Chapter VI: The Skin and the Pigments (1)

_Pigmentation and Cutaneous Apparatus._--The outer covering of the body possesses an importance that is not only physiological, as a defense of the living animal, but biological and ethnical as well. In fact, the covering of the body frequently constitutes a characteristic of the species, and we may say that it constitutes to a large extent the æsthetics of coloration, supplementing that of form. In the covering of the body there are in general certain appendages which include the double purpose of defense and attraction, as, for example, the scales of fishes, the quills of the porcupine, the marvellous plumage of certain birds, the furry coat of the ermine. Man, on the contrary, is almost completely deprived of any covering of the skin, and is conspicuous among all animals as the most defenseless and naked. Consequently, the characteristics of the skin itself, quite apart from any covering, assume in man a great ethnic importance, especially as regards his pigmentation. In fact, it is well known that the fundamental classifications of the human races due to Blumenbach and Linnaeus are based upon the cutaneous pigmentation (white, black, yellow races, etc.). This is because it is a recognised fact that the pigmentation is biologically associated with race, and hence inalterable and hereditary, in the same way, for example, as the cephalic index; although we must not forget the modifications of pigment through phenomena due to adaptation to environment. This would lead us into scientific discussions which would here be out of place, since they have no immediate importance to us as educators. It may suffice to indicate that the distribution of racial colour should not be studied in relation to temperature and the direction of the sun's rays, but rather in connection with the history of human emigration; because, while as a matter of fact it is true that there are races at the equator which are darker and races near the poles which are fairer, it is also true that the Esquimaux, for instance, are a dark race, while in Lybia there are types of ashen blond, which is the palest blond in the whole range of human pigmentation.

The pigment is distributed throughout the skin, the cutaneous appendages and the iris.

In the skin, the distribution is not uniform, there being some regions of the body that have more, and some that have less; it is localised in the Malpighian mucous layer, _i.e._, the granular, germinative layer of the epidermis, which rests directly upon the papillæ of the derma or corium.

The derma, being abundantly supplied with blood-vessels, if seen by itself would appear red; but this color, due to the blood, is concealed to a greater or less extent by the epidermis, according as the latter contains more or less pigment. In the iris of the eye and in the piliferous appendages of the skin, among which we must, from the anthropological point of view, give chief place to the hair of the head, the pigment tends to accumulate, producing a constantly deeper shade.

Pigmentation constitutes an eminently descriptive characteristic, and consequently, in all attempts to determine it, must be subject to all manner of oscillations in judgment on the part of the observer; yet, because it also constitutes an ethnical characteristic, it deserves to be determined with precision. To this end we have in anthropology _chromatic charts_, corresponding not only to the various shades of the skin, but also to those of the piliferous appendages and of the iris. They consist of a graduated series of colour-tones extending over the entire possible range of the real colours of pigmentation in human beings; and every gradation in tone has a corresponding number. When we wish to use the charts practically, for the purpose of determining accurately the precise degree of pigmentation of a given person's hair, we need only to compare the tone of the hair with the colours of the chart, and, having identified the right one, to note the corresponding number. For instance, we may record: "Pigmentation of hair = 34 Br. (_i.e._, No. 34 in Broca's table). Or, again, if we are making a more complex study of all the children in a certain school, we may say: "The chestnut tones (35, 42, 43 Br.) constitute 87 per cent., the remaining percentage consists of the blond shades (36, 37, 46 Br.). And in the case of the skin and the iris the procedure is analogous. By this means the investigation is objective and accurate.

As a rule, the three pigmentations are determined in accordance with a reciprocal correspondence. The light colourings, as well as the dark, generally go together; _i.e._, a person having blond hair has also light eyes and a fair skin, and _vice versa_--in other words, the entire organism has either a greater or less accumulation of pigment in all its centres of pigmentation. Furthermore, these anthropological characteristics are accompanied by others of equal ethnical importance, such as the stature, the cephalic index, etc.; and all of them combine to determine an ethnic type in all its complex morphology.

