44c Canadian Arctic Expedition, 1913-18 



that the alveolar index varies greatly in the Eskimo race, for riower(") records 

 a male skull with an index as high as 107, and another as low as 94. This observer 

 gave the Eskimo average (for 24 unsexed skulls) as 100-6, thus placing the race 

 in the mesognathous group. It may prove of interest to note further that 

 Flower(") found the average Mongolian index (for 17 Chinese skulls) to be 99, 

 which approximated closely to the Eskimo average. For purposes of comparison 

 it is worthy of mention that the Anglo-Saxon average index as given by Flower, 

 is95-6.(") 



The Nasal Index 



The narrowness of the anterior nasal aperture of the Eskimo skull is one of 

 its most salient features, the width in the present series varying from 20 to 27 

 mm. in the female crania and from 20 to 26 mm. in the male crania. As a result 

 the nasal index is usually low, the maximum and minimum being 52-9 and 36-4 

 for the female skulls , and 47 • 2 and 35 • 9 in the male series. The female cranium 

 that recorded the index of 52 • 9 must be regarded as most exceptional, as no other 

 skull exhibited an index higher than 47. Even then, the average for the whole 

 series was practically the same as that given by Flower for the Eskimo collection 

 in the R. C. S. Museum, viz., 43 • 7. The crania were thus leptorrhine, and made 

 a striking comparison with a Melanesian skull, where this index was found by 

 the writer(*) to be 54-9, indicating, of course, that the nasal aperture of the skull 

 was comparatively wide in the negro races. It is also interesting to compare the 

 nasal index of the present specimens with that of the Mongolian (Chinese) type 

 of skull, the average index for which was given by Flower(^'^) as 49-8. It is, 

 therefore, evident that if the Eskimo did possess a Mongolian ancestry, then he 

 has developed during the ages a very specialized form of nasal aperture. This 

 is probably a provision of nature for a special type of respiration, associated with 

 the inhalation of air reduced to a very low temperature. The converse certainly 

 seems to be true, for the natural habitat of the negro, with his much widened 

 cranial nasal aperture, is in a warm climate. It would thus prove an interesting 

 investigation to ascertain whether his migration to more temperate zones is 

 appreciably affecting his nasal width. Perhaps it is worthy of mention that 

 the average nasal index for the Anglo-Saxon race is 46, which is comparatively 

 low, the suggestive comment in this case being, that the race has become habitu- 

 ated to a climate which is bleak and cold at certain seasons of the year, not only 

 in the British Isles, but also in our Canadian latitudes. 



The Nasion-Prosthion Height Index 



This is a new index which has suggested itself to the writer. He can cer- 

 tainly find no reference to its previous use by anthropologists. The idea involved 

 in its application is to compare the nasal width with the nasion-prosthion height. 

 Of course, it could not possibly displace the very trustworthy nasal index, but 

 it might be utilized as a supplement to the latter, which it follows more or less 

 consistently. Thus the minimum and maximum for the male skulls were 22-4 

 and 36 • 2, with an average of 29 ■ 4, and for the female skulls 26 ■ 5 and 38-7, with 

 an average of 31-2. 



The Orbital Index 



This has been found to be a rather variable and uncertain ind,ex throughout 

 modern Hominidae, but it may be noted that the unsatisfactory results yielded 

 by it are due, in some measure at least, to the circumstances that the important 

 factors of age and sex were not excluded in the investigations. There can be na 

 doubt that the orbital contour is different in early life from what it is in the 



