CALIFORNIA INDIAN PHYSIQUE. 223 
developed as to be asharp ridge; the ciliary hairs sparse, never spanning 
across over the nose; beard and mustache very thin, almost totally lacking, 
and carefully plucked out; the head small and brachycephalic, often found 
to be startlingly small when the fingers are thrust into the coarse shock of 
hair enveloping it; but the skull phenomenally thick. So depressed is it 
that the diameter from temple to temple, judging by the eye, is equal to 
that from base to crown, if not greater. This gives the forehead its great 
width. Small as the cranium actually is, when a widow has worn tar in 
mourning, and then shaved her poll to remove it, the hair, growing out 
straight and stiff for two or three inches, gives her the appearance of having 
an enormous head. In youth the eyes are well-sized, often large and lus- 
trous, but at a great age they became smoke-burnt and reduced to mere 
points, or else swollen, bleared, and disgusting. Probably there is no feat- 
ure in this race so characteristic as the nose. So slightly is it developed at 
the root, and so broad at the nostrils that it outlines a nearly equilateral 
triangle upon the face. Perfectly straight like the Grecian, it is yet so 
depressed at the root that it seems to issue from the face on a level with the 
pupils of the eye. Owing to the great lateral development of the nares, 
their longer axes frequently incline so much as to form nearly one continuous 
line. In this case the outer axial line of the nose is foreshortened, so that the 
eye of the beholder is directed into the opening of the nostrils, a repulsive 
spectacle. The color varies from a brassy and a hazel almost to a jet black. 
In young women the breasts are full and round, but after they have borne 
children they hang far down, so far that a woman when traveling will suckle 
her babe over her shoulder. ‘This may be partly due to the fact that they 
wear no dresses to assist in staying them up. Their frames are small, and 
the hands and feet might well be the envy of the Caucasian belle, being so 
delicate that in youth they seem out of all proportion to the body, and it is 
only when age has stripped off the gross mass of fat that they return to their 
normal relation of size. In walking the Indian throws more weight on the 
toes than an American, which is probably due in part to his stealthy, cat- 
like habits. There is a tendency to walk pigeon-toed, especially when 
barefoot, but it is by no means universal. As to the body, the most notable 
feature is the excessive obesity of youth, and the total, almost unaccounta- 
