IGN 477 .6 .P8 ICopy 1 SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION. UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. NOTES ON THE ARTIFICIAL DEFORMATION OF CHILDREN AMONG SAVAGE AND CIVILIZED PEOPLES, WITH A BIBLIOGRAPHY. BY Dr. J. H. PORTER. From the Report of the National Museum, i886-'87, pages 213-235. WASHINGTON: GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 1889. ► 0:i 15 1904 D. of D. • •• ••' • * ■ ' • • ••< • • * < • _ • _• ARTIFICIAL DEFORMATION OF CHILDREN. 213 NOTES ON THE ARTIFICIAL DEFORMATION OF CHILDREN AMONG SAVAGE AND CIVILIZED PEOPLES. [with a bibliography.] By Dr. J. H. Porter. The accompaDying notes are collected from various sources as a sup- plement to Professor Mason's paper on " The Cradles of the American Aborigines."* The time allotted did not permit the compiler to exhaust the subject, but enough is here given to show the practices concerning children in their first year throughout the world, and the varied beliefs obtaining as to the effects of such treatment. In the future the subject will receive more careful and .systematic study. The author embraces this opportunity to express his obligation to the librarians of the State, War, and Navy Departments at Washing- ton for many courtesies. ~ Intentional modifications of the form of the head, although less gen- eral than other fashions by which conformity to an ideal of beauty has been attemped, have, nevertheless, been widely prevalent among races of men, but can not be said to include all the variations from an average cranial type actually existing in nature. The ethnical classification of M. Topinard (Elements d'Anthropologie Gene rale) displays deforma- tion with reference to race in a manner which fulfills all practical requirements. Deformity is, however, as real when slight as when excessive, and apart from those distortions he has described, from the many which are due to pathological causes, and the yet more numerous deviations from symmetry which unintentionally exerted pressure pro- duces in the incompletely ossified skull, there still remain those varia- tions in the processes of nutrition and growth through whicli assymetry becomes the rule not in the head and not in man only, but iu the homol- ogous parts of all axially developed animals. As a matter of fact, and exclusive of the embryological identity of their elements, an ideal head is no more demonstrable than an ideal vertebra; and whatever may be hereafter accomplished, at i)resent the anatomical and physiological constants of neither can be determined in detail. It therefore appears to be inexact to speak of the deformities of an organ whose conformation has not been distinctly ascertained. In addition to this, only a small portion of mankind have arrived at any common judgment on the subject of cranial Contour, and wherever a standard is furnished by such a consensus of opinion, tliis is derived from art and not from science. Both empirical knowledge and i)hysio- logical principles justify the general conclusion that the artistic form is that which is usually associated with superior brain power ; but it does not at all follow that an alteration of outline that would destroy the former would similarly affect the latter. Such facts undoubtedly dis- ^ Most of the bigliogiapliy rclatiug to the artiiiciai deformatiou of chiidreu iu North America is embodied in Professor Mason's work. ^ CCopv \) 214 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1887. parage alike tlie methods and the results of anthropological research iu certain directions, but they neither obviate the necessity of initiating further study from existing information, nor impugn its value as a whole. In considering the natural history of the human head, account must be taken of the fact that man, while not alone in this resi)ect, is never- theless an exceedingly aberrant form among the Mammalia. On any theory of life, however, except that of special creation, and independ- ently of conflicting estimates of the systematic implications of structure, the organization of this most highly specialized being must be regarded as the outcome of descent, with modification, and should therefore be considered in connection with that of the groups to which man is affil- iated. As has been said, there is no absolute form for the head or for the vertebrse of which it is composed, and the fact that all classifications resting upon its features have failed, does not encourage the hope that the results sought through craniometry will be attained by means of its descriptive anatomy. All that can be i^roperly affirmed is, that during the immemorial series of adjustments by which the mammals culmi- nated in man, and in which evolutional changes of all orders are in- cluded, the human head assumed an incompletely distinctive form, which is, both in itself and in the causes which determine its variations, more or less clearly revealed in the tribal history of mankind. The state- ment that the anthropoid head becomes less human with development has been generally united with the assumption that this implies im- portant generic differences between them, and if the observation were true in the sense in which it is for the most part understood, it would do so. Its special significance is, however, detracted from by the gen- eral truth that in zoology the rule is that, for obvious reasons, young creatures are less differentiated than those which are mature; while, on the other hand, the difficulty of discriminating between the adult brains of some of the higher apes and those of certain savages, may be considered as qualifying the former assertion to so great a degree as to suggest error, or at least inexactness, in the observation, ^o doubt the mistake is partially attributable to misconceptions arising from an idea of the fixity of species, but in itself, the error is involved in all comparisons between unlike things. To found a parallel upon the ex- ternal tables of the skull, as if these were equally characteristic and similarly developed in a gorilla and a man, is to include in the terms dissimilar elements, and thereby vitiate the comparison. The contours of the head in these instances are difiereutly related, and, considering the plates of the skull especially, the external table of the ape's cra- nium is much more prominently associated with the muscular appar- atus than is the case with man, in whom the subordination of the en- tire head to the encei)halon is exceptional. This is but a single illus- tration of the general fact that throughout the vertebrate class the cra- nium proi)er, amid innumerable subordinate variations, assumes the ARTIFICIAL DEFORMATION OF CHILDREN. 215 more specialized character of a brain-case as we ascend in the organic scale. In fishes, where the head contains other organs than those of the nervous system, its indefinite relations to the cerebro- spinal axis are conspicuous. Among the Reptilia, though containing only the brain, the extreme disproportion between the head and its contents indicates that its conformity with the cerebral ganglia is subsidiary to other con- formities; while in birds the limited range of the cranial cavity, as contrasted with its range when compared with the bulk of the body, conveys in a modified form the implication of increasing specialization of the head. As might be expected, the anatomical evidence furnished by the Mammalia is corroborative of that derived from lower groups. No variation, however extreme, is competent to free a structure from the influence of heredity, and it might be argued a priori that the hu- man head would have the outlines of its history delineated in the mor- phology of the primates. The facts in this instance justify the anticipation. As in the develop- mental record of birds, among which the ornithic stamp, either general or special, is but gradually and indirectly evolved, so also with the more immediate congeners of man, where the more salient characteris- tics of his type, distributed