THE HUMAN SKULL 127 



has to remember that the actual stature of the 

 individual must be considered in its relation to the 

 size and, of course, therefore to the capacity 

 of the skull. A man of six feet four inches would 

 look as absurd if he bore the head suitable for a 

 woman of five feet as the latter would with the 

 skull of her taller brother. Australians are persons 

 of average stature, and their skulls are relatively 

 somewhat small, but the inhabitants of the Anda- 

 man Islands are amongst the smallest races not 

 actually pigmy now in existence. The average 

 stature of the Andaman male is four feet six inches, 

 z.^., the height of a boy of ten or twelve years of 

 age.. Such a stature would not consort with a skull 

 of average European size. What is remarkable, 

 however, is that the Andaman skull is relatively 

 larger in comparison with the stature than the 

 European skull, though it is absolutely smaller. 

 To be exact upon this point, it may be mentioned 

 that the length of the head, from vertex to chin, 

 is contained seven and a half times in the stature 

 of an average European ; whilst it is contained 

 only seven times in the stature of an Andamanese. 

 Hence his skull is relatively larger than that of a 

 European. When we come to actual pigmies, such 

 as those discovered and described by Stanley, 

 where the stature varies from three feet to four 

 feet six inches, the skull is still smaller ; and though 

 I know of no measurements of capacity which have 

 been made on any skulls of this race, their cranial 

 cavity must be considerably smaller even than that 

 of the Andamanese. As regards the skulls of more 

 ancient races, it is often difficult or even impossible 



