Czechs. Mode of Measurement of Prognathism. 75 Welcker, however, prefers to determine the position of the jaw indirectly by means of the angle at the root of the nose (b n x), because this latter increases with the angle of the sella, whereas it is the reverse with the angle at the alveoli (b x n), which decreases while the others increase. The angle at the root of the nose varies from 60° to 72° in the skulls of different races. Welcker speaks of a skull in which this angle amounts to 68° or more as prognathous; of one in which it remains below 65° as opistognathous; of skulls of from 65° to not quite 68° as orthognathous, for which latter term we shall substitute mesognathous. An examination of skulls shows that prognathism prevails as a rule in narrow skulls, while medium and broad skulls are mostly mesognathous or occasionally opistognathous. This correlation is not however invariable, for, according to Welcker, Eskimo, Mexicans, Hottentots, and the Highland Scotch belong to the mesognathous dolichocephali, while conversely the Sumatrans and Bashkirs combine an index of breadth of 80° and 82° with prognathism of an angle of 69° 5' and 67° 6'. It seems strange perhaps that in determining the direction of the jaws, the points of the compasses are placed above the alveoli and not at once upon the lower edge of the sockets, or even on the incisor teeth, as the protrusion of the facial apparatus is greatest at these points. But very many skulls are damaged just at these points, and it would there fore be necessary to reject them as useless. Again, it is still more important that the prognathism produced by the oblique position of the alveoli depends on non-essential directions of growth. Virchow has shown that the prognathous type of face is inconsistent with the full development of the brain. This fact is most significant when we remember that this unpropitious position of the jaw is confined almost exclusively to nations in which civilization appears somewhat immature. Only here again it must be remembered that various forms occur side by side within the same nations. In England and France cases of prognathism are not unknown, and in Paris they are said to be tolerably common.9 7 Weisbach, der deutsche Weiberschädel in the Archiv für Anthropologie, vol. iii. p. 75. 1868. His facial angle is nearly identical with Welcker's angle b x n. • Schädelgrund, p. 121. 9 Quatrefages, Rapport, p. 311. The Chinese are, moreover, reckoned among the prognathous nations by many craniologists; and in Welcker's statistics we even find the Dutch with an angle of 67° 8' at the root of the nose. With such great variability, the average numbers can only show the frequency of a certain form of facial apparatus, while the individual fluctuations serve as links to a higher or a lower type. The expression of the human countenance is very greatly affected by the prominence of the zygomatic arch, although this characteristic is not constant, yet where it occurs in a preponderating number of cases, we must be content to use it in the description of nations. If a skull be so placed that the eye of the beholder strikes the centre of the major axis perpendicularly (norma verticalis), it can be determined with certainty whether the zygomatic arches project like two handles beyond the outlines of the skull (phanerozygous), or whether they remain concealed behind them (cryptozygous skulls); in the first case we are able to say that the cheek-bones are prominent. Much attention has recently been given to the form of the orbicular cavities in the osseous face, but these measurements have not hitherto enabled us to recognize any characteristics available for ethnology. The ossecus frames appear to have no influence on the oblique position of the opening of the eye, 10 which, although not quite constant as a characteristic of all nations of a Mongolian cast, must yet find place in description. The shape of the nose, again, was taken into account by the older ethnologists. The Papuan is recognizable by the Jewish type of his nose, the Mongols of Northern Asia by the flatness of this feature. In the inhabitants of Thibet the bridge of the nose is said to be so low that, seen in profile, it projects but little beyond the eye-ball, or even disappears behind it in some muscular individuals." The lower jawbone was formerly neglected by craniologists, and has only recently been noticed. In proportion as it is pointed or flattened, the face acquires oval, angular, or square outlines. But if we look round among our daily companions, we see such a confusion of types, so many transitions from one to the other, that it 10 Von Schlagintweit, Indien und Hochasien, vol. ii. p. 51. Other Facial Characters. 