4' 
the kiadness of Dr. George Williamson, the author, I have since receiv ed a copy 
of this catalogue, containing valuable photographs of many of the skulls. 
The skulls embraced in the Chatham collection number about 600, and are 
arranged in 4 classes; 1st, oval-shaped skulls, including Europeans, Egyptians, 
Afghans, Hindoos, Singalese, New Zealanders, Otaheitans, &c. ; 2d, skulls with 
projecting alveolar processes, or with the nasal bones in the same plane, com- 
prising West African Negroes, Kafiirs, Hottentots, Bushmen, inhabitants of 
Mozambique and Madagascar, and the black natives of Mauritius, New South 
Wales and Van Diemen's-land ; 3d, skulls with very prominent superciliary 
ridges, containing Sandwich Islanders, and 4th, skulls with broad and flat face, 
including Burmese, Malays, Chinese, Eskimos and North American Indians 
The collection appears to be quite diversified. It contains specimens of about 
70 different tribes and nations. Among these are many not represented in the 
Academy's collection : such as Albanians, Maltese, Spanish, Baluchi, Pariahs 
and Singalese among the oval-headed; and Mandingos, Jololfs, Timmanni, 
Sossoos, Kassos, Hausas, Hanti, Attans or Oppas, Pappas or Mahais, Barconkas, 
Ashantis and others of the prognathous African form. 
Dr. Williamson's Catalogue is a very acceptable addition, not only to the 
literature of Craniography, but also to the means by which this science might 
be advanced. It contains short but important descriptions of 547 crania, and 
7 skeletons of different races of men, with extensive measurements of the same. 
The appendix embraces a number of anatomical measurements, estimates of 
the internal capacity, and a valuable table shoAving the relative frequency with 
which the ossa triquetra or Wormian bones appear in the occipital suture in 
the different varieties of men ; the number of instances in which the sphenoid 
is cut off from the parietal bone by a process of the temporal ; the number of 
instances in which the lachrymal groove is formed entirely on the nasal process 
of the superior maxillary bone ; the frequency of a suture in the centre of the 
frontal bone ; and the size of the occipital foramen in the various races. The 
author also calls attention to the difference in the form of the anterior nasal 
openings in different classes of skulls, and illustrates his remarks with a num- 
ber of outline engravings. 
Of the present location and condition of the collections made by the earlier 
craniologists — those industrious pioneers of the science — I know nothing. 
Soemmering, writing in 1785, speaks of having examined the collections of 
Camper at Klein-hankum ; of Hovius at Amsterdam ; of Walter at Berlin ; and 
of Blumenbach at Gottingen, ( Ueber die Korperliche Verschiedenheit des Negers 
com Europcier.) In the course of my reading, I have often found allusion 
to the cranial cabinets of Eau, (mentioned in Sandifort's Museum Anato- 
micam,) Albinus, Gualtherus van Doeveren, Munro, Kokilansky of Vienna and 
many others. Derwent Conway, in a work on Switzerland, published in 1830, 
says that "at the site of the cemetery of Zug is a Golgotha, where are thou- 
sands of skulls piled upon one another." Of Gall's famous collection, a cata- 
logue, translated from the French of Dr. Dauncey, his pupil and friend, appeared 
some years ago, in the 6th Vol. of the Edinburgh Phrenological Journal and Mis- 
cellany. In 1824 or 5 Mad. Becker, the niece of Gall's first wife, presented a 
portion of this collection to Dr. Roulett of Baden, near Vienna. Vimont's col- 
lection, in 1828, amounted to more than 1200 skulls and casts of man and ani- 
mals. The celebrated Deville collection, at the Strand, in London, numbered 
in 1830, more than 1800 casts and skulls. The Hunterian Museum, according 
to Prof. Owen's Catalogue published in 1853, contains a number of human crania. 
Judging from the numerous donations recorded, from time to time, in the differeat 
volumes of the Edinburgh Phrenological Journal, the Museum of the Society 
of that name must contain quite a large cranial collection. The collection of 
the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland was catalogued by Prof. D. Wilson, while 
acting as Secretary of that Society. Twenty-five years ago, when Phrenology 
was exciting so much attention, numerous Phrenological Societies were founded 
in various parts of Great Britain. Busts, casts and skulls of men and animals 
