102 OBSERVATIONS ON EGYPTIAN ETHNOGRAPHY, 
in its necropolis more than two thousand years before either the Persians or Greeks 
effected the conquest of the country, no less than during the period of and after these 
epochs of foreign domination. 
Of the sixteen adult Pelasgic skulls in this series, two or three are small; yet the whole 
number gives about 88 cubic inches for the average internal capacity of the cranium, or 
size of the brain, while the mean of the facial angle is 80°. The seven Egyptian crania 
have a mean internal capacity of 80 cubic inches, and a facial angle of 77°. 
SECOND SERIES. 
FOUR HEADS FROM THE GROTTOES OF MAABDEH, NEAR MAGARAT-ES-SAMOUN. 
This is the name of a series of sepulchral grottoes in Middle Egypt, on the limestone 
hill opposite Manfaloot, and near the modern village of Maabdeh. It is within the 
ancient nome of Heracleopolis. This cemetery is a natural cavern, which was chiefly 
dedicated to embalmed crocodiles, but in some measure, also, to man. Mr. Gliddon ob- 
serves that the human mummies are of the common order, and adds: “I brought them 
from a measured distance of 438 feet under ground, horizontally, averaging about twenty 
feet below the surface.” 
Plate IV., Fig. 1. (Cat. 833.) A large, oval head, with a very low, receding fore- 
head, and large, aquiline nose. A man of 35 years? The hair is long, soft, and curling, 
and the beard is partially preserved on the lower jaw. Pelasgic form? 
This person has been much disfigured by ulceration of the cartilage of the nose and 
the adjacent integuments; part of the upper lip has been removed by the disease, which 
appears partially on the lower jaw, and may account for the beard not having been shaved. 
The embalming process has been very carefully conducted. Large lozenge-shaped patches 
of gold-leaf are seen on the centre of the forehead and over each eye, with smaller pieces 
dispersed in other places, and especially on the bone and teeth of the upper jaw, where 
these have been denuded or exposed by ulceration. 
Plate IV., Fig. 2. (Cat. 834.) A female head, of a short, oval form, with a narrow, 
receding forehead, prominent nose, and very protruding maxille. The teeth, which are 
salient, indicate a person of 25 or 30 years of age; and the lower jaw, which is very 
angular, has a remarkable downward projection. ‘The hair was long, but harsh, and was 
necessarily removed with the inteeuments, on account of the imperfect nature of the em- 
balment, which appeared to have been effected with a soft or tar-like bitumen. Negroid 
orm. 
: Plate IV., Fig. 3. (Cat. 835.) A woman of 30? with a long, narrow head, slightly 
salient nose, and very projecting face. ‘The hair is eight or ten inches long, harsh, but 
not wiry. Negroid form. 1. C. 71 cubic inches. F. A. 73°. 
Plate IV., Fig. 4. (Cat. 836.) A female head of a fine oval form, with a broad, con- 
vex forehead, low coronal region, and strongly aquiline nose. ‘This head retains a pro- 
fusion of long, fine, curling hair, and the face is gilded over the eyes and lips. This is 
a striking example of the tumid face which is not unfrequently seen on the monuments, 
Egyptian form. 
Casamance asian 
