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mm
ANCIENT ROMAN-STONE SARCOPHAGUS, YORK (^BVRACUM).
form of that from the iminscribed sarcophagus. Theii- dimensions and outlines yary in the
yer ical aspect, as will be seen from our smaller outline figures, but these variations have a
moderate range and are quite within ethnical Hmits. Again, although these crania do not
perfectly agree with that of the E,oman praetorian of Blumenbach's Table XXXIL, nor with
that derived from the ruins of Pompeii, depicted in the fine Tables of Gerard Sandifort, so
beautifuUy delineated by the ha^d of the Leyden Professor himself*-the latter is remarkable
for the abrupt uprightness of the forehead and extreme flatness of the vertical region-yet there
IS a striking family likeness in the entire group. This, as we have explained in its proper place,
is aU we have any reason to expectf. i i i
I n the sknU from the large stone tomb containing the cedar coffin, the termination of the
coronal suture is seen to be weU advanced upon the edge of the aHsphenoid, nearly an inch from
^ t T " """"" terminates ; or, in other terms, the aJisphenoid
extends backwards nearly an inch along the lower edge of the parietal. In the other two skuUs
the same arrangement prevails, but not to quite the same extent. In the fine sknll of an
Ashantee negro, which we owe to the gi-eat poUteness of Dr. Wassink, the aHsphenoid merely
approaches by its tip to the parietal, and the junction of the coronal and squamous sutures at
hi sp t forms an obhque cross. This shortening of the wing of the aHsphenoid to a greater or
ess extent, is a weU-known anatomical pecuHarity in examples of the crania of some African
and o her melanie races. A supra-mastoid ridge is apparent on the surface of the squamosals in
aU the thiee Roman skuUs, but decidedly least marked in that of Theodorianus. The auditory
foramen is very large m this latter, and quite narrow in that from the nninscribed sarcophagus
By allowing a vertical Hne to faU down from the point of junction of the sagittal with the
corona sutui-e when the skiiHs are in the position of our Plates, in that of Theodorianus 1
i T h T T '' foramen, but, in that
fiom the stone coffin, it faUs half an inch anterior to this foramen. Almost the oni; smaUe
dime^ion m the craniimi of Theodorianus is the less perpendicular diameter of the orbL
When we come to examine the base of the latter skuU, of which, through the great skUl and
pams of oiu- a r tet , we aa-e enabled to present our readers .dt h a delineation we Lueve unsurpassed
by any snnilar work, we observe-the long weU-arched palate, which indeed is common
to the series, this cramum holding the middle place, in respect to the depth of this arch, between
tha from the cedar coffin, in which the palate is short, but its altitude is unusuaUy ¿reat, Z
ha from the umnscribed sai-cophagus, in which it is the shaUowest. The condyloid ca^t es
for the articulation of the lower jaw, will be seen to be deep. The external pterygoid proeesl^s o'
o ff, but the vagma processes are very prominent; the paroccipital, more distinct on the left side •
the mastoids may be said to be enormous, being at least foui- times the size of those in the o
pecmiens ; the grooves for the digastric muscles on thefr imier sides are distinct and deep th
f o i _ magnum is 1-4 inch in its longitudinal diameter, and an inch across its midi ' - W
centre taken transversely will be perceived to be in a plane with the tips of the large mas t ; i ^
before which plane nearly the entii-e articular surfaces of the condyloid .ocesses are i t u a H ;
* Tlie interrupted termination and fragmentary state of
works undertaken to figure and describe human skulls on the
scale of nature is much to be lamented. Sandifort's "Tabulte
Craniorum diversarum Nationum" is magnificent in its design,
19.
and as perfect in its execution as the style m which it is engraved
admits, yet it was unfortunately interrupted after the is°sue of
the thu-d Fasciculus. The author died May 9lh, 1848.
t Sujira, Introduction, p. ,3 ei passim.
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