244 PHYSICAL ETHNOLOGY. 



aim, iudced, originally was to acquire specimens of skulls approximating to the 

 peculiar brachycephalic type found in one important class of early Britisli 

 graves. It was, accordingly, simply with a sense of disappointment, that I 

 observed the results of repeated explorations in different cemeteries furnish 

 crania which, though landoubtedly Indian, exhibited little or no traces of the 

 rounded form with short longitudinal diameter, strikingly apparent in certain 

 ancient Mexican and Peruvian skulls, as well as in the rare examples hitherto 

 recovered from the mounds of the Mississippi valley. Slowly, however, the 

 conviction forced itself u})on me that to whatever extent this assigned typical 

 skull may be found in other parts of the continent, those most frequently met 

 with along the north shores of the great lakes are deficient in some of its most 

 essential elements. Similar conclusions have been recorded by different observers. 

 They are indicated by Dr. Latham, when comparing the Esquimaux and 

 American Indian forms of skull, as determined by Dr. Morton ;* and have since 

 been strongly affirmed by Dr. Retzius, who states that it is scarcely possible to 

 find a more distinct separation into dolichocephalic and brachycephalic races 

 than in America ;t nor should the remark of Professor Agassiz be overlooked, 

 when, after referring to Dr. Morton's single American race, he adds: "But it 

 should be remembered that in accordance with the zoological character of the 

 whole realm, this race is divided into an infinite number of small tribes, pre- 

 senting more or less difference one from another." It is indeed necessary to 

 determine what must be regarded as the essential requisites- of Dr. Morton's 

 American typical cranium; for neither he nor his successors have overlooked 

 the fact of some deviation from this supposed normal type, not only occurring 

 occasionally, but existing as a permanent characteristic of some tribes. As has 

 been already shown, Dr. Morton recognized a more elongated head as pertaining 

 to certain of the northern tribes, but this he speaks of as a mere slight variation 

 from the more perfect form of the normal skull ; and he adds : " Even in these 

 instances the characteristic truncation of the occiput is more or less obvious. "| 

 So also Dr. Nott, after defining the typical characteristics of the American 

 cranium, remarks : " Such are more universal in the Toltecan than the barbarous 

 tribes. Among the Iroquois, for instance, the heads were often of a somewhat 

 more elongated form; but the Cherokees and Choctaws, who, of all barbarous 

 tribes, display greater aptitude for civilization, present the genuine type in a 

 remarkable degree. My birth and long residence in southern States have per- 

 mitted the study of many of these living tribes, and they exhibit this conformation 

 almost without exception. 1 have also scrutinized many Mexicans, besides 

 CataAvbas of South Carolina, and tribes on the Canada lakes, and can bear 

 witness that the living tribes everywhere confirm Morton's type."§ 



In selecting a skull, which seemed to Dr. Morton in all respects to fulfil the 

 theoretical requii-ements of his typical cranium, we are guided, under his direc- 

 tions, to that ancient people who, in centuries long prior to the advent of Euro- 

 peans, originated some remarkable traits of a native civilization in the valleys 

 of the eastern tributaries of the Mississippi. It will, therefore, coincide with 

 his choice of an example of the true American head, if, starting from that 

 ancient race, we pursue our comparisons downward to the nations and tribes 

 ' .familiar to Europeans by direct intercoui'se and personal observation. 



Among the most prized crania in the collection of the Academy of Natural 

 Sciences at Philadelphia is the celebrated Scioto mound skull, fjimiliarly known 

 to many by means of the views of it introduced among the illustrations of 



"~" Natural History of the Varieties of Man, p. 453. 



f Arch des Scieuces Naturelles, Geneva, 1860. The views set forth here were first pub- 

 lished by the author at the meeting of the Ainericaa Association for the Advaucemeut of 

 Science, in 1857. Vide Edin. Philosoph. Journal N. S., vol. vii. 



J Crania Americana, p. 69 ; History of Indian Tribes, vol. ii, p. 317. 



§ Types of Mankind, p. 441. 



