PHYSICAL ETHNOLOGY. 241 



of the face there are the endless varieties of portraiture, controlled by family 

 and national affinities, and so also in the varying proportions of the skull there 

 appears to be an approximation in each race towards a special form. The cra- 

 niologist accordingly finds in nature his brachycephalic or short skull ; his 

 dolichoccphahc or long Skull ; his kumbecephalic or elongated (boat-shaped) 

 gkuU ; his pyramidal or acroccphalic ; his platycephalic or ilattened ; his trun- 

 cated, oval, and spherical skulls ; as well as many intermediate forms. An idea, 

 however, has long prevailed with reference to the aborigines of the New World, the 

 origin of which is traceable to this distinguished American craniologist, Dr. 

 Morton, that throughout the vast continent, from tlu^ arctic circle to the icy 

 shores of Terra del Fuego, the Esquimaux constitutes the one exception to a 

 predominant uniform cranial type. 



The opinions advanced by one so distinguished and indefatigable in his study 

 of the science as the author of the Crania Americana well merited the atten- 

 tion they have received, and might even seem to justify the assumption of 

 them as indisputable scientific canons. Only one other authority could have 

 carried any corresponding weight, and that is produced to confirm the conclu- 

 sion referred to. " The nations of America," says Humboldt, " except those 

 which border on the polar circlt?, form a single race, characterized by the forma- 

 tion of the skull, the color of the skin, the extreme thinness of the beard, and 

 straight glossy hair." 



Very few and partial exceptions can be quoted to the general unanimity of 

 American writers — some of them justly regarded as authorities in ethnology — 

 in reference to this view of the nations of the whole American continent, north 

 and south, as one nearly homogeneous race, varying within very narrow limit? 

 from the prevailing type, and agreeing in so many essentially distinctive features. 

 as to prove them a well-defined variety, if not a distinct species, of the genus 

 Homo. Lawrence, Wiseman, Agassiz, Squier, Gliddon, Nott and Meigs, might 

 each be referred to in confirmation of this opinion, and especially of the prevail- 

 ing uniformity of certain strongly-marked cranial characteristics ; but in reality 

 the most of them only echo the opinions of Dr. Morton, and reproduce conclusions 

 which his laboriously-accumulated evidence was supposed to have established 

 beyond dispute. His views underwent considerable modification on some points 

 relating to the singular cranial conformation observable in certain skulls found 

 in ancient American graves ; especially in reference to the influence of artificial 

 means in perpetuating changes of form essentially different from the normal 

 type ; but the tendencies of his matured opinions all Avcnt to confirm his original 

 idea of universal approximation to one cranial type throughout the New World. 

 In his final contribution to his fiivorite science, on " The Physical Type of the 

 American Indians,"* his matured conclusions relative to the cranial type of the 

 American continent are thus defined : " The Indian skull is of a decidedly 

 rounded form. The occipital portion is flattened in the upward direction, and 

 the transverse diameter, as measured between the parietal bones, is remarkably 

 wide, and often exceeds the longitudinal line.t The forehead is low and reced- 

 ing, and rarely arched, as in the other races ; a feature that is regarded by Hum- 

 boldt, Lund, and other naturalists, as a characteristic of the American race, and 

 serving to distinguish it from the Mongolian. The cheek-bones are high, but 

 not much expanded ; the maxillary region is salient and ponderous, with teeth 

 of a corresponding size, and singularly free from decay. The orbits are large 

 and squared, the nasal orifice wide, and the bones that protect it arched and 

 expanded. The lower jaw is massive and wide between the condyles ; but not- 



* Schoolcraft'.s Tlistoi-y of Indians, vol. II, p. 31(5. 



f No such exccs.s of the parietal over the longitudinal diameter is ever found except in a 

 greatly distorted flathead or other artilicially deformed skull ; and of this only one example 

 occm"s in the Crania Arncricana, 

 16 S 



