CRANIA FROM THE MOUNDS OF FLORIDA. 407 



is seen in Assinaboine, No. 659. It starts at the bregma and is the result of hyper- 

 ostosis of the interfrontal suture due to exceptional conditions at the anterior 

 fontanelle. and is thus widely separated from typical metopism. In a second group 

 of variations small, flat nodules are seen scattered along the line of the old inter- 

 frontal suture, or a ridge may occupy the median line of the forehead in the middle 

 third, as in No. 1,030, Tchutchi. 1 These may be of the same character as metopism 

 so far as the primal character of the defect is concerned ; but exact information is 

 lacking on the subject. A second feature of interest relates to the proportion of 

 cranial height to length. The low vertex is notable in all three of the metopic crania. 



The frontal bone as it joins the nasal is often the seat of minute transverse, 

 fissure-like lines which su2,a-est that the interfrontal suture has closed under condi- 

 tions different from those in any other part of the skull. A good example is seen 

 in Tahitian. No. 1.021. 



It is impossible to disassociate the ethmoid bone from an active participation 

 in the etiology of metopism. The marked abnormality in the orbital aspects, the 

 irregularity in the lachrymal bones, the wide intervals between the orbits are 

 evidences pointing to this end. The inflated middle turbinals in the Lenni Lenape 

 skull (female) is of no significance, since they are commonly present in the 

 skulls of women. 



In all the crania the occiput was of uniform curvature with the sagittal suture ; 

 except in No. 1,781, in which specimen the occiput slightly projected from the 

 lambda, and in this respect showed itself to be kin with the other specimens. The 

 Arickaree and Lenape skulls were alike ; both of these skulls were from female 

 subjects. The Seminole resembled the foregoing in the general shape of the head, 

 but was more like Floridian, No. 1,781, in the height of the alveolus, the degree 

 of depth of the hard palate, divergence of the dental arches and the bizygomatic 

 diameter. In Arickaree and Lenape the average was 130 mm. ; in Seminole and 

 Floridian, No. 1,781, it was 142 mm. The interorbital space was in like manner 23 

 mm. to 26 mm.; the malar height 40 mm. to 49 mm. Other contrasted measure- 

 ments suggested themselves, but they may be simply due to sexual peculiarities. 



1 The so-called Pithecanthropus erectus Dubois, exhibits this elevation in a marked degree. 

 51 JOUKX A. X. S. PHILA., VOL. X. 



