Section V, 1919 [13] Trans. R.S.C. 



The Naso-Orhito-Alveolar Craniometric Method {Abstract) 

 By John Cameron, M.D., D.Sc, F.R.S.C. 



(Read May Meeting, 1919.) 



Hitherto Craniometry has been appHed almost exclusively to the 

 cranial portion of the skull. This new method is, on the other hand, 

 a craniometric study of photographs of the facial aspect of the skull, 

 and it is applied as follows: Horizontal lines are drawn through the 

 nasion, the lower orbital margins, the akanthion and the prosthion 

 or alveolar point. Vertical lines are then drawn through the lateral 

 margins of the nasal aperture. The result is the production of upper, 

 middle and lower rectangles the relative proportions of which vary in 

 the different races of mankind. It was found that this method divided 

 ancient and modern man into two great groups — Eurasiatic and 

 Negro. The craniaof Europeans, ancient Egyptians, Hindoos, Chinese, 

 Eskimos, Polynesians, North American Indians, Incas and Patagonians 

 conformed to one type of index and these races were therefore grouped 

 under the term Eurasiatic. Thus one important fact suggested by 

 the study of this index was that the aborigines of the western 

 hemisphere represented an offshoot from the Eurasiatic group. In 

 all these Eurasiatic races the uppermost rectangular figure formed an 

 oblong with its long side placed vertically, while the middle and lowest 

 rectangles were almost equal in surface area, and approximated to 

 the outlines of squares, with of course slight individual racial variations. 



In the negro races, on the other hand, the uppermost and middle 

 rectangles were almost equal in surface area, and approximated 

 to the outlines of squares, with of course slight individual racial varia- 

 tions; while the lowest rectangle formed a narrow oblong figure 

 with its longer sides placed horizontally. The great reduction in the 

 height of the lowest rectangle is of course due to the marked 

 prognathism that exists in negro races. 



This investigation therefore suggested that the main human 

 evolutionary stem had bifurcated early into two main groups each 

 of which exhibited its own specific modelling of the facial skeleton, 

 and therefore its own specific form of nase-orbito-alveolar Index. 



