very long, clumsy and massive in its general appearance. The forehead
is low, broad, and ponderous; the occiput heavy and very
protuberant; the basis cranii long, broad, and flat; the orbits
capacious; and the distance from the root of the nose to the
upper alveolus quite short. In its general form, it very much
resembles the Cimbric skull, Hoi 1362. The Cimbric type, however,
is somewhat narrower in the frontal region, and widens
more posteriorly towards the parietal protuberances. In his
work, cited above, Prof. H i l s s o n figures a massive, oblong head
to which the Irish skull under consideration bears a considerable
resemblance. A very heavy skull from the field of Waterloo (Ho.
1564) is strictly and beautifully oval. Of the four heads from the
catacombs at Paris, three are decidedly brachy-eephalie, and one
of the Germanic form.
Leaving Western Europe—the home of the Celt®— and turning
our steps, towards the region of the old Hercynian Forest, and the
sources of the Saale River, we meet with a type of skull which has
figured pre-eminently in the momentous and stirring historical events
of which Europe has been the arena. The Germanic, Gothic, or
Teutonic skull which Tacitus regarded as indigenous to the heart
of Europe, is briefly described by M orton, as I large and spheroidal,
the forehead broad aüd arched, the face round. . . .”199 P r ic h a r d ,
after stating that we derive no information from the classical writers
concerning the form of the head in the ancient Germans, says : “ The
modern Germans are well known to have large heads, with the anterior
part of the cranium elevated and fully developed. They have
this peculiarity of form in a greater degree than either the French
or English.”200 V e sa l iu s observes, “ that the, Germans had generally
a flattened occiput and broad head.”201 According to K ombst,
the Teutonic skull is larger and rounder than the Keltic. The head
and face form a semi-circle, to which the small end of the oval is
added, formed by the inter-maxillary region. The brow is broad,
high, and massive.202 Hear the close of the Decades, B lumenbach
figures a cranium found in an ancient tumulus near Romsted, in
the district of Weimar, and which the poet-philosopher Goethe supposed
to be that of an ancient German. He unfortunately gives
no description of it, but merely alludes to its symmetry and “ fron-
tem globosam et limbi alveolaris angustiorem arcum.” V imont, in
his chapter on Têtes nationales, speaks of the “ capacité considérable,”
199 Crania Americana, p. 13.
“ » Researches into the Nat. Hist, of Man, iii. 393. *>i De Corp. Fab. Unman.
m A. Keith Johnston’s Physical Atlas of Natural Phenomena, 2d edit., p. 106.
O F T H E R A C E S OF ME N . 303
»
the thickness of the bones, and the great development of the upper
and anterior parts of the German skull.203 The reader will obtain a
general idea of the Germanic calvarial
type from the accompanying
engraving (Fig. 30), representing
the skull of the illustrious German
poet, F r e d e r ic k S c h il l e r . It is
reduced from Plate I. of Dr. Ca r l s ’
“Atlas der Oranioscopie.”204 The
authenticity of the drawing, the
evident beauty , of form and harmony
of proportion, the' brilliant
literary souvenirs inseparably at-
tached to the; memory of the author
of the Robbers, and friend of
Fig. 30.
SCH ILLER.
Goethe, and especially the somewhat Sclavonic cast of the facial
legion, have induced me to adopt this skull, in preference to any
of the heads contained in Morton’s Collection, as the standard or
typical representative, not so much of Teutonic as of Central and
Eastern Europe, in general. Dr. Carus thus comments upon this
Profil du Orâne de Frédéric de Schiller d’après un plâtre moulé:
“ Dans l’ensemble, la proportionnalité est, on ne peut plus heureuse et en parfaite harmonie
arec les qualités d’un esprit éminent, lesquelles durent sous'tous les rapports, placer
Schiller à cote: de Goethe. Chacune de trois vertèbres du crâne se trouve dans l’état du
développement le plus beau et le plus complet; la vertèbre médiane est particulièrement
grande gracieusemente voûtée, finement modelée. Le front est essentiellement plus développé
enlargeurque celui de Goethe,chez qui cependant il était plus saillant au milieu
L occiput est également expressif, sans bosse ni protubérance; c’est surtout par une e n tame
formation élégamment arrondie de toute la tâte que l’oeil de l’observateur se sent
agréablement captivé.’’:' ;r: j§ ,
Of all the European crania in Morton’s Collection, that of a Dutchman
approximates most closely what I conceive to be the true Germanic
or Teutonic form.. This skull is* remarkable, for possessing
the large internal capacity of' 114 cubic inches —the largest in the
entire collection. The cal varia is very large ; the face rather small,
delicate, well-formed, and tapering towards the chin. The frontal
diameter or breadth between the temples, is 4* inches; the greatest
breadth between the parietal protuberances is 6f inches ; the anteroposterior
or longitudinal diameter is 7f inches; the height, mea-
2M KSErf de Phrenologie, Humaine et Comparde. Par J. Vjmont. Paris, 1835, ii. 478.
Atlas der Cranioscopie, oder Abbildungen der Schädel- und Antlitzformen Beruehmter
er sonst merkwuerdiger Personen, von Dr. C. G. Carus. Heft. I. Leipzig, 1843 The
p - are accompanied with German and French text.