throughout a group of anthropoids, do not admit of consecutive arrangement, and can not be attributed in their totality to any specific form. From the primates, as from the other mammalian sub-classes, a cranial figure involved in the metameric de- velopment of the encephalon, gradually disengages itself and becomes more regular and more definite in its cerebral relations as the grade of organization is elevated; so that the profiles associated with ganglionic mass increase in prominence, while those which are otherwise associated correspondingly diminish. These anatomical traits link themselves naturally with physiological co-ordinates. Everywhere encephalic structure is related, though not directly, to function. Enhanced importance in the brain implicates in- creased solidarity in the entire organism. As the cerebral elements grow in multiplicity, variety, and complexity, this development is con- comitant with cranial amalgamation, with progressiv^e obliteration of the features attaching to lower forms, with condensation of the ence- phalic ganglia, with a moredirectcorrespondence between the skull and brain, and finally with a greater conformity of the bodywith the head. Whatever phylogeuetic significance may be found in these facts, their morphological and physiological bearing is unmistakable. Through quite various structural gradations there appears, though not in linear sequence, "a series of forms," which ultimately display in modifications of cranial contour a more definite coaptation of the envelope to its con- tained viscus in developmental progress, and in the falling away and weakening of its muscular attachments, the paramount function of the skull as a brain-case, and the subordination of its structure to that of the organ which it incloses. 216 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1887. It is not necessary here to consider the elements which compose or- ganic form or the conditions that determine their arrangement. The process, so far as the head is concerned, has been, to a great extent, masked among the vertebrates by adaptation to other than encephalic relations, while the part was carried through the cartilaginous, semi- osseous, unamalgamated, and consolidated types of crania, to one which, as rei)resentative of the most important organ in the body, has been commonly selected by the anthropologists for investigation, and generally believed to promise results corresponding with its position and the function it sustains. Tried by the tests afforded by craniometry, how- ever, it appears to have little or no taxinomical value, since the outcome of these measurements is to transpose races and fuse peoples otherwise known to be distinct. At the same time, in man, cranial outlines are unquestionably pre- ponderantly determined by the brain, while the features by which its action is obscured have been so frequently and completely described that they need not be recapitulated. But although this statement holds on the morphological side of the question, from the physiological stand- I)oint the case is not the same. The brain limits the shape of the head and is itself limited by the laws of growth, heredity, and structural correlativity; but in the phenomenal series cerebral development is antecedent to cranial evolution, and the relation subsisting between these — a relation which is in its nature causal, so far as shape is con- cerned — places the factors upon different planes, hi virtue of prepon- derant function and equivalent x^reponderance of structure in special ganglia, a general form of head has been attained ; but from fluctuations jn the energies by which it was produced in correspondence with varia- tions in the conditions of life, this form varies both in human and i)re- human history, and so widely as to have thus far prevented classifi- cation. That the organ through which all adjustments to the environment are primarily made should vary among groups whose lowest aggregates are nearly as passive to tbe direct action of natural selection as beasts, and whose higher forms are but partially and incompletely adjusted, is not surprising; and while it must be assumed upon biological grounds that the i)lasticity of the brain has lessened since its deviation from ilie ancestral type, whence issued in diveigent lines that of man and liis congeners, still, the facts of descent suggest that to its organic variability, and to that expressed in specific adaptations, there must be added a strong inherited tendency in this direction. The cerebral history of the primates seems to warrant the theoretical conclusion that among these great variability of the head exists. In Lemuri(he, where the cranium relatively to the face is small, and the ethmoidal, tentorial, and occipital i)lanes are greatly inclined to- wards tlie basi-cranial axis, the brain scarcely exceeils the base of the skull in length, whereas in Simiadie the eucephalon is more than twice as ARTIFICIAL DEFORMATION OF CHILDREN. 217 long. The anterior cerebral lobes in the Arctopithecini compare in mass with those of anthropoids, while the posterior lobes are more developed than in certain races of men. Among the Platyrrhini great cranial va- riations correspond with extreme contrasts in brain structure and mass. The low facial angle, inclined tentorial i^lane, and perpendicularity of the axis of the occipital foramen to that of the cranial base, belong, as in Mycetes, to a type in which the cerebellum is scarcely covered, while in Ohrysothrix the posterior lobes of the cerebrum are of relatively greater proportions than in any of the Mammalia; and, moreover, the vertex is arched, the facial angle large, the basi-cranial axis short, as compared with its cavity, and the planes of the occipital foramen and tentorium are in correspondence. The surface of the brain in Oebus is nearly as much convoluted as that of the catarrh ine apes, but the sulci fade almost to obliteration through Pithecia, Ohrysothrix, and Nictipithecus. On the other hand, by the nearly total structural mask- ing of the annectant gyri of the external perpendicular fissure, the brain in Ateles rises above the catarrhine type. Diversities such as these, occurring within the limits of a single group, put craniological classification out of the question ; but in Catar- rhines and Anthropidse differences obtain, which, though less extreme, are equally decisive, and without anatomical details, for which there is no space, it maybe said that the heads and brains of Semnopitheci and Colobi vary from those of Macaci and Oynocephali as significantly as the same structures do in the man-like apes. Apparently, then, no typi- cal cranium exists among the simians any more than among men, from whom an artistic preconception has to a great extent concealed its absence. With regard to this standard of art, also, it must be remembered that it is primarily one of /orm, while, physiologically, form has no necessary connection with the constitution of a ganglion. Such expressions as "nervous arc'' and " reflex action " emphasizeasif essential, that which, except contingently, has nothing to do with either curves or angles. In "the building of a brain" the terminal elements of nervous tracts are cellular, and agglomeration therefore results in the composition of a mass attached to a pedicle. Nothing which is generally more exact than this can be advanced. Components like these make up the parts and wholes of all nervous systems, and how they have combined in man and his class, and with what degree of uniformity, has already been indicated. Of course it is not meant that the human head has not an average shape, or that this or any other part whose conformation is due to ac- tions and reactions between an ancestral group and its entire environ- ment, could alter otherwise than infinitesimally under the incidence of discontinuous forces. Nor is it intended to say that the harmony which exists in other instances between an organ and its properties is here ignored. No more than