OSSEOUS SYSTEM OF MAMMALIA. 47 



We find, then, that, of the recesses for the organs of the senses, those 

 of hearing are placed exclusively in the cranium ; those of sight, between 

 the cranium and the face ; while those of smell and taste belong to the 

 face exclusively. And here it may not be out of place to inquire into 

 the relative proportion which obtains between the face and the cranium ; 

 and the results attendant upon the preponderance of either portion. 



The face being entirely devoted to the organs of smell and taste, it 

 must be very evident, that the more these organs are developed the 

 more volume will the face acquire, and the greater will be its proportion 

 to the cranium : hence, in all animals conspicuous for smell or taste, or 

 in which the jaws are instruments for the seizing or taking up of food, 

 the facial part greatly preponderates, and the animal nature outweighs 

 the intellectual. Man, in the development of the cerebral hemispheres, 

 and, consequently, in the proportionate expansion of the cranium to 

 the face, exceeds every other mammal : not only so, but, which is more 

 important, in the amplitude of its frontal portion, corresponding to the 

 magnitude of the anterior lobes of the brain. The nearer animals 

 approach Man, in the development of the brain, the nearer do they 

 approximate to the standard of intellectual excellence ; and, consequently, 

 of elevation in the scale of being : but, as animals differ much from each 

 other in the proportions which obtain between the cranium and the face, 

 and, indeed, as different races of the human family also present certain 

 degrees of variation, physiologists have attempted several methods, by 

 which to arrive at an exact knowledge of the respective proportion of the 

 two parts, justly regarding it as a point of interest and importance. 

 Among these methods, the most simple, but one which, as regards the 

 human race, is by no means satisfactory, and, as it respects the lower 

 Mammalia, not always applicable, is the employment of the facial angle, 



no sooner hear the humming of the insect, than they squat themselves on the ground, and, having 

 caught it with the eye, pursue it to an incredible distance." (BARROW, Travels in Southern Africa, 

 vol. i. p. 160.) The following anecdote is related, by the same writer, of a Hottentot, who, being unwell, 

 was left behind, on a journey : " He had fallen asleep," says our author, " about the middle of the day, 

 and had not awakened till night. Though very dark, and unacquainted with a single step of our route, 

 he had found us by following the track of the wagon. At this sort of business a Hottentot is exceed- 

 ingly clever. There is not an animal among the numbers that range the wilds of Africa, if he be at all 

 acquainted with it, the print of whose foot he cannot distinguish. The print of any of his companions' 

 feet, he would single'out among a thousand." Ibid. p. 370. 



Turnbull says, speaking of the New Hollanders, "the quickness of their eye and ear is equally sin- 

 gular ; they can hear, and distinguish objects which would totally escape an European. This circum- 

 stance renders them very acceptable guides to our sportsmen in the woods, as they never fail to point 

 out the game before any European can discover it." TURNBULL, Voyage round the World, 2nd ed. p. 92. 



In reference to a native of New Zealand, named Moyhanger, who sailed with him to England, Savage 

 states, " It was worthy of remark how much his sight and hearing were superior to [those of] other per- 

 sons on board the ship : the sound of a distant gun was distinctly heard, or a strange sail readily dis- 

 cernible, by Moyhanger, when no other man on board could hear or perceive them." SAVAGE, Some 

 Account of New Zealand, p. 101. 



Cruise, again, speaking of some New Zealanders, who were with him, at sea, in the Dromedary, says, 

 " So acute was their sight, that though there were very good glasses on board, they were almost always 

 the first to discover a new object." CRUISE, Journal of a Ten Months' Residence i n jy. Zealand. Lon- 

 don, 1823, p. 18. 



