MAIS. 



which we have already considered. They 

 form indeed two intermediate grada- 

 tions, between the European and the 

 Mongolian on one side, and the African 

 on the other. 



In the fourth, or American variety, the 

 cheeks are broad, but the malar bones 

 are more rounded and arched than in the 

 Mongolian ; and not expanded to such an 

 extent on either side, nor possessing- such 

 an angular form. The orbits are gene- 

 rally deep. The form of the forehead 

 and vertex is influenced in many instan- 

 ces by the efforts of art. This is most 

 strikingly evinced in the head of the 

 Carib, in which the upper part is some- 

 times literally flattened to a level with 

 the eye-brows, in a manner which could 

 not be credited, unless upon the most un- 

 exceptionable testimony, Tt appears, 

 from the relation of travellers, that they 

 employ different methods of accomplish- 

 ing 1 their object; as bv tying a plate of 

 wood on the forehead ; or by compress- 

 ing the head between two plates ; or by 

 pressure with the hand. The instru- 

 ments and bandages, by which the pres- 

 sure is made, are delineated and de- 

 scribed by Dr. Amic, of Guadeloupe, in 

 the xxxirxtli. vol. of the Journal de Phy- 

 sique. 



In the fifth, or Malay variety, the 

 cranium is moderately narrowed at its 

 upper part ; the forehead rather ex- 

 panded ; and the upper jaw slightly pro- 

 minent. 



We cannot at present deliver any very 

 satisfactory account of the causes of those 

 differences, whichxmquestionably prevail 

 in the form of the cranium in the dif- 

 ferent varieties of the human species ; 

 much less are we able to understand the 

 manner in which any assigned cause may 

 be supposed to operate in producing its 

 effect. 



It certainly happens in many instan- 

 ces, that the bones of the skull receive a 

 peculiar form from various artificial 

 causes. Not to mention the flattened 

 occiput of the Germans in the time of 

 Ycsalius, there can be no doubt that the 

 form of the forehead in the Carib cranium 

 is owing to artificial pressure. A similar 

 rage for improving the shape of the head 

 has been very prevalent on the continent 

 of America. " The Indians," says Adair, 

 " flatten their heads in divers forms ; but 

 it is chiefly the crown of the head they 

 depress, in order to beautify themselves, 

 as their wild fancy terms it ; for they call 

 us long-heads, by way of contempt," (His- 

 tory of the American Indians, p. 8.) The 

 method by which they accomplish their 



purpose is thus described by the same 

 author. "They fix the tender infant on 

 a kind of cradle, where his feet are tilted 

 above a foot higher than the horizontal 

 position ; his head bends back into a hole 

 made on purpose to receive it, where he 

 bears the chief part of his weight on the 

 crown of the head, 'upon a small bag of 

 sand, without being in the least able to 

 move himself. By this pressure, and 

 their thus flattening the crown of the 

 head, they consequently make their 

 heads thick, and their faces broad. It is 

 a matter of surprise, that any person 

 should have ventured to call in question 

 the truth of a fact, supported by the con- 

 current testimony of so many eye-wit- 

 nesses. Many tribes, both of North and 

 South America, are distinguished by 

 names derived from these very practices. 

 The word Omaguas, as applied to a na- 

 tion of Peru, as well as that of Camberas, 

 in the language of Brazil, signifies flat- 

 head : for these people have the strange 

 custom of pressing the forehead of their 

 newly-born children between two plates 

 in order to make them, as they say, re- 

 semble the full moon." (Condamine in 

 the Memoirs de 1'Acad. des Sciences, 

 1745, p. 427.) Hence also the "tetes 

 de boule," and the "tetes plates," of 

 Charlevoix. 



We have one remark only to add on 

 this part of the subject ; viz. that the dif- 

 ferences in the form of the cranium are 

 by no means sufficient to authorize us in 

 assigning the different races of mankind 

 in which they occur to species originally 

 different : for they are not more conside- 

 rable, nor even so remarkable, as some 

 variations which occur in animals con- 

 fessedly of the same species. Thus 

 the head of the wild boar is widely 

 different from that of the domestic pig. 

 The different breeds of horses and dogs 

 are distinguished by the most striking 

 dissimilarities in the head : in which view 

 the Neapolitan and Hungarian horses may 

 be contrasted- The wild original of the 

 cow possesses large lacrymal fossae, 

 which are completely lost in the domesti- 

 cated animal. The very singular form of 

 the head in the Paduan fowl is a more re- 

 markable deviation from the natural struc- 

 ture, than any variation which occurs in 

 the human cranium. 



VARIATIONS IN THE FORM AND SIZE 

 OF CERTAIN PARTS OF THE BODY. 



The ears are movable, and stand at 

 some distance from the head in many sa- 



