MAN. 
2>ears the chief part of his weight on the 
crown of the head, upon a small bag of 
sand, without being in the least able to 
move himself. By this pressure, and their 
thus flattening tlie crown of the head, they 
consequently make their lieads thick, and 
their faces broad.” It is a matter of sur- 
prise, that any pei’son .should have ventured 
to call in question the truth of a fact, sup- 
ported by the concurrent testimony of so 
many eye-witnesses. Many tribes, both of 
North and South America, are distinguish- 
ed by names derived from these very prac- 
tices. “ The word Omaguas, as applied to 
a nation of JPeru, as well as that of Camhe- 
vas, in the language of Brasil, signifies flat- 
head : for these people have the strange 
custom of pressing the forehead of their 
newly-born children, between two plates, 
in order to make them, as they say, resem- 
ble the full moon.” (Condamine in the Me- 
moirs de I’Acad. des Sciences, 174o, p. 427.) 
Hence also the “ tetes de boule,” and the 
“ tetPS plates ” of Charlevoix. 
We have one remark only to add on this 
part of the subject ; viz. that the differences 
in the form of the cranium are by no means 
sufficient to authorize us in assigning the 
different races of mankind in which they 
occur, to species originally different ; for 
they are not more considerable, nor even so 
remarkable, as some variations which oc- 
cur in animals confessedly of the same spe- 
cies. Thus the head of the wild boar is 
widely different from that of the domestic 
pig. The different breeds of horses and 
dogs are distinguished by the most striking 
dissimilarities in the head : in which view 
the Neapolitan and Hungarian horses may 
be contrasted. The wild original of the 
cow possesses large lacryirral fossae, which 
are completely lost in the domesticated 
animal. 'The very singular form of the 
liead in the Paduan fowl is a more remark- 
able deviation from the natural structure, 
than any variation which occurs in the hu- 
man cranium. 
VARIATIONS IN THE FORM AND SIZE OF 
CERTAIN PARTS OF THE BODY. 
The ears are moveable, and stand at 
some distance from the head in many sa- 
vages ; where they have not been confined 
by dress. 
The lobulus is increased and elongated 
considerably by artificial means in some of 
the South Sea islanders, and in other in- 
stances. 
Many travellers haye remarked, that th« 
breasts are long and pendulous in several 
savage tribes, particularly in Africa and the 
South Sea islands ; but some of the accounts 
are undoubtedly exaggerated, and the cir- 
cumstance does not in any case seem com- 
mon to a whole tribe or nation. The cause 
seems to consist in long-continued suckling, 
and in the habit of suckling the children at 
the back of the mother. In some cases ar- 
tificial means of elongating these parts arc 
employed, from peculiar notions of beauty. 
A large and swoln state of the breast alto- 
gether was observed formerly in the Egyp- 
tians; and the Portuguese women of mo- 
dern days are said to be remarkable in the 
same way. 
Negroes are particularly famous for their 
organs of generation ; and specimens pre- 
served in anatomical cabinets seem to jus- 
tify their celebrity for the size of these 
parts; but, it is doubtful whether this be a 
general character. The Hottentot women 
possess large nymphae, which cover the 
opening of the vagina, and have given rise 
to some absurd reports of travellers. 
The legs of the Hindoos are said to be 
particularly long, and those of the Monguls 
short : it has also been stated, that the con- 
stant practice of riding renders them crook- 
ed in the Calmucks. In the Negro they are 
curved, so as to render the individual knock- 
kneed ; and the calf is remarkably high : 
they are also distinguished by the broad 
and flat form of the foot. 
Although we cannot assign any satisfac- 
tory reasons for all these varieties, there is 
none which does not exist in a still greater 
degree in animals of the same species. 
What differences in the figure and propor- 
tion of parts do we observe in the various 
breeds of hones; in the Arabian, the Barb, 
and the German ! How striking the con- 
trast betw'cen the long-legged cattle of the 
Cape, and the short-legged of England. 
The same differences in the legs are seen in 
swine. The cows have no horns in some 
parts of England and Ireland; in Sicily, on 
the contrary, they are very large. We 
should also mention here a breed of sheep 
with an extraordinary number of horns, as 
three, four, or five, occurring in northern 
countries, and accounted a mere variety, 
f ovis poh/cerata ) ; the Cretan breed of the 
same animal with long, large, and twisted 
horns ; the Solidungular swine, with undi- 
vided hoof, as well as others with three di- 
visions of that part; the five-toed fowl 
f Gallus pentadactylus) ; the broad-tailed 
sheep of Tartary, Thibet, &c. in which the 
