The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1894-01-13
THE LORE OF SKULLS
GREAT STORY TEtLERS TO THOSE
WHO CAN INTERPRET THEM.

of Human Osteology-Ancient Fashion
of Deforming the Head.
1t is not generally known that prob
ably the most complete museum OF hu
man OsteOlogy is located in Rochester
under charge of Professor Charles II
Ward, who has an international repu
tation as an authority ON this question
Skulls are great story tellers, said
| Professor Ward. For instance. the
original of this cast of the top of q
skull overturned the theories of hall
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
| indicate all this, but the skull comes
nearer to supplying the much laughed
| at missing link than anything ever
| before discovered. There is no question
whatever that it is a portion of hu-
| man skull, but the forehead is lower
skull ever found, and the superciliary or
superorbital arch is heavier than ever
before seen on human skull. This is
one of the most marked points of dis
tinction between the skulls of gorilla
and of man.
You can see what mean from this
picture" continued Professor Ward.
THE arch is that of the eyebrow, just
over the eye socket.
lone of the most interesting things
in the ology of skulls is the fashion of
reforming the head prevailing among
the savage races of North and South
America. 1t is accomplished b. pres
sure brought to bear on the skull
through infancy. The cliff jewellers
flattened 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 a 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 fiattening the front of the
head evidently prevailed among the
ancient inhabitants of Peru, as the
mummy remains clearly indicate, and
this has led to belief that there is
some race connection between the an
cient Peruvians and the Flathead In
dams of today.
You can see the effect produced by
the process 1 have described from this
picture. Were this deformity produced
on the head of grown man, it would
be followed by insanity and death, but
f1,a1 Of ha ,,fo
commodate themselves to the new con-
ditions, should judge, however, that it
would be difficult to have very highly
developed intellect with a 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
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
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?''
Simply 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 |
nnibalism prevailed. Father found |
no less than seven skulls, all with a
fracture like this horrid one, where the |
victim was struck with an ak or some |
similar implement. Then all have the |
% 80 10 s1-
with the purpose of extract
ing the brain, for the human brain is |
great delicacy by cannibal |
epicures. We know from the sharpness
IF the edges of the orbital cavity and
other infallible indications that this is
4 woman's skull, for an expert can al
ways tell a male from a female skull at
L glance. Lastly, you can see by
for yourself that the dentition
# this girl skull is not complete, and
hat therefore this is, as 1 have said,
he skull of a New Zealand maiden of
IL or IS.
Il had u curious instance not long
lgo of the way in which an observer
an find story in skull. A skeleton
vas sent me from hospital in Vienna
o be mountedg The skull had not
,een opened. The man had been taken
IL ON the street suddenly and had
'een taken to the hospital. In polish
rg the skull 1 found a fine black line
Which would not come out. 1 opened
he skull and found that the line was a
'ortion of the point of a blade which pro-
ccted half an inch in the skull, and
which had broken off SO short that it |
VOuld have been imDOSSi bile tO tell of /
What the man died unless the skull had |
'een opened as opened it. Here was
murder mystery which the law will
lever probe, for the wound was NOR
al. Rochester Post-Express.