It was possible to obtain satisfactory measurements of the palate (or,
more strictly speaking, the upper alveolar arch) in 13 instances,
which, in view of the usually frequent defects of the arch, is a good
proportion of the cases. The measurements and indexes follow Turner’s
method, which is quite satisfactory.[36] The greatest length recorded
by Turner in 20 European male and 8 European female skulls was 6 cm.,
the smallest 4.7 cm.; the greatest breadth 6.9 cm., the smallest 5.6
cm. The same measurements among the Munsee range, if we take both sexes
together, from 5.1 cm. to 6 cm. for length and 5.9 cm. to 7.2 cm. for
breadth, showing both dimensions, though more especially the breadth,
to be slightly superior in these Indians to what they are in whites.
The palatal or “uranic” index averaged, in Turner’s whites, 116.2 in
the males and 115.6 in the females; in the Munsee the averages are
120.7 for the former and 120.5 for the latter sex, showing the palate
in these Indians to be more “brachy-uranic,” or relatively broader. The
sexual differences in both Turner’s and the present series are so small
as to be practically negligible. In the different groups of Arkansas
and Louisiana crania, reported in 1909 by the writer, the average
palatal index ranged from 116 to 122 in the males and from 115 to 122
in the females—conditions very similar to those shown in the present
observations.
It may here be pointed out that the whole subject of the dimensions
of the palate or alveolar arch in the different races, and especially
in the different types of skull, needs investigation. As it is, the
variety in the dimensions and shape of these structures, and especially
their correlation with the rest of the face and skull, are only
imperfectly understood.
[36] Length: “From the alveolar point to a line drawn across the hinder
borders of the maxillary bones. Breadth: Maximum external just above
the molar teeth.”
[Illustration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 62 PLATE 10