XECTUEE I. 9 



and races of mankind. Even here the difficulties we meet with 

 are great. It is hardly feasible in the times we live in to cut 

 off the heads of the living ; and to despoil the graves of the dead 

 is in most civilised countries considered a crime, and severely 

 punished. Pious ignorance even now declaims against dissec- 

 tion, and it is not so very long since English anatomists were 

 driven to employ resurrection-men, and were indirectly the 

 cause of murders being committed. "We must, therefore, not 

 wonder that the procuring of skulls in uncivilised countries is 

 not unattended with danger, and that we succeed only in ex- 

 ceptional cases in collecting a sufficient number of skulls of any 

 stock to enable us to draw just inferences from comparison. 



The industry and perseverance of some observers have brought 

 together comparatively large collections of crania, of which, 

 however, the origin is frequently doubtful. Thus, for instance, 

 it is frequently impossible to say definitely whether the skull is 

 that of a male or female ; and yet the differences between the 

 male and female skull are not insignificant. In the more civi- 

 lised races the difference is as great as between the skuUs of 

 the same sex in different races ; and, as there is but httle 

 difference in this respect in the Negro and other inferior races, 

 the determination of the sex becomes more uncertain as we ap- 

 proach the inferior races of humanity. 



As regards the rest of the skeleton, the materials become 

 still more scanty. It is easy to carry off skulls, but a skeleton 

 requires more care. Nine out of every ten sailors still beheve that 

 a skeleton or a coffin on board brings bad luck, and under such 

 circumstances they are apt to mutiny if a storm breaks out. 

 And yet many parts of the skeleton require to be examined, 

 such as the structure of the hands, feet, the form of the pelvis, 

 — all these can only be determined by numerous observations. 

 The skull is chiefly important from its investing the brain so 

 closely, that its chief features are impressed on the inner surface 

 of the cranium. The brain deserves, above all, a close investi- 

 gation, in examining the organisation of thinking beings. It 

 has even been proposed to classify mammals according to their 

 cerebral structure. The ideal of an anatomy of races, which 

 Professor Wagner, of Gottingcn, promises the public iu the 



