The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1893-12-22
SKULL LORE

SKULL LORE
Reasons Why Skulls Are Grea. story Ten.
ers to Those Who Can Interpret Them.
1t is not generally known that prob
ably the most complete museum of hui
man osteology is located in Rochester
under the charge of Prot. Charles Il
Ward, who has an international repu-
tation as an authority on the question
skulls are great story telers," said
Prof. Ward. For instance, the orig
inal of this cast of the top of a skull
overturned the theories of half of
Europe, and probably its discovery was
the most sensational thing in the realm
OF science of the decade. Before this
piece of bone, which you can hold in
your hand, was discovered, nothing
had been found which tended to show
that human life existed in the pregla-
cial period, in the days of the cave bear
and other anteglacial fossils Not only
does the place where it was found indi-
cate this, but the skull comes nearer to
supplying the much-laughed-at miss
ing link than anything ever before
discovered There is no question what
ever that it is a portion of human
skull, but the forehead is lower than
that of any acknowledgement skull
ever found, and the supercilary or SUI
peror bital arch is heavier than ever be-
fore seen on a human skull This is
one of the most marked points of dis
tinction between the skulls of a gorilla
and of man.
''You can see what l mean from this
picture" continued Prof. Ward. "The
arch is that of the eyebrow, just over
the eye socket.
"One of the most interesting things
in the ology of skulls is the fashion of
deforming the head prevailing among
the savage races of North and South
America. It is accomplished by pres
sure brought to bear on the skull
through infancy. The cliff jewellers
fiattened the back of the head Skulls
have been found on an island in the
Gulf of Mexico which were divided into
two lobes, evidently produced by
fastening strap from the back of the
neck to the forehead of the infant If
there had been more travel in those
days the fashion might have spread.
The fad of flattening the front of the
head evidently prevailed among the
ancient inha bitants of Peru, as the
mummy remains clearly indicate, and
this has led to the belief that there is
some race connection between the
ancient Peruvians and the Flathead
Indians of to-day.
You can see the effect produced by
the process have described from this
picture. Were this deformity produced
on the head of grown man it would
be followed by insanity and death, but
the brains of the infant gradually &C.
commodate themselves to the new con-
ditions; but / should judge that it
would be difficult to have a very highly
developed intellect with skull of that
shape. Here, you see, is the skull of
Peruvian lady of high rank. We know
that this was some Inca queen by the
pomp with which she was buried. She
paid the usual tribute to fashion, or
her parents did, in having her skull
fiattened up to the latest style.
Here, said Prof. Ware, sis the skull
OF maiden of eighteen years, who,
with number of her companions, was
knocked in the head with an ak and
was eaten on an island in New Zealand
several centuries ago at a great feast
For goodness sake, how could you
find out all that?"
Simple enough. You can tell it all
for yourself, with little help OF
course we know from the place where
it was found that it was in land
where cannibalism prevailed. Father
found no less than seven skulls, all
with fracture like this horrid one,
where the victim was struck with an
ak or some similar implement. Then
all have the hole knocked in at the
base of the skull, evidently with the
purpose Of extracting the brain, for the
human brain is considered a great deli
cacy by cannibal epicures. We know
from the sharpness of the edges of the
orbital cavity and other infallible indi-
cations that this is womau's skull, for
an expert can always tell a male from
4 female skull at glance Lastly,
you can see by counting for yourself
chat the denton of this girls skull is
not complete and that therefore this is,
rs ] have said, the skull of New Zea-
and maiden of seventeen or eighteen.
Il had a curious instance not long
igo of the way in which an observer
ian find story in skull skeleton
vas sent me from hospital in Vienna
% be mounted. The skull had not been
opened. The man had been taken i'll
IN the street suddenly and had been
aiken to the hospital. In polishing the
kull | found fine black bone which
would not come out / opened the
kuu and found that the bone was a
portion of the point of a weapon VIII ich
projected half an inch in the skull and
which had broken of so short that it |
would have been impossible to tell Of
what the man died unless the skull had |
,een opened as l opened it. Here is a |
murder mystery which the law will |
lever probe, for the wound was NOR |
al Rochester IN. VI Post-Express