in any other machine or structure can the skull be considered as unaffected by the laws which co-ordinate mechan- 218 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1887. ical and fuDctional fituess with fmictional aud mechaDical requirements. But resemblances of this kind are not those which are contemplated in anthropometry, where the relations of structure and function, aud of those to the conditions of life, have been disregarded in a search for morphological constants, whose occurrence, under the circumstances, was biologically impossible. Much but not all has been done towards a science of man, when the divergent forms of his class have been united by forms that are intermediate, aud when his pedigree has been reconstructed on the basis of kinshii). The whole question of race is included in this generalization, although it is not thereby fully ex- plained, neither is it likely to be elucidated by measurements. Without pursuing the subject further it may be remarked that, ab- stractly, structure and function are determined in all organisms by the affinities of their units of composition j that complete homogeneity in a group of protoplasts is impossible, and that inij;ial diversities will in- crease during evolution. The minuteness of these ultimates may not add to the difficulty of comprehension more than is the case with those dealt with by molecular phj'sics and chemistry, but it is otherwise when the plasticity of life is added. That adaptation is connected with changes in function and structure is obvious, but neither in an organ- ism, an organ, nor in the plastidules which compose them, is adaptation a final term in the progress from homogeneity to heterogeneity, from simplicity to complexity, from indefiniteness to definiteness ; since, with- out alteration of elementary composition, there are no conceivable cir- cumstances under which re-adjustment can be effected. As it is with these phenomena which lie at the foundation of life, so is it with all the vital phenomena to which natural and sexual selection, growth, survival, genesis, heredity apply. Amid all degrees of compo- sition and recomposition, function constitutes the substance, adapta- tion the form of life. Every statical or dynamical distribution of or- ganic energy by which incident forces are met is included in function ; and though in large groups of organisms, correlative changes, structural and functional, occur slowly and within comparatively narrow limits, yet they are, in the nature of things, relatively indefinite, but contin- gently permanent, and do not afford on this subject the data which sys- tematic ethnology lequires. Not less than its co-ordinate, the evolution of form, does physiological development press for interpretation in every question relating to race, and the doctrine that all factors by which dif- ferences among men are worked out are resolvable into results of the in- tercourse between these and the conditions under which the3^ are placed, is essentially a corollary from the persistence of force. S[)ace has permftted but the merest sketch of this subject, but there yet remains a (puvstion which sooner or later confronts the investigator of cranial delormities, and this is that of their transmission. Present oiiinion alajost unanimously oi)poses the belief that these may, in any ARTIFICIAL DEFORMATION OF CHILDREN. 219 degree, be perpetuated when of artificial origin ; nevertheless it may be maintained with reason that the grounds upon which unqualified de- nial rests, are theoretically as untenable, in the present state of anthro- pological science, as those upon which an unqualified assent could be founded. Future results in this direction will depend largely upon the possibility of connecting facts of observation with those furnished by the experimental physiology of the nervous system. The question is a biological one, and without adverting to what has been said concern- ing variation, it may be urged that in this, as in all such problems, the first necessity is to view them under biological conditions. This re- quirement has not in this instance been complied with. Teleological preconceptions seem to have been more or less obstructive of the view, and equally so, incorrect parallels between alterations apparently within the limits of health, and those which involve morbid consequences. There is no doubt that modifications of development involve functional modifications, and that imperceptible molecular changes in the brain rest on precisely the same basis as perceptible ones in other parts of the body. The inconceivability of spontaneous variation, properly so called, the heredity of function as well as of structure, the certainty that if structure changed by function is transmitted, any alterations of structure which have physiologically altered function must be also in- herited, appear to suggest an explanation of certain phenomena con- nected with this subject, which, except on the principle of descent, do not seem to be interpretable at all. According to the statements of Mr. Spencer, there is reason to think that special structures of all varieties proceed from the special polari- ties of their organic units, and that any tissue or combination of tis- sues will impress the modifications it may have experienced upon its component elements, between which and the aggregate life implies perpetual action and reaction. If this .process, as must be generally the case, takes place under normal conditions, the forces manifested tend towards equilibrium without reaching, practically, an exact physi- ological balance. During these adjustments and re- adjustments, how- ever, one of two alternative results inevitably occurs. Either the structure will take the shape determined by the pre-existing tendencies of its elements, or the aggregate's altered form will mould these into harmony with itself. The question thus becomes one of affection of function, because, for every reason, it must be assumed that structural elements organically changed will, when acting as reproductive centers, engender similar changes. To oppose to these statements the common assertion that mutilations do not become congenital, is to misconceive their character, and to con- found pathological conditions with those which must be normal in order to be effective. It may readily be suspected that the impossibility of inheriting artificial alterations has been too hastily assumed, since this involves an additional assumption, which has not been demonstrated, 220 REPOKT OF NATIONAL MU8EUM, 1887. viz, that such changes do not become organic because they may occur without implicating function. The profouud alterations effected by artificial selection are, of course, due to functional modifications, but it has not been shown that these can not be artificially induced, or that deformation must be universally morbid in character because it is a departure from such standards of organic type as now exist in imagi- nation. On the morphological side the question seems equally uncertain. Given, however, any cause which will effectually modify function, and modification of structure is inevitable. No naturalist supposes that the digital variations recorded as inherited, or those of the teeth, skin, etc., are attributable to any other cause than physiological change j and the same with transmitted club-foot, harelip, amaurosis, deafness. Fur- ther, adjustments by involution take place in nature as well as those by evolution, and although there are no structures whose properties are not originally ascribable to predetermined structural traits, there are yet structures which have no discoverable physiological features; and while morphological species, or species whose specific forms have no biological value, are recognized in zoologj^, and which, whether perma- nently or not, are withdrawn from the action of natural selection, it is difficult to see why the production of variety by any means that would effectually change function should be disallowed. As was stated, there are reasons for suspecting that some such process has occurred among mankind to a limited extent ; but whether or not, when all accessible information on the subject is organized, this may not prove to be a misconception attributable to insufiicient knowledge, remains to be determined. GENERAL NOTES ON DEFORMATION. Malte-Brun. (G6ographie Universelle. Ed. of Lavall6e. Paris, 1858. 