[Illustration: FIG. 6.--Profile of a Luchatze negro woman, showing
deficient bridge of nose and chin, and elongate facial region and
prognathism.]
The significance of these, as of the more important structural
characters of man and the lower animals, must be considered from two
standpoints, the paleontological and the embryological. The immediate
paleontological history of man is unknown, but may be easily inferred
from the characteristics displayed by his nearest relatives of the order
Quadrumana. If we compare these animals with man, we find the following
general differences. The numbers correspond to those of the list above
given:
I. _As to General Form_.--(3) In the apes the arms are longer; (8) the
extensor muscles of the leg are smaller.
II. _As to Surface_.--(9) The body is covered with hair which is not
crisp or woolly; (10) the hair of the head is short; (18) the color of
the skin, etc., is dark.
III. _As to Head and Face_.--(14) The facial region of the skull is
large as compared with the cerebral; (15) the forehead is not prominent,
and is generally retreating; (16) the superciliary ridges are more
prominent; (17) the edges of the jaws are more prominent; (18) the chin
is less prominent; (20) the cheek bones are more prominent; (21) the
nose is without bridge, and with short and flat cartilages; (22) the
orbits and eyes are smaller (except in Nyctipithecus); (24) the mouth is
small and the lips are thin.
[Illustration: FIG. 7.--Face of another negro, showing flat nose, less
prognathism and larger cerebral region. From Serpa Pinto.]
It is evident that the possession of any one of the above
characteristics by a man approximates him more to the monkeys, so far
as it goes. He retains features which have been obliterated in other
persons in the process of evolution.
[Illustration: FIG.8.--Portrait of Satanta, a late chief of the Kiowas
(from the Red river of Texas), from a photograph. The predominance of
the facial region, and especially of the malar bones, and the absence of
beard, are noteworthy.]
In considering the physiognomy of man from an embryological standpoint,
we must consider the peculiarities of the infant at birth. The numbers
of the following list correspond with those already used (Fig. 3).
I. _As to the General Form_.--(1) The head of the infant is relatively
much larger than in the adult; (3) the arms are relatively longer;
(4) there is no waist; (6) the leg, and especially the thigh, is much
shorter.
II. _As to the Surfaces_.--(10) The body is covered with fine hair, and
that of the head is short.
III. _The Head and Face_.--(14) The cerebral part of the skull greatly
predominates over the facial; (16) the superciliary ridges are not
developed; (17) the alveolar borders are not prominent; (20) the malar
bones are not prominent; (21) the nose is without bridge and the
cartilages are flat and generally short; (22) the eyes are larger.
[Illustration: FIG. 9.--Australian native (from Brough Smyth), showing
small development of muscles of legs and prognathism.]
It is evident that persons who present any of the characters cited in
the above list are more infantile or embryonic in those respects than
are others; and that those who lack them have left them behind in
reaching maturity.
We have now two sets of characters in which men may differ from each
other. In the one set the characters are those of monkeys, in the other
they are those of infants. Let us see whether there be any identities in
the two lists, i. e., whether there be any of the monkey-like characters
which are also infantile. We find the following to be such: