The herald., 1893-12-01
He LORE OF SKULLS
|REAT STORY TELLERS TO THOSE
WHO CAN INTERPRET THEM.

WHO CAN INTERPRET THEM.
At With n Professor of sku1l-ology who
- In Charge of the Rochester Museum
% Human osteology-Ancient Fashions
of Deforming the Head.
IL is not generally known that prob
ebly the most complete museum of hu-
nan osteology is located in Rochester
ander charge of Professor Charles H.
Yard, who has an international repu-
alton az an authority on this question.
SHuIis are great story tellers, !" said
rofessor Ward. "For instance, the
original of this cast of the top of
kull overturned the theories Of half
Europe, and probably it's discovery
vas the most sensational thing in the
ealm of science Of the decade. Before
his piece Of bone, which you can hold
n 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
indicate all this, but the skull comes
nearer to supplying the much laughed
nt missing link than anything ever
tEbefore discovered. There is no question
whatever that it is portion of hu-
man skull, but the forehead is lower
than that Of any normally developed
skull ever found, and the superciliary or
fuperorbitai arch is heavier than ever
before seen on human skull. This is
Ipne of the most marked points of dis
6nction between the skulls of a gorilla
Ind of a man.
"You can see what mean from this
picture continued Professor Ward.
The arch is that of the eyebrow, just
over the eye socket.
Zone of the most interesting things
IN the ology of skulls is the fashion of
tdeforming the head prevailing among
the savage races Of North and South
America. 1t is accomplished by pres
sure brought to bear on the skull
through infancy. The cliff dwellers
fattened the back of tho head. Skulls
| have been found on an island in the
gulf of Mexico which were divided in
TO two lobes, evidently produced by fas-
1tening strap from the back of the
neck to the forehead Of the infant. II
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 inhabitants of Peru, as the
Mummy remains clearly indicate, and
4 this has led to belief that there is
some race connection between the an
eoient Peruvians and the Flathead In
dians Of today.
"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, 1 should judge, however, that it
would be difficult to have very highly
I developed intellect with skull of that
shape. Here you see, is the skull Of
! q 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
fattened up to the latest style.
!. Here said Professor Ward, sis
the skull of a maiden of 1S years, who,
with number of her companions, was
kknocked 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?"
!, ''Simply enough. You can tell it
all for yourself, with little help. OF
course we know from the place where it
l,was found that it was in a land where
cannibalism prevailed. Father found
no less than seven skulls, all with a
Pfracture like this horrid one, where the
victim was struck with an ak or some
y similar implement. Then all have the
hole knocked in at the base of the skull,
evidently with the purpose of extract
Ling the brain, for the human brain is
considered great delicacy by cannibal
epicures. We know from the sharpness
Pof the edges of the orbital cavity and
other infallible indications that this is
4 a woman's 8 skull, for an expert can al
Fways tell male from a female skull at
glance. Lastly you can see by
!. counting fer yourself that the dentition
A of this girls skull is not complete, and
that therefore this is, as have said
'tthe skull of New Zealand maiden of
Y II or 1S.
Il had curious instance not long
nago of the way in which an observer
can find story in a skull. A skeleton
was sent me from q hospital in Vienna
to be mounted. The skull had not
been opened The man had been taken
y i'll on tho street suddenly and had
been taken to the hospital. In polish
ing the skull found fine black line
which would not come out. / opened
y the skull and found that the line was
[ portion of the point Of blade which pro-
jected half an inch in the skull, and
which had broken off so short that it
!, would have been impossible to tell of
what the man died unless the skull had
been opened as opened it. Here was
b murder mystery which the law will
never probe, for the wound was NOR
tai. "-Rochester Post-Express.
Pennsylvania In the Ice Age.
In the ice age the thickness of the ice
which covered northeastern Pennsyl-