6 
MUSEUM BULLETIN NO, 9 . 
skulls of these people is, therefore, further evidence of the 
activity and extensive movements of their mandibles during 
the process of mastication. Lastly, the coronoid process is 
low and very stout, and its distance from the condyle renders 
the leverage of the temporal muscle on the mandible still more 
effective. 1 
Dr. Ales Hrdlicka 2 remarks upon the great development 
of the jaw muscles in the skulls of the Eskimo, with especial 
reference to the size and strength of the temporal muscles and 
their probable effect upon the shape of the skull. He also notes 
the great breadth of the ascending ramus of the mandible, strong 
coronoid process, and, in certain of the lower jaws examined 
by him, “remarkable individual variations, due to a great 
development and activity of the masseter muscles.” From 
this very instructive paper I will quote the following paragraph 
(page 211), as it is of exceptional interest in the present 
connexion : — 
“The lower jaw presents a moderate to fairly prominent, 
and not rarely square chin, medium height, very strong build, 
and broad ascending branches. A marked and general feature 
is a pronounced bony reinforcement of the alveolar arch extend- 
ing above the mylo-hyoid line from the canines or first bicuspids 
to or near the last molars. This physiological hyperostosis 
presents a more or less irregular surface and is undoubtedly 
of functional origin, the result of extraordinary pressure along 
the line of teeth most concerned in chewing, yet its occurrence 
in infant skulls indicates that at least to some extent the feature 
is already hereditary in these Eskimos.” 
When we turn to the shape of the palate we find still more 
evidence, both as to the severe nature of the work which the 
jaws are called upon to perform, and also the chewing method 
which has evidently been of most service in its accomplishment. 
1 See “A consideration of some of the more important factors concerned 
in the production of man’s cranial form,” by Prof. A. Thomson, Journ. Anthr. 
Inst., 1903. 
2 See ‘‘Contribution to the Anthropology of Central and Smith Sound 
Eskimo,” American Museum of Natural History, Vol. 5, Pt. 2. (Anthro- 
pological paper). 
