KNOWLEDGE & SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 



[Feb., 1905. 



Thus the average male skull is longer than that of 

 the female bv .3^ inch, and broader by .43 inch. 



The cephalic index expresses the relation which the 

 greatest breadth of a skull bears to its greatest length. 

 In these skulls examined by Professor Turner, the 

 index ranged from .87 to .68; the mean in the men and 

 in the women being about the same, .77; that is, in the 

 short-headed class. From this it is clear that a strong 

 short-headed strain pervades the population of Scot- 

 land at the present time. The Scottish people may be 

 long-headed in calculation and logical acumen, as is 

 often mentioned as a social characteristic; yet 

 anatomicallv this is not the case. 



The vertical index expresses the relation which the 

 height bears to the maximum length. This index 

 ranged from .64 to .79. The mean in the men was 

 slightly more than in the women, approximating .71. 



The relations of the length to the breadth and to the 

 height of a cranium have long been recognised as im- 

 portant subjects of investigation in the study of racial 

 characters of skulls; but the relations of the breadth 

 and height to each other have not had an equal atten- 

 tion given to them. Jn well-pronounced long-he.-ided 

 races like the Esquimaux and .Australians, the height 

 is greater than the breadth, forming a high, narrow 

 skull. In the short-headed races, like the Chinese, 

 the breadth is greater than the height, indicating a 

 wide, low skull. A striking feature of the Scottish 

 crania is the preponderance of the cephalic index over 

 the vertical index; accordingly they are of the type 

 " wide low " skull. 



Professor Turner's measurement of the horizontal 

 circumference of the Scottish skulls brought out these 

 facts : — In the male, the maximum is 22* inches; 

 minimum, 19J inches; mean, 21.9 inches. In ;the 

 female, maximum, 21.65 inches; minimum, i8i inches; 

 mean, 20 inches; so that the average horizontal circum- 

 ference of a man's skull is greater than that of a wornan 

 by about two inches. His measurement of the vertical 

 across circumference brought out these facts : — In the 

 male the maximum is 18J inches, the minimum 15 J 

 inches, and the mean 17 inches; in the female, the 

 maximum 18 inches, the minimum 15 inches, and the 

 mean 16 inches; so that the average vertical transverse 

 circumference of a man's skull exceeds that of the 

 female by an inch. 



One of the most important series of measurements 

 was of the total longitudinal arc of the skull (including 

 the frontal, parietal, and occipital arcs). The 

 maximum male skull was 22 inches, the minimum 

 18.4 inches, giving a mean of 20^ inches; the maximum 

 female skull was 21. i inches, the minimum 17.3 inches, 

 giving a mean of 19J inches; so that the average longi- 

 tudinal circumference of the male skull exceeds that of 

 the female by an inch. 



The Professor took the internal capacity of the skull 

 with small shot. .And he found among the 115 craniii 

 examined (73 males and 42 females), that the maximum 

 capacity in the male skulls was 118J cubic inches, the 

 minimum 78';, and the mean 94^; in the female, maxi- 

 mum 104, minimum 70, and average 84J cubic inches. 

 This shows that the female skull is about 10 per cent, 

 less capacious than the male. This agrees with the 

 approximates of the skull capacities of other races and 

 peoples. In a series of comparisons he found that the 

 capacity of the Scottish male skull is somewhat in 

 excess of that ascribed to the crania of European men. 

 He does not, however, conclude from this that the 

 .Scottish men have a superior intellectual endowment. 

 .Many other factors than the volume of the cranial 



cavity have to be taken into consideration in the 

 estimation of intellectual power. 



In the study of the face it is important to dL-terniine 

 the degree of forward projection of the upper jaw. 

 Sir William Turner found that the Scottish skulls are 

 characterised by an almost complete absence of 

 prognathism (projecting jaw). The relation between 

 the height of the nose and the greatest width of that 

 aperture contributes one of the most important 

 anthropological characters of the face. In the males 

 he found the mean height was 2.10 inches, and in the 

 females, 1.96 inches. The width in the males averaged 

 .91 inch, in the females .87 inch. The height, there- 

 fore, is more than twice the width; and the occurrence 

 of wide nostrils in the Scottish face may be regarded 

 as accidental, and due, perhaps, to intermixture 

 through an ancestor with that peculiarity. The 

 customary form of nose in Scotland is long, relatively 

 narrow, with a well-marked bridge, and projecting so 

 that the nose distinctly projects beyond a line drawn 

 between the front part of the two cheek bones. 



.Another important character is the relation between 

 the length and breadth of the face. Professor Turner 

 found the mean length in the males to be 4.72 inches, 

 and in the females, 4.28 inches; he also found the 

 mean breadths to be 5.20 and 4.78 respectively. The 

 breadth of the face is about half an inch greater than 

 its length. 



The entire jaw had, in most of the specimens, a 

 massive appearance, which had materially contributed 

 to give character to the face, and from the marked 

 vertical diameter of the body of the bone, had con- 

 stituted an important factor in giving to the entire 

 face a length which placed it distinctly in the group 

 where the face is high in relation to the width. The 

 lower jaw had a well-defined angle, and the body of 

 the bone was massive on the males, and with a pro- 

 nounced chin. 



Photograph of Electric 

 SpdLrk. 



Perhaps it is not exactly correct to describe this as a 

 photograph, since light plays no part in its production. 

 It may more properly be called an " electrograph. " 

 The manner in which such representations of electric 

 discharges are produced is as follows : — .An ordinary 

 photographic plate, enclosed in two light-proof paper 

 bags (as used in X-ray work), is placed film upwards 

 on a metal plate, which is insulated. The pointed dis- 

 chargers of an induction coil, in this case one giving a 

 lo-inch spark, are placed a few inches apart, touching 

 the paper envelope. The circuit is then closed, and a 

 single discharge brought about by holding the hammer 

 of the coil and letting it go suddenly. The spark in 

 its passage through the sensitive film decomposes it. 

 The negative is then developed in the ordinary way. 

 Variations of many kinds may be made by dispensing 

 with the metal plate, or by placing the wires one above 

 and one directly below the negative, or by using knobs 

 on the dischargers instead of points. 



One of the most interesting points to note is the 

 difference between the positive and negative discharges, 

 the former being " tree-shaped," while the latter is 

 feathery or " fan-shaped." With a single spark both 

 structures are often shown, owing to the oscillatory 

 nature of the disch;irge. The photograph here repro- 

 duced was taken by Mr. Hudson, of Harringay. 



