Crania americana or, A comparative view of the skulls of various aboriginal nations of North and South America : to which is prefixed an essay on the varities of the human species / by Samuel George Morton.

  • Morton, Samuel George, 1799-1851.
Date:
1839
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Crania americana or, A comparative view of the skulls of various aboriginal nations of North and South America : to which is prefixed an essay on the varities of the human species / by Samuel George Morton. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Glasgow Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Glasgow Library.

    27/482 (page 5)
    they belong; but others are of mixed and very diverse extraction, and of compara- tively recent origin. Believing, however, as I do, in the primitive distribution of mankind into races in the sense already explained, yet being unprepared to offer any thing new on the subject, I shall, for the present at least, adopt the arrangement of Professor Blumenbach as respects these great divisions:* for although his system is obviously imperfect, yet it is, perhaps, the most complete that has hitherto been attempted. I. THE CAUCASIAN RACE. The Caucasian Race is characterised by a naturally fair skin, susceptible of every tint; hair fine, long and curling, and of various colors. The skull is large and oval, and its anterior portion full and elevated. The face is small in propor- tion to the head, of an oval form, with well-proportioned features. The nasal bones are arched, the chin full, and the teeth vertical. This race is distinguished for the facility with which it attains the highest intellectual endowments. 1. The Caucasian Family. 2. The Germanic Family. 3. The Celtic Family. 4. The Arabian Family. 5. The Libyan Family. 6. The Nilotic Family. 7. The Indostanic Family. II. THE MONGOLIAN RACE. This great division of the human species is characterised by a sallow or olive colored skin, which appears to be drawn tight over the bones of the face; long, black, straight hair, and thin beard. The nose is broad, and short; the eyes are small, black, and obliquely placed, and the eye-brows arched and linear: the lips are turned, the cheek bones broad and flat, and the zygomatic arches salient. The skull is oblong-oval, somewhat flattened at the sides, with a low forehead. In their intellectual character the Mongolians are ingenious, imitative, and highly susceptible of cultivation. * It will be observed, however, that the word race is substituted for variety, and the order in which these divisions follow each other in Blumenbach is somewhat changed. Vide Blumenbach, De Gen. Humani Var. Nat. p. 289. 2