26 
THE VOYAGE OF H.M.S. CHALLENGER. 
mean innominate index in the males was 82 *2, in the females 90 ’7, so' that the innominate 
hone in relation to the height of the pelvis was considerably broader in the women than 
in the men. The mean iliac index in the males was 130, in the females 138, so that in 
the women the ilium was broader in relation to its length than in the men. 
The sexual characters of the female pelvis, as deduced from the examination of this series 
of pelves belonging to different races, may be summarised as follows : — The height was 
proportionally less than the breadth, the pelvic cavity was shallower, the difference 
between the vertical and transverse diameters of the obturator foramen was not so great, 
the sacrum was relatively broader, the distance between the postero-superior iliac spines 
was greater, the subpubic angle was much wider, the transverse diameter of the brim was 
greater, the pelvic inlet was more usually oval transversely, the intertuberal diameter was 
greater, the side wall of the pelvic cavity was more nearly in the vertical plane, the inferior 
sagittal diameter was greater, the os pubis formed a larger proportion of the breadth of the 
innominate bone, and both the innominate bone itself and its iliac portion were relatively 
broader in the women than in the men. To the above characters, obtained by pelvi- 
metrical methods, should be added the greater delicacy and smoothness of the bones, 
owing to the muscular ridges and processes being less strongly marked in the women than 
in the men. The constancy of these characters, with occasional individual exceptions in 
some one feature or other, in the female pelves necessarily mask in them such differences 
as may be due to race, so that the male pelvis is more suitable for the study of racial 
differences than is the female. 
2. Race Characters. 
v. 
We may, in the next place, proceed to the consideration of the race characters of 
these pelves, though, unfortunately, the number of pelves belonging to some of the races 
is so small that it is impossible to say whether the special features which they exhibit are 
racial or only individual characters. Still, the measurements record the several diameters 
which have been taken, and they may be useful to future observers, who may be more 
fortunate in obtaining a greater number of specimens, as furnishing them with additional 
material for comparison. 
The points which will more especially require attention are the breadth and height 
of the entire pelvis, the shape of the pelvic brim, the relations of its transverse and 
conjugate diameters, and the relative length and breadth of the sacrum. But reference 
will be also made to some other questions which have arisen in the course of this 
enquiry. 
