m
222 CRANIA BRITANNICA. [Chap. V i l i .
relations, different craniologists liave proposed different methods, which confer diflferent values
on the terms doliohooephalic, hrachyoe-plialic, &o. In our metrical researches we have chosen
the simple system proposed by Mr. Busk, that whenever the proportion of the breadth of the
calvarium to its length is as high as 80 or more hundredths, it is to be regarded as brachycephalic,
and when the proportion is below 80 hundredths, it is to be considered dolichocephalic *.
aO
Wooden Craniometer.—Quarter-size.
In order to change the denominations we have employed into others, the following data will
be of service. The specific gravity of the dry Calais sand used by us is 1-425, distilled water
being 1-000. The specific gravity of the human cerebral mass, taken as a whole, is 1-040,—that
of the cerebrum, cerebellum, pons Varolii, and medulla oblongata, that of the grey matter and of
the white, and that of aU at different periods of life, varying slightly among themselves t- An
English imperial pint contains 20 ounces avoirdupois of distilled water, or 28-5 ounces of Calais
sand. An imperial pint is equal to 34-659 cubic inches ; or, within too small a fraction to be
noticed, 28-5 ounces of sand are equal to 34-66 cubic inches. "With these data it wiU be easy to
find the equivalents, either in weight or measure, of the sand employed in gauging the internal
capacities of the skulls, and to convert them into corresponding weights or measures of cerebral
substance. Again, to change ounces avoirdupois into French grammes, it must be noted that
posed it in his "Nachrichten über die ethnogr. craniolog.
Sammlung der K. Akad. der Wissensch, zu St. Petersb." Melang.
Biolog. t. iii. s. 82-3, 1859. Professor Broca divides
* " On a Systematic Mode of Craniometry," Trans. Ethnol.
Society, 1861,Tol.i.p. 343. "Craniometry and Craniography,"
Nat. Hist. Review, 1882, p. 357. Mr. Busk errs in considering
Professor Von Baer to have been the first to perceive
the inconvenience of a loose use of these designations, and to
reduce them to a common module. Even Professor Retzius,
in one of bis early memoirs, definitely represented the proportion
of the breadth of the calvarium to its length as a
module, taken at 1000. (Om Formen af Nordboernes Cranier.
Forbandlingar vid de Skandinaviske Naturforskarnes
tredje Mote, i Stockholm, 1842, S. 1 62.) Bnt Carl Vogt introduced
a defined law deduced from tbis proportion. His
rule was, that whenever the long diameter stood to the transverse
as 9 to 7 the skull is to be regarded as dolichocephalic,
and, when the same diameters were to each other as 8 to 7, then
we have the brachycephalic-skull form (Zoologische Briefe,
1851, Bd. ii. S. 556). Prof. v. Baer adopts the proportionate
method in his " Crania Selecta," 1859, and had already proskulls
into three categories—dolickocépJiales, mésaticéjihales,
and hrachjcéphales (Bull, de la Soc. d'Anthrop. t. ii. p. 506).
See the whole subject treated in his usual lucid manner by Professor
H. "Welcker, in the admirable work entitled " Untersuchungen
über Wflcbstbum und Bau des menschl. Schädels," 1
Theil, 1862, 3 Abs. § 8 : Brachycephalie und Dolichocepbalie,
S. 41.
The specific gravity of the brain has been tested by Dr.
Sankey, Dr. Skae, Dr. Bucknill, Dr. T. B. Peacock, and many
others, and found by all to range about the term I -040. The
valuable researches of the latter are recorded in his memoir
entitled, "Tables of the Weights of the Brain and of some
other Organs of the Human Body," Monthly Journ. of Med.
Sci. vol. vii. 1847. Pathol. Trans., 1860-61.
