that all the tribes of that section of Mexico belonged to the great Tlahuica nation,
I have designated this specimen accordingly. We recognise in this skull the
projecting face, the retreating forehead and the flat occiput of the Toltecan family,
although the whole head is more elongated than usual. The styloid process
exceeds any similar appendage I have ever seen, and touches the lower jaw in a
way that must have impeded the opening of the mouth.
MEASUREMENTS.
Longitudinal diameter, . 6.9 inches.
Parietal diameter, . . . 5.2 inches.
Frontal diameter, . . . 4.2 inches.
Vertical diameter, . . . . 5.4 inches.
Inter-mastoid arch, . . • 14.5, inches.
Inter-mastoid line, . . . . 4.1 inches.
Occipito-frontal arch, 14. inches.
Horizontal periphery, 19.2 inches.
Internal capacity, . . . . 78. cubic inches.
Capacity of the anterior chamber, 30. cubic inches.
Capacity of the posterior chamber, . 48. cubic inches.
Capacity of the coronal region, 14.2£ cubic inches.
Facial a n g l e ,....................................... . . 76 degrees.
T H E N A T C H E Z .
The traditions of the Natchez state, that they migrated from Mexico at two
different periods: and their singular usages lead to the belief that they were a
branch of the great Toltecan family, which, as we have seen, was subjected to
great vicissitudes, and ultimately, in a great measure, expatriated from Anahuac.
The more obvious analogies between the Natchez and the Toltecas, corisist
in the worship of the sun, the practice of human sacrifices on the death of eminent
persons, hereditary distinctions, and fixed institutions, in which respect they differed
from all the other nations of Florida.