racter. This is the observation ofSdemmerring. I must remark
that I have examined many Negro skulls-without having
been able to discover any vestige of the suture said to
mark the line of separation between the intermaxillary and
the maxillary bones ; and I do not believe this separation of
the bony structure, or the traces o f any intermaxillary bone
exists in the Negro. The foramen infra orbitalæ, and the
channel, as well as the nerve and blood-vessel which it contains,
are somewhat larger than in Europeans. I observé the
same character in the skull of a Chinese.
11. The lower jaw-bone is in Negro skulls thick, strong,
deep, and short. The angle of this jaw, in Europeans obtuse,,
approaches in Africa more nearly to a right angle, and
the part covered by the masseter is large and rough. The
spina mentalis and the traces o f the suture are in some instances
strongly displayed.* The extent t of the posterior
angle of th e jaw is subject to variations in African as i|||h in
European skulls.f There is nothing constant in this circumstance.
12. The teeth of Negroes are generally sound, strong,
broad, thick, long, especially the incisors. Soemmerring found
in an African skull three back-teeth above the usual number.
Billmann has, however, counted the teeth in several
living Negroes and found no difference between their number
and that of Europeans. Camper, in a letter to Forster, expressed
an opinion that the injured condition which the. teeth
often display in the heads of Northern people depends on the
want of room, the lower canine teeth pushing the incisors out
of their places, while the jaws of many Asiatic and African
nations afford larger space for the insertion of the teeth. The
upper jaw projecting considerably more from the root of the
septum narium, the muzzle is more prominent and angular in
Negroes than in Europeans, and the teeth of the two jaws
do not meet in directions so nearly parallel.
13. The osseous cavity destined to contain the brain is
somewhat contracted in the heads of Negroes ; in those individuals
at least who have the peculiar conformation of the
* Berthold, ubi supra. f Soemmerring.
race strongly marked. Thispeculiafrty^&s Soemmerring has
observed, is, tolerably constant, though not to be found in the
-same'degree in all African skulls. This writer says, that he
has observed it in all the specimens which he has examined;
yet he allows; that it may very probably be wanting in many
others, aiope-'We observe parallel variejties in the heads of Eu-
ropeaes. On measuring th e , cayifresxjof several Negro and
European skulls, Soemmerring found that40,' string carried
from the root of the nose alongvthe^middle o f ,the forehead
and over the sagittal suture to the^posteriorfedge of the foramen
magnum, shorter inC^egfO skulls than in European
crania which had a n equal length 0/ facer, consequently that
the upper vertical .circumference of the head was ;less ,than in
European skulls^Jl'The horizontal circumference was found to
be less on a similar measurement. The longitudinal diameter
from the forehead frfa the occiput, gs'i w ell .as the transverse
diameter between the temples or pftpetal bones was also less
in the Negro skull^s lj The height, however, on th e vertical
diameter sof the, cerebral cavity appeared to Soemmerring to
be rather greater in the Negro than in the European. „ These
measurements indicate, perhaps, a somewhat inferiornapaicity
o f skull; but it. must be observed that the standard of comparison
is a sameness in the extent of the facial5 »bones or an
iCqual length of jaw ; if the size of the upper jaw be considered
by itself, in excess, the comparison brings no decisive
result.
Some measurements of the skulls of different races are
given by Dr. Knox which differ widely from the above. In
these the length of a line carried over the vertex from one
mastoid process to the other, is | el a Negress, 14.5, in an
European female 14, and in two Australian skulls 21. I t
seems very difficult, if not impossible, to draw any conclusion
from these measurements.
14. According to Blumenbach and Soemmerring the proportionate
size of the bones of the face compared with those
containing the brain, is somewhat greater in Negroes than in
Europeans. Although the difference is very slight, it has
been considered as an approach towards the highest order of
brute animals.