iSkuU of the North American Indians. 307 



symmetricality of tlie head is destroyed. In one head, the right side of the 

 OS frontis projects more than the left side, and, to compensate for this, the 

 left parietal bone bilges out more than its fellow. From these circumstances 

 I think the capacity of the skull is nearly the same as in the undeformed 

 heads of the Indians ; at all events it has no effect on their intellectual 

 powers. 



The uncompressed skulls have the forehead a liltle depressed, elegantly 

 rounded, high cheek bones, eyes turned a little outwards, olfactory appa- 

 ratus much developed : on the other hand the compressed heads are 

 receding, and often not symmetrical, eyes directed upwards in all cases, 

 the parietal bones distended very much laterally, the occiput greatly 

 flattened, while the marks of the insertion of the muscles are peculiarly 

 strong. Another peculiarity among the Indians of the Columbia, is the 

 flatness of their teeth, which I think may be attributed to the constant 

 attrition caused by eating their salmon without cleaning it from sand 

 and other hard substances. Their teeth are all of nearly an equal length, 

 and the crowns are completely worn away. 



Before finishing this paper, it may be of use to mention a few of the 

 other peculiarities of the Indians besides those derived from the skulls. 

 Their height is moderate, seldom exceeding five feet ; their colour that of 

 copper, and rather deeper in the men than in the women ; from their 

 indolence and the abundance of provision they are very fat ; hair black, 

 coarse, and straight, flowing over their shoulders ; hands and feet small ; 

 beard when unmolested strong, and hair on other parts of the body 

 sufficiently copious, but always carefully extirpated : hence the origin of 

 the absurd opinion that the Indians are destitute of hair and beard. They 

 vary as much in their features as the people of other countries, and the 

 national difference of features between the people of Nootka and those of 

 Queen Charlotte's Island is well marked. A remarkable circumstance with 

 regard to the tribes which compress their heads, is the frequency of apo- 

 plexy. I have knovim two of them to die in the same day from this disease, 

 but whether the predisposition to it depends on the form of their heads 

 or not is difficult to determine. 



Two of the accompanying figures shew the form of the skull, and the 

 effects of compression on people arrived at manhood. The other represents 

 the head of a child of about three vears old, with the skin dried and ad- 



