92 LECTUEE in. 



gree of their intellectual capacity and civilisation. Our table, 

 no doubt, is very imperfect and incomplete, for it neither ex- 

 hibits the sex and age, nor the stature of the populations, the 

 measurement of whose skulls is given. Still it is an index, 

 and an important one, showing at the first glance that such in- 

 vestigations form a basis for the superstructure of a scientific 

 natural history of man. 



I must not omit to draw your attention to a point worthy of 

 particular notice. According to Aitken Meigs' measurements, 

 the cranial capacity of Negroes born in Africa is considerably 

 more than that of the American slaves. Is this the effect of 

 that cursed institution which degrades men to the condition of 

 chattel, and deprives them of that liberty which alone can lead 

 to a higher development ? As slavery exercises an equally in- 

 jurious influence on the master, it might perhaps be possible, 

 by a comparative examination, to show a similar relation as re- 

 gards the cranial capacity of the inhabitants of the free and 

 of the slave states of North America. The recent tremendous 

 butcheries may afford abundant materials for such investiga- 

 tions. Let the materials, then, be made use of before they 

 find their way into the bone mills and manufactories of artificial 

 manure. 



