3G0 



KNOWLEDGE' 



[Feb. 24, 1882. 



Ijoto (fire from n |Hipi<r in tlio Journal of the Antliropolo(firBl Itmti- 

 tuto for Niivonibor, IKHl, in which thinHkull iinii utlicrii i-xix-yilinKly 

 intcn'iitinK iiml niriimii fnini tin- niiiiic iiiliuiil iin- ilc>iioril>i><l by 

 Pnifi'imor KlowiT, tin. oriKiniilii Immii^ in tin' Mimi-iim of ihi- Ilnyiil 

 Colli'i^ of SurKi-Dnii. lltTi' it will 1m' M-vn lliiit tlio nknll lmn Ix-i'n 

 worked lip into a nioHt ninKulnr fiimi, Boiirri-ly ri'ii<'ml>linK t'liit of ft 

 humnn Ix'iiiR. iinil thin Imii Ix'cn rviili-ntly rITcctcil in infftnc-y by 

 mcani of n IikI'I hnnilnnc hnnml ronnd nnil ruiiml the hpml, ami 

 only allowinif iif'i'xjmniiliin in one iliri-rtion. A ilifforrnt mmln in 

 nilo)it<<<l liy Konn- <if thi> Ainrricnn Irilx-K, n« tlie Flat llrjulu, whonllix 

 n iMinnl nt ritrlil nnnli'H to that ii|Min wliii'li tlio infant i« cnrrii-d, which, 

 iH'inK »lrap|io(l down tightly over thi- forohcad, caum-B it to bcconip 

 drpronuMl. whilo tho iikull bultroc ftt the Bidi'H. A drnwing of this 

 criiol nu'lhod of priMlnrinK " fanbionnbly-iilmiK'd head may l>o found 

 in Cntlin'M niirk on the Anicrit-an IndinnB; and these two modes, 

 thetiKht ImnilaitP roiMul the heail anil the Hal boards, scorn to Imj 

 thoiie chifllv iidnptcd fur prodncinn the dosind form. Tho first of 

 Ihcso. that' of rompri'ssion by ti^ht bandn(,'es wound round and 

 ronnd the infant's head, nuiy have originntcd in the 8iipi>oaed nccps- 

 nity for aiding nature in unilinx the liones of the Hkiill. open, as wo 

 know, nt birth, and lon^ after ; in fact bandages for this purpoBO 

 Room to have been used in our own country and France up to quite 

 n recent period, and, <.f .•...,,,... ■■ Uttl.. i.yri:i liL'htnoss would soon 



that when the volamo of tho brain remains intact, tho form ia 

 immaterial, eren though thnt form may bo artificially produced 

 with tfreat pain. It would appear that the iloformatlim among tho 

 Mallicolr'Bc is not ronlinisl to the chiefK, but id practised by all 

 alike, without distinction of class or sex, and is produced by a tight 

 bandage applied to tho hencl shortly after birth, extending from the 

 eyebrows to the hair, and only taken off occasionolly, until the 

 child is six months or o year old. , . „. . 



Certoinly, inferior races in modem times think little of inflicting 

 pain, in which, probably, they reseniblo tho ancients ; for singular 

 instunces of a surgical operation performc<l upon the skull of young 

 children in tho later Stone Age an- found in tombs in France and 

 other parts of Kurojie. The late Dr. Broca, the eminent French 

 anthropologiBt, was the first to notice this singular foot. Many 

 skulls had been found in tombs belonging, without doubt, to the 

 Stone Ago, in which holes of considerable size had been made, 

 evidently during life, as the wounded bone had become healed, and 

 in most cases it was evident that tho head had increased in size 

 after the operation, proving that the trepanning had taken plaee 

 at a very carlv age. I have here copie*! from Dr. Broca'i 

 book one of " these curious skulls, with the large hole 

 just on the top, and it seems wonderful that a child could 

 survive such a serious operation, and live to maturity, or even 



J 



Artificially deformed skull, from MqIHcoIo, Xew Hebrides. Copied I Trepanned, or perforated skull ; from tomb of Stone Age in France, 

 from Journal of the Anthropological Institute, vol. xi., p. 78. | Copied from Dr. Broca's book, " Bur la Trepannation du Crine." 



produce a deformity. Tliis method, therefore, can hardly be looked 

 upon as characteristic of race, although, doubtless, the production 

 of a certain fomi soon became a fashion among many races, as 

 among the ancient Peruvians, whose skulls strongly resemble the 

 one here figured, and Professor Flower also mentions some from 

 Tiflis and Hungarj- of a similar form ; but the other method, 

 whereby the infant's head is comjircssed between two boards, 

 would peem at present to bo confined to certain tribes in North 

 Americ.T, and, as it would not appear to subserve any appa- 

 rently useful ])uq)ose, it is i)robably distinctive of race. In all 

 cases these deformations arc generally marks of distinction, like 

 the deformed feft of Chinese women, and often a caste privilege, 

 roscrred for chiefs and their families, under which aspect the fact 

 becomes doubly interesting; for we know that among savages 

 chiefs are chosen for their Hii|ierior mental and bixlily powers. 

 Ucnce it would seem that tluB compression of the skull, and the 

 consequent forcing of the brain into an ubnonnal form, has no 

 deleterious edrct ujion the intellect ; in fact, Cook and tho two 

 Fosters, who first noticed tlii' peculiar conformation of tho heads of 

 the people of Mallicolo on their visit to the island in 177 1, although 

 uncertain as to how it was produced, six-ak of them as " the most 

 intelligent people %ve had ever met with in the South Seas." This 

 must bo a pu/.xling problem for phrenologists, for it goes to prove 



old age, with the brain thus exposed ; for it must be remembered 

 that this operation, which is now performed, when necessary (as in 

 cases of fracture), by a very perfect instrument, which cuts through 

 tho bone very rapidly, holding and lifting the piece to be removed 

 at the same time, was in those remote times effected by slowly 

 grating awaj' the substance of the skull with a flint scraper, at the 

 cost of intense pain to the suffering infant. Yet these sufferers 

 freijUcntly grew up, as is proved by their remains, and appa- 

 rently were greatly venerated, i)orhaps on account of the operation 

 they had successfully endured ; for Dr. Broca has also proved that, 

 after death, pieces were cut from the skull thus mutilated, and worn 

 as amulets, probably to ward off epilepsy, which was the disease 

 supposed to be cured by this barbarous operation ; and as epilepsy 

 has in all ages been looked upon as brought about by evil spirits, 

 it ia regarded as proved that tho early people who thus endeavoured 

 to cure this terrible malady had a belief in spirits, and made this 

 hole in the head of an afllicted infant in order that the imprisoned 

 spirit might find a door of escape, and thus, by an easy transition, 

 tho amulet taken from the mutilated skull became a charm against 

 evil spirits. 



From the instances cited above, it will be evident that the brain- 

 case has been very unceremoniously treated by savages and semi- 

 civili.scd racos both in ancient and modem times, and that the 