4to, t. 1.) General remarks on the causes and modes of distortion of the head (p. 303). Humboldt & Boupland. (Voyage, etc. Paris, 1811. 4to, 3^ partie, t. 1. "Essai Politique, etc.) Remarks on head-llattening, its character and cause among Indians of North and South America. (Note, pp. 89, 90.) Jeffcrys remarks upon the fine forms of the Indians of North America, and says the fact is attributable to " their bodies not being swathed and straitened in the cradle " (part I, p 9(i). The cradle-board was in use among all the tribes described by him j but this error is not surprising in an author who characterizes the Eskimaux as " tall of stature," and speaks of " their flaxen hair, their beards, the whiteness of their skin * * * quite as fair as that of Europeans" (part 1, p. 43). Certain blond tribes do occur among the Hyperborean races, but not where Jelferys places them ; although the, Eskimaux are not rtmlly dark skinned. With regard to the fine forms so constantly noted among th(i American and other savages, most writers have ascribed it to their modes of life; Humboldt adding, in the case of the Americans, a certain racial ira- l)laHticity. Most of the earlier authorities have evidently judged an assumed eth- nological fact from the stand-point of a social theory. There does not appear to be any natural re.ason wliy a savage should be better shaped than a civilized man, and that this is the case remains to bo shown. There is, however, an excellent reason why those who are physically defective should be eliminated from all aggregates in ARTIFICIAL DEFORMATION OF CHILDREN. 221 a state of savagery, both hj the action of natural selection and by that of their fellow-creatures. A very large body of proof could be readily brought forward to support the view that WrangelFs statement concerning the Chukchees held true of most peoples in a similar social phase, viz : "La mort attend rcnfjint qui a le malheur de naltre avec quelque difformit^." Le Nord do la Sib^rie. Paris, 1843, vol. i, p. 267. Kennan and Bush made like observations in the same region, and Capt. John G. Bourke, U. S. Army, has pointed ont that in the south this custom is mentioned by Padre Gumilla (*' Orinosc." Madrid, 1741, p. 344), and by Clavigero (Historia de la Baja California. Mexico, 1852, p. 27). I do not recall auy reference of the same kind in Hennepin, Le Clerc, Charlevoix, etc.; but though the custom may have existed among the northern tribes, despite Robertson's assertion that all the American Indians killed the children who " appeared feeble or defective" (Hist. Dis. & Set. of America. N. Y., 1856, p. 144), there is no doubt that in the literature of travel it is more fre- quently mentioned as occurring among the southern tribes ; and this may have been one reason why the earlier discoverers, Columbus, Vespucci, Verrazzauo, &c., have spoken only of the fine appearance of the natives. The same contrasts, however, are found in savage life in this as in other respects. Captain Bourke confirms from personal observation the statement make in Emory's " Reconnoissance" (p. 61), that among the Apaches the deformed are sometimes well cared for. He also refers to a like mention in Francis Parkman (The Jesuits in North America. Boston, 1867, Introductory, xl), and also to Peter Martyr's narrative (Hakluyt, Voyages, vol. 5, p. 357). In connection with head-flattening in America, Humboldt (Political Essay on New Spain. London, 1814. 8vo, vol. i) asserts that the back-head is naturally flat (p. 155). Also that the American cranium is normally "depressed backwards * * * among nations to whom the means of artificially producing deformity are * * * unknown." The Aztecs " never disfigure the heads of their children." The Mexican, Peruvian, and Aturean heads — all flattened ; those Bonpland and himself procured were natural. "Certain hordes do compress the heads of children" (pp. 154, 155). Squier (The States of Central America. N. Y., 1858. 8vo) quotes Valenzuela to the effect that among the Indians found by the Spanish at Lacandon (Dolores), Gua- temala, "the cradles for their children were made of reeds" (p. 567). Under the heading Tete, Encyclopedic des Sciences, etc., Neufchatel, 1765, is the following : "II est parld dans les voyages et dans les geographies modernes, do cer- tains peuples qui se rendeut la tete plat que la main, et qui mettent la tete de lours enfans, d^s qu'ils sent nes, entre deux presses, ou planches, sur le front et le der- ri^re de la tdte pour I'applatir." NOTES ON AMERICA. Bancroft. (Native Rp.ces of the Pacific States, N. Y., 1873, vol. i.) Chichimec women carried their infants on the back, "wrapped in a coarse cotton cloth, leaving the head and arms free" (p. 633). The cradle was a wicker basket suspended from a beam or bough (p. 633). Gomara (Con. Mex., fol. 318) states that the occiput was flattened among the Nahua nations by an arrangement of the cradle, this form being considered becoming. (Ban- croft, Native Races, etc., vol. ii, p. 281.) Humboldt's statement that the Aztecs did not distort the head was, as Bancroft remarks (Native Races, vol. ii, p. 281), too sweeping. That the custom "was prac- ticed to a considerable extent in remote times by people inhabiting the country seems to be shown by the deformed skulls found in their graves, and by the sculptured figures upon the ruins." Klemm states that "the cradle consisted of a hard board to which the infant was bound in such a manner as to cause the malformation." Sahagun, Torqueraada, Clavigero, Brasseur de Bourbourg, Carbazal Espinosa say that when a Teochichimec child was born on a journey "the new-born babe was placed in a wicker basket and thrown over the back of the mother." (Bancroft, Native Races of the Pacific States. N. Y., 1875, vol. ii, p. 271, note.) 222 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1887. " Torquemada (Book xiv, ch. 24) states that the ludiaus," in Mexico, "used to de- form their heads with a view to appear more formidable." (Spencer, Des. Soc. An- cient Mexicans, Central Americans, etc., p. 27.) Landa (§ XX). ** The ludiaus of Yucatan are, * * * as a rule, * * * how- legged, for in their infancy their mothers carry them about suspended at their haunch- bones. They were made 'squint-eyed,'" and their heads were flattened artificially. (Spencer, Des. Soc. Ancient Mexicans, Central Americans, etc., p. 27.) Landa (^ xxx) describes the process: "Four or live days after birth the child was put on a small bed made of rods, and there, the face being underneath, the head was put between two boards, in front and behind. Between these they compressed it * * * until the head was flattened and shaped like their own." (Idem, \). 