438 



JOURNAL, R.A.8. (CEYLON). 



[Vol. IX, 



Until of late only a single skull of a Tamil or Malabar was 

 known in Europe. This I found in the collection of Mr. B. 

 Davis. Besides this there was in the same collection the skull 

 of a hybrid of Malabar and Sinhalese (No. 316). Through the 

 kindness of Mr. Freiidenberg, Consul, I have received three 

 Tamil skulls, unfortunately all without the lower jaw, and with 

 these a child's skull, marked Sinhalese, which I have already 

 described, and of which I entertain the suspicion that it 

 belongs to the group of Dravidas. Properly speaking, we have 

 accordingly only four specimens, in a broader sense we may 

 say six. The first four are recognisable as male, the two 

 last have so slight sexual characteristics that their distinction 

 is doubtful. 



The following is a detailed description of the skulls which 

 are at present in my possession. 



Skull No. 1. 



A still youthful, apparently male skull, without lower 

 jaw, in which all the teeth are erupted, but so far as they 

 are present (the incisors, the right cuspids, and three bicus- 

 pids are wanting) are very little worn off ; the synchondrosis 

 syheno occipitalis is closed. Capacity small (1,155 cub. cm.), 

 ratio of length to breadth (72) decidedly dolichocephalic, 

 ratio of length to height (79*4) quite as certainly hypsicephalic. 



Looked at from above the skull seems somewhat unsym- 

 metrical, especially the left parietal eminence, which is 

 lower and flatter. On the contrary, the left half of the 

 squama occipitalis is higher and fuller, the right flattened 

 laterally, the lambdoidal angle very irregular, the right leg 

 falling down abruptly close to the continuation of the sagittal 

 suture ; the left, on the contrary, extending almost horizontally. 

 The latter, moreover, contains in its lower part, near the side 

 fontanelle, long ossa wormiana. The shape of the skull is 

 decidedly long, mainly owing to the very narrow prominent 

 occipital portion. In front, up to the tubera parietalia, 



* Barnard Davis. Th.es. Cran., p. 134. 



