DESCRIPTIONS OF OKANIA.
re-ular though short OYoid. In this aspect a very slight want of symmetry of outline is perceived.
The rio'ht parieto-occipital region is a little less elevated than the left, and, conversely, the left
frontal re<^ion does not bulge out to the same degree as the right. And, in conjunction with
this appreciable depai-tm-e from symmetry of the two sides, is seen an extensive parieto-occipital
flattening, having its centre neai- the point of junctm-e of the sagittal with the lambdoidal
suture. This plane sui-face, or steepness .in the region covering the posterior lobes of the
rerebrlm^, is distinctly observable in the profile view of our Plate, These appearances are to be
attributed to the mode of nursing in infancy, probably a cradle-board, and are not to be confounded
with the intentional distortions practised by many tribes. The cranium has been
rendered somewhat shorter by this accidental result of nursing, but would without doubt have
approached closely to the brachycephalic series had its natural development not been at all
interfered with. As it is, the results of its measm-ement show that its length, 6-9 m., is to its
greatest breadth, 5-5 in. (which is intertemporal), as 1000 : 794; so that it is just excluded from
the brachycephalic series according to the rule of Mr. Busk *.
MEASUREMENTS.
Horizontal circumference
Longitudinal diameter
Frontal Region.—Length
Breadth
Height
Parietal Region.—Length
Breadth
Height
20-3 inches.
6-9 „
4-8 „
4-7 „
4-7 „
5-1 „
4-9 „
4-7 „
Occipital Region.—Length . .
4'5 inches.
4-4 „
Breadth . .
Height . . 3-8
Intermastoid arch IB' l
Face.—Length '
Breadth 5-2
Eemur.—Length 18'0
Tibia.—Length 13'0
This skull has been referred to by Sir W. R. WUde, as appertaining to a " third form of
buiial " containing the relics of a second race of Irish people. The pyramidal structures, like
the ma ^ f i c ent New Grange, with stone gaUeries and chambers, he regarded as the sepulchral
monum'ents of t^e first, or aboriginal race t- It was likewise described and delineated from a
cast by Retzius t In this description there is no material difference from that given above,
except where it is said that the glabella is depressed. This is in agreement with our use of the
term meaning a spot about an inch above the fronto-nasal suture, whereas the common
definition places it lower, between the inner ends of the superciliary ridges, a point ali-eady
stated to be prominent. Retzius had noticed the high position, between the elevated parietal
bosses at which the occipital region commences, its plane form and its iiatness, but makes no
allusion to the true cause of such a flat plane. His observation, " receptaculmn cerehclh smaU,
is well worth repetition. There is only space for a very shallow cavity below the tuberosity and
superior ridge of the occipital. But this is not invariably, though generaUy, the exact line oi
demarcation for the attachment of the tentorium on the inner surface of that bone. The application
of the expression " Turanic form " to this skuU, by the distinguished Stockholm Professor,
means nothing more than brachycephalic, Except what is hypothetical,
X Ofversigt af Kongl. Vetenskaps-iVkaderaiena Fiii-liancllingar,
1849, S. 118. Von Bacr, Ueber den Schadclbau der
Rhiitischen Eomnnen, S. 268.
(J. B. D.)
(2)
» Trans. Ethnol. See., vol. i. p. 343.
t Ethnol. of the Ancient Irish, p. 12. We regret having
misunderstood Sir WiUiam's views, p. 16 sujira.