CRANTOLOGY OF THE PEOPLE OF SCOTLAND. 593 



to sex ; and though in the great majority I have succeeded in distinguishing the skulls 

 of the men from those of the women, it is not unlikely that, like other craniologists, I 

 have had to deal with a few specimens in which the sex characters were wanting in 

 precision, and consequently a skull may' possibly have been ascribed to the wrong sex. 

 If we grant that this has occurred in a small minority, yet from the numerous 

 specimens at my disposal, in which the sex could confidently be stated, the general 

 conclusions cannot have been materially affected. 



I propose, in the first instance, to analyse the dimensions, proportions, and form of the 

 cranial box, and afterwards to consider those of the face. 



The Cranial Box. 



The shape of the cranium, from its influence on the form of the head and from its 

 association with the brain contained in its cavity, has attracted attention from the 

 earliest periods of craniological research. Since the time of Anders Retzius 

 the relations of the length to the breadth and the grouping of skulls into those 

 in which the cranium is relatively narrow and elongated, and those in which it is 

 more rounded in form, have been regarded as of great importance in the recognition 

 of racial distinctions. According to modern methods the character of the cranium 

 can be determined by combining observations on its shape with exact measurements. 

 The measurements are taken with callipers in straight lines between certain definite 

 points, in order to determine the length, breadth, and height of the exterior of the box ; 

 with a graduated tape over the curved walls of the outer table so as to determine its 

 arcs and circumferences, and with shot to estimate its internal capacity. The points of 

 measurement in the straight lines are indicated by the terms employed in the Tables. 

 The measurements of the curved surfaces, whilst agreeing with the methods pursued in 

 my memoirs in the Challenger Reports * and in my two memoirs on Indian crania f in 

 regard to the horizontal circumference, the vertical transverse arc, and the frontal, 

 parietal, occipital, and total longitudinal arcs, have in this memoir been somewhat 

 amplified so as to yield a vertical transverse circumference and a total longitudinal 

 circumference, dimensions which for the first time are definitely stated in my Tables. 

 The vertical transverse circumference is obtained by measuring with callipers a basal 

 transverse diameter between opposite supra-auricular points, and adding this to the 

 vertical transverse arc. The data for obtaining a total longitudinal circumference 

 existed in the Tables in my previous memoirs, and consisted of the total longitudinal 

 arc, the antero-posterior diameter of the foramen magnum, and the basi-nasal diameter ; 

 in this memoir the respective measurements have been added together and stated 

 collectively in the Tables. The capacity of the cranial cavity has been taken by the 

 method described in my Challenger Report, 1884, and the additional experience of its 



* Zoology, part xxix., 1884, and part xlvii., 1886. 



t Trans, Boy. Soc. Edin,, part i., 1899 ; part ii., 1901. 



