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Show 270 T DE C nAN I A L C lf A R ACT E R IS TICS and acuminated; the palatine arch level; tho fissure in the floor of tho orbit very largo." . . TurninO' our backs upon tho Frozen Ocean, and tracmg to then· sources tb 5 e throe O'rcat rivers-tho Obi, Ycnnisci, and L na-which drain tho slopes of Northern Asit\, we gradually ox hangc tho region of tundras and barron plains, for elevated steppes or i.nbl -lands, tl1c region of thor indoor and dog for that .of tho hor~o and sh?cp, tho rcO'ion whoso histol'y is an utter blank for one wh10h has w1tnessecl such exton iv-e commotions and displacements of tho great nomadic races, who, probably, in nnr corded times, dwelt upon tho central plateaux of Asia, before these had. lost Lhoil' insular character. Travelling thus southward, we flll'thcr remark that a globular conformation of tho human skull replaces tho long, narrow, pyramidal typo of tho North. In onr attempt to exhibit a general view of the cranl::tl forms Ol' typos of Ocntml Asia, I doom it best to direct attention to th region of country which gives origin to tl1o Ycnnisci, about Lake Baikal, and i 11 Lho Gr a tor Altai chain, south of tho Urlangclw,i or South om Samoiodcs. For we hero encounter, in tho Kalkas and Mongolians propct· of the desert of Shamo, a typo of head which is distinct fTom that of th llypcrboreans, and to which tho other O'reat nomadic races arc related, in a greater or less dcgl'cc. I have sol ctcd, as the most fiLLing reprcscnt..'ltivc of this Asiatic typo or form, the cranium of a Kalmuck (No. 1553 of tho Mortonian Collc<.:tion), sent to tho Academy by Mr. CMMElt, of St. Petersburg, sl10rtly after the decease of Dr. Morton. This skull is chosen as a standard for roforcncc, on account of the "extent to which tho Mongolian physiognomy is tho typo and sample of ono of the most remarkable divisions of tho human race." 138 Moreover, the Mongols possess tho physical characters of th ir raco in the most eminent dcgrco,m they arc the most dcci.dcdly nomadic, and Lhoir history, under tho guidance of'TohongizKhan and his immediate successors, constitutes a highly-imi ortant ~h~tpter in tho history of the world; and, finally, because they occupy tho centro of a wcll-charaotcrizcd and peculiar floral and faunal region, extending from Japan on tho east to tho Ca~pian on tho west. Iu tho aocompauying figure, the reader will observe that the cranium is nearly globular, while tho forehead is broad, flat, and less receding than in the Eskimo and Kamtskatkan. Without being IIIII L~thm, Varieties of Man, p. 68. 139 "Tt is eMy," says Pnllns, "t.o distinguish, by the traits of physiognomy, tho principal Asiatic nn.tions, who rn.rely controct marriage exoopt nmong their own people. 'rhoro ia· none in which this distinction is so ehametori~ed ns among tho Mongols." Seo Prichard's Nat. lli~t. of Man, p. 216. OF TIIF. RACES OF MEN. ridged or koel-lilre, tho medium line Fig. 15. of tho cran iurn forms a regu Jar arch, tho most promin nt point of which is at the j n nction of the coronal and saO'iLtal sutures. B hind and above the meatus, the head swel ls out into a globe or sphere, instead of tapering away postoro-latcrally towar<ls tho median line, as in tho l~skimo crania. This app aranco is also woll soon in th head. fignrcd by BtUMEN-DAC11.110 lie says of it, "habitus to- KALMuoK. tius cranii quasi inflatus ot tumidus." 271 'l'hc eye at once detects the striking di:fioronco between tho f~tcinl angle of this cranium and that of the Eskimo above figured. In Lho latter, tho facial bones resemble a hugo wedge lying in front of tho head proper. This appearance, it is true, is somewhat dcpcudont upon the obtuseness of tho anglo of tho lower jaw, but mainly, a~:~ will bo s en, upon the prominent chin and prognathous jaw. In tho Kalmuck, tho facial bones form a sort of oblong figure, and are by no moans so prominent. The face is broad, flat, and square; tho superciliary ridges arc massive and prominent; tho orbits arc large, and directed somewhat outwards; the ossa nasi arc broad and ratb0r flat, forming an obtuse anglo with each other; tho malar bonos arc largo stron 0'1 protuberant, and roughly marked. 'l'h 1 c imp1~priety of classiiJing tho Eskimo, Samoiodcs, &c., along with tlJO Mongols- an error which pervades many of the booksis clearly manifested, I think, by tho above figure and description. If we apply tho term Mongolian to tho Eskimo, then wo must seck somo other epithet for tho Ralmuek. The heads of the two rac(·s contrast strongly. 'l'ho one is long and narrow, tho face very broa<.l, flat, ancl lozcng -shaped, and decidedly prognathous; the other 11:1 globular, swelling out posteriorly, while tho face is broad, flat, and sqnaro. On tho other hand, l mcrrAltD has very p~·op rl! obscl'vod, that" tho Mongolian race decidedly belongs to a var1cty oi tho humnn spcci s, which is distinguished f1·om Europeans by the shape of Llto sknll." w Mo.RToN's collection contains, also, a cast of the skull of a BUI·at Mongol, t.tz in which the above characters are readily distinguished. uo 'l'~tblc X£V. of tho Dccndu. w Nn.t. Iliat. of Man, p. 214. 1n 1'he J3ouJ'iats, dwelling n.bout L1.1ko Baikal, manifest more aptitude for civilization tl~nu either tbo KtLlmucks or tlto Mongols proper. 1'chibat~hcJJ inf'orma us lhn.t the Russum Government cwploys, in frontier sorvice, severn.lrcgimouts of lbc ~o people, who have boon |