27.) Brancroft. (Native Races of the Pacific States. N. Y., 1873, vol. i.) The Quiche womau (Central America) carries her baby on her back "in a cloth passed around her body" (p. 704). Bancroft. (Native Races of the Pacific States. N. Y., 1875, vol. ii, 8vo.) The Nica- ragua and Yucatan infants' heads were compressed and permanently flattened be- tween two boards as a sign of noble birth. Squier asserts that occipital flattening was effected by the cradle-board among the Qnichds, Cakchiquels, and Zutugils (pp. 731, 732). Don Horatio Guzmfin, minister from Nicaragua, informs me that uo compression of the head and no swathing of the infant is now practiced in any part of that country. Bancroft. (Native Races of the Pacific States. N. Y., 1873, vol. i.) The Smoos Indians of the Mosquito Group flatten the forehead by a process like that in use among the Columbians (p. 717). Fuentcs. (Palacio, p. 106.) In Guatemala children were fattened "to a board by means of straps wound round the body * * * from the feet to the shoulders, in consequence of which all the Indians have the backs of their heads smooth and flat." (Spencer, Des. Soc. Ancient Mexicans, Central Americans, etc., p. 28.) Jeff'erys, T. (Nat. and Civil Hist, of French Dominions in North and South America. London, 1760, fol.) Among the aborigines of Hispaniola "the singular conformation of the head * * * is effected by art." Mothers jiressed their infant's skull, either by hand or with boards, until it was distorted, "and in a manner bent back upon itself" (Part ir, p. 8). Oviedo. (Historia General y Natural de Indias, book 11, chap. 5.) His statement of head-flattening is rather vague. "Porqno al tiempo que nacen los uiuos les aprie- tan las cabezas," etc. The width of the front head, which he remarks as the result of artificial interference, points to the same form, and like appliances, noticed by Porto- Seguro, and others, in Brazil. (Idem, book 42, chap. 3.) Gomara is cited as giving the same evidence concerning the natives of San Domingo. He says they flattened the head with cotton compresses for the purpose of enhirging the face. " Aprietau £t los nines la cabeza muy blando, pero mucho entre dos almohadillas de algodon, para ensancharles la cara," etc. There seems to have been some confusion in Gomara's mind on this subject — Bernal Diaz says there was on all subjects. At all events he gives another account of the manner in which the infant's head was distorted, which amounts to this: that it was done by the midwife at the moment of birth, or shortly after. In this case, a very common one among different tribes, the fact apparently indicates gradual extinction of the custom, since the effect of simple manipulation would bo temporary, and where distortion implies as nmch as it sometimes does, its absence exposes the individual to the greatest misfortunes. Topinard. (l^lcments d' Anthropologic G6n6rale. Paris, 1885. 8vo.) Remarks of forms of distortion by manipulation alone that thoy must be impermanent — "incapa- blesde produire une ddformation soutenue" (p. 756). Prof. William H. Flower holds the saitio views, and, indeed, the fact is lihj'siologically self-evident unless the ma- nipulation were of an unprecedented kind. ARTIFICIAL DEFORMATION OF CHILDREN. 223 Las Casas (Axjologdtica Historia. Madrid, 1H75, chap. 34) rerparks that in Peru head distortion was distinctive of the luca family and of the highest nohility. "Privilegio grande concedian los del Peiii ii algiinos senores y que ellos querian fa- vorecer" (p. 396, vide Marcot, notes). Major, R. H. (Select Letters of Christopher Columbus, etc. Loudon, 1870. Second edition, Hakluyt So. Pub.) Dr. Chanca, fleet surgeon on Columbus's second voyage, says, of the native and Carib women in the West Indies, that the latter wore ''on each leg two bands of woven cotton, the one fastened round the knee, the other round, the ankle; by this means they make the calves of their legs large, and the above-mentioned parts very small. * * * By this peculiarity we distinguished them" (p. 30). Dr. Chanca supposed this custom to depend upon an idea that the distortion was becoming — "que esto me parece que tienen ellos por cosa geutil" (p. 30). De Rochefort, C. (Histoire Naturelle, etc., des lies Antilles, Rotterdam, 1658. 4to.) Notice of head, and nose flattening among the Caribs (p. 382). Humboldt and Bonpland. (Voyage, etc. Paris, 1819. 4to, seconde partie, p. 11. Relation Historiqne.) Distortions practiced by the Caribs on the Orinoco (p. 235). Squier, E. G. (Nicaragua, etc. New York, 1852. 8vo, Vol. ii.) Head-flattening among aborigines. Process and local origin of custom (p. 345). Vide Relaciou of Fray Bobadilla on the same points. (Archivo de Indias.) ? Heriot, G. (Travels Through the Canadas. Loudon, 1807. 4to.) ''TheCaraibs have their foreheads flattened. * * * The head of the infant is compressed into this shape by placing on its brow a piece of board tied with a bandage, which is al- lowed to remaiji until the bones have acquired consistence" (p. 348). Heriot, G. (Travels Through the Canadas. London, 1807, 4to.) Carib girls have a cotton sock woven to the leg, and "so closely * * * that the calf thereby ac- quires more thickness and solidity than it would naturally possess" (p. 307). Armas, Juan I. de. (Les Cranes dits D^form6s. Havana, 1885. ) This is a paper read before the Anthropological Society of Havana, November, 1885, to prove thatmechaiii- cal deformation of the head was never practiced in the West Indies or on the continent. Graells, Vilanova and Areas. (Rapport pr^seut^ h Madrid, le 24 Mars, 1871.) This was to the effect that certain crania from Cuba, taken to be flattened Carib skulls, could not be identified as artificially deformed, but were probably natural heads. The text is, " having noticed that in the front and back part of the head the depres- sion is not uniform, the commission is inclined to consider the flattening as natural, etc," These skulls seem to have been found by Don R. Ferrer, who very truly says that they can not be regarded as specimens of head-flattening among the Caribs, be- cause there were never any Caribs in Cuba. (De Armas, Cranes dits D^form^s, p. 7.) De Armas (Les Cranes dits D^form^s) says that no such practice could have been general in America for various reasons, viz, it was difficult, tedious, and painful, and would have been destructive to the intellect (?) ; also that the Indians, though sav- ages, were men with natural feelings toward their offspring which would have pre- vented them from perpetrating a custom so destructive as distortion of the head (p. 14 etseq.). Having given this illustration of his knowledge of the literature of an- thropology, he declares that neither among the Peruvian mummies nor in the exist- ing race could von Tchudi and Rivero discover a justification of the theory of me- chanical deformation. A fact, and a singular one, but no more decisive than Robert- son's statement that the mound skulls of North America are all normal (pp. 14, 15). In conclusion he remarks that "there is no basis, scientific, historical, or rational, on which to rest the affirmation that there were * * * and are * * * parts of America in which the natural formation of the head was (or is) modified by me- chanical means." And more particularly is this a self-evident truth with regard to the Caribs of the Lesser Antilles: first, because none of the earliest chroniclers speak of the custom ; and second, because the crania of this people have not the form attributed to them. Of course it was not possible for de Armas to deny the unsym- 224 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1887. metrical contour of certain skulls, but he asserted that this was natural, and if the statement could be relied on, none could be made of more importance. The weight of evidence is, however, overwhelmingly against him. De Armas also asserts that Oviedo was the originator of the idea that distortion of the cranium was customary among the Indians of San Domingo, etc., but Gomara, Las Casas, De Leon, and Garcilasso de la Vega make like statements, and the evidence includes West Indian, Peruvian, Floridian tribes. Walker (Colombia. London, 1822. 8vo) quotes Humboldt to the effect that among the Caribs of Panapana ''the women * * * carried their infants on their backs.'* They also, for the sake of adornment, compress the thighs and legs by " broad strips of cotton cloth, by which" the flesh * * * was swelled in the interstices. * * * They attach great importance to certain forms of the body. (Vol. i, p. 545.) Ileriot, G. (Travels through the Canadas. London, 1807. 