624 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



result of the crossing of the two was to produce a peculiarity of 

 physical feature which we shall shortly describe namely, a broad 

 head and a long, narrow face. Aranzadi, himself a Basque, as- 

 signs an equally mixed origin to his people. His view is that the 

 Basque is Iberian at bottom, crossed with the Finn or Lapp, and 

 finally touched by the Teuton. 



Is there, after all, a Basque physical type corresponding to the 

 Basque language ? Enough has already been said to cast a 

 shadow of doubt upon the assumption. Can it be that all which 

 has been written about the Basque race is unwarranted by the 

 facts ? Let us examine a few portraits collected from both slopes 

 of the Pyrenees. They appear on page 622 and the following pages. 

 At once a peculiar characteristic is apparent in nearly every case. 

 The face is very wide at the temples, so full as to appear almost 

 swollen in this region. At the same time the chin is very long, 

 pointed, and narrow, and the nose is high, long, and thin. The 

 outline of the visage becomes almost triangular for this reason. 

 This, with the eyes placed somewhat close together, or at least 

 appearing so from the breadth of the temples, gives a countenance 

 of peculiar cast. It resembles, perhaps, more than anything else 

 the features of so-called infant prodigies, in which the frontal 

 lobes of the brain have become overdeveloped. The contrast 

 appears especially strong when we compare this Basque type of 

 face with that of its neighbors. The people all about have very 

 well- developed chins and regular oval features, in many cases 

 becoming almost squarish, so heavily built is the lower jaw. A 

 Basque may generally be detected instantly by this feature alone. 

 The head is poised in a noticeable way, inclining forward, as if to 

 balance the lack of chin by the weight of forehead. The car- 

 riage is always erect, a little stiff perhaps. This may be because 

 burdens are habitually carried upon the head. On the whole, 

 the aspect is a pleasant one, despite its peculiarities, the glance 

 being direct and straightforward, the whole bearing agreeable 

 yet resolute. 



The peculiar triangular facial type we have described char- 

 acteristic both of Spanish long-headed or French brachycephalic 

 Basques has been mapped by Dr. Collignon for the north slope 

 of the Pyrenees with great care. We have reproduced his map 

 on this page. It is very suggestive. It shows a distinct center 

 of distribution of the facial Basque wherein over half the popu- 

 lation are characterized by it. Concentric circles of diminishing 

 frequency lie about it, vanishing finally in the plains of Bdarn and 

 Gascogne. The most noticeable feature is the close correspond- 

 ence of this distribution of a physical type with the linguistic 

 boundary. It is exact, save in one canton, Aramitz, at the east- 

 ern end southeast of Mauldon. Here it will be remembered was 



