The cranial capacity, or size of the brain of each, is given by Professor Flower as: Bantu 1485, Hottentot 1407, and Bushman 1288 cubic centimetres. The average brain of a European is 1497 cubic centimetres in size. Dr. Bolleston found the average cranial capacity of his six Bushman specimens as low as 1195 cubic centimetres, and all other recorded measurements place these people among the extreme microcephalic or small-skulled races. The Hottentots in this classification are mesocephali, a name applied to races whose average cranial capacity is between 1350 and 1450 cubic centimetres, and the Bantu, like Europeans, are megacephali or large skulled.
The alveolar index, index of prognathism, or the slope of a line from the suture at the top of the forehead to the point in the upper jaw between the insertion of the front teeth, is an important characteristic. According to the angle which this line makes with the horizontal plane of the skull, races are classified as orthognathous, mesognathous, or prognathous. In this classification the Bushman comes nearest the European, his face above the upper jaw being much more vertical than that of either of the others. Between the Hottentots and the Bantu there is scarcely any difference.[1]
A marked feature of the Bushman skull is the smallness of the lower jaw and the want of prominence of the chin. The upper jaw does not overlap the lower as much as in the generality of other races.[2] The teeth of the Bushmen did not become loose and fall out, as with us, but they wore down with age, until in extreme cases they were almost level with the jaw. There is wanting in the frame of the Bushman jaw in many instances the means for firm attachment of the
- ↑ Measurements of Bushman, Hottentot, and Bantu crania of high scientific value are given by Mr. Frank C. Shrubsall in a paper forty-four pages in length, entitled Notes on some Bushman Crania and Bones from the South African Museum, Capetown, published in London in 1907 in Volume V of the Annals of the South African Museum.
- ↑ A dentist with a very large practice informs me that there are occasional instances of the upper and lower teeth in Europeans meeting, though they are rare. With Bushmen it seems to be constant.
