MAN. 
a Negro, would be able to distinguisli the 
crania of these two races of mankind by 
the mere touch. Nor could you persuade 
any person, however ignorant of tlie sub- 
ject, that either of these skulls belonged to 
a head, similar to those fiom which the 
divine examples of ancient Grecian sculp- 
ture were copied. Tims )mich is clear and 
undeniable, as to the general habit and 
appearance of the skull. A more careful 
anatomical investigation of genuine speci- 
mens of the crania of difi’erent nations, will 
throw still further light on the subject of 
the varieties of the human race. Such a 
comparison will shew' us that the form of 
the cranium differs no less than the colour 
of the skin, or other characters, in ditferent 
individuals ; and that one kijid of structure 
runs by gentle and almost inobservable 
gradations into another; yet that there is 
on the whole an undeniable, nay, a very 
remarkable constancy of character, in the 
crania of different nations, contributing 
very essentially to national peculiarities of 
form, and corresponding exactly to the 
features, which characterise such nations. 
Hence, anatomists have attempted to lay 
down some scale of dimensions, to which 
the various forms of the skull might be 
referred ; and by means of which tliey 
might be reduced into certain classes. Of 
these, the facial line of Camper claims the 
most attention ; its application is explained 
in the article on Comparative Anatomy. 
Considered in a general view, this is objec- 
tionable, as it only indicates the differences 
in the projection of the jaws. Blumenbach 
states that the most important points, those 
especially which contribute to the compari- 
son of national characteristics, can be most 
completely observed by placing the diffe- 
rent crania, with the "Zygomas in the same 
perpendicular line, on a table in a row, and 
contemplating them from behind. This 
method he calls the norma verticalis : and 
illustrates by means of three heads. Tlie 
middle of the three, distinguished by the 
beauty and symmetry of all its parts, is that 
of a Georgian female ; the two outer ones 
are examples of heads differing from tliis in 
the opposite extremes. That which is elon- 
gated in front is the liead of a Negress, 
from the coast of Guinea: the other, which 
is expanded laterally, and flattened in front, 
is the cranium of a Tungoose, from the 
north east of Asia. The margin of the 
orbits and the zygoma are elegantly con- 
tracted in the Georgian ; and the jaws are 
liiddeu by the symmetrical expansion of tlie 
forehead. In the Ethiopian the maxillary 
bones, and indeed tlie whole face, are com- 
pressed laterally, and project in front. In 
the Tungoose, on the contrary, the ossa 
mate, ossa nasi, and glabella, are situated 
on the same horizontal level, and are enor- 
mously expanded on either side. (Tw'o 
plates illustrating the national formations of 
tlie skull are given in Rees’s New Cyclo- 
pedia, in which the subject itself has been 
considered at greater lengtii under the 
article Cranium, by Mr. Lawrence). 
The national forms of the cranium may 
be referred to five chief divisions. The first 
presents a somewhatglobular form; with the 
foreliead moderately expanded ; the cheek- 
bones narrow, and not prominent, but de- 
scending in a straight line from the exter- 
nal angular process of the os fronds. The 
alveolar niargiii of tlie jaws is rounded ; and 
the front teeth of both jaws are placed per- 
pendicularly. This form is observable in 
most Europeans. The cranium of the Turk 
is particularly globular in its form. TJiis 
shape, which they consider as elegant, and 
adapted to their turbans, is said, on very 
good authority, to be produced by artificial 
pressure after birth. 
In the second variety, including the Mon- 
golian tribes, the head is of a square form, 
and the cheek-bones stand out widely on 
either side. The glabella, and ossa nasi, 
which are flat and very small, are placed 
nearly in the same horizontal line with the 
ossa malarum. There are scarcely any super- 
ciliary ridges ; the entrance of the nostrils 
is narrow ; and the malar fossa forms but a 
sliglit excavation. The alveolar edge of the 
Jaws is obtusely arqhed in front ; the chin 
rather prominent. 
The third variety contains the Africans. 
Tile cranium is narrow, being compressed 
at the sides, where the temporal fossa is of 
immense extent. The forehead is narrow, 
and strongly arched ; the cheek-bones pro- 
ject anteriorly ; the nostrils are large ; the 
malar fossa considerable and deep; the 
alveolar edges of both jaws stand very much 
forwards, they are narrow, elongated, and 
of an elliptical figure ; the front teeth of the 
upper jaw are oblique in their position ; 
the lower jaw is large and strong ; but the 
chin, instead of projecting as far as the 
teetli, as it does in the European, recedes 
considerably, as in the monkey. The sub- 
stance of the cranium is generally thick, 
and the skull is consequently heavy. A 
slight comparison of the Negro with the 
European skull, will suffice to siiew that the 