4to.) " The natives of South America generally make use of hammocks of cotton or of the interior bark of trees. * * * This they suspend in their cabins and sometimes on the boughs of trees" (p. 287). Sefior Mutis Duran, of the Colombian legation at Washington, states that no tribe of Indians known to him in New Granada or Colombia distorts the head, but that cra- nial compression may be practiced by other tribes of this area which he had not ob- served. Bandaging infants with the idea of preserving the symmetry of their forms is general among all classes. The cradles used by the wealthy are imported or made after European models. Among the poorer classes there are two forms of cradle in u.se — one a boat-shaped case of light wood or bamboo, which will rock on any piano surface, and another constructed of similar materials and of like form, which is suspended from the end of a crooked rod and swung in the air. Hilhouse, William. (Warow Land of British Guiana. Jour. Roy. Geo. Soc. Lon- don, 1834. Vol. IV.) Dr. Hancock remarks (note, pp. 332, 333, on Hilhouse's account of the Indians seen here) that ''these tribes have also," i. e., like the coast tribes of the Maraiion, " the spread in the foot, or duck's foot. * * * Their feet and toes are spread out in the manner most suitable for walking on the muddy shores and marshes they inhabit." Im Thurn, E. F. (Among the Indians of Guiana (i. e., British Guiana). London, 1883. 8vo.) Head-flattening customary among people of upper Essequibo River ; formerly prevalent among chief tribes throughout Guiana and among ail "true Caribs" (p. 191). Distortion of women's legs by Caribs (p. 192). Ploss, Dr. H. (Das Kind im Branch und SittederVolker. Leipzig, 1884. 2Aufl., 2 Band.) Description of the treatment of infants in Peru under the Incas (Idem, p. 57). The sanie with respect to children in Asiatic Turkey and Chinese Turkestan (idem, p. 60). Reniarks on the effects of position at rest {Idem, pp. 81, 82). State- ments concerning the cradle-board and head-flattening in America {Idem, pp. 101 102). Description of the suckling-board and swaddling of infants among the Maron- ites and Modern Germans {Idem, p. 113, 114). Squier, E. G. (Peru, etc. New York, 1877. 8vo.) Distorted Aymara skull from Chulpas (p. '244). Appendix B. Extract from Fourth Annual Report of Peabody Museum. Cam- l)ridge. Remarks of Professor Wyman " On crania. Two modes of distortion, their effects," etc. (pp. 580, 581). Vide Padre Arriaga on this custom. Prichard, .7. C. (Researches into the Physical History of Mankind. London, 184L 4th ed. 8vo) quotes Spix and Martius on the separation of the great toe among the Puris, Coropos, and Coroados, South America. Marcoy, P. (Travels in South America. London, 1875. 4to.) Head-flattening formerly practiced by Peruvian Conibos. Obsolete withiu two generations. All very old people seen by Marcoy had distorted crania; no young persons. (Vol. ii, p. 40, and note.) Acosta, Joaq. (p. 24). The Panches (Chibchas) compressed the skulls of infants be- ARTIFICIAL DEFORMATION OF CHILDREN. 225 tween boards into a ''pyramidal" shape. (Spencer, Des. Soc. Ancient Mexicans, Central Americans, etc., p. 28.) Idem. Lengthening (apart from piercing) the lobe of the ear was a royal fashion of the first four lucas. After Mayta-Cnpas it became desiguative of the Cnracas (Caciques) of the body guard. Now prevalent among certain tribes of the Amazons, e. g., the Orejones (Spanish), broad-ears. (Vol. ii, p. 270.) Piedrahita. (Book 1, ch. 2.) The Coyaimas and Natagaymas (Chibchas) ''have the custom of putting the tender head of a new-born child between two boards * * * in snch a way that it * * * gets flattened." The Pichaos and Panches of the same stock do this also. (Spencer, Des. Soc. Ancient Mexicans, etc., p. 28.) Idem. Compression of the head into the shape of "a bishop's mitre." (FtrfePorto- Seguro.) Now obsolete among the Omagnas or Flatheads — a Spanish corruption of the Qnichua Omahuas. These are an emigrant stock — the Umaiias, called by the Tupinambas of Brazil Jcanga-pena (flatheads), which was contracted and corrupted by the Portuguese into Cambebas, whence La Condamine's mistake. {Vide Ref.) He mistook a title for a race name. (Vol. ii, 340-342.) Cieza (ch. 100) says of the Peruvian CoUas that "their heads are very long and flattened behind, because they are pressed and flattened into what shape they choose during childhood." (Spencer, Des. Soc. Ancient Mexicans, Central Americans, etc., p. 28.) Owen, Prof. R. (Anatomy of the Vertebrates. London, 1866. 8vo.) In the Inca race the skull "is high behind, owing to the habit of carrying the infant with the back of the head resting on a flat board, the pressure usually producing unsymme- trical distortion of the occipital part of the skull." (Vol. ii, p. 567.) The same state- ment is made coucerning the Patagonians. (Vol. ii, p. 568.) Cieza (ch. 50). Among the Caraques of Peru the child's head was pressed between boards, so that it " was long and broad, but flat behind." The Indians said this was conducive to health and vigor. (Spencer, Des. Soc. Ancient Mexicans, Central Americans, etc., p. 28.) Idem. Pis. Nos. 386, 387, and 388, vol. 11, p. 567, exhibit artificially distorted skulls of the ancient Pernvians from Titicaca. Meyen (p. 36) mentions a decree of the Lima Synod of 1585 against flattening the head. Rivero and Tschudi say that the irregularities in crania from the coast of Peru " were undoubtedly produced by mechanical causes" (p. 32). Santa Cruz, Nar- ratives, p. 78, states that MancoCapac introduced head-flattening to make the people silly and easily ruled. (Spencer, Des. Soc. Ancient Mexicans, etc., p. 28.) Marcoy, P. (Travels in South America. London, 1875. 4to.) Notice of custom of distorting the head among the Aymaras. (Vol. i, pp. 67, 68.) Old Aymara sculp- tures showing vertical and antero-posterior flattening. (Vol. 1, p. 185.) This work contains many " typical portraits" (1, 103) "taken from life" (1, 518). If correct at all, the Quichuas on the west, and Antis and Chonlaquiro Indians east of the Andes, distort their heads now, though Marcoy does not say so. ( Vide pis. Vol. i, pp. 103, 476, 515.) Torquemada (Book xiv, ch. 25) affirms that permission to shape the heads of their children was aiavor granted by the Inca to some nobles, e. illow. An isolated fact, and of course having only that value in this connection, is stated by Major Cambell (Geographical Memoir of Melville Island, north coast of Australia, in Jour. Royal Geogr. Soc. London, 1834, Vol. iv). He says that the pillows he saw were made of "pieces of soft silky bark, rolled up in several folds" (p. 157), and also that their cranial characteristic is that "the back of the head projects very much (p. 153). * * * The aborigines of Melville and Bathurst Islands are of the same race * * * as those throughout New Holland (p. 158). Hard or wooden pillows are not universal in warm countries. The Ovahs of Madagascar sit on cushions, lie on mats, and have a matted bolster." (Jour. Roy. Geogr. Soc, 1835, Vol. v, p. 332; Captain Lewis.) Flower, William H. (Fashion in Deformity. Humboldt Library, New York. Vol. II, No. 28.) The author reports a statement made to himself by Mr. H. B. Law, to the effect that the Dyaks of Arawak practiced artificial flattening of the occiput (p. 12). Featherman, A. (Social History of the Races of Mankind. 2d division. London, 1887. 8vo.) Among the Dyaks a mat like the Mexican petate, which serves the same purpose, is used for a bed. "A bag stuffed with grass answers the purpose of a pil- low" (p. 258). Reynolds, J. H. (voyage of the U. S. frigate Potomac, New York, 1835, 8vo) states that the heads of the Achenese "are somewhat flat or compressed," but gives no rea- son for this (p. l&b). GujUemard, Dr. F. H. H. (Cruise of the Marchesa, London. 1886. 8vo.) In the Sulu Archipelago the cradle used is a "little basket-woven cot" hung in the middle of a long bamboo supported at the ends. The vibrations of the bamboo when pulled rock the child. (Vol. ii, p. 14.) Among the Hatam Papuans he saw a number of women "with babies strapped upon their backs." (Vol. ii, p. 294.) Featherman, A. (Social History of the Races of Mankind. 2d division. London. 1887. 