April 5, 1895.] 



SCIENCE. 



381 



CORRESPONDENCE. 

 THE CLASSIFICATION OF SKULLS. 



Editor of Science : In ' Varieties of the 

 Human Species, Principles and Method of 

 Classification ' (Le Yarieta L'niane. Priu- 

 cipi e methodo di classificazione. Di Giu- 

 seppe Sergi. Torino, 1S93), which consti- 

 tutes one of the Smithsonian Miscellaneous 

 Collections, 189-t, the skulls are gi'ouped as 

 follows : 



NORMA VKRTICALIS. 



1. Ellipsoid (ellipsoides). 



2. Pentagonoid (pentagonoides). 



3. Rhomboid (rhomboides). 



4. Ovoid (ovoides). 



5. Sphenoid (sphenoides). 



6. Spheroid (si)ha'roides). 



7. Byrsoid (byrsoides). 



8. Parallelepipi'doid (parallelei)ipedoi- 



des.) 



9. Cylindroid (cyliudroides). 



10. Cuboid (cuboides). 



11. Trapezoid (trapezoides). 



12. Acmonoid (acmonoides). 



13. Lophocephalic (lophocephalus). 



14. Chomatocephalus (chomatocepha- 



lus). 



15. Platj-cephalic ( platycephalus). 

 10. Skopeloid (skopeloides). 



In ' Observations upon the Cranial Forms 

 of the American Aborigines based upon 

 Specimens contained in tlie Collection of the 

 Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadel- 

 phia,' by J. Aitken Meigs, Proceedings of 

 the Academy of Natural Sciences of Phila- 

 delphia, 186(5, 232, occurs the following 

 classification of skulls: 



A — Pyramidal or Pyramidocephalic Form. 

 B — Oval or Oidoce])halic Form. 

 I Cymbecephalic Form. 

 II Narrow Oval Form (Stenoeephalic). 



III Broad Oval Form (Euryccphalic). 



IV Barrel-shaped or Cylindrical Form 



(Cylindri('e])halic). 

 V Angular Oblong Form. 



C — Arched or Hypsecephalic Form. 



I Archecephali. 



II Phoxocephali. 



D — Wedge-shaped or Sphenocephalic Form. 

 E — Flat or Platj'cephalic Form (Subglob- 



ular). 

 F — Globular or Spluerocephalic Form. 

 G — Square, Cuboidal or Cubicephalic Form. 



The tv\-o classifications are sufficiently 

 alike to suggest comparisons. Confining 

 mj' remarks to the forms in Meig's table, 

 which are best illustrated in the norma verti- 

 calis, I note that : 



Oidocephalic ;= Ovoides. 



Cymbecephali =: Ellipsoides & Pentago- 

 noides. 



Cylindricephali = Cylindroides. 



Angularly Oblong Form = Rhomboides. 



Archecephali = Trapezoides & Acmo- 

 noides. 



Phoxocephalic =: Lophocephalus. 



Spheuocephalic = Sphenoides. 



Platycephalic = Platycephalic. 



Spluerocephalic =^ Sphjeroides. 



Cubicephalic = Cuboides. 



Thus six out of sixteen names of Sergi's 

 classification are included in Meig's classifi- 

 cation. I conclude from comparison of 

 IMeig's types with Sergi's figures that the 

 forms are identical. 



Ellipsoides and Pentagonoides are in- 

 cluded in Cymbecephali ; Rhomboides is 

 the same as the skulls included under 

 • Angularly Oblong Form ; ' Lophocei)halus 

 is a synonym of Phoxocephalic ; Parallel- 

 epipedoides appears to be a variety of 

 Cylindricephali : Trapezoides and Acmo- 

 noides are included in Archecephali. 



So long as Sergi endeavors to establish 

 a classification which he desires to be tested 

 by the methods of zoology and botany (p. 

 60), the names he proposes must be judged 

 by the law of priority of publication. 



Harrison Allen. 



Philadelphia, Mnrch lf>, 1895. 



