800 ■ RACE HEAD-FORMS AND THEIR 



The position of the great occipital foramen in man bears an important 

 relation to his whole structure, and the upright attitude which is natural 

 to hira. In the enormous development of the spinous processes of the 

 Gorilla, for esample, as compared with the comparatively slight vertebral 

 column, on which the human skull, with its greater cerebral mass rests, 

 we see the totally different functions of the climbing anthropoicl and of 

 man ; and the same is illustrated by the relative position of the occipital 

 foramen in the two. In this, indeed, as in other respects, the Gorilla 

 diverges more remotely than others of the anthropoids, from man. But 

 as compared with any ape or other animal which may be selected as 

 the most nearly approaching to him in structure, the space between the 

 occipital foramen and the extreme posterior poin.t of the skull in man is 

 great ; while in most animals, as the horse, dog, sheep, and even in the 

 howler monkey, (^3Ij/ceies seniculus), there is no space behind the fora- 

 men. In the highest type of man, the lofty and amply developed 

 forehead is the characteristic feature ; but the point in which his cranium 

 is most notably distinguished from that of the brute is the occiput, witli 

 .its corresponding cranial cavity and great posterior mass of brain. 



The dimensions of the occipital foramen have already been adverted 

 to. Its relative size in different races of men long since attracted the 

 notice of the comparative anatomist. But indeed the dimensions of al- 

 ike foramina of the skull invite attention, when instituting comparisons 

 between crania of diverse races. The various nerves issuing from them 

 are asserted by more than one competent observer to have been found 

 thicker and stronger in the Negro than the European ; whereas, on the 

 contrary, the occipital foramen of the Negro cranium has been repeatl 

 edly noted as smaller. 



I have accordingly selected from Dr. Adam's tables those measure- 

 ments which determine the size of the occipital foramen, and its relations 

 • to other parts of the cranium. Comprehensive, however, as his mea- 

 surements are, no attempt has been made to determine the relative 

 positions of the zygomata and occipital foramen; though the place of 

 the zygomatic arch in the basis cranii in man is only less characteristic 

 than that of the great foramen. In man, the entire zygoma is included 

 in the anterior half of the base of the skull ; whereas in the Baboon, 

 Orang and Gorilla, it occupies the middle region, and from its greater 

 development, measures fully a third of the whole antero-posterior 

 diameter. The dimensions of the zygoma in each of the Parisian 

 crania are minutely given ; but they are not, in themselves, of sufficient 



