I 

 JAPETIC STOCK. 



when a wider field of observation is taken, the distinctive characters, 

 as displayed in the national physiognomy, become still more obvious. 

 In the Jew and the Armenian, for example, a long aquiline nose, thick 

 lips, and a long, heavy eye, are almost constant peculiarities. The 

 Italian cast of countenance cannot be mistaken ; and what that of the 

 ancient Romans was, their busts and medallions sufficiently demonstrate. 

 A well-formed skull, the forehead remarkable rather for breadth than 

 elevation ; eyes moderately large ; a raised and usually aquiline nose ; 

 full and firmly moulded lips ; a large lower jaw ; and a prominent chin, 

 distinguish the Roman ; and an expression in which pride, sternness, and 

 daring are blended, complete the picture of " broad-fronted Caesar." 



In like manner, correct ideas may be gained of the national features of 

 the ancient Greeks, whose lineaments are not obliterated among their 

 present descendants. In the Greek, the countenance has a more animated 

 expression ; the eyes are large ; and the forehead advancing, produces a 

 marked, but elegant, superorbital margin, on which the eyebrows are deli- 

 cately pencilled ; the nose, falling straight from the forehead, sometimes 

 inclines to an aquiline form, and is often of rather more than moderate 

 length ; the upper lip is short, and the mouth delicately moulded ; the lower 

 jaw is not so large as to disturb the oval contour of the face ; and the chin 

 is prominent : the general expression, with less of sternness than in the 

 Roman, has equal daring, and betokens intellectual exaltation. 



Setting aside minor points of variation, 

 the typical characters of the skull in the 

 Japetic, or Iranian type of the human species, 

 may be summed up as follow : 



The cranium, of which that of a Greek 

 (fig. 1 84) is selected as an example, is greatly 

 developed, the forehead rising with a bold 

 sweep, indicative of the volume of the ante- 

 rior lobes of the brain. When viewed from 

 above, according to the norma verticalis of 

 Blumenbach, the ample swell of the anterior 

 portion of the cranium completely hides the 

 face, so that the facial angle is nearly a right angle. The face is small, its 

 outlines rounded, and no part preponderating so as to disturb the har- 

 mony of its symmetrical proportions. The cheek-bones, instead of pro- 

 jecting greatly, as in the Mongole, fall perpendicularly below the ex- 

 ternal angular process of the frontal bone, and are small and flat, with 

 an obliquely lateral aspect. The alveolar portion of the upper jaw is 

 short, and regularly arched ; the lower jaw is moderate, or rather small, 

 with a well-formed chin ; and the teeth are perpendicular. The depth 

 and extent of the zygomatic fossa are inconsiderable. Modifications of 



