52 
THE VOYAGE OF H.M.S. CHALLENGER. 
J. G. Garson of four male Yaligans from Tierra del Fuego gave a mean sacral length 
103‘2 mm., and a mean sacral breadth 112*2 mm., the mean sacral index being 109, and 
in each specimen this index was above 100. In the South American Indians, therefore, 
I have little doubt that the mean breadth of the sacrum exceeds the mean length, so 
that the aborigines both in the north and south of that continent, as well as the 
Fuegian Islanders, are platyhieric. 
From this analysis of my own measurements and of those of other anatomists it is 
clear that the proportion of the length to the breadth of the sacrum varies in different 
races of mankind. In some it is the rule to find it longer than broad, in others broader 
than long. Although additional observations are still greatly needed, especially on some 
of the races, yet it seems possible to make a provisional arrangement of the races of men 
into two groups, according as the sacral index is below or above 100, and in Table IX., 
as in the preceding one based on the index of the pelvic brim, the proportions are 
estimated on the measurements in the male sex. 
A comparison of Table VIII., framed on the index of the pelvic brim (p. 45), with 
Table IX. will show that in many instances a dolichopellic brim is conjoined with a 
dolicliohieric sacrum. For example, this is the case in the Australians, Bushmen, Kaffirs, 
Andaman Islanders, Ainos, and Malays. Again, a platypellic brim is conjoined with a 
platyhieric sacrum, as in the Europeans, American Indians, and probably the Guanches, 
Lapps, and the Esquimaux. The pelves which I have arranged in the mesatipellic, or 
Table IX. 
Dolichohieric. 
Sacral Index below 100. 
Platyhieric. 
Sacral Index above 100. 
Australians 
Europeans * ’ 
Bushmen 
Negros 
Hottentots 
Melanesians 1 
Kaffirs 
Polynesians 1 
Andaman Islanders 
Hindoos 
Tasmanians 
Guanches 1 
Malays 
Esquimaux 1 
Chinese 1 
Lapps l 
Aino ? 
North American Indians 
South American Indians 
... 
Fuegians 
intermediate division, partly belong, as regards the proportions of the sacrum, as in the 
Negros, to the platyhieric group, and partly, as in the Tasmanians, to the dolichohieric 
group. As the width of the pelvic brim is materially influenced by the breadth of the 