8vo.) Among the Sumatras "the nose is flattened and the skull is compressed from early infancy as a mark of beauty " (p. 289). Marsdeu (p. 44). "The Sumatrans flatten the noses, and compress the noses of children newly born. They likewise pull out the ears of infants to make them stand 232 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1887. at an angle from the head." (Spencer, Des. Soc. Negritto and Malayo-Polynesian Races, pp. 20.) Feathcrmau, A. (Social History of the Races of Mankind. London, 1887. 8vo.) Among- the Melville Island tribes " a roll of thin, silky bark serves as a pillow at night and as a seat in the day-time." (Papuo-Melanesians, 2d divis., p. 120.) Featherman, A. (Social History of the Races of Mankind. London, 1887. 8vo.) The aboriginal Tasmanian women (Papuans) ''throw over their shoulders the skin of an uatanned kangaroo or opossum," in which they place their children ''when carry- ing them on the back." (Papuo and Malayo Melanesians, 2d divis., p. 100.) Cook, Captain. (Voyage towards the South Pole, etc., ii, p. 34.) Natives of Mal- licoUo wear a belt which "they tie so tight over the belly that the shape of their bodies is not unlike that of an overgrown pismire." (Spencer, Des. Soc. Negritto and Malayo-Polynesian Races, p. 20.) Busk, George (Jour. Anthrop. Inst. Great Britain and Ireland, Jan., 1877) speaks of the "extreme flattening * * * of the frontal region" in certain Mallicollo skulls as "artificial." Cheever, H. T. "The unnatural flattening of the occiput" (in the Hawaiian head) " is thought to be owing to the way the mother holds her babe, which is by the left hand supporting the back of its head." (Spencer, Des. Soc. Negritto and Malayo- Polynesian Races; pp. 20, 21.) Occipital flattening also promoted by the use of a mat pillow or one of wood. D'Albertis, L. M. (New Guinea. London, 1881. 8vo). On Yule Island "children were carried * * * in netted bags, resting on the backs of their mothers, suspended by a cord that passed round the women's heads. * * * Their legs were small in proportion to their bodies." (Vol. i, p. 262.) Both on the coast and in the interior of Yule Island the natives wear a tight, broad belt, "sometimes woven on the body." Compression from this results in distortion, giving the figure a " very peculiar appear- ance." (Vol. II, p. 302.) Featherman, A. (Social History of the Races of Mankind. London, 1887. 8vo). State that the Riara women (Papuo-Melanesian group) carry their children "on their backs in a bag of net-work * * * suspended from the forehead by a band" (p. 51). Other Papuans carry their infants in the "flap" of a cloak made of cocoa-nut fiber (p. 21). The Tasmanians carried them " wrapped in a kangaroo-skin, which hung behind the back " (p. 21). United States Exploring Expedition (Wilkes). (4to. Vol. vi. "Ethnography." Horatio Hale. Philadelphia, 1846.) General remarks on prevalent occipital flatten- ing among Polynesians (p. 10). In connection with the references to occipital flattening among the Polynesians (a fact variously explained), but not in any case, so far, referred to the general custom of laying infants on hard mats in warm countries, and especially so in Oceanica, thus undesignedly compressing the head by its own weight, the following statements are made: Sir J. Bowring (Philipi)ine Islands, London, 1859, 8vo) quotes the ethnolog- ical tables of Buzeta to the efl'ect that the "pure Indians" (Tagals) of the Philippines have this characteristic, whereas among the Mestizos and Negrittos it is not mentioned (p. 176). Wood (Uncivilized Races of Men ; Hartford, 1871 ; 8vo) states that j» child- hood the Bushman skull exhibits excessive occipital projectiony and this naturally (p. 249). Further, that the same is the case with the Ovambo at all ages (p. 316). Finally, that marked convexity of the front as well as the back head distinguishes the Wahuraa (p. 400). These facts, hij themselves, cancel any inferences from the excep- tional contour of a single cranial bone unsupported by evidence of abnormal growth or mechanical interference. Hard mats and a wooden pillow explain the fact of occip- ital flattening, where a vertical occiput is not a decided race feature. Wallace, A. R. (Australasia, Loudon, 1879, 12mo) quotes Captain Erskine to the eflect that among the Polynesian or Mahori race it is the custom to flatten the nose during infancy (p. 493). He remarks that the occipital flattening may be artificial ARTIFICIAL DEFORMATION OF CHILDREN. 233 (p. 494). Thronjifbout tbis work and the ethnological appendix by Keane, there are no notices of distortion other than the above. On page 476 is a portrait of a •' chief of Vanitoro, Santa Cruz Islands," whose skull appears to have been compressed and elevated by circular bandages. Pritchard W. T. (Polynesian Reminiscences. London, 1866. 8vo.) Without de- scribing the process, ho states the fact that the Tongaus, Samoans, and Fiji Islanders have the custom "of squeezing the heads of infants into * * * a shape in con- formity with their ideal of beauty" (p. 417). Remarks on contour of distorted skull (pp. 427, 428). Martin, Dr. J. (An Account of the Natives of the Tonga Islands. London, 1818. 8vo) On Yule Island "children were carried in netted bags, resting on the backs of the mothers, suspended by a cord that passed round the women's heads." (Vol. i, p. 202.) Buller, J. (Forty Years in New Zealand. London, 1878. 12mo.) Description of nose-flattening and modification of shape of limbs by manipulation (pp. 215,216). Foster, Dr. J. R. (Observations made during a Voyage round the World. London, 1778. 4to). Noticeofantero-posteriordepressionofskullinMallicollo(pp. 242, 267, 268). People of Tierra del Fuego, constantly in canoes, have "the legs bent, the knees large, and the toes turned inwards" (pp. 251, 268). Remarks on nose-flattening in Tahiti (pp. 593, 594). Says Hottentots and natives of Macassar have same custom (p. 594). Foster describes the process of flattening the nose in Tahiti, and quotes his descrip- tion of the process used by the Hottentots and in Macassar from Goinara, Historia General de las Indias (pp.593, 594). Turnbull, John (Voyage Round the World, London, 1813, 8vo) remarks that the noses of the Otaheitans are " universally flat, occasioned by pressure during their in- fancy" (p. 344). Nothing further said. Ellis, William. (Polynesian Researches. Loudon, 1829. 8vo.) "During the period of infancy" in the Society and Caroline Islands "the children were seldom clothed, and were generally laid or carried in a horizontal position. They were never confined in bandages or wrapped in tight clothing." In Tahiti " the shape of the child's head" find its features were carefully observed, and parents and nurses "often i^resscd or spread out the nostrils of the females, as a flat nose was considered by them a mark of beauty." (Vol. i, p. 343.) In Tahiti "the forehead and the back of the head of the boys were pressed upwards, so that the upper part of the skull appeared in the shape of a wedge. This, they said, was done to add to the terror of their aspect." (Vol. I, p. 343.) In general remarks on the "South Sea Islanders," i. e., natives of the Georgian, So- ciety, Caroline, "and adjacent isles," Ellis says they " are generally above the middle stature," but their limbs are not correspondingly muscular, though " well formed." In mountaitjous parts they have inturned feet and an "exceedingly awkward" gait, from using the naked feet in climbing rocks and ravines. Except when distorted, " the facial angle is frequently as perpendicular as in the European." Nose-flattening is not so general as it was formerly, and the nose "is seldom flat," but "rectilinear or aquiline." (Vol. ii, pp. 13-15.) The bed of the majority is a single mat. The chiefs Lave many. The pillow is wooden. (Vol. ii, p. 67.) On Carpentaria Gulf, Australia, the mothers flatten the nose of their young children by pressing it with the hand on the point and laying the child on its face. Dr. Karl Scherzer. (Voyage of the iVoram. London, 1863. 