sequence ; but M. Clot-Bey has judiciously remarked, that tbe Arabs,
nevertheless, present but a feeble element in tbe physical character of
the great mass of people :—
“ D’ou il résulte que PEgyptien actuel tient beaucoup plus, par ses formes, par son caractère,
et par ses moeurs, des anciens Egyptiens que des véritables Arabs, dont on ne trouve
le type pur qu’en Arabie.” *
The skull of the Fellah is strikingly like that of the ancient Egyptian.
It is long, narrow, somewhat flattened on the sides, and very
prominent in the occiput. The coronal region is low, the forehead
moderately receding, the nasal bones long and nearly straight, the
cheek-bones small, the maxillary region slightly prognathous, and the
whole cranial structure thin and delicate. But, notwithstanding
these resemblances between the Fellah and Egyptian skulls, the latter
possess what may be called an osteological expression, peculiar to themselves,
and not seen in the Fellah.
The Fellahs, however, do not appear to be the only descendants of
the monumental Egyptians; for they exist also in Nubia, and westward,
in isolated communities, in the heart of Africa. Of such origin
I regard the Bed Bakkari, so well described by Pallme. [391] So, also,
the proper Libyans, the Tuaricks, Kabyles, and Siwahs, who, on the
testimony of Dr. Oudney, and the more recent observations of Dr.
Furnari, possess at least the physical traits of the Egyptian race —
“ Chez quelques unes des nombreuses [peuplades]s qui habitent l’immense plaine du Sahara,
chez les Touaricks, et chez quelques tribus limitrophes de l’Egypte, les yeux écartés l’un
de l’autre, sont long, coupés en amandes, à moitié fermés, et relevés aux angles extérieurs.”
There are other reasons for supposing that the Libyan and Nilotic
nations had a cognate source, though their social and political separation
may date with the earliest epochs of time.
A few words respecting the Copts. Almost every investigation into
the lineage of these people results in considering /them a mixed progeny
of ancient Egyptians, Berabera, Negroes, Arabs, and Europeans ;
and these characteristics are so variously blended, as to make the
Copts one of the most motley and paradoxical communities in the
world. The Negro traits are visible, in greater or less degree, in a
large proportion of this people, and are distinctly seen in the three
skulls in my possession. The two adult heads, which, on account of
their hybrid character, are excluded from the Table, measure respectively
eighty-five and seventy-seven cubic inches for the size of the
brain, and consequently give the low average of eighty-one.
From the preceding observations it will appear that the Fellahs a/re
the rural or agricultural Egyptians, blended with the intrusive Arabian
stock ; but the Copts, on the other hand, represent the descend*
Aperçu Générale sur l’Egypte, i. p. 160.
ants of the old urban population, whose blood, in the lapse of ages,
has become mixed with that of all the exotic races which have domiciliated
themselves in the cities of Egypt. The mercenary licentiousness
of the Copts is proverbial even at the present day.
I shall conclude these remarks on this part of the inquiry by
observing, that no mean has been taken of the Caucasian races
collectively, because of the very great preponderance? of Hindoo,
Egyptian, and Fellah skulls over those of the Germanic, Pelasgic and
Cejtic families. Nor could any just collective comparison be instituted
between the Caucasian and Negro groups in such a Table as we have
presented, unless the small-brained people of the latter division
(Hottentots, Bushmen and Australians) were proportionate in number
to the Hindoos, Egyptians, and Fellahs of the other group. Such a
comparison, were it practicable, would probably reduce the Caucasian
average to about eighty-seven cubic inches, and the Negro to seventy-
eight at most, perhaps even to seventy-five; and thus confirmatively
establish the difference of at least nine cubic inches between the
mean of the two races.
I I . TH E MONGOLI AN GEOUP.
The learned Klaproth, in his Tableau de l’Asie, has shown that
before the year 1000 of our era, the Mongols were inconsideiable
tribes in the northwest of Asia, and hence have erroneously had their
name given to the most multitudinous of The five great divisions of
the human family ; but from an unwillingness to interfere with the
generally adopted nomenclature of ethnology, I have used the word
Mongolian in the comprehensive sense of Buffon and Blumenbach.
It embraces nations of dissimilar features, among whom, however,
there is a common link of resemblance that justifies the classification
for generic purposes. Hence we group together the Chinese, the
Kamtschatkans, and the Kalmucks.
I possess but eight Mongolian crania, and of these seven are Chinese—
too small a number from which to deduce a satisfactory result.
The largest of them measures ninety-one cubic inches, the smallest
seventy ; and they give an average of eighty-two. They are all derived
from the lowest class of people ; and it is not improbable th a t.
an average drawn, at least in part, from the higher castes, would
approximate much more nearly to the Caucasian mean, perhaps to
eighty-five cubic inches.
By the kindness of Prof. Betzius of Stockholm, I possess a single
skull of a Laplander — aman of about forty years of age—whose
brain measures no less than ninety-four cubic inches. The character-
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