REPORT 0:N the BONES OF THE HUMAN SKELETON. 
83 
infraspinous length, by the following formula : breadth x 100 — ^ ^ rpj^^ product 
iniraspmous length 
obtained is the infraspinous index of the scapula. M. Livon and Messrs. Flower and 
Garson have, in their inquiry into the scapular and infraspinous indices, adopted 
Broca's measurements. 
As these measurements, with the indices derived from them, give the relations both 
of the entire length of the scapula and of its infraspinous length to the breadth of that 
bone, and thus fix certain important proportions, I have also employed them in this 
investigation. As Broca has shown, the scapular index is at its minimum in bipeds and 
at its maximum in quadrupeds, for whilst the length of the scapula exceeds the breadth in 
man, the reverse is the case in quadrupeds. An increase, therefore, of the scapular 
index in the human bone is an indication of a form of scapula more closely approaching 
to the ordinary mammalian type than when the index is low. The relation of the 
infraspinous index to the scapular index will vary with the variations in the relative 
length of the supra- (prse-) and infra- (post-) spinous fossae. When the supraspinous fossa 
has a relatively great length to the infraspinous, then the infraspinous index is high, 
which is the normal mammalian proportion, but when the infraspinous index is low, as in 
the human scapula, then the infraspinous fossa dominates over the supraspinous. 
Europeans. — 'The mean length of fourteen adult scapulae of Frenchmen, measured by 
M. Broca, w^as 160 "5 mm., the mean breadth was 105*7 mm., and the mean infraspinous 
length was 120*5 mm. M. Livon's measurements of S3venty-three Frenchmen yielded 
a mean length of 168 mm., a mean breadth of 105*9, and a mean infraspinous length of 
124*3 mm. ; whilst in fifty-one Frenchwomen the corresponding dimensions were 135, 
91*1 and 102*5. Messrs. Flower and Garson's measurements of 200 European scapulae give 
the mean length 155*5 mm., mean breadth 101*4 mm., and mean infraspinous length 
113*6 mm. These dimensions are smaller than those obtained by M. Broca, which is to be 
accounted for by their series containing a proportion of female scapulae. In Broca's 
Frenchmen the mean scapular index was 65*9, and the mean infraspinous index was 
87*7. The mean scapular index in M. Livon's Frenchmen was 63, and the mean infra- 
spinous index was 85*4, whilst in the Frenchwomen the mean scapular index was 67*4, 
and the mean infraspinous index was 88*8, so that in women the scapula is broader in 
proportion to its length than in men. In Flower and Garson's Europeans of both sexes 
the mean scapular index was 65*2 and the mean infraspinous index was 89*4. 
Australians. — I have examined twelve scapulae belonging to six male skeletons. The 
maximum length of this bone was in the Queensland skeleton 168 mm., and the minimum 
in the West Australian from Perth 138 mm. In only one skeleton, that from Swan 
Hill, was the length of the right and left bones the same, and in the Perth skeleton they 
varied as much as 7 mm. The maximum breadth was,'^in the right scapula of the 
Riverina skeleton, 109 mm., and the minimum in the scapulae of the Manly Cove 
