Bibliographical Notices. 



469 



we may expect an ample portfolio from his exertions ; — Dr. Theodore 

 Vogel, a learned German botanist, will be of the party ; Mr. Ansell 

 goes out on the part of the Horticultural Society of London, and 

 Mr. Fraser on that of the Zoological. 



Dr. Parnell has again returned to Britain after a residence in Ja- 

 maica, Cuba, and others of the West Indian Islands. Ornithology 

 and Ichthyology have been chiefly attended to, and large collections 

 in both departments accompany him. In the latter above 300 spe- 

 cies have been procured, with a series of drawings recording the 

 natural colours of the specimens. Dr. Parnell has also been en- 

 trusted with all the Ichthyological manuscripts and drawings col- 

 lected by Dr. Bancroft, and altogether materials have been brought 

 home for a History of the Fishes of Jamaica. 



BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 



Crania Americana, or a comparative view of the Skulls of various Ab- 

 original Nations of North and South America, to which is prefixed 

 an Essay on the varieties of the Human Species. By S. G. Morton, 

 M.D. Folio, 78 Plates. London : Simpkin and Marshall. 



In the present state of Anthropological science, the value of a work 

 of this kind must depend more upon the accuracy of the anatomical 

 facts which it contains, than upon the opinions expressed by its au- 

 thor on the many difficult questions which are still agitated by the 

 cultivators of this interesting department of natural history. Dr. 

 Morton is aware of this, and has produced a work, in which, while 

 he has not neglected to present to his readers, in an ably written 

 introduction, an abstract of the present state of opinions as to the 

 origin of the races and the geographical distribution of man, he has at 

 the same time evidently directed his whole energy to the formation 

 of a series of chapters, containing anatomical delineations, measure- 

 ments, and descriptions of the crania of more than forty American 

 nations and tribes, ancient and modern. 



The manner in which Dr. Morton has recorded the observations which 

 he has had such ample opportunities of making, shows that he is 

 well acquainted with the exact nature of the facts necessary for the 

 further prosecution of this subject. The lithographic drawings of 

 crania are admirable ; the measurements, both of capacity and size 

 (his mode of taking which he describes), precise ; and the information 

 in reference to each variety judiciously selected. 



The author divides the pure Americans into three great classes, — 

 those which live by hunting, fishing, and agriculture. The first em- 

 braces the great proportion of the race ; the second includes a few 

 tribes in different and far-distant parts of the two continents ; the 

 third contains these nations which had made the greatest advance 

 in civilization, and whose geographical position afforded facilities 

 for agricultural pursuits. 



He considers indolence, combined with courage and fortitude, cau- 



