LECTURE II. 49 



Retzius made use of this character, and founded upon it his 

 division of peoples into long-heads (dolichocephali), and short- 

 heads (brachycephah) . This division was first founded upon 

 an examination of Swedish and Sclavonian skulls, and, in these 

 cases, Retzius gave the proportion of the two diameters as 

 follows : in Swedes, the greatest length to the greatest breadth, 

 asl000:773, that is nearly as 9:7; in Sclavonians, as 1000:888, 

 or nearly as 8 : 7. It must, however, be admitted that Ret- 

 zius' measurements were confined to a few skulls, which he 

 selected as typical, and that he estimated the cranial shape 

 rather from the general impression of the aspect of skulls 

 than by exact measurements. It must also be kept in view, that 

 though Retzius only applied these various forms to distinguish 

 difierent tribes, e. g., Swedes and Sclavonians, Finns and Lapps, 

 he expressly says that both these cranial forms are to be found 

 in every one of the assumed chief races. 



Welcker has more closely examined this question, and 

 proved, by numerous measurements, that long- and short- 

 heads represent the extreme forms, but that between these 

 there are many nations presenting gradual transitions, so that 

 a third group must be interposed, which might be called 

 orthocephali.* Welcker has measured, as far as he could, a 

 considerable series of skulls, with the interesting result, that 

 the difierent stocks diverge constantly, and within somewhat 

 wide limits, from one common centre, but that the variations 

 are of nearly equal extent on both sides, and appear to be 

 greater in proportion to the commixture of the race. Thus, 

 the variation among Lapps, Cossacks, ancient Greeks and 

 Romans, Hindus, Esquimaux and Australians, are but very 

 slight ; much greater among Italians, Germans, Russians, 

 and Finns ; and greatest among the Buggese and French, on 

 whose cranial forms the Frankish invaders had a considerable 

 infiuence. Broca's measurements of skulls, taken from old 

 and recent Parisian cemeteries, yielded similar results. The 

 unquestionable intermixture of the inhabitants of Paris, from 



* This remark has been made by Broca before Welcker ; Broca proposed a 

 better name, "middle-heads" (mesaticephaU), which we shall use in pre- 

 ference. 



