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ON THE CRANIA AND THE LANGUAGES OF THE RACES OF
MAN IN THE MALAY ARCHIPELAGO.
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CRANIA.
A f e w years ago it was thought that the study of Crania
offered the only sure basis of a classification of man. Immense
collections have been formed; they have been measured, described,
and figured; and now the opinion is beginning to gain
ground, that for this special purpose they are of very little
value. Professor Huxley has boldly stated his views to this
effect i and in a proposed new classification of mankind has given
scarcely any weight to characters derived from the cranium. It
is certain, too, that though Cranioscopy has been assiduously
studied for many years, it has produced no results at all comparable
with the labour and research bestowed upon it. Ho
; approach to a theory of the excessive variations of the cranium
has been put forth, and no intelligible classification of races
has been founded upon it.
Dr. Joseph Barnard Davis, who has assiduously collected
! human.crania for many years, has just published a remarkable
work, entitled “ Thesaurus Craniorum.”I This is a catalogue of
his collection (by far the most extensive in existence), classified
according to countries and races, indicating the derivation and
any special characteristics of each specimen; and by way of
description, an elaborate series of measurements, nineteen in
number when complete, by which accurate comparisons can he
made, and the limits of variation determined.