of Edinburgh, Session 1885 - 86 . 
623 
following, it being understood that the terms used are intended 
simply to indicate roughly the directions of the measurements : — 
Pastaza. 
Jivaro. 
Alveolo-condylian plane (Broca), 
3f inches 
4|- inches 
Vertical, or basilo-bregmatic diameter (Broca), . 
Glabello-lambdoidean plane, or antero-posterior 
3i j, 
3-f jj 
diameter, ..... 
3 „ 
4 
Parietal diameter, .... 
2f ,, 
04 
2-g- ,, 
Nares, ...... 
5 
"S' 9:9 
6 
8 >> 
Hair, ...... 
21 „ 
20 ,, 
In the Pastaza specimen the septum of the nose and the eyebrows 
are awanting — the former evidently by injury after the head was 
prepared. In the Jivaro specimen the integument, at a point 
answering to about the middle of the coronal suture, has been 
squeezed together as if between the forefinger and thumb, thereby 
increasing the height of the forehead. In the other the compression 
is in the skin which covered the spot where the coronal and tem- 
poral sutures meet, thereby giving an aspect of greater breadth to 
the brow. The ears of the Pastaza specimen are smaller than those 
of the Jivaro, and in the ear lobes of both are holes, which show 
that large ear ornaments had been worn. The hair of both is 
thick, strong, tending to lanky, and of a glossy, deep black colour. 
Both have an exaggerated prognathous appearance. Does the dif- 
ference of colour point to a tribal difference $ 
Artificial deformation of the head has long been noticed by 
ethnologists. It is widespread. Anciently it was not unknown 
in Europe, and it can now be traced in Polynesia, Asia, Africa, 
and both Americas. It was the expression of conventional ideas 
of beauty, as among the ancient Peruvians, and also among the 
still extant tribe of Elat-heads in North America ; while, as regards 
the cutis, it is also met with among the Maories of New Zealand. 
It is practised on the dead as a mark of devotion to the memory 
of relatives among the Andaman Islanders; and, as a proof of 
success in war among the Dyaks of Borneo, the Jivaros and 
Pastaza’s of Ecuador, and the Mundurucds of the Upper Amazon — 
facts which raise questions of much importance to ethnology, as 
bearing on the geographical distribution of tribes, and the import 
of the existence of identical customs and superstitions among 
nations far remote from each other. It is also worthy of notice 
