206 ROBERT BENNETT BEAN 



the helix is ahuost horizontal and passes almost directly back- 

 ward from the upper end of the ear base to join the vertical dor- 

 sal portion of the helix at a right or acute angle in a rounded point 

 at the upper outer extremity of the ear. The superior and 

 dorsal borders of the helix are separated by a depression above 

 Darwin's tubercle where the helix is thin or absent. The dorsal 

 border passes downw^ard and turns forward at an obtuse angle 

 to form the inferior border of the ear which enters the cheek 

 almost at right angles, with no lobule, or a very small one which 

 is nearly fiat (figs. 1-12). 



The satyr tubercle is well marked and Darwin's tubercle is 

 spiall or absent. The skin lines formed by the infolding of the 

 helix are less distinct on the true negro ear than on the white, 

 and they usually converge on the true negro ear over Darwin's 

 tubercle. The concha, like the ear as a whole, is wide and short. 

 The true negro ear, is not seen in great numbers among American 

 negroes. It occurred 245 times among 1478 New Orleans negroes 

 (16.6 per cent), men, women and children, chiefly of the labor- 

 ing classes. 



Involuted ear: There is another form of ear that is found 

 chiefly among the negroes, but it is also found not rarely among 

 other peoples, even among the whites, and I have called this 

 'the involuted ear' because it seems to represent an advanced stage 

 in regressive evolution. It is the ear with a broad helix that is 

 much rolled in and frequently has a gnarled or crumpled appear- 

 ance, as if the ear had been burned around the border and had 

 contracted irregularly in healing, leaving a thick, distorted helix. 

 This ear type in its crumpled condition was at first thought to be 

 due to accidental causes, but the presence of the skin lines of the 

 ear tip in regular order proved the ear to be a true type. This 

 ear form has been described by Fischer as the Hottentot ear (7). 

 It was found 601 times in 1478 New Orleans negroes (40.7 

 per cent) and 52 times among 857 New Orleans whites (6.1 per 

 cent) . The individual characters of the ears of both whites and 

 negroes will next be presented in detail. 



Danoin's tubercle: There are three prominent parts of the 

 inner or ventral border of the helix called the Satyr tubercle. 



