OCR Text |
Show 24 0 T II E C H A N I A L C II A R A C T E R I S T I C S the displacement will not exceed a magnitude of one, or, at most, tln·co millimotres .. With this alone, we will, it is true, not yet explain that variety in tho form of tho skull winch not only distinguishes one man from another, but has also boon characterized as .tho typo of progeny and rnco. Notwithstanding its seeming insignificance, !Iowovor, tbts muscular uctiou is a very important agent, and plays tho principal part in tho formation of tho skull, t\ltbough other circumstancos of t\n auxiliary or restrictive nature must not bo noglcctodcironmstancos which may increase, diminish, or modify this displacement. "Tho effect of this muscular action is considerably increased by superadded conditions. 1'ho hond rests upon tho condyles of tho occipital bone. Pnrtly on account of muscular notion, nnd partly fl'om tho pressure of tho bmin, tho basal bonos of tho skull nrc cxpos~cl to a downward displncomont: tl1o condyloid portions of tho occiput, alone, arc not. 1'lus imposs ibility to chango their position parallel with tho displncomont of tho other basal bones, is equivalent to an upward pressure of tho occipital condyles, and this must considerably increase the downward traction of tho stcrno-cloido-mastoidous. "Tho occipitnl o.nd temporal regions, thou, are subjected to a downward traction, while tho condyles arc prossed upward: moreover, tho brain produces, upon n.ll tho bnsal bonos except tho condyles, n. downward pressure corresponding to its height; at tho pn.rtos condyloid on., this downward pressure is obviated by tho resistance of tho vertebral oolurun." N otwitbstanding the significance of the facts thus far adduced, it has been boldly and unhesitatingly maintained tbat civilization-by which is meant tho aggregate intellectual and moral ini!uoncos of society- exerts a positive infinonco over the form and size of the 't'anium, modifying not only its individual, but also its racc-cllaracters, to such an extent, ind eu, as entirely to chango tho original typo of stl'llcture. This doctrine finus its chief advocates among the writers of tho phrenological school, though it is not wholly confined to Lhom. Among its most recent supporters we find tho Baron J. W. DE MuLLER, who, in a quarto pamphlet of 74 pagos,87 devotes a section to the consideration of the "Action de l'intelligenae su1·les jo1·mcs de la tete :" "Nons esp6rons prouvor," says he, "de mome quo los formes du crane ont des mpports intimes avec lo dogr<i de civili~ation auquol un people est parvenu, cJ; quo par cons6qucnt olios non plus no peuvcnt justifier uno division en races des ho.bitnnts do Ia torro, i1 moine do clnssor los hommes d'apros lour plus ou moios d'intelligonco,ot do justifier niusi, n.u nom do la suprematio de la raison, non-seulmcnt tous les a bus de l'osclnvnge, mais encore toutos los tyrannies individuellos." The subject-matter embouicd in the above quotation, though professedly obscure, is beginning to assume a more ccrt,n,iu char:wtcr in onsoqncnce of the facts brought to light during the contt·ov rsies between the Unitarians anu 1Jiversita1·ians in Ethnology-facts which intimately aftect tho gr at question of permanency of cranial typos. Conft·ontod with the facts presently to be brought forward, it will be seen that the doctrine of the mobility of cranial forms undct· the 81 Des Cn.uscs de Ia Coloration de Ia Poau et des differences clans los Formes du Cl'(tne, nu point de vue de l'unit6 dn genre humain. Par le Baron J. W. de Mullor. Stutt-gart, 1858. OF TilE RAC1~S OF MEN. 241 inil.uence of education, &c., is by no means a settled fact, as many of its advocates appear to think. "Speaking of the great races of mankind," very appropriately remarks DAVIS, "whoth r it be in tho size of tho brain, or whether in its quality, or whether it be, as the phrenologists maintain, in tho development of its particular parts, each race is endowed with such special faculLics of tlw mind, moral and intellectual, as to impart to it a distinct and definite position witl1in which its powers and capahiliLios range. We know of no valid evidence that can be brought forward for thinking this definite position can be varied in the mass. We may therefore take this further ground for questioning tho assumed pliancy of tho form of skull." Tho indefatigable traveller and "Directeur du Jardin Royal de Zoolo()'ie de Bruxo1lcs," bas condensed in a few pages, at once the ucst :r1d most commonly used arguments to sustain the hypothesis which co n ~:<titutcs the stmiing-point of tho above-mentioned arLiclo. It has appeared to me not inappropriate to devote a. few words, itt this hasty sketclt, to the examination of the t nability of the two most important examples adduced by Baron M., whoso bt·oclture I subject to critical inquiry, simply because it is on of tho most concise exponents of a generally-spread, bnt, as it app an; to me, erroneous, and therefore injnrious view. And I am tho more especially urged to this, since the qu stion of tho pcrmaneney or non-permanency of human typos occupies the highest philosopltical position in the entire :field of ELlmographic inq1tiry. Its rclnLions arc, indeed, fundamental; ior, according ns it is dcfinitiv ly scttlccl in the affirmative or negative, will Ethnography- espceially tho cmnioscopieal branch- assume tho dignity and certainty of a scion o, or be degraded to the vague position of an interesting but merely speculative inquiry. "If the size of the brain," says Mr·. CoMm~, iu allusion to the labors of MoRTON, as published in Crania Anw·icana, "and tlte proportions of its different parts, be the index to natural national character, the present work, which represents with gront fidelity tho skulls of the American tribes, will be an authentic record in whicl1 the philosopher may road tho native ~tptitudcs, dispositions, and mcntal force of these families of maJtkind. If this doctrine be unfounded, these skulls arc mere facts in Natural liistory, pr senting no particular information as to the mOJ.ttal. qua.l~ties of tho people." If there be this permanency of cranml form m tho great leading or typical stocks- if, in other words, N at~r~ .alters. 1~ot, but ever truly and unchangeably represents that prmnt1vo DlVlllO Idea of which she is but tho objective embodiment and iudicati; n- then tho labors of Blumonbach, Morton, Retzius, Nilss n, 16 |