1868.] 451 [Wyman. 



deficiency of the sharp ridge wbicli forms the lower border of tills 

 opening, and in the place of it a rounded border, or an inclined 

 plane. This feature is, however, found very fi-equently in different 

 races, but more rarely in Europeans than tbe others. The ridge in 

 question is always absent in the apes. 



In many of the crania the occiput was somewbat flattened, but the 

 outlines form regular curves, and the usual signs that tbe flattening is 

 artificial are not seen. 



Four of the crania have small bony nodules, varying from one to 

 three in number, developed in the auditory meatus, whicb in one case, 

 with the integument, must have cpiite closed it. Dr. J. Barnard 

 Davis informs me that similar nodules were discovered by Prof. 

 Seligmann of Vienna, in ancient Peruvian crania, and have been 

 observed by himself and Welcker in other cases.* They appear, 

 however, to be the most common in the ancient Peruvians and the 

 inhabitants of the Pacific Islands. 



Tliere is only one instance in which the incisors have been punched 

 out, while in the one hundred and forty crania from Hawaii and Oahu, 

 described by Dr. Davis, more than one-third had been so deformed. 

 A few anomalies of the teeth arc noticeable, as in some cases the 

 small size, in others the retention in the alveoli, and in others the 

 absence of the wisdom teeth. In one case a prtemolar was rotated so 

 as to present its two cusjjs in a line from before backwards, instead of 

 from side to side. 



4. Ckaxia of Tsuktshi. 



The writer is indebted to the liberality of the Smithsonian Institu- 

 tion for the opportunity of examining the crania described below. 

 Tlie first five are those of the Wandering or Reindeer Tsuktshi, and 

 were all obtained from the Asiatic side of Behring's Straits. Tlu-ee are 

 from Plover Bay, which is just west of Cape Choukotski, and were 

 collected by Mr. WiUiam H. Dall, a zealous explorer, and one of the 

 Scientific Corps of the Western Union Telegraph Company; the 

 fourth is from Arikamcheche Island (Kayne Island of the United 

 States Coast Survey Map of 18G7), and was obtained by Dr. William 

 Stimpson, one of the naturalists of the North Pacific Exploring Ex- 

 pedition, under Com. Rodgers; the locality of the fifth is not stated. 



For the purpose of comparison, there are given in the table the 

 measurements of five crania from the Yukon River, three of Avhich are 

 ]\Iahlemuts, also collected by Mr. Dall, of eleven from Cahfornia, 

 and of eight Flatheads from Washington Territory and Oregon, 

 nearly all of Avhich belong to the collections of the Smithsonian Insti- 



* See Thesaurus Craniorum. 



