280 RACE HEAD-FORMS AND THEIR 



of Dr. Abernethy, the no less distinguished surgeon. The measure- 

 ments finally adopted by him amount in all to seventy, — or more strictly 

 to sixty-nine : No. 6 being left blank in the tables received by me- 

 They furnish evidence of laborious industry, and are necessarily of a 

 very comprehensive and minute character. Of their practical utility it 

 is obvious that Dr. Adam latterly entertained grave doubts. But his 

 industry had then been diverted into wholly different channels ; and 

 his faith in the special teachings of Dr. Spurzheim had long passed 

 away. It is more important for us to note that he retained full faith in 

 the tables embracing all that the craniometrist aims at. Lest, however, 

 the remark quoted from a private note, that " they show every possible 

 measurement of the human cranium," and so achieve the desideratum 

 of an exhaustive metrical system, should suggest a false idea of the 

 writer, it will not be out of place to add that Dr. Walter Adam partook 

 largely of the modest and amiable virtues ascribed to his father. He 

 was sensitive and retiring in his habits; and the decided terms here 

 expressed are highly characteristic of his simple sincerity. His minute 

 and somewhat formal accuracy, even in trifles, renders his detailed pro- 

 portions of Parisian crania worthy of the utmost confidence ; though it 

 will not admit of literal acceptance that they embrace " every possible 

 measurement." 



Whatever opinion the modern Anthropologist may form of the ne- 

 glected system of Gall and Spurzheim, no doubt can be entertained as to 

 the services rendered by them in his special department of study. The 

 practical failure of their system of an assumed index of the '' phrenology" 

 or mental characteristics of each individual, impressed on the surface 

 of the skull, and representing certain supposed brain-organs of the 

 mind, need not blind us to the valuable results of their labours in other 

 directions, and especially in that of comparative craniology. 



Infinite as are the varieties of individual physiognomy, there is, 

 nevertheless, a national type of face, difficult indeed to define, yet 

 recognisable at a glance; and so also, amid endless deviations from any 

 supposed national head-form, the hatter, in adapting his manufactures 

 to different localities finds the variations from the common type of each 

 range within comparatively narrow and constant limits. Assuming, 

 then, the significance of diverse cranial conformations, and of certain 

 relative proportions in the heads of different races, as indices of ethnical 

 distinctions, various metrical tests have been suggested. Drs. Scherzer 

 and Schwarz, who accompanied the Austrian exploring expedition in 



