PROGNATHOUS STOCK. 



297 



Skull of Asbanteti. 



verse mesian line, on the basis of the cranium, than in European skulls. 

 The skull is remarkably thick, solid, and rugose : the coronal suture only 



just impinges on the sphenoid bone. 

 Fig. 219. Skull of a warrior 

 of Ashantee. This skull is well 

 formed ; but the transverse diameter 

 is less than in a well-developed Euro- 

 pean skull ; the frontal bone is nar- 

 rower, and more retreating, and the 

 arch of the calvarium is lower ; the 

 ridge, indicating the attachment of 

 the temporal muscle, is very dis- 

 tinct ; the frontal sinuses, and a ridge 

 continued from them over the orbits, are strongly marked ; the nasal bones, 

 though not rising as in the European, are less depressed, and narrower 

 than in the preceding, and the interorbital space is less considerable ; the 

 malar bones are not remarkable for amplitude, but the zygoma is strong, 



and arched forward ; the alveolar pro- 

 cesses are shorter than in the preced- 

 ing, and less obliquely prominent ; 

 the sphenoid bone fails to reach the 

 parietal bones, so that the coronal su- 

 ture, instead of impinging upon the 

 former, joins the margin of the tem- 

 poral bone. 



Fig. 220. Skull of an African 

 from the Gold Coast. General con- 

 tour elongate, with slight longitudinal 



uii of African-Gold Coast. coronal eminence ; the parietal bones 



bulge out, giving considerable transverse volume to the posterior part of 

 the cranium ; the forehead is narrow, but rises well ; the nasal bones 

 are broad, and quite flat ; the interorbital space is considerable, though 

 exceeded, in this respect, by other African skulls ; the malar bones are 

 large and prominent ; the alveoli of the maxillary bone project obliquely 

 forward ; the ascending ramus of the lower jaw is broad, and the poste- 

 rior angle acute and prominent, with an anterior notch adding to its bold- 

 ness : the sphenoid bone is united to the parietal as usual. 



Fig. 221. Skull of a Mozambique Negro. This skull is singularly elon- 

 gated, and, at the same time, flattened laterally, with a projecting occiput, 

 and a longitudinal vertical eminence, bounded by a flat slope on each side : 

 the forehead is narrow and low, and the elevation of the arch of the cra- 

 nium is inconsiderable ; the nasal bones are broad, and rather flat ; the 

 nasal orifice is wide ; the malar bones are large ; and the alveolar processes 



VOL. I. 2 Q 



