REPOET ON THE HUMAN CRANIA. 
49 
skulls from Adelaide in the Barnard Davis collection, whilst three had the vertical index less 
than the cephalic, in the fourth the height was greater than the breadth ; of the two 
skulls from the same burial-ground near Port Augusta, in the Museum of the College of 
Surgeons, one had its vertical index less, the other greater than the cephalic ; of the four 
skulls from Port Fairy in the same Museum, three had the vertical index less, the fourth 
greater than the cephalic. 
The strongly projecting supraciliary ridges and glabella, which have also been 
described as characteristic features in the dolicho-platycephalic crania, are by no means 
confined to them. The skulls of the Milang and Coorong tribes, markedly dolicho- 
platycephalic, have undoubtedly massive ridges in the supra-orbital and supra-nasal 
regions, but other Australian skulls, in which the height considerably exceeded the 
greatest breadth, possessed this character in as great, if not a greater degree. Of the 
skulls which I have myself examined, the Riverina, Eucla, and Wannon River crania may 
be again referred to as exhibiting this character in a remarkable manner. The Riverina 
skull is probably one of the most massive in this region in any collection of Australian 
skulls, and yet, as may be seen in Table III., its height exceeded its greatest breadth 
by 14 mm. The dolicho-platycephalic cranium is not necessarily associated with great 
gnathic projection, for although in the skulls of the Coorong and Lake Alexandrina. 
tribes, and in one from New South Wales (No. 67), the gnathic index was 103 or 
upwards, yet in another dolicho-platycephalic cranium from New South Wales (No. 1), 
and in two from Gipps Land, this index was below 100. Again, in Australian crania the 
height of which distinctly exceeded the breadth, as in a Queensland, the Riverina and 
Roebuck Bay specimens, a high gnathic index was found, that of the last named skull being 
108. Neither does there seem to be any definite relation between dolicho-platycephalism 
and the nasal index, for although the Coorong, Lake Alexandrina, and Milang skulls, all 
from tribes in close proximity to each other, were distinctly platyrhine, the index of the 
Perth skull was 50, and in one of the Gipps Land specimens only 49, although in the 
other it was 56. On the other hand, amongst non-dolicho-platy cephalic crania, as 
in a Queensland, the Riverina and Benalla specimens, the platyrhine index rose to 60. 
As regards such physical characters as can be determined by an examination of the 
external form and general appearance of the natives, there does not appear to be any very 
definite evidence of the co-existence of two distinct races. In corroboration of the 
statement of Mr. Brough Smyth already quoted (p. 44), I may also refer to a short article 
on the Aborigines of South Australia by Mr. J. D. Woods, 1 in which he says that the 
same description will apply to the natives all around the coast-line. This probable homo- 
geneousness of race is also borne out by a general uniformity of customs, laws, and weapons. 
So little is known of the Roebuck Bay natives, where Dr. Martin considered important 
differences to exist between the coast and interior tribes, that no definite opinion of the 
1 Trans, and Pros, of Phil. Soc. of Adelaide, South Australia, p. 81, 1878-9. 
(ZOOL. CHALL. EXP. — PART XXIX. 1884.) Ff 7 
