57 



In order not to crowd and confuse the diagram we omitted the out- 

 line of skull No. 3, the frontal portion of which (even to the superciliary 

 ridges) would almost overlap that of the Peruvian. It will be seen that 

 the general character of the profile views of the three skulls is not very 

 dififerent, the Abiquiu cranium showing the greatest height, the steepest 

 forehead, and an almost straight occipital outline, while that from 

 Coban is intermediate between the two others. The cranium having 

 the greatest length is that of the Peruvian, viz, 162'"", diftering only 

 1""" from that of the Coban Indian. In the diagram this difference 

 seems to be greater, as the occipital outline of the Peruvian i)rojects 

 considerably beyond that of the former ; but if we come to examine the 

 receding frontal of the latter and remember that the greatest length lies 

 between the glabella and the most prominent x^oint of the occiput, then 

 the features of the diagram appear to be quite normal. A comparison 

 of the breadth of the crania bears out the fact that the measurements 

 of the Peruvian and Abiquiu Indian coincide exactly, they being both. 

 156™'", while that of the Coban Indian gives 13'"'" less. In regard to 

 the breadth of the frontal bone the Abiquiu skull exhibits the maxi- 

 mum, viz, 128'"'"; next to this is the Peruvian, namely, 118""" ; and finally 

 the Coban Indian, measuring 112'"'" only. The length of the same bone is 

 greatest in the Coban Indian, its measurement giving 122"'™, that of 

 the Peruvian being 3'""", and that of the skull from Abiquiu 7"'™ shorter. 

 The Peruvian skull being the longest among the three, has also the 

 most considerable circumference, namely, 505'"", while the Abiquiu In- 

 dian measures 495""" around, and the skull from Coban 461'"" only. 



After this paper had been placed in the hands of the printer, the 

 United States National Museum at the Smithsonion Institution received 

 a box with relics exhumed from mounds in Tennessee, which happened 

 to be opened in my presence. Besides several cubic feet of bone frag- 

 ments it contained two crania, showing exactly the same mode of deform- 

 ation as the skulls obtained in the vicinity of the ruins. And indeed the 

 resemblance between the crania from those two different localities is so 

 great that they might readily be confounded. 



It being too late to present cuts of these specimens, I shall limit my- 

 self by describing the same, designating one by A and the other bj' B. 



Cranium A. 



Very light and smooth, and apparently that of a woman. As the 

 eruption of the last molars had taken place, the individual must have 

 been at least twenty-one years of age when it died; that is, if we 

 are justified in using the same criterion in judging the age of an Indian 

 as w^e do in judging that of a white man. Taking into consideration that 

 the skull was taken from a mound, it is in a tolerable state of preserva- 

 tion ; the left zygomatic bone anil the styloid processes being broken, 

 however, and the ujiper jaw containing but six teeth. The condition 

 of the lower is less good, there being only three teeth left, the rami be- 

 ing rather defective and the condyloid and corouoid processes wanting. 



Viewed from above, the skull is irregularly heart-shaped ; the irregu- 

 larity being produced by the compression of the left parietal. The com- 

 pression extends from a plane laid horizontally through the tubers, from 

 the right tuber down to the squamous and occipital sutures, so that the 

 left bone and tuberosity seem to i^rotrude considerably. Serration of 

 the sagittal suture strong, the two parietals grooved at their line of 

 junction. The zygomatic bones project but slightly beyond the general 



