of Cuba, whose parents were, both slaves brought from the coast of
Africa. This skull of which the annexed figure, drawn by Mr. Holmes,
is a very good representation, is inthe museum of Mr. Richard Smith.
It has the peculiar formation of the Negro in a greater degree than
any skull or figure that I have seen. The upper jaw is remarkably
and singularly prominent, and the facial angle proportionably
small. The African peculiarity in this skull, as in general, depends
on the greater anterior developement iif the bones of the face, which
begins with the greater space of the frontal sinuses. The cranial
cavity is not small when considered by itself, or with reference to
the probable stature of the individual to whom the skull belonged,
npr is the anterior ptajt p£ the cavity. remarkably* deficient ip sppge;
the forehead is not sp_ narrow and copipressed laterally asjqq many
Negrp, and even in very many European heads which I have,.seen.
I shall have occasion to return to.the description of this §k,ulLbflow.
Fig. 4*—Is the skull of an Ashantee Negro,- ^T^ie.A^antee or
Asidnti, a tribe of the Inta race, are arpopg the most cultivated- qf
the Pagan nations in Africa. The general -shqpe of their head approaches
much more to. the European for® than that of Fig. 1 ;
but a peculiarity may,be- noticed in it, which was first?pp j^tqd'gfut
by Mr. ^wen in sqme Negro' skulls. The temporal ^bpne:a^j^insf
% frontal,. fiho: .splienoidal failing >tp, ;sepd up „the-grpcess which’
usually divides them. The jsame character exists, as Mr. Qwenha,s
shown, in the skull of the troglodyte.
Fig. 5, .(page 297)—Is a copy of the figurc'Tpf;a K after skull
given by Dr. Knox, in the Wernerian Transactionsf« - In tfiis skull,
although it ha^s evidently the prpgnathpjis form of Afric^heads,
a great improvement is very mani%t«when yre compare it yith$je
preceding, in the amplitude and convexity of the forehead, as ^e,l>
as of the occiput.
Fig. 6.—Represents the skulLof a Tasmanian or native k>f' Van
Dieman?s Land. This cranium is in thermuiseum of (BblegeTof
Surgepns: I obtained the figure, through the kindness of Mr.' Owen.
The general form of this skull resemblesTthat of Philip Bernard, but
the forehead is SQpiewhat higher: the occiput likewise is developed,
and this is a character which belongs to the Oceanic race,
and nearly all the insular nations of the. Pacific.
F ig. 7. (page 299)—Represents the skull of an Australian savaOg e,7
DESCRIPTION OF THE PLATES.- XIX
whjch is in the museum of the College. It resembles figures 3 and 4,
in its general form. The longitudinal ridge running from the forehead
to the occiput, which is frequently observed in Australian skulls, is
conspicuous in this. The ridge formed by the frontal sinuses is
likewise prominent, and there is a deep notch over the nasal
processes of the- frontal bone. These characters are very strongly
marked in the skulls of the Oceanic nations* as in those of the New
.Zfealanders and Tahitians. The deeply marked depression above
the ossa nasi is observable in Fig. 9, representing the skull of an
Alfourou. The space marked by the insertion of the, temporal muscle
is in this, as it generally is:in prognathous skulls, particularly in
those of Negroes, deeply impressed.
ig.’ 8.—Represents the eranium of an Alfourou Endamene, the
aboriginal race of Guinea, the Moluccas, and of many if not
all of the islands fpf the Indian archipelago. They are supposed,
with great probability, 4sy M. Lesson, to be of the same race as the
miserable hprde^of Terra Australis. This figure'i and the two following,
qre taken from, the magnificent work of M. Duperrey.
;. F-i©j>- , (pfage, ^ 9 4—The front vipw of the skull of an Alfourou
Endamene. It may be ^observed that the plane of the .zygoma is
J^aii^.,4e^el .with the, siftps^of the head and twith^the planes of the
.parietal and frontal bones. Lines drawn from the zygomatic arches
^ b q t h to the most ‘^ojj,ct|feg parts of the frontal hones,
and-prolouged, upwards do not form here, as in the skulls represented
in the next plate, a triangular ‘figure, a line drawn from
OD^w^omalic arch, to the. other being-the. base.
Fro. P&^Is the basis sgranii in the same. Qf these more will
be;/pbsqr^ed hereafter.
^FiG, T 1,^8, 13, 14.—jPejpiig; to the class of skulls which I have
termed Pyramidal., Lines drawn touching the zygomas, and passing
laterally projecting, parts of the frontal fhones, meet over the
summit of the forehead, and fqrm a triangle, having for base* a subtending
line determined by the lower edges of the zygomas. Fig,
11 and 12, ar$ both American skulls, and which approximate to
the form which I have .termed Turanian. In both the face has a remarkably,
and even a strikingly singular flatness, and the whole
front of the head has nearly the shape of one side of a pyramid.