Chap. VIII.] MEASUREMENTS OF THE SKULLS. 223
a pound, or 16 ounces, av., are equal to 453 grammes. As to linear measure, to convert
English inches into French millimètres, it should be observed that the mètre is 3 feet 3-37 inches ;
so that the English foot is equal to 304 millimètres, and the English inch to 25-4 mm.*
The general arrangement of the crania figured and described in this work must necessarily
be chronological, the invading races following those of the aborigines. This is not to be regretted,
as the stone age in Britain seems to have been very gradually, and perhaps never entirely in
pre-Roman times, displaced by that of bronze. But the attempt to pursue a chronological
order in any of the four great successive peoples is attended with such difficulties that we have
been obliged to abandon it. The consecution of stone and of bronze ages may afford some light,
w^hich, as far as it goes, has been followed ; but it is impossible to determine the sequency of time
in a number of skulls belonging to either of these so-caUed ages, derived from interments of
* The above data will serve to reduce all the materials in our
Tables to other denominations, as those of Morton's large Table,
or vice versd. For the purpose of a datum for comparison of
the internal capacities of the skulls gauged by Prof. Tiedemann
with millet-seed, we have filled no. 7 of bis Table II., " Völker
mongoüscher Rasse," the skull o f " Tooloolik,"no. 140, Cat. of
Crania in the Coll. of Guy's Hosp., and find that it contains
83 oz. av. of Calais sand. Tiedemann'g result in dry milletseed
is 44 ounces 6 drams of Nuremberg apothecaries' weight.
It is not wholly unimportant to add that Tiedemann, in his
Tables, committed an error which runs through them, in confusing
this weight with English troy or apothecaries' weight,
both which he assumed to be equal. This is not the case ;
for the troy pound, expressed in parts of a kilogramme, is
equal to 0-373095, whilst the Nuremberg apothecaries' pound
is only equal to 0-357854.
An old friend. Rev. Henry Green, of Knutsford, has given
us the following formulse to facilitate the conversions referred
to in this note.
I . To find the magnitude or capacity, the weight and the
specific gravity, of a body, any two of these dimensions being
given :
Let m=tbe capacity in cubic inches.
M!=the weight in ounces avoirdupois.
i = t h e specific gravity of a cubic foot, or of 1728 cubic
inches—the same measure of distilled water at
40° weighing 1000 ounces av.
Then 1 728 ! s X »!
1 7 2 8 = " '
W
I I I . To convert weight in ounccs av. into capacity in cubic
inches ; or capacity in cubic inches into weight in ounces av.:
Let C = a given number of cubic inches; W=ithe weight in
ounces av. of this given number j c=a second number of cubic
inches ; ii>=the weight iu ounces av. of this second number.
Then -
IV. To convert English Indies into French millimetres, and
I I . To find the specific gravity or the weight in ounces av.
of one substance, from the specific gravity or the weight of
another substance ;
Let S = the specific gravity of one substance.
.ç=the specific gravity another substance.
W=the weight of the one substance (S) in ounces av.
w = the weight of the other substance (5) in do.
Then any three of these quantities being given, to find the
fourth ®Xii:=W;
i S
Let /=25-4,or,moreexactly,25'399 mm. equal to one inch.
F=any number of milUmctres ; and
E=any number of inches.
T h e n î - B ; andEx/=F.
V. To convert English cubic inches into French cubic centimètres,
divide the English cubic inches by -061028, the
parts of an English cubic inch in one centimètre. And to
convert French cubic centimetres into English cubic inches,
multiply the parts of an English cubic inch contained in one
centimètre, '061028, into the number of cubic centimètres.
A very easy rule of Dr. Thurnam's for converting weight in
ounces of sand into cubic inches is to multiply the former by
1*22. This is simple, and nearly enough correct for all practical
purposes.
VI. To convert English ounces av. into French grammes,
multiply the ounces by 28'3.
Many have laid down rules for estimating the length of a
skeleton when that of the thigh-bone, or other long bone can
be ascertained. Our knowledge of the disproportionate lengths
of these bones in different persons leads us to accept such rules
with reserve ; still, in the absence of measurements and iu a general
sense, they may be useful. Dr. William Hunter's ready
rule of regarding the thigh-bone as a quarter of the length of the
body is inaccurate, from an excessive result. (Archseol. vol. ii.
p. 365.) Dr. Salvage's was that the length of the humerus is
to the stature as 15 to 80. Deshayes, from numerous observations,
deduced the rule that the length of the femur is -26 of
that of the skeleton. Mr. Humphry found the average height
among 25 European skeletons of men and women to be 65
inches ; and the average length of their femora to be 17-88
inches. When this is reduced to a scale, and the height regarded
as equal to 100, the length of the femur is shown to be
27-51 parts of 100. (On the Human Skeleton, 1858, p. 106.)
This gives a somewhat less result than is obtained by the
more artificial methods described by Dr. Thurnam (Descr. of
Plate 42, p. (3), note and of Plate 51, p. (3), note +).
2 G 2