OCCIDENTAL STOCK. 



327 



235 



Skull of Aturian. 



The process is commenced soon after the birth of the child, and the 

 head is kept in the pressing-machine for about twelve months. The opera- 

 tion is so gradual, that it is not attended with pain ; but its effects are 



deep and permanent. In one tribe, 

 on the Pacific, this custom did not 

 exist ; it is, however, noticed, as being 

 prevalent among the Skilloots, the 

 Wahkiacums, the Sokulks, and the 

 Chinnooks. 



In the skull of an ancient Atu- 

 rian (fig. 235), brought, by M. Hum- 

 boldt, from the caves on the borders 

 of the Orinoco, and figured by Blu- 

 menbach (Dec. v. tab. xlvi.), the low, 

 slanting forehead is, perhaps, natural. 

 The zygomatic arches, less prominent 

 than in the Mongole or Negro, are 

 broader than in the latter, and the 

 depth of the cranium and of the lower 

 jaw is greater ; the nasal cavity is ample ; the orbits are narrow : the 

 texture of the whole is compact and solid. 



A male Brazilian skull (fig. 236), preserved, with the skin dried, by 



means of a bituminous composition 

 (Dec. v. tab. xlvii.), has the forehead 

 depressed, and the general contour 

 round. The colour of the skin is 

 dusky copper : on the vertex is a 

 patch of hair, short, strong, and 

 black ; around this, the skin is closely 

 shaved ; behind the ears the hair is 

 longer ; a short, scanty beard ap- 

 pears on the upper lip, and a few 

 scattered hairs on the chin. It was 

 adorned with splendid feathers of 

 the scarlet Ibis, the Toucan, and 

 various Macaws. The skull of a 

 female Brazilian (tab. xlviii.) is tole- 

 rably well formed, with an arched forehead (frons globosa) : the nose, 

 however, is depressed ; the olfactory cavity ample, and the frontal sinuses 

 are strongly marked by prominences. 



In the museum of the Royal College of Surgeons are three skulls of the 

 ancient Peruvians from Titicaca and Pata Camaya, near Belen, Bolivia 

 (17 12' south latitude). Their frontal and vertical depression is excessive, 



Skull of Brazilian. 



