430 SUPPOSED PREVALENCE OF ONE CRANIAL TYPE 



of four Esquimaux skulls, familiar to me, if I mistake not, in the 

 collection of the Edinburgh Phrenological Society. In commenting 

 on the views and measurements of these, he remarks : " The great 

 and uniform differences between these heads and those of the Ameri- 

 can Indians will be obvious to every one accustomed to make com- 

 parisons of this kind, and serve as corroborative evidence of the 

 opinion that the Esquimaux are the only people possessing Asiatic 

 characteristics on the American continent." In some respects this 

 is undoubtedly true ; the prognathous form of the superior maxilla, 

 and the very small development of the nasal bones, especially con- 

 trast with well known characteristics of the American aborigines. 

 But having had some little familiarity in making comparisons of this 

 kind, it appears to me, notwithstanding these distinctive points, that 

 an impartial observer might be quite as likely to assign even some of 

 the examples of Iroquois and other northern tribes figured in the 

 Crania Americana, to an Esquimaux, as to a Peruvian, Mexican, or 

 Mound-Builder type. Compare, for example, the vertical and occi- 

 pital diagrams, furnished by Dr. Morton, of the Esquimaux crania 

 (p. 248) with those of the Iroquois and Hurons (pp. 192-194). 

 Both are elongated, pyramidal, and with a tendency towards a conoid 

 rather than a flattened or vertical occipital form ; and when placed 

 alongside of the most markedly typical Mexican or Peruvian heads, 

 the one differs little less widely from these than the other. The 

 elements of contrast between the Hurons and Esquimaux are mainly 

 traceable in the bones of the face : physiognomical, but not cerebral. 



Taking once more their cranial measurements as a means of com" 

 parison ; these, when placed alongside each other, equally bear out 

 the conclusions already affirmed. Eor comparison, I select, in addi- 

 tion to the Scioto Valley Mound-Builder, the following, as those 

 pointed out by Dr. Morton's own descriptions as among the most 

 characteristic he has figured : Plate XL Peruvian from the Temple 

 of the Sun : " a strikingly characteristic Peruvian Head." Plate 

 XI, C. " Here again the parietal and longitudinal diameter are 

 nearly equal. The posterior and lateral swell of this cranium are very 

 remarkable, and the vertex has the characteristic prominence." Of 

 the Mexican skulls Dr. Morton remarks, of Plate XVII : " with a 

 better forehead than is usual, this skull presents all the prominent 

 characteristics of the American race, — the prominent face, elevated 

 vertex, vertical occiput, and the great swell from the temporal bones 

 upward ;" and of Plate XVIII : " a remarkably well characterised 

 Toltecan head, from an ancient tomb near the city of Mexico." 