77 are, however, a But even among would require a vast number of measurements to enable us to say which of the divers forms is most prevalent. The mouth is another subject on which much stress has been laid in the description of races. The thick lips of the Central and Southern Africans are especially opposed to our idea of beauty. The thin lips of Europeans and their American descendants character which brings them nearer to the apes. the negroes themselves, this portion of the facial form varies considerably, and although a marked intumescence of the lips may be generally attributed to them, it implies nothing more than that the European form of mouth does not occur among them more frequently than does the negro form among ourselves. Among the Jews, who for thousands of years have intermarried among themselves, we find the two extremes side by side, the delicately chiseled mouth and the intumescent lips. IV. THE PROPORTIONS OF THE PELVIS AND THE LIMBS. If we cast a glance from the head downwards, it is at once evident that there is a harmony of proportion between the skull and the female pelvis. But if the number of skulls of different races was too small to inspire implicit confidence, the stock of pelvises of various races does not equal the hundredth part of the skulls. Nevertheless, M. J. Weber has already ventured to distinguish an European or oval, an American or round, a Mongolian or square, a Negro or wedge-shaped pelvis. Joulin, on the other hand, maintained the identity of form of the Mongolian or, more accurately, the Javan or Papuan pelvis and that of the negro. Lastly, Pruner Bey believes that no race exists of which the woman cannot give birth to children of a European or any other father, that from the same womb proceed children with different forms of skull, although, according to observations on Javans and North Americans, parturition is easier when the child is of pure breed and not a hybrid. Fritsch has recently imported to Europe a comparatively large number of pelvises of South African nations, 1 Pruner Bey, Etudes sur le Bassin, p. 13. Paris, 1855. but owing to the inconstancy of characters, he has not ventured to distinguish types. In the course of his studies he has, however, made a discovery calculated to cause serious reflection. In European skeletons, male and female are recognizable with tolerable certainty by the capaciousness and form of the pelvis. The pelvis is thus one of the secondary sexual characters. In the case of Bushmen, on the contrary, the female pelvis might be mistaken for the male, and the same holds good of Hottentots and Kaffirs.2 Should this phenomenon be recognized in other parts of the world, we should be able to declare that the complete evolution of sexual differences is accomplished only under the protection of the higher civilizations. We owe the most numerous measurements, although exclusively of female pelvises, to Carl Martin, who for a considerable time practised as a physician in Brazil, treating negresses as well as native women and hybrids. He compared the dimensions in the case of eight Papuans, two aboriginal Americans, eighteen Malays, four Bushmen, and fifteen negro women, with the averages of European collections. As far as a result may be deduced from this small stock of anatomical records, the pelvises may be divided into those with a circular inlet, as in the aboriginal Americans, Malays, and Papuans, and those with a transverse-oval inlet, as in African and European women. The inlet is called round when the conjugata is as large, or nearly as large, as the other diameter; and transverse-oval when it is exceeded more than 10 per cent. by the transverse and oblique diameters. It may also be said with more precision that, in European women, the pelvis combines the greatest capacity and width with an essentially transverseoval inlet; and that the pelvis of the negress, although of similar shape, is smaller and narrower in other respects. The pelvises of Bushwomen, corresponding with their small bodily stature, are smaller than those of any other race, and have an inlet which is sometimes of an upright oval form. At page 1008 of the 31st number of the Literar. Centralblatt, it is stated that the side bones of the Bushman are relatively longer than the haunch bones, and are higher than in any other race, so that the pelvis 2 Fritsch, Eingeborne Südafrika's, pp. 39, 299, 415. Stature of Different Races. 79 is of animal form in an extreme degree. The Malay pelvises are narrow, the inlet round, or not unfrequently uprightly oval. In size the pelvis of aboriginal American women closely approach the European form, but differ from it in their circular entrance. Lastly, the Papuan pelvis, although tolerably round, yet approaches the transverse-oval form.3 Turning to the dimensions of the body, we must not expect that they will afford us any invariable marks of distinction between the various human families. Most of the observations directed to this end were obtained during the late civil war in the United States. The measurements extended to 1,104,841 men. It first became evident from these large numbers that growth visibly diminished in the 20th year, yet continued slowly till the 24th in all those who were drafted into the military service in the North American States; indeed, growth in native Americans does not completely cease till the 30th year.4 It was also a curious fact that the inhabitants of the Western States, such as Kentucky and Tennessee, surpassed the natives of the East, and still more the Canadians, Scotch, Irish, English, and Germans in their bodily dimensions. 5 It is uncertain whether a fuller development of the body by hard work on virgin territories may be cited as the cause, or the fact that it is usually men of high stature and superior physical power who decide on emigration, while the more weakly prefer to stay at home; and that this form of segregation is reflected in this average of many individual cases. But as the native Americans surpass the Scotch, Irish, English, and German immigrants in bodily dimensions, there can be no doubt that the 3 Monatschrift für Geburtskunde, xxviii. i. p. 23-58. * Gould, Investigations in the Military and Anthropological Statistics of American Soldiers, p. 108. New York, 1869. 5 Gould, p. 125. |