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Show 350 TilE CRANIAL CHARACTERISTICS 8. That each wcll-marl·cd cranial typ admits of certain variations in its individual characters, whieh variations constitute divergent forms. 9. That these di vcrgcnt forms must not be confounded with hybri 1 types. Both, it is true, arc produced by modifications in the mode of action of the developing principle; in tl10 former, however, these modifications depend upon climatic conditions, in tho latter they result from race-amalgamation. l 0. 'l'hat reasons exist for considering some, at least, of tho socalled arti:fi ial deformations as strictly natural types, rcproseuting very early humanitarian epochs. 11. 'l'hat a regular system of gradation seems to underlie and harmonize the various cranial forms of the hurunn family. 12. That those forms appear to bo pro-roprcsontcd or anticipated in tho various typos of skull exhibited by difrorent genera and species of monl-eys. 13. That if we regard artificial deformations as tho forced imitations of once natural types, and upon this ground admit them in our Aystoms of classification, as some writers have done, tb n tho perplexing gaps which seem to break the a11imal chain by dispartincr man and monkeys-tho group which stands nearest to man-will to a certain extent be filled intelligibly. cspbccs primitives." (E16m6nta de Aforpltolooic Ilumainc, 2do portio, p. llli; Pnris, 1860.) 1'he [JC11eral immobility of race-chn.mclers and specific forms is pretty well determined for tho historic period. Dut in this period o. remarkable equilibrium of physical conditions has been maintained. In tho anto-histodo epoch, tho question of tho mobility or immobility of craninl, in common with all orgnnic forms, must be studied over n wider timeh~ titucj.o, and under ttltct•cd physical oiroumstnncos. If now wo recall the grcnt physiologicnl fact, that under tho influence of tho vital principle, organic matter assumes a definite, IJ1ough infinitely diversified form (tho organic coil nnd its dovolopmontnl modifiontions), and that this form constitutes tho medium through which all tho activo phenomena of lifo arc manifested, nud if wo, furthermore, ~;cfloot upon tho mass of evidence which strong~y t~uds to oorr·olato, if not, indood, to identify tho vitnl with tho physicnl forces,. then 1t w1:1 ~ppoar .that tho study of specific forms, when carried through great geologrc~tl cycles, ts, m re11l1ty, a study, not so much of pnrontago, as of tho functional or dynamical energy of physical conditions. 'l'ho question of wl1at constitutes species is by 1~0 ~e11ns ~ecmaril~ conuocted with thl\t of pa1·cntage. Naturalists, measuring natnt·e by lumtod per1ods of trme, have too often fallon into tho error of rogat•ding specific sameness ns n mark of common origin. V cry philosophically observes Dr. LNr ov: "Naturalists hnvo not yot systcmnlizcd that knowledge through which they praotictLlly estimate the vnluo of chtwact~rs determining .o. ~pocics. . W!Jnt may be viewed as distinct sub-gonor11 by one, will ho considered 118 only drst111ct speo1oS by another, and a third mny view both ns varieties or moos. In t.ho uso of these words, or rathot· in tho nttompt to doli no them, wo go too fnr who~ we assoc1ate.tlrcm with the nature of tho origin of tho beings in question. We know notlung wh~tcvcr lU rolt\tion to tho origin of living beings, nnd oven wo cnnnot positively dony that !tfe .connected with some form wns not co-otornal with time Apnco and matter nnd ll:,nt all lr~in.g boingH h1wo not Ruocossively and divorgingly asccn~lcd fr;m tho lowes~ :.~P~18()·7 )(Descrrptton of Remai118 of Extinct .lfammalia. Journal Acad. Nat. Sciences, N. S., 111. • OF TilE RACES OF MEN. 351 14. That typical forms of crania increase in number as we go from tho poles to the equator. 15. That tho lower forms arc found in tho regions of excessive cold and excessive heat; the higher occupying the middle temperate region. J G. That cranial forms arc inseparably connected with the physics of tho globe. • The entire arctic zone is characterized by a remarkable uniformity or sameness of climatic condition and a11imal distributio11. Tho stunt d plants exhibit but few specific forms; and whore the cold is most intense and most prolonged, this uniformity is most evident. I!OI·o, also, tho human cranial typo is least varied. Bending his stops southward, and traversing the temperate Asio-European continent, tho observant traveller becomes aware of a gradual increase in the light and heat of the sun; and accompanying this increase, he beholds a p culiar and much more diversified il.ora and fauna. At every step, organic forms multiply around him, and monotony slowly gives place to variety; a variety, moreover, in which a remarkable system of rcsomblnncc or representation is preserved. "The temperate zone," says Agassiz, "is not cbaractedzod, like the arctic, by one and tho same fauna; it docs not form, as Lho arctic docs, one continuous zoological zone around the globe." And, again, he says: "The geographical eli tribution of animals in tl1is zone, forms several clos ly con11cctod, but distinct combinations." Now, we have already soon that the globular, cranial typo of this region is more varied thau tho pyramidal form of tho extreme North. 'l'ho Kalmuck or true Mongolian, tho Tartar, Chinese, J apancse, and Turkish typoe of skull arc all, to a certain extent, related, and yet arc all roauily distinguishable from each other. Each of these groups, again, pr scnts several cranial varieties. o, among the barbarous aborigines of North America, uotwithstanding the general osteologic assimilation of their mnia, important tribal distinctions can be readily pointed out. It is interesting also to remark, that in tho Turkish aroa, we arc to look ior tho traces of transition from the Mollgolian to the European iorms -a fact singularly in keeping with the statement of Aga·ssiz, tktt tho Caspian fauna partakes partly of tho Asiatic, and partly of tho European zoological character. It. is a general and very well-known fact-first noLiccd by Bufron -that tho fauua and il.ora of tho old world arc not specifically id ntical with the fauna aud flora of tho now. 'l'hcir relation hip is manifested in an intcrcstiilO' system of representation, or as cl10nw expresses it, of googl'aphicnl repetition nccordincr to climate. To a certain extent, h nman cranial ionns appom· also to fall within tho limits of Lhis system. 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