The Lake Charles echo. [volume] (Lake Charles, Parish of Calcasieu, La.) 1876-1898, 1893-12-01
THE LORE OF SKULLS
GREAT STORY TELLERs 10 THOSE
WHO CAV INTERPRET THEM.

Chat with Profeaaor Of sRuu-oioEs Who
II In charge u the Rochester AEuaeuus
u Humap oasecross AacIsnt FaaAgeaa
Of peiOrmlpe she Head.
70 is not generally known that prob
ably the most complete museum Of hui
man osteology In located ia Rochester
under charge Of Professor Charles III.
Ward, who has an international repu-
tation as an authority on this question,
"skulls are great story tellers, Z said
Professor Ward. For instance, the
original Of this cast Of the top Of q
skull overturned the theories of half
OF Europe, and probably it's discovery
was the most sensational thing in the
realm Of science Of tho decade, Before
this piece Of bone, which you can hold
in your hand, was discovered, nothing
had been found which tended 10 show
that human life existed In the pregla-
Cial period, in the days oR the cave bear
and other anteglaeial fossils. Not
only doea the place where 1t was found
indicate ali this. but the skull comes
nearer 10 supplying the much laughed
AZ missing link than anything ever
before discovered. There Is no question
whatever that 1t is q portion Of q hu-
man skull, but the forehead is lower
than that of any normally developed
skull ever found, and the superciliaTY or
superorbital arch Is heavier than ever
before seen ON human skull. This Is
ona OF the most marked points Of dis
tinetion between the skulls Of q gorilla
and of q man,
'You can see what / mean from this
picture" continued Professor Ward.
"The arch Is that of the eyebrow, just
over tine eye socket,
''One Of the most interesting things
In the ology pf skulls ID the fashion OF
defoFming the head prevailing among
the savage races OF North and South
America, Ii Ia accomplished by PRES
sure brought to bear ON the skull
through infancy, The cliff dwellers
hattened the back of the head, Skulls
have been found ON an island In the
gulf Of Mexico which were divided in-
to two lobes, evidently produced by fas-
tening q strap FROM the back Of the
neck to the forehead Of the infant. II
there had been more travel ia those
days, the fashion might have spread.
The fad Of hattening the front of tho
head evidently prevailed among the
ancient inhabitants Of Peru, as the
mummy remains clearly indicate, and
this has led to q belief that there Is
some race connection between the an
cient PeTpYiuna and the Flathead In
dians of today.
iYou can see tho effect produced by
the process have described from this
picture, Were this deformity produced
on the head Of grown man, II would
be followed by insanity and death, but
the brains OF the infant gradually ae-
cpmmodate themselves to the new con-
ditipns, should Judge, however, that IL
would he difficult to have very highly
developed intallect with q 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
hattened up to the latest style.
Here, said Professor Ward, .is
the skull Of a maiden Of rs years, who,
with a 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 great feast. \
'tFor goodness sake, how could you
find out all that2''
''simply enough. You can tell it
ali for yourself, with q little help. of
course we know from the place whore 1t
was found that 1t was in d land where
cannihalism prevailed, Father found
no less than seven skulls, all with q
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 extract
ing tho brain, for the human brain ID
eonaldeFed great delinacY bY cannihal
epicures. We know from the sharpness
OF the edges OF the oTbital cavity and
other infallible indications that this is
2 woman'a q skull, for an expert can al
ways tell q male from q female skull at
glance. Lastly, you can SEQ BY
counting for yourself that tho dentition
Of this girls skull is not complete, and
that therefore this Is, as have said,
the akpll of . New Zealand maiden of
IN or is.
II bad q curious instance not long
ago Of the way IN which an observer
can lind q story in a skull, a skeleton
was sent mo froln d hospital in Vienna
to ha mounted. The skull had not
been opened The man had been taken
III on the street slddenly and had
been taken 10 the hospital. Ia polish
ipg Tho alsull | found 4 fine black line
which would not come ont, | cpened
the skull and found that the line was .
portion Of the point Of blade which pro
jeeted halls ~ inch IN the algpll, and
which had broken pif 30 short fhat It
would have been impossible to tell uf
what the man died ualess the Hkpll hnd
been opened as | opened II. Here was q
murder mystery which the law will
never probe, fer tha wound was NOR
tai l'- Rochester Post Express,