8vo. Vol.iii.) Opin- ion that artificial flattening of occipital region prevails among women of Tahiti (p. 220;. Remarks on artificial distortion of head on west coast of North and South America {ibid., pp. 347,348,393). Wood, J. G. (Uncivilized Races of Men. Hartford, 1871. 8vo.) Occipital flatten- ing and nose-flattening among the Tahitans, with description of the process (p. 1059). United States Exploring Expedition, i, 339. Method of carrying children illus- trated. 234 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1887. Calvert, T.T^^aud J. (Fiji and the Fiji ans. N. Y.,1^59. 8vo.) The bed of a chief, made on the banquette, ''is covered with mats, varying in number from two to ten, and spread over a thick layer of dried grass and elastic ferns, while on them are jilaced two or three neat wooden or bamboo pillows" (p. 108). There was an elabo- rate form of general bed. An infant is "anointed with oil and tumeric," but appar- ently not swathed in any way. The friends "plait small mats, measuring about 'i feet by 1, for tbe mother to nurse her babe upon." There is no notice that its bed is not like that described above (p. 138). "Natives nurse the child sitting quite naked astride the mother's hip, where it is kept from falling by lier arm " (p. 139). The Calverts also describe the nose as "well shaped, with full nostrils, yet distinct from the negro type." The "lower extremities" are "of tbe proportion generally found among white people." The "mold of the body is decidedly European" (p. 82). Dr. Pickering (Races of Men, p. 147) says the Fijian crania are unique, have "rather the negro outline," wMle "the prolGLle" appears to be " as vertical, if not more so, than in the white race." Nind,S. (Jour. Royal Geogr. Soc. London, 1832. 8vo. Vol. i.) Describing natives of King George's Sound (Swan River colony), Australia, he says: "For the first few Avceks the cbild is carried on the left arm in a fold of ihe cloak, but subsequently is suspended on the shoulders" (p. 39). Foville, A. (Influence des Vetemens sur nos Organes, etc. Paris, 1834), describes cases of cranial deformity and mental incapacity produced by bandaging the head during infancy. Foville quotes Blumenbach (Collectio Craniorum) with reference to cases of antero- posterior flattening accompanied by occipital protrusion, and to instances of the pyramidal form of the Peruvian skull. He states that Turkish crania grooved by ligatures have been found. M. Virey (Art. "Enfant," Die. des. Sci. M^d.) asserts that caps drawn tight by ribbons will " force the head into a sugar-loaf shape, and produce idiocy" in infants. La Bret. (Compt. Rend. Soc. de Biologic. Paris, 1852, iv,etseq.) Sur la deformation artiticielle du crane en Am^rique. The author gives a r6sum6 of the opinions of well- known writers on the production of cranial deformity by artificial means in North and South America. Gu^niot (Bull. Soc. de Chir.de Paris, 1870, 2d Ser. x, 382 et aeq.), "Obliquity par propulsion unilat6rale," describes a case of flattening of the occipito-parietal region on one side, accompanied by corresponding projection of the other, due to constant position of the head on a hard surface during infancy.. Dr. J. Thurnam (On Synostosis of the Cranial Bones. London, 1865), describes a brachycephalous skull from the Round Barrows, with a broad, shallow depression passing behind the coronal suture, and over the occiput in the line of the transverse spine. This was evidently the effect of some kind of head-dress ; probably, one such as MM. Foville and Lunier has described as now in use in France. L. A. Gossei (Essai sur les deformations artificielles du crane. Paris, 1855. Ack- ermann. Neues Magazin von Baldringcr, Bd. 2, p. 5), says, "Hunc morem in Germania satis usitatum esse et Laurenberg; etiam Hamburgensis capita neonatorum vincnlis artificiose compressisse." Schade, J. De Singulari cranii cujusdum deforraitate. Gryphiai, 1858,11." Idem. Lunier (Essai sur les deformations artificielles du ermine. Gosse. Paris, 1865), refers to this custom as prevailing in the Franco-Gallic Provinces, and adds, " Itague hand difficile intellectu videtur, forsitan etiam huj us cranii deformitateui ca causa affectam esse." 11. Idem. Andry (Gosse's essai) reports the same in Flanders. Shadel recognizes the intra-uterine causes, and for the most part occupies himself with distortion due to affections of the sutures, following Hyrtl, Stahl, and Virchow. Case of what Gu^niot calls Obliquitd par propulsion unilat6rale, " reported by M. Mocquet. (Bull. Soc. Anat. do Paris, 1875, 1. 50.) Cause stated to be in all such cases, ARTIFICIAL DEFORMATION OF CHILDREN. 235 or most, prolonged pressure over occipito-parietal region from hard pillow, and posi- tion and weight of head. Bourke, Capt. John G. (Snake-Dance of the Moquis, New York, 1884), describes " cradles of flat boards, with a semi-circular screen for the head. These dififer among the Moquis in no essential from the ordinary cradle-bo-ard of the North American Indians. When the child is placed on it it is wrapped up tightly in blankets, w^ith its arms pinioned tightly to its sides" (pp. 240, 241 (. Vamb^.ry, A. (Sketches of Central Asia. London, 1868). Swaddling clothes are here in general use, and the kindik kesen, or cutter of the same, is a person of much consequence, because the act of cutting these out is accompanied by many ceremo- nial observances. Vamb^ry seems to indicate, however, that the child is not swathed for any length of time. Harris, Maj. W. C. (Highlands of Ethiopia. London, 1844). The beaux of the Dankalis and Somalis, at Tajura, "employ in lieu of a pillow a small wooden bolster, shaped like a crutch-handle, which receives the neck * * * and preserves the periwig from derangement" (i, p. 58). D'Albertis, L. M. (New Guinea). "Great varieties of type, in color, physiognomy, and in the shape of the skull," are found on Pangian Island. Here it is observed that parietal compression protrudes the supra-orbital arches (i, p. 29). The same statements may, he says, be made of the natives at Oraugerie Bay (i, p. 97). Along the whole line, from Soroug to Dorey, the nose varied in form from flat to aquiline (i, p. 210). In his plate of the mummified head got from Darnley Island, Torres Straits, the type is macrocephalous. Blake, Dr. Carter (Appendix Unexplored Syria, Burton &. Drake. London, 1872), describes a female skull from the Dayr M^r Musa el Habashi showing artificial "com- pression of the parietal bones," probably caused by use of the "suckling-board." Davis. (Collection of Voyages and Travels, etc. London, 1745). "In Morria, a small, low island, lying in the river of the Amazons," children are thus carried • "They take a piece of the rind of a tree, and with one end thereof they fasten the child's head, and about the arm-pits and shoulders with the other, and so hang it on their backs like a tinker's budget" (ii, p. 487). Dawkins, W. Boyd. (Cave Hunting. London, 1874). Refers to Professor Busk's notes on the crania of Perthi-Chwaren, in which a skull with "a well-marked de- pression across the middle of the occipital bone" is described. This depression had the appearance of being "caused by the constriction of a bandage." Except this deformation the skull was " well formed and symmetrical," not having any of the contours of the tdte annulaire, due, according to MM. Foville and Gosse, to occipital compression (p. 170). Professor Busk states, in his ethnological notes (Cave Hunting), that the Berber contingent of the Moorish invaders of Europe in the eighth, ninth, and tenth cen- turies "used to elongate the skull posteriorly and flatten the head" (pp. 170, 171). In the same work Professor Dawkins suggests that the flattened occiput of the brachycephalous invaders of neolithic Britain "may have been caused by the use of an unyielding cradle-board in infancy" ([). 193). Evidently the flattened vertex of the Sclaigueaux cave was not natural (p. 219). ifeliMiSy °^ CONGRESS 019 953 789 1 LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 019 953 789 1 Hollinger Corp. pH8.5