In this, as in all other anthropological data, it is necessary to determine the limits between which it may oscillate. In the races of mankind, the colour of the skin ranges from a black brown to a gray brown, to brick red, to yellow, and to white; but among the population of Italy, and among Europeans in general (excepting certain localised groups, like the Lapps, etc.), the variation is confined within the limits of the so-called white tones, that is, from brunette to a sallow white, a rosy white, or a florid red, with each of which tints there are special corresponding grades of pigmentation for hair and eyes, and also, on broad, general lines, different ethnical characteristics oscillating within our normal limits of stature and cephalic index.

All of which may be summarised in the following table:

--------------------------------------------------------------------
Pigmentation | |
------------------------------------| Stature | Cephalic index
Skin | Hair | Iris | |
--------------+----------+----------+--------------+----------------
Brunette | Black |Black |Medium or low |Dolichocephalic,
Yellow-white }| Light |Chestnut |Medium or high|Brachycephalic
Pink-white }| chestnut| and blue.| |
}| & blond.| | |
Florid red | Red |Gray |(Outside of ethnical
| | |characteristics: the red colour
| | |of the hair is abnormal)
--------------------------------------------------------------------

in which we have also included the abnormal colour of red hair, which plays a part in the actual colour scale of Italian pigmentation: not, however, as a racial characteristic, but rather as a deviation.

In addition to the oscillation of limits, we should also study in any given population the geographic distribution of a definite anthropological datum. This must also be done in the case of the pigments. Among Livi's splendid charts, there is one regarding the distribution of the brunette type in Italy. From this it appears that the greatest prevalence of the brunette type is in Sardinia and Calabria, and that in general there is a prevalence of the dark types in the southern districts; while the lowest percentage of brunettes is found in Piedmont, Lombardy and Venetia, and in general the number of brunettes is less in northern and central Italy.

The relative distribution of other ethnical data should be noted, such as the stature and the cephalic index, in the corresponding charts.

By combining these results, we find that in the north of Italy the prevalent type is blond, brachycephalic, and of tall stature; while in the south it is a dark, dolichocephalic type, of low stature. This is what I succeeded in showing in my work upon the women of Latium, in which I sought to complete the details of these two ethnic types. In Latium there is a prevalence of the dark, dolichocephalic type of low stature, a type that is still almost pure at Castelli Romani; this type is fine, slender and delicate in formation, and corresponds to Sergi's Mediterranean stock, to which are due the great Egyptian and Græco-Roman civilisations. The other race is blond, tall and brachycephalic, and has only a scanty representation in southern Latium, but is prevalent in an almost pure form in the neighborhood of Orte. This type is much coarser and more massive in its formation, with a euriplastic skeleton, and corresponds to Sergi's Eurasian race that immigrated from the continent.

* * * * *

In general, we may say that it is foreordained in our biological destiny not only what form, but also what colouring we ought to attain in the course of our individual evolution, when we finally arrive at mature development.

_The Pigments during Growth._--In the course of individual evolution, it is not only the form that becomes modified, but the pigments as well. We know, for example, that children are more blond than adults. Transformations in regard to the pigments occur, however, more especially at the period of puberty.

_Pigmentation of the Hair._--The colour of the hair becomes darker in the course of growth, changing from light chestnut to dark, from blond to light chestnut, from dark to black, from light auburn to fiery red. Sometimes this darkening of the hair is accompanied by a change in tone (from blond to chestnut); at other times it consists in an _intensification_ of the original colour through an increase of pigment, which _fixes_ and _defines_ a colour that was previously indefinite.

In children who were ill or ailing during their early years, in other words, weakly children (through denutrition, exhausting illnesses, overexertion), this phenomenon is imperfectly achieved, just as their growth as a whole is imperfectly achieved. The consequence is that these weaklings retain a paler and less decided pigmentation, which explains the fact that statistics show a greater proportion of frail, rachitic, tuberculous and mentally deficient persons among the blonds than among the brunettes; but it is among that class of blonds whose light colour represents an arrest of development (suppressed brunettes).

