Of the Oval or Elliptical type.— This form of cranial configuration at once approves itself to the educated eye, as distinguished by its symmetrical contour; neither the muzzle nor the zygomatic arches having an undue prominence, whilst, on the other hand, there is no appearance of flattening or compression. The cranium, in its fullest development, may be said to have the length of that of the Negro with the breadth of that of the Mongolian ; and it is particularly distinguished by the lateral fulness, as well as by the elevation, of the forehead. This will be especially appa rent on the comparison of fig. 815 with the corresponding view infigs. 807. and 811.; for in the former it will be seen that the breadth continues to increase above the orbits, and that the cranial vault is rounded and capacious ; whilst in the other two, the breadth diminishes rapidly, especially in the frontal region, from the floor of the orbits upwards. The form of the zygomatic arches is such, that in the facial view they do not project laterally beyond the general boundary line, as they do in the Mongolian ; whilst the conformation of the jaws is such, that they do not form nearly as great a projection be yond the ellipse which would include the whole cranium and the greater part of the face, when seen in profile, as they do in the Negro. Owing to the more perpendicular direction of the alveolar processes, the front teeth of the two jaws are fixed in planes which are nearly or quite parallel to each other. The chief positive distinction of this form of cranium, is the large development of the cranial cavity, and especially the fullness and eleva tion of the forehead, in proportion to the size of the face ; indicating the predominance of the intellectual powers over those merely instinctive propensities which are more di rectly connected with sensations. Among European nations, the Greeks have probably displayed the greatest symmetry in the form of the head, in the largest proportion of in dividuals ; but examples of equal symmetry might be found amongst any of the great group of nations now termed Indo-Atlantidm, and even, as will hereafter appear, in na tions of entirely different descent. Nearly all of these have acquired a certain amount of civilisation, living by agriculture, and possessing settled habitations ; and among them, or among the offsets which have pro ceeded from them (as the people of the United States), we find all the nations which have been most distinguished for intellectual advancement, for the successful cultivation of the fine arts, and for the various improve ments which distinguish the state of civilisa tion from that of barbarism.
To the foregoing general account of the three principal types of cranial conformation, may be added the results of the observations recently made public by Dr. Morton*, as to the capacity of the cranium of different races, measured after the manner adopted by Tiede mann (p. 1321.). The number of crania ex amined was 623 ; and they were derived from various races and families, as shown in the following table, which is here given without modification, although the writer (as will hereafter appear) is far from agreeing with Dr. Morton in the classification of these varieties which he has adopted.
It appears from this comparison, that the Teutonic race, and the nations chiefly de rived from it, take the highest rank among those examined in regard to cranial capacity ; whilst the lowest is occupied, not by the Negroes, but by the Hottentots, the Austra lians, and the ancient Peruvians and Mexi cans. The Negro race seems to be scarcely or not at all inferior in this particular to the Per sians, the Bengalees, the Fellahs, the ancient Egyptians, the modern Fellahs, the Chinese, the Polynesians, and the North American In dians. It must be remarked, however, that tile number of crania examined is too small, in some of the families, to admit of a fair aver age. This, however, it is most important to observe, that in the skull of largest capacity amongst the races whose average is the lowest, the cubical content is greater than that of the smallest skull among the highest. Thus we see that the largest native African skull contained 99 cubic inches ; the largest Ame rican-born Negro, 89 cubic inches ; and the largest Hottentot and Alforian skulls, 83 cubic inches ; whilst, on the other hand, the smallest German skull contained but 70 cubic inches ; the smallest English, 91 inches ; and the smallest Anglo-American, 82 cubic inches. It is worthy of note, too, that the largest Negro skull possesses two inches more capa city than the largest Anglo-American. It is obvious, then, that no constant and impass able line of distinction can be drawn on this basis, between any of the varieties of the human race.
We have now to inquire if the foregoing types of cranial conformation are sufficiently fixed and definite to furnish specific characters ; that is (I.), whether they are always clearly distinguishable from each other, or are con nected together by a succession of gradations that renders it imposSible to draw a distinct line of demarcation between them : and (2.) whether they are so invariably transmitted from one generation to another, where the of the race has been preserved, as to entitle them to be regarded as permanent and unalterable ; or are occasionally seen to vary in a succession of generations, so that a race loses more or less completely its original type, and assumes some other.
When the cranial conformation of the -whole Indo-Atlantic group of nations is care fully examined, it is perceived that although the elliptical type prevails among them, it is comparatively seldom seen in its perfection, and that a decided tendency is frequently seen towards one or other of the other types, or towards a mixture of the characters of all. Considerable variation is thus presented, not merely by the different races, but by different individuals of the same race. Thus in every large collection of English skulls, for example, crania would probably be found differing nearly as widely from each other in the proportion of length to breadth, as do the average of Negro and Mongolian crania ; whilst, again, some would exhibit more or less of approximation to the prognathous type, and others to the pyramidal. Of the former we have an example in fig. 818., and sions of its cranial portion were alone re garded, in the " dolichocephalic " division of Professor Retzius, and only wants a little more elongation of the muzzle to be almost as prognathous as many African skulls; whilst in the second, the breadth and front-flattening of the malar bones, with the inferior breadth of the forehead, show that it is obviously in termediate in character between the typical oval (fig. 815) and the typical pyramidal (fig. 811). So, again, if the so-called Mon golian group be surveyed, it will be found that the peculiarities of the pyramidal skull are often softened down, so as to present an approach to the elliptical form, sometimes through the whole of certain races, occasion ally only in individuals. Here, too, there is a tendency to an admixture of types ; for we find among the American nations a very gradual transition from the truly pyramidal, such as is seen in the Esquimaux (fig. 820), of the latter in fig. 819.*; the first of these skulls would certainly be placed, if the dimen to a form in which there is at least as great an admixture of the prognathous (fig. 822); whilst among the Chinese and other civilised nations of South-eastern Asia, we find so close an approximation to the oval type, that individuals are not unfrequently met with amongst them, whose skulls might be taken for those of Europeans.* So, again, if we take a survey of the African nations, we find the prognathous type gradually softened down (so to speak) among them, until in some of the races of undoubted African descent, in habiting the Nile valley, it merges into the oval. We have already noticed the curious admixture of the pyramidal and prognathous types which is seen in the Hottentot races ; and among the widely spread and isolated tribes by which Oceania is peopled, the same com bination is exhibited in various degrees. For whilst the skulls of the Malayan portion of the population are referable to the pyramidal type rather than to any other, those of many native Australians, and of various islanders designated as " Pelagian Negroes," are almost purely prognathous, presenting but a very slight indication of a pyramidal tendency about the upper part of the face ; and between these there is every degree of gradation. Thus, in the Australian skull, delineated in figs. 823, 824, there is decidedly less prognathism than in that already described (fig. 808.) ; and in the skull of the Tahitian (fig. 825), with about the same amount of prognathism, there is a considerably less degree of posterior elongation ; in both these skulls, moreover, the upper part of the face, when seen in front, shows a decidedly pyramidal tendency. So, again, the Greenlanders are ranked by Professor Retzius among his Doll chocephalce prognatlzw, along with the Negroes and Australians, although the upper part of the face is often most characteristically pyra midal ; and even the Brachycephalie Tartars and Kalmuks are reckoned by him suffi ciently prognathous to be separated from the Finns, Lapps, Turks, &c.