ANATOMICAL MEASUREMENTS. 249 



The great and uniform differences between these heads and those of the 

 American Indians, will be obvious to every one accustomed to make comparisons 

 of this kind, and serve as corroborative evidence of the opinion that the Eskimaux 

 are the only people possessing Asiatic characteristics on the American continent. 



ANATOMICAL MEASUREMENTS. 



These measurements are derived from one hundred and forty-seven skulls of 

 American Indians of forty dijBferent nations and tribes; and the crania are all 

 of adult persons, and unaltered by art. The table is itself sufficiently explanatory 

 for general purposes, but it is necessary to premise the manner in which the 

 measurements have been taken. 



The longitudinal diameter is measured from the most prominent part of the 

 OS frontis, between the superciliary ridges, to the extreme end of the occiput. 



The parietal diameter is measured between the most distant points of the 

 parietal bones, which are, for the most part, the protuberances of these bones. 



The frontal diameter is taken between the anterior inferior angles of the 

 parietal bones. 



The vertical diameter is measured from the fossa between the condyles of 

 the occipital bone, to the top of the skull. 



The inter-mastoid arch is measured, with a graduated tape, from the point of 

 one mastoid process to the other, over the external table of the skull. 



The inter-mastoid line is the distance, in a straight line, between the points 

 of the mastoid processes. 



The occipitO'frontal arch is measured by a tape over the surface of the 

 cranium, from the posterior margin of the foramen magnum to the suture which 

 connects the os frontis with the bones of the nose. 



The horizontal periphery is measured by passing a tape around the cranium 

 so as to touch the os frontis immediately above the superciliary ridges, and the 

 most prominent part of the occipital bone. 



The length of the head and face is measured from the margin of the upper 

 jaw, to the most distant point of the occiput, 

 63 



