MEMOIES OF TIIE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 199 



this in another way. The sum of the numbers of ordination of the higher- faced half of the series 

 is little more than half the sum of the analogous numbers of the lower-faced half, the proportion 

 being 56.17 : 100. The most aberrant palate in the first half is that of skull H. 10 ; the most aber- 

 rant in the second half is that of skull H. 5. 



A list of palatine depths is given in Table L. 



$ 26. THE TEETH. 



Dr. G. V. Black in the introduction to his article on "Dental Caries"* observes that "caries 

 of the teeth has been known in all historic ages of the world, and wherever prehistoric human 

 remains have been discovered traces of this disease have been found. 'It seems to be and to have 

 been universal in the sense of affecting all nations and tribes of the human race. * * * It has 

 been thought that the savage races were not so much afflicted as the civilized, but my own study 

 of the remains of ancient peoples will not bear out this opinion. This research has, however, been 

 limited within comparatively narrow bounds too narrow, perhaps, to serve as the basis of con- 

 clusions. Unfortunately the literature of the subject furnishes no data that are of much value in 

 this direction, but what there are strongly support the statements made above. * * * The 

 studies I have been able to make in this direction indicate that the races of men that have eaten 

 largely of acid fruits have had less decay of the teeth than those who have been debarred by 

 their position or climate from the use of such articles of food. Generally those tribes that have 

 subsisted largely upon flesh and grain have suffered more from caries than those that have had a 

 more exclusively vegetable or fruit diet. Our knowledge upon this point is, however, too meager 

 to warrant any lengthy discussion of it." 



In the following study of the teeth of the ancient inhabitants of the Salado Valley we have 

 taken occasion to make accurate notes 7iot only of caries but also of all deformities of the dental 

 arch, as well as the tuberculation of the superior molars. The materials afforded are fairly abun- 

 dant and quite sufficient to institute an extended comparison in these respects with other races, 

 with whose remains the Army Medical Museum is so well provided. Unfortunately the materials 

 illustrative of those races whose diet consists exclusively of vegetables and fruits are not abundant 

 in our collections, and it has been deemed best to limit the comparisons to peoples subsisting 

 almost wholly upon flesh or upon a more mixed class of food. The series selected for this purpose 

 are as follows: A series of the Alaskan Indians, whose dietetic habits are well known and who 

 aiford an excellent example of an almost exclusively carnivorous race; an unusually large series 

 of ancient dwellers of the Pacific coast region in the vicinity of Santa Barbara, whose food was, 

 in all probability, of a somewhat mixed character; a good scries of skulls of Sioux, who furnish 

 a typical example of the carnivorous tribes of the plains; a scries of the so-called mound-builders 

 of the Mississippi valley; and a series of the ancient Peruvians, who lived largely on vegetable 

 food. 



It is proper to state in this connection that only individuals at or below middle life have been 

 selected, since in those races where the wear is rapid, owing, perhaps, to grit contained in the 

 food, the pulp cavity is soon exposed, or the nutrition of the tooth is affected and disease is setup 

 which can not be attributed, properly speaking, to premature decay or caries. We have taken as 

 a mark of middle life the bony union or synostosis of the cranial sutures, either the sagittal or 

 coronal, and there can be little doubt that it is usually expressive of an age of forty or fifty years 

 Accurate comparisons beyond this limit are difficult, if not impossible, and are therefore not 

 attempted. 



The Saladoans, so far as we are able to judge, were a sedentary people, who dwelt in cities 

 and subsisted almost wholly upon the products of the soil, which they extensively cultivated. 

 Indian corn, squash, and other Vegetable products must have formed the chief article of their diet, 

 although the presence of charred animal remains in the ruins of their cities indicate that flesh was 

 occasionally consumed. That their remains are pre-Columbian, and that their occupancy of the 

 Salado Valley extended over many generations appear to be well-established facts. As explained 

 in our introduction, it Iris been pretty clearly shown that some of the modern Pueblos are very 



* American system of Dentistry, Philadelphia, 1886, vol. 1, p. 730. 



