FROM THE NEW HEBRIDES. CAMERON. 413 



the European races occupyin<2; an intermediate position. Now 

 it is a very significant fact that the frontal air sinuses and 

 also the superciliary ridges are relatively large in the lowest 

 types of modern hominida, and I hope to be able to prove 

 that the greatest influence on the modelling of the orbital 

 contour is exerted by the degree of development of the air 

 sinuses of the skull. A remarkable feature of the orbital 

 index is that it is consistently higher in the female skull of 

 any given race.^'^^^ Surely this supports the statement just 

 made; for it is well known that the frontal sinuses and the 

 superciliary ridges are always better developed in the male 

 than in the female. Another significant fact is that the orbital 

 index is alwaj's relatively high in the infant, in whom it is 

 to be again noted the superciliary ridges are not yet developed, 

 seeing that the frontal sinuses do not begin to make their 

 appearance until after infancy. As a result of these observa- 

 tions it appears to the writer that the orbital index deserves 

 a more prorninent position in ph3^sical anthropology than 

 that accorded to it by some investigators on the subject. 

 The shape of the orbital margin has also been neglected 

 somewhat by anthropologists. The general impression I 

 have gained from a study of it is, that in the higher tj'pes 

 of skull the opening is rounded in character, while in the 

 lowest types (aboriginal Australians for example) the outline 

 tends to be somewhat quadrangular, o\ving apparently to 

 a flattening of the upper and lower margins. The writer's 

 attention was first directed to the orbital contour in 1908, 

 when studying the skulls belonging to two ancient Egyptian 

 skeletons of the Xllth dynasty. One of these was of a 

 highly evolved orthognathous type, all its indices actually 

 comparing favourably with those of the modern European 

 skull. The other was of a distinctly lower order, some of 

 its indices being distinctly negroid in character. For example, 

 the alveolar index was 104.3. These two mummies, according 

 to the heiroglyphs on their coffins were brothers and a full 



