OPINION OF DR. MORTON. 281 



nia Americana," which is acknowledged, in the an- 

 nual address of the president of the Royal Geo- 

 graphical Society of London, as " a welcome offer- 

 ing to the lovers of comparative physiology," this 

 gentleman, in a communication on that subject, for 

 which I here acknowledge my obligations, says that 

 this skeleton, dilapidated as it is, has afforded him 

 some valuable facts, and has been a subject of some 

 interesting reflections. 



The purport of his opinion is as follows : In the 

 first place, the needle did not deceive the Indian 

 who picked it up in the grave. The bones are 

 those of a female. Her height did not exceed five 

 feet three or four inches. The teeth are perfect, 

 and not appreciably worn, while the epiphyses, 

 those infallible indications of the growing state, 

 have just become consolidated, and mark the com- 

 pletion of adult age. 



The bones of the hands and feet are remarkably 

 small and delicately proportioned, which observa- 

 tion applies also to the entire skeleton. The skull 

 was crushed into many pieces, but, by a cautious 

 manipulation, Doctor Morton succeeded in recon- 

 structing the posterior and lateral portions. The 

 occiput is remarkably flat and vertical, while the lat- 

 eral or parietal diameter measures no less than five 

 inches and eight tenths. 



A chemical examination of some fragments of the 

 bones proves them to be almost destitute of animal 



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