78 



intellectual faculties, and a great width in the parietal portion, 

 corresponding to the phrenological organs of caution, secretive- 

 ness, destructiveness, &c., or the animal propensities ; indicating 

 a weak intellect and a strong animal propensity in the American 

 Indian compared with the white races. This difference in the 

 relative size of different portions of the brain is represented, in a 

 somewhat exaggerated form however, in plates 353 and 354, 

 (p. 464) of Nott and Gliddon's " Types of Mankind." 



A line drawn through the auditory meatus upwards shows that 

 the greater part of the brain is anterior, indicating the compara- 

 tively feeble development of the social and domestic atTections. 

 In the African, most of the brain is posterior to this line ; in the 

 Mongolian, it is about equally divided. 



The third series of measurements is of little value in determin- 

 ing the characters of the Indian skull ; the subject of them was 

 not an adult, and had not reached the age when the brain has com- 

 pleted its development, which is about the age of 16 years ; the 

 period of second dentition had been about completed, indicating 

 an age not authorized by the size and shape of the skull. [It is 

 not stated by the donor whether the individual was a woman or a 

 half-breed, either of which would explain some of the peculiari- 

 ties.] 



The thanks of the Society were voted to Dr. Nott for 

 his donation of valuable crania. 



Dr. Durkee called the attention of the Society to a col- 

 lection of insects, principally Acari and other parasites, about 

 600 in number, prepared by the late Dr. Burnett. He 

 stated that these specimens are mostly mounted on glass slides 

 for the microscope, and the collection is apparently in good 

 order, and contains many new and undescribed species, a 

 portion of them from England and France, the whole col- 

 lection being very valuable. 



On motion of Mr. J. M. Barnard, a committee of three, 

 consisting of Drs. Durkee, Abbot, and Gould, was appoint- 

 ed to purchase these insects at a cost of not over fifty dol- 

 lars, or to obtain a refusal of them for the Society. 



