

Bibliography. ' 409 



ishing, inasmuch as it prevails through such an extent of country ; and 

 the few differences with which we meet must be regarded rather as ex- 

 ceptions than as reasons for doubting the general conclusion. 



The comparison of "nearly four hundred crania, derived from 

 tribes inhabiting almost every region of both Americas," affords in a 

 greater or less degree the same characteristics in all ; " the square or 

 rounded head, the flattened or vertical occiput, the high cheek bones, 

 the ponderous maxillae, the large quadrangular orbits and the low rece- 

 ding forehead." u This remark is equally applicable to the ancient and 

 modern nations of our continent ; for the oldest skulls from the Peru- 

 vian cemeteries, the tombs of Mexico, and the mounds of our own 

 country, are of the same type as the heads of the most savage existing 

 tribes. Their physical organization proves the origin of one to have 

 been equally the origin of all. The various civilized nations are to 

 this day represented by their lineal descendants, who inhabit their an- 

 cestral seats, and differ in no exterior respect from the wild and uncul- 

 tivated Indians ; at the same time in evidence of their lineage, Cla- 

 vigero and other historians inform us, that the Mexicans and Peruvians 

 yet possess a latent superiority, which has not been subdued by three 



centuries of despotism." (p. 5.) 



The remains of the ancient Peruvians around Lake Titicaca, from 

 the peculiar form of the head, at first led Dr. Morton to doubt their 

 identity with the other races of this continent ; but the researches of 

 M. D'Orbigny have satisfactorily proved that this difference arose only 

 from a custom prevalent among them, of applying lateral compression 

 to the skull. As the heads thus altered are universally those of men, 

 and are found interred in the most elaborate tombs, it is regarded as a 



mark of distinction. 



Our author, in carrying out his argument, next proceeds to trace 

 many points of resemblance in the moral and intellectual natures of 

 the different tribes. The same keen love of war, untiring vigilance, 

 and cruelty in their religious ceremonies, characterize them all. Brought 

 for a long time into close contact with civilized nations, their social con- 

 dition and manner of life remain almost unchanged. And yet among 

 these rude tribes are found " a people whose attainments in the arts and 

 sciences are a riddle in the history of the human mind. The Peru- 

 vians in the south, the Mexicans in the north, and the Messayas of Bo- 

 gota, between the two, formed these temporary centres of civilization, 

 each independent of the other, and equally skirted by wild and savage 

 hordes." To these nations Dr. Morton gives the collective name of the 

 Toltecan family, " for although the Mexican annals refer their civiliza- 

 tion to a period long antecedent to the appearance of the Toltecas, yet 

 the latter seem to have cultivated the arts and sciences to a degree un- 



