228 BUEEAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 52 



Of the various specimens described in this paper, Lehmann-Nitsche 

 continues, "the subfossil skull of Arrecifes seems to be the most recent. 

 I am firmly convinced that it may proceed from the Pamjican forma- 

 tion. ['] All its characteristics indicate that it is very ancient and is 

 comjiarable in this respect with all the other human remains which 

 were studied in this work." 



The i)receding excerpt is from page 300. On page 320, at the end 

 of the study of the specimen, Lehmann-Nitsche states his opinions 

 as follows: 



"I. The Arrecifes skull is one of the most ancient crania of the 

 Argentine Republic, even though it is not jwssible to attribute it with 

 all certainty to the Pam])ean formation. 



"2. The length of the cerebral part of the skull surpasses the human 

 average, the breadth e([uals exactly that average; the index of the 

 vault is mesocephalic ; the height, great absolutely, presents, in rela- 

 tion to the length, a figure that is relatively rather low (platycephaly). 



"3. The breadth of the forehead corresponds absolutely with the 

 average; relatively (in regard to the breadth of the skull) it corres- 

 ponds to the American type. The frontal and bregmatic angles, 

 which indicate inclination backward of the front, are such as occur 

 in man of th6 present day. 



''4. The facial part of the skull is more or less chamseprosopic ; the 

 index occupies an intermediary position among the human races in 

 general [-] and among the various American tribes in particular. 



"5. The supraorbital arches are well marked and prominent; the 

 supramastoideal crests are well developed; the mastoid incisure 

 presents the form of a notch (American tyj)e) ; the digastric crest is in 

 the form of a rude comb {iVun gros jyeigne) ; the groove for the occipital 

 artery is also notchlike. The occipital torus is very well marked and 

 forms one long and large swelling. 



"6. The study of the skull of Arrecifes leads to the conclusion that 

 it belongs to the actual human type and especially to the American 

 type." 



In view of the last paragraph and of the almost entire absence of 

 data concerning the find of the specimen under consideration, it is 

 difficult to see on what the statements in paragrai)h 1 of the above 

 conclusions and the statement on page 300 in Lehmann-Nitsche's 

 work are based. 



The more important of Lehmann-Nitsche's measurements of the 

 skull are as follows: 



1 " Je suis fermement convaincu qu' il peut prnrenir de la formation pampeenne." 



P The comparisons with mankind in general must be regarded as carried too far. The state of precise 

 anthropologic knowledge concerning man.y important groups of humanity is as yet very imperfect, especi- 

 ally etiologically.] 



