These facts are probably of more significance than might seem at first glance; for it is precisely by the same characters, carried still further, that some of the Eskimo differ from others. Let us compare two of our largest and best groups, those of St. Lawrence Island and Greenland:
| Number of skulls (both sexes) | Skull length | Breadth | Height | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Lawrence Island | (293) | 18.05 | 13.90 | 13.45 |
| Greenland | (101) | 18.51 | 13.30 | 13.54 |
The Greenland skull is longer, narrower, and somewhat higher. The differences are less than those between a child and an adult western Eskimo, but of the same nature. This apparently speaks strongly for the development of the Greenland type of Eskimo cranium from the western. On the other hand, the type of skull shown by the Eskimo child approaches much more closely than that of the Eskimo adult to the type of the skull of the Mongol.
The above are mere observations, not theories, and they carry a strong indication that mostly we are still floundering only on the borders of true anthropology, embracing all phases of life and development, which, if mastered, would give us with beautiful definition many now vainly sought or barely glimpsed solutions.
A highly interesting feature is the relatively great development in the Eskimo, between childhood and the adult stage, of the anterior half of the skull or basion-nasion dimension. This augments, it is seen, by even 3.4 per cent more than the length. This growth must involve some additional factor to those inherent in the bones themselves and in the attached musculature, and this can only be, it seems, the development of the anterior half of the brain. Evidently this portion of the brain between childhood and adult life grows in the Eskimo more rapidly than that behind the vertical plane corresponding to the basion. It is a very suggestive condition calling for further study, and thus far almost entirely wanting in comparative data on other human as well as subhuman groups.
FOOTNOTES:
[160] Same group for adults as for children.
THE LOWER JAW
The lower jaw of the Eskimo deserves a thorough separate study. For this purpose, however, more jaws in good condition are needed from various localities, and particularly more jaws accompanying their skulls. As it is, a large majority of the crania are without the lower jaw, or the alveolar processes of the latter have become so affected in life through age and loss of teeth that their value is diminished or lost. Still another serious difficulty is that the measuring of the lower jaw is difficult and has not as yet been regulated by general agreement, so that there is much individualism of procedures with limited possibilities of comparison.