Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1889-03-23
HEAT AND SKULLS.
II 10 Now Supposed That the Sun WI
Harden tho Human Crantum.

II 10 Now Supposed That the Sun VA
Harden the Human Crantum.
One Of the most interesting thingAmen-
toned by Prot Virchow In bis 0ttae book
just published, entitled ssMedical Remem
brances Of an Egyptian Courtney" IN which
he describes an excursion up the Me a. far
as the first cataract, Is that the broken
skulls on the first great sepulchrN fields,
dating from Roman times, are as thick and
hard as Herodotus says those Of the slain
Egyptians were in comparison with th6
brittle ones of the Persians. The Greek
historian explains this by sttxibutiDg It to
the early exposure Of children TO the heat
Of the sun; and in many parts OF Upper
Egypt the German travellers actually found
young children thus exposed during their
parents absence in the fields in immense
clay bowls, resembling in shape cham
payne glass without stem, into which they
were put without shelter. This discovery
by Prof. Virchow Il interesting, Gays the
American Analyst, because Is Ct orce sug'
gests the question whether the proverbiA
thickness Of the skull Of the negro has not
been caused by exposure to the sun, and
whether it is q popularity OF sayages OF
tropical countries that their sknlls are
thicker and harder than those Of the fnhab-
itants of temperate and colder countries.
Students Of craniology have never MAIDS
any investigation to ascertain whether the
skulls Of different races vary In degrees o.
hardness 1t would be almost impossible to
make such an inquiry. As Is well known,
the human skull increases In hardness from
childhood to maturity and aga. A miscet-
laneous collection of skulls of any given
people would therefore be OF no value In
such an investigation. To obtain a
collection Of skulls Of number OF nationalt-
ties, that should be taken from subjects all
of the same age, to have them all similarly
prepared and in sufficient numbers to make
1t possible to draw any general Conclusions
from their comparison with each other,
would be manifestly impossible. More at
tention has been given to the relative thick
ness of different skulls, or rather TO their
weight, from which their thickness may be
inferred Of the large collection Of cranta
in the Army Medical Museum OF Washing
ton the thickest are those Of negroes and
Alaskan Indians. The skulls of other In
dams, both Of North and South America,
in tropical or temperate climes, and OF the
Eskimau, do not appear to be particularly
Inlck. Among the ancient Peruvian skulls
recently received by the museum, and the
ancient crania collected in Arizona, there
are frequent individual variations in thick
ness, but no tendency to unusual thickness
The conclusion from these facts is that ex-
posture to the sun probably does not cause
thickness of the human skull. In con-
nection withlthis subject, it is interesting
to note that among the Australians the
sinus frontalis IS generally found to be solid
in the males, instead of being hollow, as N
the skulls of other races. This bone in the
male Australians generally extends straight
across the head, the lower side overhang
ing the eyes so that they seem to look out
from under it, while in the North American
Indians a modification of shape deprives
them of that heavy look about the forehead
The heavy sinus )Tontdlis Of the Australians,
of course, increases the weight of the skull