from under the middle of the orbit, and turn backwards in a
large arch or segment of a circle, the lateral projection of the
zygomas being so considerable, that if a line drawn from one
to the other be taken as a base, this will form with the
apex pf the forehead a nearly triangular figure. The orbits
-are large and deep, the upper part of the face is remarkably
plane and flat, the nose being flat and the nasal bones as
well as the spaces between the eyebrows nearly on the
same plane with the cheek-bones. I shall give the following
terms to these two varieties in the figure of the cranium,
viz, to the narrow elongated form, that of Prognathous, from
the prominence of the jaw.; and to the broad-faced, that of
Pyramidal, from the figure which the shape of the head exhibits
when viewed in front.
The above descriptions are intended as general, outlines, or
as standards of comparison, to which the particular varieties
may be referred.
S e c t io n II.—O f the Substance and Texture o f the S k u ll in
different Reuses.
Before I proceed to describe the different forms of the
human skull, I shall make some remarks pn the variety of
its weight and texture.
One of the most striking characters in the crania of African
Negroes is the great hardness, density and weight of the
component substance. The whole bony case,- destined'to
contain the brain, has often a whiteness and compactness of
texture which give it the appearance of ivory or even of
marble, rather than of the ordinary component material of
the skull. Thié peculiarity in the cranium is accompanied
by a corresponding condition of the skeleton, which in many
Negroes is much heavier than in men of other races.
Soemmerring remarked the great hardness and density of
the skull in the Negro ; and he has cited a similar observation
from Peter Paaw, who wrote on wounds in the head about
two hundred years ago, and compared the crania of Africans
to iron helmets.* Paaw observed, that the Spanish soldiers
who followed CadamostOi to Africa, were directed) to avoid
striking the nati^S’jon their hg$|g$i.j“ experientia, d°fti pro-
tenus dissilire ensems.”' A similar -Story was that which Herodotus
Reported. At juty rwv nepoiwi' KecpaXai uffi aef@evie^j^mf
j&ijte el 'OeXeic' ,'tupyi’ih ^aXte^j^iaTErpav^)^' a.i3lSe AiyvirrlfpV,
ovria dij. ti Iff'yvpjou,1 uStyiQ ai?1 Traltr^^a/MbMia^^ There is i a
skull of an Egyptian mnmmjj at the mufeum of tHj|, Royal
College i ojjjiSurgoons, whfenua* of this ,d,e©sex firm and hgayy
consistence..-
The great weight and t^epsity-of.-the skull is howeverby
no mekns a constant character amOh^^e^fdeS, Ihpr is l a per
culiar to African^.;«!;
I t may be observed that great in„tb#ymigh t
and densifppf ,the skull in oth$^ departmen|g^f|man]|ind.
There^is afjgreatdifference in th e ;weight of European• skulls,
and I have Seen spine which I believe ten be equal in, thickness
and density,6f substance to any African crankum SujjL-h,
instances occur however paqst frequently, though Jipt always,
in persons ,®£, d isc a rd ^constitution. Sopie of tlu^mania^af
the New Zealandermare observed^ by M. .Iiesson, to be^thick,
and of dense texture, and remarkably: Wavy. , Blumenbach
has figured in the sixth decade of his ‘in fe c tio n the skull of
a^Botocudo, Which h e ‘describes tetriarkubly ponderous
andL large,“.apd of a hard and dense,bonyAexturpJ.+;?sHe,refeis
likewise to a passage in-Purchas’s relation of Pilgrimages,
in Which the same characters are ascribed; to the whole tribe;
This in a South American race is the more remarkable, since
* “ ASthibpes ijuam dura cr&ssaque habetit capita, non dssed militarfeM te tan.*
gete dicas galeam. Norant H iqw a qui,-A|»Mi® CJadamvifeto testq, ducturi novum
in insulam D, Thomse, Angolam, vicin&qqe Aeqwatori lock riii]itemy illud imprimis
ipsis inculcaht, ne cum incofis iconHicturi unquam caput ipsis petant, ex-
peri entik docti protenus dissilire ensem.”
Succenturiatus anatomicus de capitis vulneribus. Ludg. Bat. 1 6 1 ^ .
+ cei Cranium ipsum magnum et ossium textura densa icalvariaeque
crassitie valde ponderosk,” This skull, with die exception of those characters
which are constant in the human brain, approaches more .tetbe skull of a Simia
Salyrus than any one in Blumenbach’s collection, though one or two Negroes have
the superior maxillary bone more prominent. Derad. 6.