A CONTRIBUTION TO THE STUDY OF THE SCOTTISH SKULL. 371 



These tables enable one to see at a glance the differences between the mean values 

 of the principal dimensions of the skull as they are exhibited in the Scottish skull 

 of the present series and in Turner's Scottish series and modern advanced types, 

 Bavarian, Wiirtemberg, and French skulls and primitive types, including the Negro, 

 Australian, Tasmanian, and Aino, as well as the Naquada, the representative of an 

 ancient civilisation. I include Australian and Tasmanian for comparative purposes 

 at this stage, to show how they differ from the present Scottish series as shown by 

 the application of the ordinary methods of measurement, because at a later stage 

 I shall institute a comparison between these types and the Scottish skull by 

 other methods. 



Male Skulls. — Reviewing the above tables of measurements briefly and taking the 

 male groups first, we find that, as regards capacity, the present Scottish series only 

 differs in its mean value from the Whitechapel English series by an amount which may 

 be wholly due to different observers utilising different methods of measurement. 

 As was previously mentioned, this may account for a difference of 20 c.c, which is 

 greater than the difference between the Scottish and English mean capacities. The 

 mean cubic content value of Turner's Scottish series is practically identical with that 

 of the English Whitechapel group. The mean capacity of the two German series of 

 crania is distinctly greater, but they each consist of a group of about 100 skulls, and 

 one would like to know if, in the case of the Altbayerisch group, which was taken 

 from a much larger group, the same influence has not been operative as has made 

 itself apparent in my selection of 100, and with a like vitiation. In selecting male 

 skulls, did they not select skulls with male characters distinctly marked ? If so, 

 these are, in general, skulls with a capacity above the mean value for the whole 

 series, in fact, large skulls, and 1503*5 c.c. may not be the mean capacity if they 

 take an average of all the male skulls. The mean value for 100 male skulls, chosen 

 at random from the whole series, except that male characters were as a rule distinct, 

 gives a mean capacity of 1511'3 c.c, which compares very favourably, as previously 

 mentioned, with that given for the German Altbayerisch group. The mean capacity 

 of the French group is practically equal to that of the Whitechapel series, and differs 

 from the Scottish series by an amount which may be again due to the personal 

 equation of the measurer. The mean capacity of the Scottish skull is distinctly 

 greater than that of the Negro, Naquada, Tasmanian, and Australian, but practically 

 equal to that given for the Aino — a very primitive type. 



The absolute lengths of the various types show distinct differences. There are 

 different methods of taking this measurement : 



(a) Glabello-occipital maximum lengths. 



(/;) Ophryo-occipital maximum lengths. 



(c) Horizontal length (i.e. the distance between vertical blocks in contact with the skull in front and 

 behind when it is oriented in the Frankfurt horizontal plane). As has been pointed out by 

 Macdonnell and Fawcett, there is very little advantage to be gained by recording all these 

 measurements. 



TRANS. ROY. SOC. EDIN., VOL. LI, PART II (NO. 9). 53 



