4 A CRANIOMETRIC STUDY 



beliefs of this ancient race to vanish into oblivion. The human 

 memory is notoriously short, and that is just where our Mus- 

 eums subserve their functions as monuments of the past, and 

 keep reminding? us of the aliorijiinal inha])itants, and the an- 

 cient history of our Province, "lest we forget." It is to be 

 clearly understood that the various measurements and indices 

 of this skull are not to be taken as representative of the cranio- 

 logy of the Micmae Indian. This can only be ascertained after 

 examining hundreds of specimens, hence my earnest appeal for 

 initiating the collection of suitable material, the authenticity 

 of which is beyond all dispute. 



In Dawson's Acadian Geologyi^') are two illustrations re- 

 presenting a Micmae woman and her son. Although these 

 are not modern photographic reproductions they convey a 

 fairly good impression of the average type of facial feature 

 that characterized this Indian tribe. The features of the wo- 

 man are regular and exhibit no evidence of prognathism, 

 though the brow is rather low and receding. The features of 

 the man, who probably had a slight admixture of French- 

 Acadian blood, are also well modelled, though the lips, are 

 somewhat heavy and pouting. The forehead looks higher 

 than that of the woman and is better developed on the whole. 

 It is good to have these racial types represented on the pages 

 of a standard scientific work, as they permanently represent 

 a race that has been condemned, or at any rate foredoomed 

 by civilisation, either to die out, or lose its individuality by 

 becoming merged in the white population through inter- 

 marriage 



General Description of the Skull. — The outer table had evi- 

 dently been artificially darkened by some unknown means 

 as it was almost coal l)lack in colour. The skull was rather 

 delicately moulded, and tended in fact to suggest the female 

 type. The superciliary ridges were faintly marked and the 

 supraorbital margins rather sharp in outline. The mastoid 



