230 AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST [N. s., 18, 1916 



valuable in the case of the Eskimo, in that it distinguishes them from 

 the Mongolian type, whom they resemble in many other respects. 

 The Eskimo are the most leptorrhine of known races, with a nasal 

 index of 42.33 (Broca). The Point Barrow tribe have not lost this 

 distinctly Eskimo trait. In fact, their nasal index is slightly lower 

 than that of the Southampton island Eskimo. The Point Barrow 

 male crania in our series have a nasal index of 40.69 and the female 

 of 41.62 (see Table 7); the Southampton island skulls have a nasal 

 index of 42.3 for males and 45.8 for females. The Labrador and 

 Greenland skulls measured by Duckworth and Pain gave an average 

 nasal index of 45.55. There is a larger individual variation in the 

 western group than in the others (see Table of Variations 1 ). One 

 Point Barrow skull gives an index as low as 33.93. This does not 

 mean necessarily that the Western Eskimo is a less pure type. The 

 same causes which led to an increase of stature, a more certain and 

 abundant food supply during the period of growth and improved 

 conditions, may have also increased the variation in other character 

 istic racial traits. It will be noted that in the nasal index the females 

 again are nearer the adolescent type. (Males 40.69; females 41.62; 

 adolescents 42.54.) 



Orbital Index. The high value of the orbital index is another 

 racial characteristic of the Eskimo, which it shares with the Indians 

 of North America and the yellow race of Asia, in contradistinction 

 to the low nasal index, which differentiates them from both. At 

 the same time the Eskimo eye differs in appearance from the Mon 

 golian. 



The megasemic character of the Eskimo orbits in the adult is 

 regarded by Duckworth and Pain as the retention of an infantile 

 trait. This conclusion appears to be well borne out in the male 

 skulls in the present series and in Hrdlicka s measurements of the 

 Southampton islanders. The index of the female skulls in the 

 Point Barrow group falls slightly under megaseme (88.938) for the 

 right and 88.156 for the left orbital index (see Table 8). The 

 sexual variation of the orbital index is considerable, due largely 

 to the greater development of the supra-orbital ridges in the male, 



1 Duckworth and Pain. Contribution to Eskimo Craniology, p. 129. 



