have not the necessary data to arrive at a positive conclusion as to
the existence of a primary and peculiar cranial type among the
Turks. Nevertheless, if the reader will
carefully inspect the accompanying figure
of a Turkish cranium in the Blumenba-
chian collection, and compare it with our
Kalmuck standard, I deem it highly probable
that he will with me recognize for
the Turkish region a sub-typieal form,
which, though-closely related to the Mon-
golie, differs from it mainly in possessing
a more oval face, and a more decidedly
globular skull. B lu m e n b a c h thus de-
Fig. 16.
T xjp.k . scribes the head in his possession:
“ The cranium is nearly globular; the foramen magnum is placed almost,at the posterior
end of the basis cranii, so that there seems to be no occiput; the forehead broad; the
glabella prominent; the malar fossse gently depressed, and the proportions of the face,
upon the whole, symmetrical and elegant. The external occipital protuberance is but little
developed; the occipital condyles very large and convex; the alveolar edge of the superior
maxilla, very short, so that just beneath the nose it scarcely equals in height the breadth
of the little finger.”
Judging from the accounts of travellers, it would seem that among
the most Eastern of the Turkish races, such as the Kirghis-of Bal-
kash and the irreclaimable nomades of the dreary plains of Tu'rkistan,
the Mongolic physiognomy more especially predominates. This, it
will be recollected, is the region in which the Mongols proper and
the Turks meet and overlap. The skull of a Kirghis, figured by
B lumEnbach (Tab. X I IT.) furnishes a good exemplification of the
cranial form of this region. In a Don Cossack (Tab. IV.) the Mongolian
tendency is equally manifest. The Yakuts of the Lena, before
described, and the Nojai Tartars (judging from a figure in H amilton
S m ith ’s work), also belong to this type.“9. South of the Kirghis are
the TTzbecks, who, according to Lieut. Wood, resemble the former,
but are better proportioned. The reader will obtain some general
idea of the points of resemblance and difference between the Uzbecks
and their Eastern conquerors, by referring to the portrait of Sjah
Mierza, an Uzbeck Tartar, in the “ Ethnographic Tableau” illustrating
Mr. G l id d o n ’s Chapter VI.
Through the skulls of the Osmanli Turks and the Tartars of the
Kasan — especially the latter1—-the Turkish *head proper graduates
149 Op. cit., plate 9, fig. 2.
into the European form. Both these tribes are among the most
anciently civilized of the race. The
high European forms so often seen
among the Osmanlis are no longer problematic.
A knowledge of the heterogeneous
additions accepted by their
Seldjukian ancestors, and already referred
to in sufficient detail, has served
not a little to dissipate the mystery
attached to this subject. Of the genea-
' logical impurity of the Turks I think
there can be but little doubt. Their
indiscriminate amalgamations are thus
briefly hinted at by D ’H alloy :
Fig. 17.
“ R paraît,” says he, “ d’après les portraits d’anciens peuples turcs, que l’on a trouvés
dans les historiens chinois, que ces peuples avaient originairement des cheveux roussâtres,
et que leurs yeux étaient d’un gris verdâtre ; mais-ces caractères se sont perdus, et maintenant
on remarque que les Turcs qui habitent au nord-est du Caucase, participent plus ou
moins des caractères des Mongols, et'que ceux établis au sud-ouest présentent les formes
de la race blanche d’une manière trés-prononcée, mais avec des cheveux et des yeux noirs;
circonstances qui s’expliquent parle mélange avec les Mongols pour les premiers, et par
celui avec les Perses et les Araméens pour les seconds, d’autant plus que les Turcs, qui
sont généralement polygames, ont beaucoup de goût pour les femmes étrangères ” 160
Quite recently, Major A l ex a n d e r Cu n n in g h am , of the Bengal
Engineers, has given us an excellent account of the physical characters
of the Bhotiyahs, an interesting race occupying a considerable
portion of Thibet and the Himalayan range of mountains.
“ The face of the Boti,” says he, “ is broad, flat, and Square, with high cheek-bones,
Idrge mouth, and narrow forehead. The nose is broad and flat, and generally much turned
up, with wide nostrils, and with little or no bridge. The eyes are small and narrrow, and
the upper eyelids usually have a peculiar and angular form that is especially ugly. The
eyes are nearly always black ; but brown, and even blue eyes, are seen occasionally. The
inner comers are drawn downwards by the tension of the skin over the large cheek-bones;
the eyelids are therefore not in one straight line, parallel to the mouth, as is the case with
Europeans, but their lines meet in a highly obtuse angle pointing downwards. This gives
an appearance of obliquity to the eyes themselves that is very disagreeable. The ears are
prominent, very large, and very thick; they have also particularly long lobes, and are
altogether about one-half larger than those of Europeans. The mouth is large, with full
and Bomewhat'prominent lips. The hair is black, coarse, and thick, and usually straight
and crisp. Bushy heads of hair are sometimes seen, but I believe that the frizzly appearance
is not due. even in part to any natural tendency to curl, but solely to the tangled and
ickly agglomerated matting of the hair consequent upon its never having been combed or
washed from first to second childhood.” 151
150 Op. cit., pp. 89, 90.
M Ladék, Physical, Statistical, and Historical, with Notices of the Surrounding Countries
London, 1854, p. 296.