THE SKULL AS A BASIS FOR RACE CLASSIFICATION. 29 
characteristics, viz. the Anthropoid Apes. This is par- 
ticularly noteworthy in the case of such measurements of the 
face as the orbit, nose, and hard palate, and in connection 
with Prognathism. In regard to the whole of the informa- 
tion obtained from a study of the face, we may consider the 
influence of the brain to be exercised indirectly rather than 
directly, as it must be upon the cranium, which, after all, is 
merely a box for the protection of the brain, aud must owe 
its capacity and dimensions to the influence of the brain 
which is within. 
Thus it is that the stages of a process of evolution appear 
less far apart in a study of the face than in a study of 
the cranium. 
Although, as a rule, the measurements of the cranium 
differentiate the “higher” from the “lower” races, and 
although they show us that the lower races approximate to 
the Anthropoid Apes, yet in all particulars the gap between 
Man and Animals is much greater in connection with cranial 
measurements than it was in the contrasted face measure- 
ments. Nevertheless, it seems to me that the right of all 
the races of men to be classed as Homo sapiens would form 
a perfectly legitimate subject of discussion ; whether, in fact, 
on the ground of cranial development such a race as the 
Australian Aboriginal should not be classed as Homo 
insapiens. Be that as it may, any attempt to unravel the 
mystery of cranial measurements compels us to answer such 
questions as: “ Do cranial measurements mean anything ?” 
“ Are the infinite variations due to any explainable cause ? ” 
“ Are they accidental?” “Why is it that a whole people 
may present the same general configuration of cranium ?” 
In my opinion, the answer to these and all similar questions 
lies in a recognition of the fact that the cranium is only the 
receptacle which contains the brain, whose growth and 
expansion largely, if not entirely, determine the ultimate 
capacity, proportions, and attitude of the cranium. 
On a former occasion I have demonstrated to the 
members of this Society that the newly-born human infant 
does not possess the attitude of its parents, as is the case 
with other newly-born mammals, but that it slowly acquires 
the characteristic “erect attitude” after the lapse of a 
