46 J. V. HULTEEANTZ 



proof against the correctness of the conclusion arrived at, as the in- 

 dividual variations in this matter are exceedingly great. Flaxman 

 himself does not seem to have doubted that the cranium was Swe- 

 denborg's. 



With regard to the question of age, we must confine ourselves 

 to the condition of the sutures, of the alveolar processes and of the 

 teeth. The complete obliteration of the sagittal suture, and the very- 

 far advanced ossification of the coronal and lambdoidal sutures, an- 

 nounce with the strongest probability that the skull is that of a man 

 over 50 years of age, and are in no wise in disagreement with the 

 assumption of an age of 84 years. The same is true with regard to 

 the state of the teeth. Pathological conditions can, of course, produce 

 just as great a loss of teeth even in manhood and youth, but the 

 great detrition of the right eye-tooth, which may be observed in 

 the plaster cast of 1823, furnishes a strong proof of the tooth's 

 having served during quite a long life. Remarkable is the fact tliat 

 the alveolar processes do not exhibit still greater atrophy, but this can 

 so much the less be regarded as a proof of a less advanced age of 

 life, since the same conditions obtain in the lower jawbone, which, 

 after what has been shown above, seems, upon good grounds, to be 

 genuine. 



We could hardly expect to derive any assistance in the solution 

 of the problem before us from a search into the characters which, 

 with more or less reason, are supposed to be racial attributes, because, 

 on the one hand, we do not know of any anthropological peculiarities 

 which make possible the distinguishing, v^'ith any reasonable degree 

 of probability, of a Swedish skull from the great body of other Euro- 

 pean crania; on the other hand, Emanuel Swedenborg was not of 

 unmixed Swedish stock. He descended, as is known, on the paternal 

 line from a probably genuine Swedish family, dwelling in Dalecarlia, 

 whereas his mother, Saea Behm, whom according to accessible port- 

 raits and historical data, Swedenboeg resembled much more than his 

 father, belonged to a family which had immigrated from Germany in 

 the 16th century. Quite pure Swedish blood, therefore, did not flow- 

 in Swedenborg's veins, but as to whether and in what measure he 

 had inherited bodily characteristics from his foreign ancestors, it is of 

 course impossible to determine. 



However, it appears to me that tiiere lies a certain interest in 

 making a comparison between the more important anthropological 



