JAPETIC STOCK. 



245 



their general exhibition of the Japetic model ; and, as far as a judg- 

 ment can be formed from specimens, their opinion may be assented to. 

 The skulls, figured in the Decades of Blumenbach, are certainly of 

 Japetic mould. 



Cuvier states, that he examined, in the various collections of Europe, 

 more than fifty heads of mummies, and that not one among them pre- 

 sented the characters of the Negro or Hottentot. Denon, describing the 

 characters of the female mummies, observes : " Que leurs cheveux etoient 

 longs et lisses ; que le caractere de la tete de la plupart tenoit du beau 

 style. Je rapportois une tete de vieille femme qui etoit aussi belle que 

 celles des Sibylles de Michel Ange." The embalmed heads, figured in 

 the great French work on the antiquities of Egypt, present the Caucasian 

 character. 



In the British Museum is a skull from the tombs of the quarries at 

 Mokattam, and of which the contour is elegant : the forehead is well de- 

 veloped ; the nose is elevated, the ridge, formed by the nasal bones, being 

 thin, or compressed ; the dental ridge of the upper jaw is short, and the 

 auditory foramina are in the ordinary situation. The lower jaw is wanting. 

 In the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons, is the skull of an 

 Egyptian mummy, which is, also, essentially Japetic in its contour. 



There is, also, in the same collection, another skull from the quarries 

 at Memphis, of which the annexed figure (196) is a sketch. Its contour 

 is oval ; the forehead is high and well-formed. Compared with the skull 

 of an ancient Greek, the alveolar ridge, which is short, is a little more 

 prominent ; its base, from one mastoid process to the other is propor- 

 tionately narrower ; the occiput is more prominent, and the palate nar- 

 rower anteriorly, the alveolar arch being more acute in front. The 

 auditory foramina appear in their usual situation. 



To enter into any disquisition on 

 the language and the mythology of 

 the ancient Egyptians, or Mizraim, 

 on the palpable connexion between 

 them and the Hindoos, with respect 

 to civil and religious institutions, 

 social habits, and physical character- 

 istics, or to speculate upon the causes 

 of the acknowledged resemblance 

 between these two distant people, in 

 all except language, would lead from 

 the present design. Those who de- 

 sire to pursue the subject, may consult 

 Dr. Prichard's Researches (vol. ii.), in which the point is ably treated. 

 The modern Copts are generally supposed to be the relics of the ancient 



Egyptian skull froin Memphis. 



