M
1
2 i CRANIA BRITANNICA.
I
[CHAP. II.
knoTvn difference between the physiognomy of the Greeks and Romans, who may he said to have
been two neighbom-ing peoples, separated only by a narrow sea, the direct distance from Athens
to Rome being about the length of our own island—but whose heads formed a contrast of graceful
elegance, and rugged plainness expressive of bold and manly vigom*. He observes —" The
Roman head differs from the Greek in having the forehead lower and more arched, and the nose
strongly aquiliae, together with a marked depression of the nasal bones between the eyes*."
Prof. A. Retzius, in describing a skuU taken from an ancient cemetery at York, and sent him by
Dr. Prichard, believed to be that of a Roman soldier, says, " This skull is very large, both in
length and breadth, yet of the dolicho-.cephahc (Iranian) form; of greater breadth above
towards the vertex, than below towards the basis. The arch formed by its upper surface and
the vertex is rather flat; the circumference seen from above is a long wedge-shaped oval,
ending behind in a short blunt angle. Porehead broad, arched, but somewhat low; superciliary
ridges small; malar processes of the fi'ontal bone small, not prominent; no frontal protuberances;
temples rormded and standing out; parietal protuberances large and far apart,
forming lateral angles in a posterior view; the semicircular line marking the attachment of the
temporal muscle elevated towards the vertex; occiput broad, rounded, with a rather prominent
protuberance; a sKght depression along the sagittal suture, especially posteriorly. Eeceptaculum
cerebeUi large. The slope from the vertex to the occipital protuberance flat; the
external auditory opening before the middle of the long axis of the head; mastoid processes
large; foramen magnvmi large, and of a long oval form; bridge of the nose at the root narrow,
but the breadth between the orbits considerable ; nasal bones small, but dh'ected forwards, as in
a so-caUed Roman nose; orbits almost round; malar bones particularly small, rather directed
inwards, as well as the jugal arches. Superior maxillary bone finely rounded, with rather large
depressions on its facial surface. Teeth strong and well-used t-"
These accounts seem to imply, if not a great uniformity in the true Roman skull, at least
much agreement in the descriptions that have been given of it.
The prevaUing colour of the hair amongst the Romans was that which is called black; yet
it was not universally dark even, for blond or fair hair sometimes occurred, and, perhaps from
being rare, was esteemed beautiful. TeUow, or as they were called golden locks, were, however,
the objects of the greatest desh-e, not only amongst the Romans, but in many subsequent ages,
and art was subsidized to supply them by various artifices, not withholding the sprinkling of
the hair "with a golden powder :•—
" So are those crispy snaky golden locks,
\VMch make such wanton gambols with the wind
Upon supposed fairness, often known
To be the dowry of a second head—
The skull that bred them in the sepulchre."—(Merchant of Venice, iii. 2.)
The next great race of people, the Germanic, which foUows in the course of our inquiry.
XVI*^ siècle nous offrent les traits qui s'observent encore chez
leurs modernes compatriotes."—L'Ethnol. Ane. de la France,
p. 6.
* Crania Americana, p. 13. M. Maury has a remark upon
this depression, which is -worthy of our observation. He says,
" Le degré de cavité de la naissance du nez par rapport à la
chute du front, est à lui seul un caractère qui distingue certaines
races des autres. Les Grecs, à en juger par les statues
qu'ils nous ont laissées, ne présentaient point ce renfoncement,
si prononcé, au contraire, dans certaines de nos provinces.
Quelques physiologistes ont attribué ce caractère au mélange
avec la race germanique, où elle s'observe à un assez haut degré."—
Op. cit. p. 9. Mr. "Wilde daims this peculiarity for
his "Irish heads" ; and Dr. P. P. Broc attributes it to his
" Tige Celtique,"—Essai sur des Races Humaines, p. 30, 1836.
t Kraniologiscbes, p. 576.
Chaf. II.] VIEWS OP PRECEDING OBSERVERS.
obtained a historian in Tacitus, who gives briefly a general account of their personal characteristics
; which is of greater ethnological interest than usual; for he has evidently contemplated
then- origin and pronounced it to be indigenous, the purity of their blood, their separate individuahty
as a nation discriminated from others, and selected the distinctive physical characters
which marked the race amctagst other ancient people—characters weU linown to appertain to it
at the present day. His words are,—" I have already acceded to the opinion of those who
thinlv that the Germans have hitherto subsisted without intermarrying with other nations, a
pure, munixed and independent race, unlike any other people, aU bearing the marks of a
distmct national character. Hence, what is very remarkable in such prodigious numbers, a
family-likeness throughout the nation; the same form and feature, stern blue eyes, ruddy hair,
then' bodies large and robust, but powerful only in sudden efforts*." Caesar had previously
noted the prodigious stature of the Germans, and their great courage, which observations
receive confirmation from a cloud of classical witnesses. We may readily admit the general fact
that the Germans were a large and valiant people, without participating in the exaggerations of
those who found them formidable opponents, and believe with Blumenbach that if the Roman
m'iters did not employ a poetical, they at least used a political license in describing themf.
Testimonies are equally numerous to the fair complexion, blue eyes and flaxen hair of the
German people; many of which are referred to by Dr. Prichard, whose conclusion is thus
expressed:—•" Erom all these assertions, some more general, some more particular than others,
we must conclude that a lofty stature, yellow or rather red hair and blue eyes, with a fair complexion,
were almost universal characters of the Germans at the period of their wars with the
Romansi." Prichard further observes, vrith a more particular bearing upon the subject before
us :—" With regard to the form of the head in the ancient Germans we have no information
from classical writers. This subject might be elucidated from the remains of ancient tombs ;
but I am not aware that such an attempt has been made in a comprehensive manner. The
modern Germans are well known to have large heads, with the anterior part of the cranium elevated
and fuUy developed. They have this peculiarity of form in a greater degree than either
the Erench or English§."
The fine skuU wanting the lower jaw delineated in Blumenbach's sixty-fii-st Table, was
obtained from an ancient tmuulus near Romsted in the district of Weimar, and was presented
to him by the niustrious Goethe, who regarded it as the cranium of an ancient German. It was
that of a young person, whom the Gottingen Professor was inclined to regard as of the female
sex, although the thicloiess of the bones rendered it very heavy. It would not be justifiable to
decide upon an opposite view to this high authority from a mere inspection of the Plate, which,
however, conveys the impression of its being rather the cranium of a young man. It is unfortunate
that Blumenbach scarcely aUudes more to its peculiarities than a mention of its symmetry
and beautiful form, its weU-archod forehead, and the narrow curve of its alveolar border.
Dr. Morton gives this general description of the German family :—" The Germans are
* Germania, lA^ Murphy's Translation,
t Cajsar sjieaks in similar terms of the Gauls, that they
were very tall when compared with the Komnns.—De Bello
Gallico, II. XXX.
t We purposely pass over the views of this learned writer
on the loss of these p/it/sical characters attributed to the modern
Germans, because, as far as our observation, and the best
authorities within our reach go, no such loss has taken place.
The criticism of Dr. Latham tends unequivocally to confirm
the statement of Tacitus, although he also questions the uniformity
of physical appearance among the present Germans.
See that ethnologist's Germania of Tacitus, p. 31, 1851.
§ Physical Researches, iii. 393, 1837.