Social conditions also exert an influence upon the colour of the hair; a larger number of blonds and of lighter and more indefinite blonds are to be found in the schools for the poor than in those for the rich; also a larger number in country schools, where the poverty is greater, than in city schools. Consequently we may conclude that there are two classes of blonds: that which is associated with a racial type, and that which is the consequence of arrested development. The first type has a vivid, uniform and decisive colour tone, accompanied by physiological robustness; the second is indefinite in colour tone and lacks uniformity--for example, the more exposed parts of the body are paler, and the hair varies in tone, some locks showing greater intensity of colour than others. This is especially noticeable in frail young girls from the country, where the sun discolours the surface layer of hair. In this connection it should be remembered that in those geographical regions where the rays of the sun are most nearly perpendicular, the pigments are, on the contrary, darker and that the skin becomes bronzed under the ardent kiss of the sun. But while the sun intensifies the tints that are strong with life, it destroys those that are weak and moribund, just as it does in the case of lifeless fabrics, which become bleached out by the action of the solar light.

Accordingly the pigments give us an important test for judging the robustness of the body; the blonds who are the product of arrested development of brown tones that have not been attained because of weakness, are frail in health and physical resistance, which is the basis of the popular belief that vigorous wet-nurses must be brunettes.

As a matter of fact, in our own population of Latium the brunette type prevails over the blond by a percentage of 86 per cent.; and it may be that a blond Roman wet-nurse is a weakly creature, just as a Roman red wine is in all probability a white wine that has been coloured.

* * * * *

_Pigmentation of the Iris._--In regard to the coloration of the eyes, a change often takes place at puberty which is the opposite to that already noted in regard to the hair: _the eyes become more_ _uniformly light_; this happens in the majority of cases.

In the coloration of the eyes it is necessary to distinguish two factors, the _uvea_ and the _pigment_.

The iris has a fundamental and uniform light colour (due to the _uvea_) which oscillates, according to the individual, between blue and greenish.

In this layer the pigment is deposited; it may be more or less intense in tone, shading from yellow to a dark maroon.

When the pigment is wanting or is very scant, the fundamental blue or greenish colour of the uvea is apparent.

In little children the pigment is distributed over the uvea in a manner by no means uniform, in little masses or spots that are usually of a mixed colour, so that the colour of the iris in infancy may be uncertain. At puberty a uniform distribution of the pigment already accumulated takes place; but rarely an intensification. Hence the colour becomes more decided, but not deeper, as Godin has recently succeeded in proving.

_Pigmentation of the Skin._--In the colouring of the skin it is necessary to distinguish between that which is due to the blood and that which is due to the pigment.

The blood, whose colour shows transparently through the layers of the epidermis, produces the various pinkish tones.

The pigment, deposited in all races of mankind under the Malpighian layer, produces the various brownish tones. The quantity of cutaneous pigment is a constant _racial_ factor--a hereditary factor. Nevertheless, in certain individuals, it may be influenced by external agents (sunshine, heat) which tend to cause it to vary; such alterations produce _individual varieties_, and also variations in coloration of the skin between the covered parts of the body and those exposed to the sun or to atmospheric action in general; these variations, one and all, are not hereditary.

At puberty the pigment is increased in certain portions of the body in connection with the generative functions which become established at that time. Besides this, the general pigmentation is intensified; children are whiter than adults.

_The Skin and the Hair during the Evolution of the Organism._--In the case of the hair also, the pigment does not remain a constant quantity throughout the different periods of life. Grey hair is a normal sign of the decadence of an organism which has entered upon its involution. As is well known, the hair of the head, the beard, and in general all the piliferous appendages turn white, beginning in the regions where the hair is most abundant, _i.e._, on the head. In some men, however, the hairs of the beard are the first to turn grey; this is not perfectly normal, it is an _inferior_ manner of growing old. A German proverb says, that he who works much with the head (the thinking class) turns grey first in his hair, and that he who works much with his mouth (the hearty eater) turns grey first in his beard.

The skin also gives manifest signs of decadence in the form of _wrinkles_. These serve up to a certain point as documentary evidence of the life which the individual has led and the _high_ or _low_ _type_ to which he belongs. Just as in the case of grey hair, it is the class of thinkers who have the most wrinkles on their forehead; those who were given over to baser passions, such as called for labial rather than frontal expression, have on the contrary, more wrinkles around the mouth. We know how the peasant class has a veritable halo of wrinkles around the mouth.

Thinkers, on the contrary, have a single vertical furrow in the middle of the forehead: the line of thought. The transverse lines on the forehead are parallel and unconnected.

Faces with precocious wrinkles may be met with, even in children (denutrition, mental anxiety, dystrophic conditions); and conversely, there are faces which have been preserved unwrinkled up to an advanced age (especially in the case of women of the aristocracy, in whom it may happen that neither suffering nor mental effort has left its traces on their lives).

