Eveline Y. Thomson 
103 
6. Study of the Moriori Type Contours. The purposes served by these contours 
are (i) the comparison with the Hke contours of other races, and (ii) their use as a 
method for actually determining the mean values of certain characters. We shall 
consider them from both aspects. 
For the first purpose the sole available material consists in the contours for 
Bantu, Egyptian (XXVI — XXX Dyn.), English, Eskimo and Guanche crania 
drawn to scale and published with tracings in Crewdson Benington's paper*. 
Some attempts to obtain type contours by other processes are either based on 
inadequate numbers, are deduced from far too few plotted points by an unsuitable 
method, or are reproduced to no standard, or at any rate to no easily comparable 
scale. For a type contour to be really valuable it should be drawn to full-size and 
published not only on ordinary but also on transparent paper. It is only in this 
form that it can be of real value for comparative purposes. Further the contour 
in the case of the sagittal section should contain the basal triangle and the occipital 
region. These were included in Dr Benington's individual contours, but un- 
fortunately he omitted to add their mean values to his type contour. We have 
included them in the Moriori contours. 
Starting with the transverse section, we note that the length of the inter- 
auricular line is relatively large as compared with the Bantu or Egyptian crania; 
it is more nearly approached by those of the Guanche or 17th century English, 
which, however, still fall short of it. The Eskimo transverse section, with a some- 
what larger interauricular diameter, has near the "apex" a more marked sagittal 
crest ; this crest so marked in the Moriori crania is, however, thrown as a rule further 
back in their case. If we consider a primitive form like the Cro-Magnon which 
has an interauricular length nearly as large as the Moriori type skull, its auricular 
height is so great that the Moriori transverse section falls entirely inside it. The 
following table suggests the nature of these results, and confirms the conclusion 
Measurements on the Transverse Type Section^, Ss. 
Race 
Interauricular Length 
Auricular Height 
Index 
Moriori 
125-2 
109-5 
87-5 
Eskimo 
128-0 
114-2 
89-2 
English 
122-4 
111-5 
91-1 
Guanche 
119-6 
109-8 
91-8 
Egyptian 
117-4 
110-2 
93-9 
Congo, Bantu J 
116-8 
113-6 
97-3 
Cro-Magnon... 
124-0 
121-0 
97-6 
* Biometrika, Vol. viii. p. 123. 
•f These measurements are from the type sections; it must be carefully borne in mind that they 
may differ from measurements of the same name on the crania themselves. 
{ Fernand Vaz, 1864 Series. 
