564 



ANATOMY OF VERTEBRATES. 



and prominent superorbital ridge, which is continued across the 

 glabella and overhangs the deep-set, small, and slightly prominent 

 nasals : another well-marked characteristic is seen in the large 

 proportional size of the molars, premolars and canines, but more 

 especially of m i and m 2, and in the almost constant distinction 

 of the two external fangs of these teeth, in both jaws. In most 

 skulls the vertex is raised, and the sides of the calvarium slope 

 away from the sagittal elevation. The sutures are less dentated. 

 The malar bones are small, but moderately prominent and rugged. 

 The alisphenoid is narrow, and the squamosal is unusually closely 

 approximated to the frontal, if it does not directly articulate there- 

 with. The frontal sinuses are seldom developed.* Between the 

 extremes brought out by the above comparison lie subjects for 

 ethnological notice of cranial diversity, seemingly inexhaustible, 

 of which the following are selected examjiles. 



In the diminutive Boschisman race of South Africa, by some 

 reckoned amono-st the lowest of the aborimnes of that continent, 

 the cranium, figs. 377-379, is flatter at the vertex and relatively 

 broader at the parietal protuberances than in the Australian race, 

 and the forehead, though low and narrow, is more prominent. A 

 larger proportion of the aHsphenoid joins the parietal. The border 

 of the orbit is thick and relieved, but the superorbital ridge is 

 not carried so strongly across the glabella as in the Australian 

 race, and the origin of the nasals is less sunk : the nasals are 

 narrower and flatter and the malar protuberances are more re- 

 gularly convex and prominent. (The prognathic character of 

 the jaws is afi'ected by the absorption of the alveoli due to age, in 

 the specimen figured.)^ 



377 378 379 



Skull of Boschisman. 



The cranium of the Hottentot ^ resembles that of the Boschis- 



' Minor characters, such as the suborbital depression, siipra-niastoid ridge, &c., 

 are cited in XLiv. pp. 805-830. 



^ XLiv. no. 5357. ^ lb. no. 53-59. 