_Pigmentation of the Hair._--This anthropological datum merits special consideration, since it plays so large a part in the æsthetics of the human body; and also preserves certain constant characteristics that serve to differentiate the races. In a study of the hair it is necessary to consider the _quantity_, the _disposition_ and the _form_. Abundant, strong, sleek hair is in physiological relation to robustness of body. Thin hair, on the contrary, or hair that is easily extirpated at the slightest pull, or dry hair, indicate insufficient nutrition, which may also be connected with dystrophic or pathological conditions (hereditary syphilis, cretinism).

The normal disposition of the hair is characteristic, but it may assume a number of individual variations, as has recently been shown by Dr. Sergio Sergi, son of our mutual instructor Giuseppe Sergi (Sergio Sergi, _Sulla disposizione dei capelli intorno_ _alla fronte_--"The disposition of the hair upon the forehead"--Acts of the Società di Antropologia, Vol. 13, No. 1).

The hair, after forming a single whorl or _vortex_, corresponding to the _obelion_, flows over the forehead in either two or three divisions, the _lines of the parting_ (either lateral lines or a single central line) corresponding to the natural divisions of the flowing hair. Across the forehead the hair ceases at the line of _the roots_, which crowns the face cornice-like; it is a sinuous line and rises at the sides in two points, corresponding to the natural partings of the hair. The hair stops normally at the boundary-line of the forehead, which together with the face forms the _visage_, leaving bare that part which in man corresponds to that portion of the frontal bone that rises erect above the orbital arches, _i.e._, the human portion of the forehead.

The form of the hair is an ethnical characteristic. Among our European populations the extreme forms are wanting, namely, _smooth_ hair (stiff, coarse, sparse hair peculiar to the red and yellow races, such as the American Indian, Esquinaux, Samoyed and Chinese), and _kinky_ hair (wooly hair, curling in fine, close spirals, such as is found in all its variations among the Australians and the African negroes). Consequently, we cannot use the words _smooth_ or _kinky_ for the purpose of qualifying the forms of hair found in our populations.

We may, however, meet with _straight_ hair (not _smooth_), or _curly_ hair (not _kinky_). In addition to these forms, which among us represent the extremes, there are also two other forms--namely, _wavy_ hair (in ample curves) and _spiral_ hair (forming much narrower curves, the so-called ringlets). Corresponding to these various qualities of hair, there are essential differences in the physical structure of the stem or shaft of the hair itself. If we make transverse sections of hair and examine them under the microscope, we find that the resulting geometrical figures are not all equal: the forms of the sections oscillate between rounded and ellipsoidal forms. Furthermore, there are races in which we may find hair having a circular section (_smooth_ hair) and there are others in which we may find, on the contrary, an extremely elongated elliptical section (_kinky_ hair); in the first case the hair is a long, bristly cylinder; in the second, it is a ribbon with a tendency to roll up.

In general, the straighter the hair is, the nearer its cross-section approaches a perfect circle; and the more curly it is, the nearer its cross-section approaches an elongated ellipse. The accompanying examples are drawn from the results of my own study of the women of Latium; they represent five microscopic preparations. The figure in the middle (No. 3) represents _straight_ hair; the two figures, No. 1 and 5, are from curly hair; No. 2 is wavy hair, and No. 4, close-curled hair, or ringlets. Thus we see how widely the sections of hair differ according to the relative degree of curliness; and conversely, how identical the two sections, Nos. 1 and 5 are, both of them taken from equally curly hair, although from different heads. Straight hair has an almost circular section, although, slightly elliptical; this proves that really straight hair does not exist; in fact, even when it attains the maximum degree of smoothness, it retains a tendency to curl, which is shown, if in no other way, by the readiness with which it acquires a waviness, if habitually kept braided. There is no other section so perfectly circular as that of the red races, thus demonstrating the bristle-like rigidity of the smooth type of hair. Wavy hair is that which, in the form of its section, approaches most nearly to straight hair; it is a slightly elongated ellipse (No. 2).

