118 
DE. J. CLELAND ON THE VARIATIONS OE THE HUMAN SKULL. 
surface-peculiarities which meet the eye, were not sufficient to determine the real nature 
of the differences existing between the crania of different nations or individuals ; that it 
was necessary to consider the arch and the base of the skull in their connexion one with 
the other, and to measure the relations of parts by means of distances and angles more 
systematically than had been done ; and that if this were done it would appear that 
there were far more important variations in the antero-posterior direction in skulls than 
were suspected, or than existed in their breadth. The various forms of forehead, vertex, 
and occiput are noted by anatomists without sufficient knowledge how these local 
appearances are related to the structure of the cranium as a whole. Even such generally 
used words as dolichocephalous, brachycephalous, orthognathous, and prognathous, 
though efforts have been made to render them perfectly explicit, refer to varieties of 
form which have not been properly understood. 
Mode of measurement . — It may be frankly admitted that probably the system of 
“geometrical drawing ” recommended and described by Lucae* would have been pre- 
ferable in some respects to the mode of craniometry employed by the writer, but most 
of the measurements were made before Lucae’s method was published. Also it may be 
admitted that vertical sections, which afford the most accurate of all bases for profile 
views, might have been used to a greater extent than they were ; but there was a diffi- 
culty in asking that a number of skulls in Museums should be bisected for examination 
by a private individual. Still some bisections have been obtained, sufficient to illustrate 
the substantial accuracy of the system in most instances followed ; and while mentioning 
this, it is right to say how much indebted the writer has been to the late Professor 
Goodsir and Professor Allman of Edinburgh, and to Professor Allen Thomson, for 
their kindness in placing specimens at his disposal. The craniometer which the writer 
has employed is not without its advantages, being an instrument fitted to determine the 
exact relation of any point in space to a given starting-point. The skull is suspended 
in a horizontal frame by means of two pointed screws, one on each side, which work in 
fixed supports ; and by other screws moving on slides it may be set with any two points 
on a level. A vertical bar, which can be slipped up and down, slides along the side of 
the frame, and bears a sliding horizontal bar directed inwards, to which a needle may 
be attached at right angles if necessary, in either a vertical or longitudinal direction. 
The frame, the bars, and the needle are all marked off in inches and tenths, and by this 
means the vertical and horizontal distance of any point on the skull from the place of 
suspension is easily determined and marked on paper, so that by a series of such points 
a diagram may be constructed. With the assistance of a sheet of ruled paper such a 
diagram may be constructed in a few minutes from a series of figures not occupying 
more than a couple of lines. It is convenient to register the number indicating the 
vertical position of a point with that indicating the horizontal position placed immedi- 
ately below it, like the denominator of a vulgar fraction ; while backward and down- 
ward directions may be respectively distinguished from forward and upward directions 
* Zur Morpliologie der Rassenschadel, 1861, p. 16. 
