362 LECTURE XII. 



a liuman skeleton was found, with a very small, thick, and round 

 skull, which, from the measurements of a M. Montague, is 

 said to have presented the type of a Lrachycephalic Mongol 

 skull. I have, unfortunately, been unable to learn anything of 

 the fate of this skull, and as far as I know, my colleagues His 

 and Riitimeyer are equally in the dark on this subject. 



Pruner-Bey lately published in the bulletins of the Paris 

 Anthropological Society some details concerning this skull, 

 apparently in his possession, which I must notice here. 



" The skull," says Pruner-Bey, "measures 129 millimeters in 

 length, the thickest part of the roof measuring 12 milHmeters 

 in diameter ; the forehead is absent, it flies off behind the 

 orbital arches, which are much developed, as in the ape. As 

 the superior orbital ridge is quite straight, we may conclude 

 that the external angle of the eyelids was drawn up as in the 

 Chinese. Orbits very wide ; frontal bones very narrow ; nasal 

 bones projecting ; superior jaw dra^vn forward ; surface of the 

 molars flattened by wear ; large and wide foramen magnum 

 placed much forward ; flattened articular head ; auditory 

 meatus of fair diameter ; nasal fossae very thick ; occipital 

 squama rounded with very projecting ridges for the attachment 

 of muscles ; cerebellar cavities very broad and deep. 



" Remark. Sight and smell seem to have been power- 

 fully developed in this individual ; and if the cerebellum be 

 connected with muscular activity, he must have been very 

 nimble. 



" This shortheaded type is even at present found among the 

 populations inhabiting the banks of the Lake of Geneva and 

 the Rhone, and Von Baer found it very prevalent among the 

 population of the Grisons. There we come to ancient Ehsetia, 

 which leads by the gorges and southern declivities of the Alps 

 down to Etruria." 



I have cited this note in order to show how little science is 

 served by such descriptions. There is, in fact, here not a 

 single character applicable in any way to those Helvetian 

 skulls known to us as decided types of brachycephaly. Unless 

 there be a misprint in the longitudinal measure, the skuU 

 measured by Pruner-Bey must be that of an idiot or a child. 



