"No. 33. — 1886.] the veddAs of cbylon. 



473 



from the Vedda, is the Sinhalese ; with the latter the palatal 

 plate is unusually long, and at the same time of considerable 

 breadth, so that it is very large, but the tooth-curve does not 

 form, as with the other two, a more symmetrical curve, but 

 the side parts stretch out in a pretty straight line parallel to 

 one another, whilst the region of the incisors forms a broader, 

 natter curve, jutting out in front. The relatively large share 

 which the os palatinum has in the formation of the palatal 

 plate with the Sinhalese has been already pointed out. It 

 may be further mentioned that the teeth in the Sinhalese are 

 most largely developed, and that especially the first molars 

 have unusually large crowns. In the Tamils the alveoli of 

 the cutting and canine teeth are very large, so also the first 

 molar, which by far exceeds the rest in size. 



The facts given in respect to three of the most important 

 regions of the skeleton face may suffice to show what great 

 difficulties are encountered in attempting to fathom the 

 degree of affinity existing between these three tribes. If we 

 take, as usual, the indices as guides, we gain for each region 

 another combination. Most closely related are : — 



(1) according to the orbital index, the Yedda and the 



Tamil ; 



(2) according to the nasal index, the Tamil and the 



Sinhalese ; 



(3) according to the palatal index, the Sinhalese and the 



Vedda. 



We must not forget, however, that here only one individual 

 is taken from each tribe, and that the examinations I have 

 cited prove that the individual selected by no means corres- 

 ponded in every single particular to the average of his tribe. 

 Thus the Tamil is platyrrhine, whilst the Tamil average was 

 found to be mesorrhine. If this average corresponds to the 

 typical tribal conditions, then the Tamil nose stands at least 

 as near to the Vedda nose as to the Sinhalese. And yet, as I 

 have shown at some length, it is distinguished in all other 

 respects as well from the Yedda as from the Sinhalese nose. 



