“ Tlie Anglo-Americans—the lineal descendants of the Anglo-Saxons—conform in all their
characteristics to the parent stock. They possess, in common with their English ancestors,
and in consequence of their amalgamation, a more elongated head192 than the unmixed
Germans. The few crania in my possession have, without exception, been derived from the
lowest and least cultivated portion of the community—malefactors, paupers, and lunatics.
The largest brain has been 97 cubic inches; the smallest 82; and the mean of 90 (nearly)
accords with that of the collective Teutonic race. The sexes of these seven skulls are four
male and three female.”—(Morton).
Craniographers have not yet agreed upon the essential characters
of the typical Keltic skull. According to P r ic h a r d , “ Some remains
found in Britain give reason to suspect that the Celtic inhabitants
of this country (Britain) had in early times something of the Mongolian
or Turanian form of the head.” 193 Dr. M orton informs u s that
the Kelts of Brittany, Scotland, and Ireland—the descendants of the
primitive Gael— “ have the head rather elongated, and the forehead
narrow and but slightly arched: the brow is low, straight, and bushy;
the eyes and hair are light, the nose and mouth large, and the cheekbones
high. The general contour of the face
is angular, and the expression harsh.” 194 In
a letter to Mr. G l id do n , he alludes to the
Tokkari, a people frequently represented on
the Egyptian monuments (Pig. 28), in the
following terms: They “ have strong Celtic
features ; as seen in the sharp face, the large
and irregularly-formed nose, wide mouth,
and a certain harshness of expression, which
is characteristic of the same people in all
their varied localities. Those who are familiar
with the southern Highlanders (of Scotland),
may recognise a speaking resemblance.”
Fig. 28.
195 Prof. R e tz iu s places the Keltic cranium in his dolichocephalic
class, and describes it as long, narrow, laterally compressed,
and low in the forehead. Dr. G tjstae K ombst speaks of the Keltic
skull as “ elongated from front to hack, moderate in breadth and
length.” 196 In a letter to Dr. T h u r n am , one of the authors of Crania
Britannica, Prof. N ils so n declares that nothing is more uncertain and
vague than the so-called form of the Keltic cranium, for hardly two
authors have the same opinion of it.197
192 « This peculiarity must continue to develop itself still more obviously in the United States,
in consequence of the immense influx of a pure Celtic population from the south and west
of Ireland ; for this population, by intermarriage with families of English and German
descent, while it rapidly, loses its o wn national physiognomy, will leave its traces in a part,
at least, of the Anglo-Saxon race by whom it is everywhere surrounded.”
i“ Researches, &e., vol. III., p. XX. ™ Crania Americana, p. 16.
185 Letter dated Philada;, Nov. 23, 1842. Keith JohnstonV Physical Atlas.
m Crania Britannica, p. 17.
S e r r e s ’ G-alerie Anthropologique, Fig- 29.
at Paris, contains a skull (Pig. 29)
marked “ Type Celte, — découvert
dans l’ancien pare de Madame de
Pompadour à Bellevue, pres Paris.”
The discrepancy of opinion indicated
in the preceding paragraph,
results from the fact already stated,
that Ireland has at different periods
been the home of different and distinct
races of men, whose history is
recorded only on their mouldering
osseous remains, and the rude im- Ttpb Celtbplements
with which these remains are generally found associated.
These different races have transmitted, in varying degrees of purity,
their respective and peculiar types of skull to the Irish population
of the present day. To each and all of these types, the term “ Keltic”
has been applied ; hence, the term has at length become synonymous
with “ Irish,” and, therefore, lost all definite and certain meaning,
just as the very comprehensive word “American,” as applied to
the heterogeneous population of the United States, means Dutch,
English, Irish, Erench, Red Indians, &c., &c.
The Keltic race is represented in the Mortonian Collection by
eight Irish heads, four skulls from the Parisian catacombs, and one
from the field of Waterloo. No. 18 — a female Irish skull from the
Abbey of Buttevant, County of Cork —has a form intermediate
between the Cimbric and Swedish types, already described on page
291. In No. 21 —a soldier killed at the battle of Chippeway — the
Gothic or Teutonic calvarial form is associated with a heavy, massive
face. No. 42—the skull of an Irishman, ætat. 21, imprisoned for lar-
ceny, and in all respects a vicious and refractory character—approaches
the square Germanic form. No. 52—from the Abbey of Buttevant—
has the same form. No. 985—skull of an Irishman, ætat. 60 years—
being rather broad between the parietal tubers, also approximates
the Gothic type. The face resembles that of some of the Finns, but
is smaller and less massive. No. 1186—an Irish cranium from Mayo
County — belongs to the peculiar boahshaped Cimbric type. No.
1356 — a cast of the skull of one of the ancient Celtic race of Ireland198—
appears to me to be the most typical in the Irish group
thus briefly enumerated. This head, the largest in the group, is
198 This cast bears the following memorandum: “ Descendant of an ancient Irish King,
Alexander O’Connor. — Original in Dublin.”