;i photograph. The Oregon skull was photographed before it was 

 sent to the National Museum by one not familiar with the require- 

 ments of the case. The result was a too great inclination of the speci- 

 men, with consequent marked exaggeration of the frontal slope and 

 protrusion of the supraorbital crest. The photograph is reproduced 

 as fig. a, Plate XXVI IT, while fig. l> of the same plate gives a view of 

 the same skull posed properly. 



THE MISSOURI SKULL. 



This specimen, No. 249G79 U.S.N.M.. was recovered from a mound 

 in the proximity of the Missouri River, in western Missouri, in the 

 earlier part of this year, by Mr. Gerard Fowke. Unfortunately, 

 before being sent to the Museum, it became mixed with other bones, 

 so that the exact locality where it was found can not be deter- 

 mined. It is certain, however, that there was nothing about the 

 burial from which it proceeds to attract special attention, or it would 

 have received better care at the hands of Mr. Fowke, who is an experi- 

 enced explorer. 



The specimen is very much unlike the one from Oregon just 

 described and constitutes a type of another class of low foreheads. It 

 is very defective, consisting of only a part of the vault, including 

 about three-fifths of the frontal and a small portion of the top of 

 each parietal. Judging from the supraorbital ridges, the skull was 

 that of a male, and a complete obliteration ventrally of the coronal 

 and what is present of the sagittal suture indicates an individual 

 beyond the middle of adult life. The bones are yellowish in color, 

 with numerous black spots dorsally, due probably to deposits of the 

 black manganese dioxide, and are not chalky or mineralized. 



The skull was apparently narrow and long in form, and a nasion- 

 bregnia arc of 11.8 cm., besides other features, indicates that it was 

 not of uncommonly small size. It was not deformed, and shows noth- 

 ing pathological. It was, however, unusually delicate for a male, the 

 thickness of the frontal bone ranging only between 3 and 5 mm. 

 Were it not for its supraorbital ridges, it could easily be taken for a 

 female skull. 



The feature of particular interest about the specimen is a low fore- 

 head, and this, unlike what was found in the Oregon skull, is marked 

 even better ventrally than dorsally. The frontal part of the brain 

 itself in this case was decidedly low. 



The supraorbital ridges are only of about the average masculine 

 dimensions and extend over the nearer two-thirds of the border on 

 each side. They are not prolonged into u complete crest, yet the bone 



