The Hickman courier. [volume] (Hickman, Ky.) 1859-current, 1877-10-05
SCIENCE IN FRANCE.
The Human Fossil Races Of Western, s:u-



The Human Fossil Races Of Western s.u-
rope
Our reporter sends the following ab.
stract of the inaugural address delivered
by the president, DIR. z. Broca, before
the Association Franchise for the advance
ment of science, at the opening of its sixth
session, at HavTe, last week. The subject
OF the address was The Human Foss.
Races of Western Europe, " and after
few Introductory remarks on the very
rapid extension Of the association from
800 at it, first meeting at Bordeaux tl
2,234 at the present time, the president
said: " That actual historical cords
even after o discovery Of Cha~ olliof
in deciphering the Egyptian hierogly
phics, did not 20 back beyond 900 Il
1000 years. The researches Of Cuviei
inUo geology and into paleontology showed
the existence of lengthy geological epoch.
before The creation OF man. The dis
covery in 1929 by Journal, of NarkOnue
| of human fossil remains mixed uD witt
those animals in quaternary strata, fol
lowed by other similar ones by Cri-to
and by Or. Pitore also in the south OF
France, by Ami Bone in Austria. and
particularly in 1888 by Schmeriing, nea,
Liege, first raised the question of a pre-
historic man. But the one who worked
most TO establish this fact was Boucher
de Berthes. whose labOrs from lS4O tC
1853 were, however, unable to convince
sceptical men of science of this fact
Nor was it till the English biologists
Fa coner, PrestRich and Evanr1 them.
selves made discoveries of flint imple
ments in excavations near Amines that
the conviction began 10 take root and q
re I'd. Since 1859 it has spread with
wonderful rapidity, and antb-ppology
has now taken its place as a science.
The human fossil remains in western
Europe, discovered so far, afford a division
into two types by the form of skull, and
whenc- three distinct races of men are
distinguishable. Delichocey Is the
term applied TO that skull of excessive
length in proportion to its breadth ;
brachycephalous to those that are short
and round. The proportion between the
length and the breadth is, therefore, the
distinguishing characteristic. Where
this tails below seventv-five per cent. 1t
applies to the first-named class, and when
superior TO eighty-three per cent. to
the latter; while between the two they
are referred to an intermediate class
termed neutrality-suspicious.. Three distinct
races, according to the types are shown
to have inhabited, in succession to one
another, Europe during the quate&ary
epoch, dist. Ssuished by the naL>. of
the locality whence the distinctive re
mains were first found. By the names
of Canstadt, near Stuttgart; of Cromag-
non, in the Dordogne, and of FurfoOz,
in Belgium, are the three races known.
The Canstadt race belonged to the
heightened type of skull, now to be
seen only among the Australian aborig-
ines and the Esquimaux, and with fiat
tened heads and reeeding foreheads ];
they were men of moderate height,
with but small intelligence and very
savage, and they possessed but very
rude implements wherewith TO wage
war against the gigantic animals of
that period. They appear to have oc-
cupied large portion of central and
western Europe from the commence
mept to about the middle of the quarter
nary epoch, when they were succeeded
aud probably exterminated by the race
of Cromagnon. These also had length
ened form of skull, but differing very
much from their predecessors, having
high forehead and head of large di-
mensiOns; tall men of considerable inteli-