132* 



VARIETIES OF MANKIND. 



do not form nearly as great a projection be- 

 yond the ellipse which would include the 

 whole cranium and the greater part of the 

 face, when seen in profile, as they do in the 

 Negro. Owing to the more perpendicular 

 direction of the alveolar processes, the front 

 teeth of the two jaws are fixed in planes 

 which are nearly or quite parallel to each other. 

 The chief positive distinction of this form of 

 cranium, is the large development of the cranial 

 cavity, and especially the fullness and eleva- 

 tion of the forehead, in proportion to the size 

 of the face; indicating the predominance of 

 the intellectual powers over those merely 

 instinctive propensities which are more di- 

 rectly connected with sensations. Among 

 European nations, the Greeks have probably 

 displayed the greatest symmetry in the form 

 of the head, in the largest proportion of in- 

 dividuals ; but examples of equal symmetry 

 might be found amongst any of the great 

 group of nations now termed Indo-Atlantidae, 

 and even, as will hereafter appear, in na- 

 tions of entirely different descent. Nearly 

 all of these have acquired a certain amount 

 of civilisation, living by agriculture, and 

 possessing settled habitations ; and among 

 them, or among the offsets which have pro- 

 ceeded from them (as the people of the 

 United States), we find all the nations which 

 have been most distinguished for intellectual 

 advancement, for the successful cultivation of 

 the fine arts, and for the various improve- 

 ments which distinguish the state of civilisa- 

 tion from that of barbarism. 



To the foregoing general account of the 

 three principal types of cranial conformation, 

 may be added the results of the observations 

 recently made public by Dr. Morton *, as to 

 the capacity of the cranium of different races, 

 measured after the manner adopted by Tiede- 

 mann (p. 1321.). The number of crania ex- 

 amined was 623 ; and they were derived from 

 various races and families, as shown in the 

 following table, which is here given without 

 modification, although the writer (as will 

 hereafter appear) is far from agreeing with 

 Dr. Morton in the classification of these 

 varieties which he has adopted. 



It appears from this comparison, that the 

 Teutonic race, and the nations chiefly de- 

 rived from it, take the highest rank among 

 those examined in regard to cranial capacity ; 

 whilst the lowest is occupied, not by the 

 Negroes, but by the Hottentots, the Austra- 

 lians, and the ancient Peruvians and Mexi- 

 cans. The Negro race seems to be scarcely or 

 not at all inferior in this particular to the Per- 

 sians, the Bengalees, the Fellahs, the ancient 

 Egyptians, the modern Fellahs, the Chinese, 

 the Polynesians, and the North American In- 

 dians. It must be remarked, however, that 

 the number of crania examined is too small, in 

 some of the families, to admit of a fair aver- 

 age. This, however, it is most important to 



* Transactions of the American Medical Associ- 

 ation, vol. iii. p. 57. 



TABLE 



SHOWING THE SIZE OF THE CRANIAL CAVITY nc 

 CUBIC INCHES. 



observe, that in the skull of largest capacity 

 amongst the races whose average is the lowest, 

 the cubical content is greater than that of 

 the smallest skull among the highest. Thus 

 we see that the largest native African skull 

 contained 99 cubic inches ; the largest Ame- 

 rican-born Negro, 89 cubic inches ; and the 

 largest Hottentot and Alforian skulls, 83 

 cubic inches ; whilst, on the other hand, the 

 smallest German skull contained but 70 cubic 

 inches ; the smallest English, 91 inches ; and 

 the smallest Anglo-American, 82 cubic inches. 

 It is worthy of note, too, that the largest 

 Negro skull possesses two inches more capa- 



