. The cyclopædia of anatomy and physiology. Anatomy; Physiology; Zoology. VARIETIES OF MANKIND. 13:25 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 (1.), whether they are always clearly distinguishable from each other, or are con- nected together by a succession of gradations that renders it impossible to dra
. The cyclopædia of anatomy and physiology. Anatomy; Physiology; Zoology. VARIETIES OF MANKIND. 13:25 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 (1.), 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 purity 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 Fig. 818. Fig. Bracln/cephalic Cranium of an Englishman. (From a specimen in the Museum of the Royal College of Sur
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