The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1899-07-05

ican SKULLS changing in shape; it is
growing bigger, the jaw is shortening.
and the facial angle is approaching
more nearly to a right angle.
So says Prof. ". J. McGee, of the
bureau Of ethnology, who has made a
more exhaustive study Of this subject
than any other living scientist.
ssMy proposition is fairly well illus
...trateds by the portraits Of presidents Of
ths United States = said the Professor
yesterday. aIf you will look at a
series Of profile portraits Of the Chief
Magistrates, from Washington down,
YOU will find that the facial angle
shows a steady development. The
forehead OF the Father Of his Country
Mad 4 considerable slant backward,
and the SAME characteristic is shown
in the extant likenesses of other early
Presidents, whereas recent occupants
Of the Office exhibit quite strikingly
Che rectangular crania. formstion.
s:This same progressive alteration is
observable in portraits Of other cele-
brities, following them down through
the last century, the shape Of the head
changing gradually from the retreat
ing type to che full-forehead conform
alton Of living statesmen. At the
same time the jaw Of the typical
American is perceptibly shortening
and the face is becoming less progna-
tious. In other words, the lower part
Of the face no longer projects so far as
it formerly did. It's easily under
stood chat the shortening Of the jaw
and the Strengthening of the face are
directly connected with the improve
,nent in the form Of the top-head.
cit may be said in general way
that the human skull is improving in
shape and increasing in size. AS to
the latter point, We observe that the
crania Of modern dissecting rooms are
decidedly better developed than those
found in any ancient cemeteries or
tombs. Evidently this increase has
been going on progressively century
after century, and we have been able
to ascertain by exact measurements
that the skull Of Che Incas Of Peru are
larger than those Of prehistoric Peru
lvians who lived at an earlier date. In
like manner we have been able to COM
pare ancient with modern craaia in
other parts Of the world, and similar
results are obtained. The skull Of an
average Egyptian Of thirty centuries
ago had a capacity Of SO cubic inches;
the capacity Of the negro crauium to-
day is 96 cubic inches, and OF the
Anglo.Saxon 1O5 cubic inches.
1.-THE interest attaching to such data
as these is very great, Of course. We
fnd that there is progressive in
crease Of cranial capacity among all
peoples Of the world and decrease
among none. Hence, generalizing,
we may say that the size Of the human
brain is steadily becoming greater
fact, obviously, Of the utmost impor-
tance in its bearing upon the future
prospects Of the race, inasmuch as
brain expansion necessarily implies
augmented thinking power. Anthrop-
illogical study has disclosed the fact
. that the peoples which inhabit the
earth are cultured in proportion to the
size Of their brains, and, although a
big brain does not always imply the
possession Of superior intelligence in
an individual, there is marked rela-
ton between brain-size and thinking
power where large aggregate OF per-
.sonsis considered.
This, however, is practically self
evident, inasmuch as we find that
among the lower animals those species
which have the largest brains in pro-
portion TO their size are, as a rule, the
most intelligent. Reptiles, which are
extremely stupid, possess remarkably
small brains, as might be expected,
while the big herbivores, notoriously
dull-witted, have very inferior cranial
capacity. In respect to brain-size,
il a man be represented by 100, the
gorilla may be put down at 80, the
orapg outang at 20, and the chimpan-
zee at 2S. Il is seon from these fig
ures how vastly superior is the think
ing equipment Of the human animal,
merely as indicated by bulk, to that
of his cousins, the antropoid apes.
lone curious result of the short
ening Of the lower jaw is that there is
no longer sufficient room for all Of the
teeth which nature supplied. Conse-
auently the wisdom teeth are being
= o,t ond hecause they are no