II. _Surface_.--(10) The hair of the head is short, and the hair on the
body is more distributed.
III. _As to Head and Face_.--(21) The nose is without bridge and the
cartilages are short and flat.
Three characters only out of twenty-three. On the other hand, the
following characters of monkey-like significance are the opposites of
those included in the embryonic list: (14) The facial region of the
skull is large as compared with the cerebral; (15) the forehead is not
prominent; (16) the superciliary ridges are more prominent; (17) the
edges of the jaws are more prominent. Four characters, all of the face
and head. It is thus evident that in attaining maturity man resembles
more and more the apes in some important parts of his facial expression.
[Illustration: Esequibo Indian woman, showing the following
peculiarities: deficient bridge of nose, prognathism, no waist, and
(the right hand figure) deficiency of stature through short femur. From
photographs by Endlich.]
It must be noted here that the difference between the young and
embryonic monkeys and the adults is quite the same as those just
mentioned as distinguishing the young from the adult of man (Figs. 1 and
2). The change, however, in the case of the monkeys is greater than
in the case of man. That is, in the monkeys the jaws and superciliary
ridges become still more prominent than in man. As these characters
result from a fuller course of growth from the infant, it is evident
that in these respects the apes are more fully developed than man.
Man stops short in the development of the face, and is in so far more
embryonic.[1] The prominent forehead and reduced jaws of man are
characters of "retardation." The characters of the prominent nose with
its elevated bridge, is a result of "acceleration," since it is a
superaddition to the quadrumanous type from both the standpoints of
paleontology and embryology.[2] The development of the bridge of the
nose is no doubt directly connected with the development of the front of
the cerebral part of the skull and ethmoid bone, which sooner or later
carries the nasal bones with it.
[Footnote 1: This fact has been well stated by C. S. Minot in the
_Naturalist_ for 1882, p. 511.]
[Footnote 2: See Cope, The Hypothesis of Evolution, New Haven, 1870, p.
31.]
[Illustration: The Venus of the Capitol (Rome). The form and face
present the characteristic peculiarities of the female of the
Indo-European race.]
If we now examine the leading characters of the physiognomy of three
of the principal human sub-species, the Negro, the Mongolian, and the
Indo-European, we can readily observe that it is in the two first named
that there is a predominance of the quadrumanous features which are
retarded in man; and that the embryonic characters which predominate are
those in which man is accelerated. In race description the prominence
of the edges of the jaws is called prognathism, and its absence
orthognathism. The significance of the two lower race characters as
compared with those of the Indo-European is as follows:
_Negro_.--Hair crisp (a special character), short (quadrum. accel.);
prognathous (quadrum. accel.); nose flat, without bridge (quadrum.
retard)[1]; malar bones prominent (quadrum. accel.); beard short
(quadrum. retard.); arms longer (quadrum. accel.); extensor muscles of
legs small (quadrum. retard.).
[Footnote 1: In the Bochimans, the flat nasal bones are co-ossified with
the adjacent elements as in the apes (Thulié).]
_Mongolian_.--Hair straight, long (accel.); jaws prognathous (quadrum.
accel.); nose flat or prominent with or without bridge; malar bones
prominent (quadrum. accel.); beard none (embryonic); arms shorter
(retard.); extensor muscles of leg smaller (quad. retard.).
_Indo-European_.--Hair long (accel.); jaws orthognathous (embryonic
retard.); nose (generally) prominent with bridge (accel.); malar bones
reduced (retard.); beard long (accel.); arms shorter (retard.); extensor
muscles of the leg large (accel.).
The Indo-European race is then the highest by virtue of the acceleration
of growth in the development of the muscles by which the body is
maintained in the erect position (extensors of the leg), and in those
important elements of beauty, a well-developed nose and beard. It is
also superior in these points in which it is more embryonic than the
other races, viz., the want of prominence of the jaws and cheekbones,
since these are associated with a greater predominance of the cerebral
part of the skull, increased size of cerebral hemispheres, and greater
intellectual power.
A comparison between the two sexes of the Indo-Europeans expresses their
physical and mental relations in a definite way. I select the sexes of
the most civilized races, since it is in these, according to Broca and
Topinard, that the sex characters are most pronounced. They may be
contrasted as follows. The numbers are those of the list already used.
I first consider those which are used in the tables of embryonic,
quadrumanous, and race characters:
MALE. FEMALE.
I. _The General Form_.
2. Shoulders square. Shoulders slope.
4. Waist less constricted. Waist more constricted.
5. Hips narrower. Hips wider.
6. Legs longer. Legs shorter (very frequently).
8. Muscles larger. Muscles smaller.
II. _The Integuments, etc_.
10. More hair on body, that Less hair on body, that of head
of head shorter; beard. longer; no beard.
12. Skin rougher (generally). Skin smoother.
III. _The Head and Face_.
16. Superciliary ridges more Superciliary ridges low.
prominent.
22. Eyes often smaller. Eyes often larger.
[Illustration: The Wrestler; original in the Vatican. This figure
displays the characters of the male Indo-European, except the beard.]
The characters in which the male is the most like the infant are two,
viz., the narrow hips and short hair. Those in which the female is most
embryonic are five, viz., the shorter legs, smaller muscles, absence of
beard, low superciliary ridges, and frequently larger eyes. To these may
be added two others not mentioned in the above lists; these are 1, the
high pitched voice, which never falls an octave, as does that of the
male; and 2, the structure of the generative organs, which in all
mammalia more nearly resemble the embryo and the lower vertebrata in the
female than in the male. Nevertheless, as Bischoff has pointed out, one
of the most important distinctions between man and the apes is to be
found in the external reproductive organs of the female.
From the preceding rapid sketch the reader will be able to explain the
meaning of most of the peculiarities of face and form which he will
meet with. Many persons possess at least one quadrumanous or embryonic
character. The strongly convex upper lip frequently seen among the lower
classes of the Irish is a modified quadrumanous character. Many people,
especially those of the Sclavic races, have more or less embryonic
noses. A retreating chin is a marked monkey character. Shortness
of stature is mostly due to shortness of the femur, or thigh; the
inequalities of people sitting are much less than those of people
standing. A short femur is embryonic; so is a very large head. The faces
of some people are always partially embryonic, in having a short face
and light lower jaw. Such faces are still more embryonic when the
forehead and eyes are protuberant. Retardation of this kind is
frequently seen in children, and less frequently in women. The length of
the arms would appear to have grown less in comparatively recent times.
Thus the humerus in most of the Greek statues, including the Apollo
Belvidere, is longer than those of modern Europeans, according to a
writer in the Bulletin de la Société d'Anthropologie of Paris, and
resembles more nearly that of the modern Nubians than any other people.
This is a quadrumanous approximation. The miserably developed calves of
many of the savages of Australia, Africa, and America are well known.
The fine, swelling gastroenemius and soleus muscles characterize the
highest races, and are most remote from the slender shanks of the
monkeys. The gluteus muscles developed in the lower races as well as
in the higher distinguish them well from the monkeys with their flat
posterior outline.
It must be borne in mind that the quadrumanous indications are found in
the lower classes of the most developed races. The status of a race or
family is determined by the percentage of its individuals who do and do
not present the features in question. Some embryonic characters may
also appear in individuals of any race, as a consequence of special
circumstances. Such are, however, as important to the physiognomist as
the more normal variations.
Some of these features have a purely physical significance, but the
majority of them are, as already remarked, intimately connected with
the development of the mind, either as a cause or as a necessary
coincidence. I will examine these relations in a future article.
* * * * *