DISTORTIONS OF THE HUMAN CRANIUM. 419 



dication of purposed malformation, the flattening is not in a vertical 

 plane, affecting the occiput proper, with the posterior part of the 

 parietal bones ; but chiefly modifies the latter, extending towards 

 the apex : as in the interesting example of a British dolichocephalic 

 skull from the remarkable tumulus, near Littleton Drew, Wiltshire, 

 represented on plate 24, Decade III., of the Crania Britannic i. 

 This I conceive to be traceable to the use of the board with a mere 

 cover of moss or soft leather, whereby the head is thrown back 

 so as to come in contact with the cradle-board about the region of 

 the lambdoidal suture. Similar forms repeatedly occur among 

 ancient British crania, and are probably traceable to the same cause. 

 One result of the recognition of this artificial source of cranial 

 deformation was to lead me, before I left Scotland, to institute a 

 series of careful observations on the the heads of the coal-porters of 

 Edinburgh, and the fishwives of the neighbouring fishing villages, 

 with a view to determine how far the heads of either are affected by 

 their practice of carrying heavy loads by means of a leathern strap 

 resting on the forehead ; and of the bakers who bear similar loads 

 on a board or tray laid on the top of the head. Since coming to 

 Canada I have also made such observations as opportunity offered on 

 the heads of Indian squaws, as they habitually support heavy bur- 

 dens by a strap across the forehead. But the low flat forehead is 

 characteristic of the Indian ; and a poor frontal development may 

 also be looked for in such a class as the coal-porters. Some of the 

 results of those observations are given in a forthcoming work, 

 but in all the cases referred to the pressure is only brought to 

 bear on the full-grown head; and investigation satisfies me that 

 the adult cranium may be subjected to extreme and oft repeated 

 pressure without affecting its form. The process pursued by the 

 Flathead Indians seems to show that its susceptibility to change is 

 limited to infancy. The whole operations, by means of which the most 

 radical change of form is produced, are effected during the first year. 

 Whatever alteration takes place afterwards is in an opposite direc- 

 tion, consequent on the natural growth of the brain and skull. 

 Accordingly the extreme deformation superinduced on the infant 

 head among the Chinooks and other tribes of the Pacific coast is only 

 seen to its full extent during childhood. It undergoes some modifi- 

 cation in early youth, from the expansion of the brain in the efforts 

 of nature to resume the normal shape. But long before puberty the 