_Anomalies relating to the Pigment, the Skin and the Piliferous_ _Appendages: Pigment and Skin._--There are certain congenital anomalies of the skin, occasionally to be met with, among which I make note of the following principal ones:

_a. Anomalies due to Hypertrophy of the Pigment and the Corium:_ _Ichthyosis._--The surface of the skin presents large, raised, irregular patches of various dark colours tending to maroon.

_b. Anomalies due to Hypertrophy of the Pigment_:

1. _Nævi Materni_: dark isolated spots (moles, birth-marks).

2. _Freckles_: small, light brown spots, no larger than the head of a pin, scattered over the body, principally on the chest and face.

3. _Melanosis_: the entire skin has a dark appearance, similar to that of the lower races of mankind, but especially on the face and hands.

_c. Anomalies due to Atrophy of the Pigment. Albinism._--The skin presents an appearance of milky whiteness; even the hair is white, and the iris of the eye is red.

_Wrinkles._--The wrinkles of the face are deserving of attention, as being a detail of noteworthy importance. In regard to wrinkles, two points should be noted; a. precocity; b. anomalies.

_a. Precocity of Wrinkles._--This is an indication of rapid involution, and is frequently met with in degenerates. Idiotic children often show a flabby, shrivelled skin, overstrewn with a multitude of wrinkles that give them the aspect of little old men.

_b. Anomalies_: the following are to be specially noted:

1. Transverse wrinkles on the nose, frequent in flat-nosed idiots.

2. Wrinkles on the forehead; in normal persons these are interrupted and broken, they are not quite parallel, nor perfectly horizontal, nor very deep.

In degenerates it is frequently noticed that the wrinkles on the forehead form one continuous horizontal line, extending completely across it; sometimes it is so deep that it seems to divide the forehead transversely into two parts. The various wrinkles, straight and unbroken, are quite parallel.

3. The zygomatic (cheek-bone) wrinkles and the wrinkles around the mouth are extremely deep in mentally defective adult and aged persons, and also in criminals, whose facial expression is especially active in the region of the nose and mouth, which constitute the least contemplative portion of the face.

_Anomalies of the Hair.--1. Quantity._--The quantity of hair may be excessive--_polytrichia_, a mark of degeneration easily to be met with among delinquents and prostitutes; or there may be a scarcity of hair--_atrichia_, among neuropaths, feeble-minded and cretins. Sometimes, precocious baldness occurs, as a result of defective nutrition of the skin.

_2. Disposition._--We should note: a. the line of roots of the hair; b. the vortices.

_a. Line of Roots._--This may be situated _too_ _far down_ upon the forehead, in which case it gives a false impression of a low forehead, or _too far back_, in which case it gives a false impression of a high forehead.

Note in addition the form of the line of roots; it ought to be, as we have already said, sinuous; sometimes, on the contrary, this line is straight, and forms a uniform curve, without sinuosity, across the forehead (imbeciles); at other times it descends in a peak at the middle point of the forehead.

_b. Vortices._--Normally, there ought to be one central whorl or vortex over the sinciput.

Abnormally it may happen:

That the vortex is misplaced--above, below or laterally;

That the vortex is double;

That there are also vortices along the frontal line of roots, or near this line.

_3. Form._--It sometimes happens that we find in degenerates forms of hair that are normal in inferior races, _i.e._, smooth hair, or kinky, wooly hair.

_Grey Hair._--Sometimes in the case of degenerates or those suffering from dystrophy, a precocious greyness occurs (grey-haired young men, children with white hair); or a partial congenital greyness (clumps of white hair). No form of grey hair, however, should be confused with albinism.

_Anomalies relating to the Eyebrows and the Beard. The Eyebrows._--Various anomalies may occur, in respect to the quantity of hair, and the form of the eyebrows.

The hairs may be too abundant or too scanty.

The form may be _oblique_, in degenerate mongoloid types.

A notable anomaly consists in a union of the eyebrows, which meet and form an unbroken line across the region of the glabella. The "united eyebrows" constitute a grave sign of degeneration, and are popularly regarded in Italy as a mark of the "_jettatura_" or "evil eye."

_Beard._--It may be very thick or very thin. Too thick a beard is important, especially if the hairs are also abundant on the cheeks and even on the forehead, a characteristic that is frequently accompanied by an abundant growth of hair over the entire body (general hypertrichosis).

