378 



ETHNOLOGY. 



Table VI. — Means of the dimensions, ^c, of tihice. 



Locality. 



"8) 



a 

 1-1 



it 

 I 



=2 

 1 



is 



a 

 i-^l 



Antero-posterior 

 diameter and 

 transverse di- 

 ameter of shaft. 



a 



n 



"S 



a 



1 



a 



t 



Detroit and Rouge Eivers, Michigan.. 

 Head of Saint Clair River, Michigan.. 

 Chambers Island, Wisconsin 



14.80 



14.75 



14.74 



13.5 



15.1 



2.73 



2.70 

 3.07 

 2.7 

 2.86 



2.87 



2.9 



3.02 



2.87 



2.9 



150 by 12 

 147 by 80 

 153 by 90 

 129 by 79 

 127 by 92 



0.185 

 0.200 

 0. 205 

 0.212 

 0.195 



0.486 



0.548 

 f;g8 





612 



Ordinary English, College of Surgeons, 

 London. 



0. 727 



I refrain from indulging in any extended deductions which will natu- 

 rally be suggested by the comparison of the different tables here given. 

 Professor Busk and M. Broca have pointed out so fully the various 

 relations of this conformation of the leg-bone as to leave little room for 

 general comment. I would simply add, that the platycuemism wliich I 

 have observed in Michigan all appears to belong to what is termed 

 " anterior ;" that is, this abnormal expansion of the bone is in front of 

 the interosseous ridge. In this respect the Michigan specimens resem- 

 ble the tiUm from Denbighshire rather than those from Gibraltar and 

 from Cro-Magnon ; tn the two latter instances the expansion being pos- 

 terior. " The occasional and not infrequent platycnemism observed in 

 the shin-bones of negroes," Mr. Busk states, "is what may be termed 

 ' anterior.'" He is not prepared to discuss what this difference may indi- 

 cate, though he considers that, "in all probability, it is connected with 

 a difference in the cause of the deformation, (if it be deformation.)" 



As to the ethnological value of this platycnemism, he considers " we 

 are as yet very much in the dark," doubting the probability of its being 

 a race-character, "though it may undoubtedly be considered a character 

 betokening remote antiquity." After referring to certain distinctions 

 between the human and the simian foot, he concludes with asking: 

 "Would it not, then, be admissible to inquire how far, at any rate, pos- 

 terior platycnemism may be connected with the greater freedom of 

 motion and general adaptability of the toes enjoyed by those peoples 

 whose feet have not been subjected to the confinement of shoes or other 

 coverings, and who at the same time have been compelled to lead an 

 active existence in a rude and rugged or mountainous and wooded 

 country, where the exigencies of the chase would demand the utmost 

 agility in climbing and otherwise?" 



Further observations of abundant material from different parts of the 

 country, and perhaps of the world, are wanted to afford the requisite 

 testimony as to the ethnological significance of this peculiarity. 



In the year 1856, I found a small burial-mound on the west shore of 

 Ottawa Point, Michigan, (Lake Huron.) [Fig. 6.] It occupied the bank, 

 close to the beach, and the washing of the lake in storms had under- 



