The Ouachita telegraph. [volume] (Monroe, La.) 1865-1889, 1889-06-22
HEAT AND HEADS.
Il Is Supposed THAT the Sum Will Harden
the Human Skull.

Il Is Supposed THAT the Sum VIII Harden q
~ tho Human Skull.
One or the most interesting things mem
toned by Professor Virchow IN ms nI.Ae
book, entitled ssMedical Remembrance
of an Egyptian Journey, IN whicn ne &
Describes an excursion up the we as iai
ms the first cataract, rs THAI :9ie la 3
skulls on the first great sepulchral helds,
lotinn from Roman times, are as thick
md hard us Hcrodotus says those OF the
s,ai,, Egyptians wereein comparison Win
| the brittle ones of fhe Persians Inc
Greek historian explains this by attnDu-
| ting it to the carly exposure OF childreh
| to the heat Of the sun; and III many parts
of Upper Egypt the sGelmah traye!eeFs
aIidaAy fSulniL yo,ug sehfslreg thus sl-
posed during their parents absence IN
:.ss, fields IN 'irnneuse,c clay bowls, resem
filling in shape a champagne glass with
stem, into which they were put without
sn ~ discovery y Professor fvirchow
is interesting. because it at once suggests
the question whether the; PfoSefDial
thickness Of the skull of the negro has
not been caused by exposure TO the sun,
+ ana whether it is a: peculiar4ty ot.savages
4 Of tropical countries that their Skulls
inhabitants of temperate and colder
countries. Students Of craniology have
! never made any investigation to ascer-,
<t3ailh. whether the skulIs Of different races
Il 1a1IV yin degrees Of hardness 1t would
be Utmost impossible to make such an
. .inoJtiry.;: AS is we'll known, the human
skull increases in hardness from ch1ld-
> hood TO. maturity and age: A naiscei-
I lSnaeous 'collection3Qf skulls Of any given
t people would therefore bsof no:value tp
q sne ii an inv estigatip
. 10 obtain q collection Of skulls of
II number of Municipalities, that should be
taken from subjects all of the same: age,
I to have them all similarly prepared ana
, in sufficient numbers to mako it possible
!. to draw any general conclusions from
!. : fheircemparisan WITH each other, WougN "
|, Ebe nanifsstly impossit ae More atte q;
ton has beehgvent to the:relattve thfea
: ness of different skulls, OF rather to their
q weight, from which their thickness may
IL be inferred 81 I'ist:ti;- ',''s' -
J. Of the large collection of crania m the
ia ARMY Medical museum at Washington
...f1he thiclnestc are these of negroes and
,4Alaskan. Indians. The skulls of other
ss3eFndians both of NORTH and South Amer
ica, in, tropical or temperate chimes, and
- Of the Eskimo, do not appear to be par
! tie-ularly thick. Among the ancient PERT
III sian skulls recently received hy ths mo 9!
III Scum, and tl,etss,neient c5aria collected q
E|EArizo,ia last aa,,niaer. tlseIbare:
I Individual variations I'm thickness, bu
-. no tendency-to, unusual thickness. The
81 conclusion from these facts is that expos
L ,uro to- the sun probably does not caus'
ca thickness of the human skull. In con
Ia nection with this subject, it is interestin,
:, ztotnote fiat among the Australians tn
H. sinus flentalis is generally found to l,
eE solid. in,the males,: instead of: bsiaesase''
lie low, as in tho skulls Of other races:sFali
"a bone il, the male Australians generah
~ extends, straight across the head, tn
=, lower sido overhanging the eyes SO tina
-. they seem to look out: from under j!
W while in tho North American Indians
ny modification of shape depriyee them {
20 that heavy look about tho forelfeaa. TIL
heavy sinus frontalis of the Australian
of course, increases the weight of til
" skull Analyst. i .;'-->