A more extended comparison of the pelvis of different races, however, has been made by Professor M. I. Weber ; who classifies all the varieties he has met with under the four fol lowing heads, which are named according to the form of the aperture of the brim : — I. The oval, in which the aperture has somewhat the form of an egg, the narrowest end of the ellipse being at the symphysis pubis : but the antero•posterior diameter is shorter than the transverse.
2. The round, in which the antero-pos terior and transverse diameters are nearly equal.
3. The square, or four-sided ; in which the sides, especially that formed by the os pubis, are flat and broad, so that the aperture forms nearly a perfect square ; the transverse di ameter is greater than the antero-posterior.
4. The oblong ; in which the sides are com pressed, and the transverse diameter is con sequently the least ; the sacrum is narrow ; and the angle at which the, ossa pubis unite is very acute ; the ossa ilii are high, and nearer to each other than in the previous forms.
Now, if any attempt be made to assign any one of these forms of pelvis to a particular nation or group of nations, it fails in toto ; because, although particular types are more common than others in each principal variety, yet each kind may present itself in other individuals of the same race. Thus, the oval type is most common in the European, where it is in accordance with the oval form of the skull ; but round, square, and wedge-shaped pelves also present themselves occasionally ; and the oval form is met with again in the pelvis of a Botacudo, a people reputed to be the most savage of all the American nations. The round type seems most frequent among the American and Malayan nations ; but it has been observed by Weber not merely in the European, but in a Negress, and in a female Hottentot. The square form seems most common among the nations with decidedly pyramidal skulls, especially the Northern Asiatics ; but it occurs also in Europeans, and in the mixed race of Mestizos. Finally, the oblong pelvis is most common among the African races, and is conformable to the elongated shape usually possessed by their crania ; but it has been observed also among Europeans and Botocudos.*—The writer's own observations, so far as they extend, con firm this view, as to the conformity between the shape of the pelvis and that of the skull; which renders it probable that the influences which affect the latter will modify the former also.
3. Conformation of other parts of the ske leton.— Other characters have been at dif ferent times adduced, as showing that the Negro and other degraded races are really to he considered as forming a distinct group, in termediate between the higher specimens of humanity and the superior apes. Of these, the most important will be now inquired into. It was maintained by Soemmering, and since his time very generally believed, that the position of the foramen magnum in the Negro skull is intermediate between that which it holds in man, and that which it presents in the anthropoid Simi; but this, as already shown, is a mistaken view of the case; for, if we make allowance for the projection of the jaws, and consider only its relation to the cranial portion of the skull, the position of the foramen magnum is found to be the same in the Negro as in the European ; whilst in the adult forms of the highest apes, as shown by Professor Owen, it is removed very much further back, although in the young it is nearer the centre of the base. Again, it was stated
by White, and has been generally believed, that the length of the fore arm in the Negro is so much greater than in the European, as to constitute a real approximation to the quadrumanous type. But an extended com parison proves, that only a very slight differ ence exists between the average length of this part in the two races ; and that this difference is by no means greater than that which may be observed on comparing the individuals of which any single race or nation is composed. On the other hand, a constant and decided difference exists, as already pointed out, be tween all races of mankind and the highest Quadrumana. Again, it has been supposed that the Negro races are characterised by that peculiar curved form of the bones of the leg, which gives rise to what is popularly desig nated as the " cucumber-shin ;" also by the great elongation of the heel; and by the breadth and flatness of the foot. Such pecu liarities are doubtless to be observed among individuals, and may be said to be general among the inferior Negro tribes ; but they are scarcely discoverable in the higher, among which a remarkable degree of symmetry in the conformation of these parts is often dis cernible. And it should not be forgotten that the increased development of the heel, and the flattening of the foot, are characters which remove the Negro from the anthropoid apes, still more widely than the European, instead of being a character of approximation. It has been further asserted, that the inferior races generally are characterised by slender, elongated, and misshapen limbs, and by a great deficiency of physical power, as compared with Europeans. This is undoubtedly true of such as are habitually ill-fed, and live in a condition of squalid ignorance. But it is scarcely less true of those individuals among any of the higher races, who are subjected to the same conditions. Thus, although the extreme of this condition is witnessed among the Bosjesmans and Alfourous, yet approaches to it may be seen among the lowest grades of the population in the most civilised nations. The accompanying figure (fig. 827), which represents a group of Australians looking at a mirror that had been presented to one of their tribe, who had been clothed by the sailors of the Astrolabe, might almost be supposed to be intended for a set of half-starved Irish. More over, among the races which are considered to exhibit this character in its most decided form, individuals are often found, who, having grown up under more favourable conditions, exhibit the most complete symmetry, and the greatest vigour. Such, for example, are not wanting among the Australian races, which present a remarkable variety in this particular. Among most savage races, the families of the chiefs exhibit a higher grade of physical de velopment than the ordinary population ; and this is quite sufficiently accounted for by the difference of the conditions under which they live, especially in regard to food.