A thin beard and moustache may constitute a normal characteristic in certain races, such as the Kaffirs and other African negro tribes; as also in the Chinese. In our own race, on the contrary, it is an abnormal characteristic, which has been interpreted as a sexual inversion (feminism) and is met with frequently among thieves.

MORPHOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF CERTAIN ORGANS (STIGMATA)

In our morphological analysis of certain organs, we shall have occasion to enumerate a number of separate _malformations_, to the study of which criminal anthropology has devoted much attention. Since many of these are met with in children, we will make a rapid enumeration of them, but must keep in mind that the ability to distinguish the abnormal form from the normal requires practice in the actual observation of subjects, while mere verbal descriptions may lead to false and confusing impressions.

SYNOPTIC CHART

{ position
{ rima palpebrarum / high type
{ or eye-slit \ low type
Eyes { size of eye-ball { macrophthalmia
{ microphthalmia
{ exophthalmia
{ sclerotic coat
{ { miosis
{ foramina (pupils) { mydriasis
\ anisocoria
{ asymmetrics / position
{ \ form
Ears { { Wildermuth's ear
{ { embryonal ear
{ malformations { Morel's ear
{ handle-shaped ear
{ crumpled ear
\ canine ear, etc.
/ leptorrhine
{ types { platyrrhine
Nose { \ mesorrhine
{ / flat
{ anomalies { crooked
\ trilobate
/ simian mouth
{ lips { negroid mouth
{ \ hare-lip, etc.
{ / number
Buccal { { dimensions
apparatus { teeth { form
{ { diastemata
{ \ irregular position
{ tongue / macroglossia
{ \ microglossia
{ palate / ogival (pointed arch)
\ cleft

_Generalities._--Passing on to a more minute study of form, we
shall have to invade the field of human æsthetics. The proportions
of the body are all determined, in respect to their harmony; and
especially admirable is the harmony existing between the principal
parts of the human physiognomy. Artists know that in a regular face
the length of the eye is equal to the interocular distance, or to
the width of the nose, while the latter stands to the width of the
mouth in a ratio of 2 to 3. The length of the external ear remains,
at all ages, exactly equal to the sum of the width of the two eyes.

The eyes and the external ears grow but little, consequently they
are relatively quite large in children. The nose and mouth, on
the contrary, grow much more, and hence appear quite small in
infancy. The growth of the face, like that of the whole body, is an
evolution.

Among all the harmonies of the human body, that which can undergo
the greatest numbers of alterations in the course of its evolution
is the reciprocal harmony between the parts of the face. There are
more children than grown persons with beautiful faces, because the
efforts of adaptation to environment, or congenital biological
causes, or pathological causes may easily alter the evolution of
the face.

We will take a rapid glance at the principal morphological
anomalies likely to be encountered in connection with the face.

All the malformations that we are about to enumerate are still
included under the generic name of _stigmata_, and they may be
_degenerative stigmata_ (congenital anomalies), _pathological
stigmata_ (acquired through disease), or _stigmata of caste_
(caused by adaptation to environment).

_Anomalies relating to the Eye._--The eyes may be too far apart
(usually in broad, square faces of the Mongolian type), or too near
together (for the most part in long narrow faces, with a hooked
nose).

_Rima Palpebrarum (Eye-slit)._--A straight, narrow slit (low type);
an oblique slit (Mongolian eye).

_Size of Eye-ball._--The eye-ball may be too large
(_macrophthalmia_) and hence often protrudes from the socket
(_exophthalmia_); or it may be too small and deep-sunken
(_microphthalmia_), or asymmetrical in size (one eye-ball larger
than the other).

_Direction.--Strabism_ (inward, outward, mono-lateral, bilateral).

_Sclerotic Coat._--It may be injected with blood (delinquents), or
partly covered over by an abnormal development of the semilunar
_plica_ or fold of the palpebral conjunctiva.

_Pupillary Foramina._--The two foramina of the pupils ought to be
equal in size, circular and with a clearly marked contour. But
under various conditions of age and ill health the size as well as
the equality of the pupils may vary.

As regards the size of the pupils:

When the pupillary foramina are too small, this constitutes
_miosis_--a condition frequently found in certain serious nervous
diseases (locomotor ataxia, paralytic dementia), and in chronic
opium poisoning; it is frequent in meningitis. In old persons
miosis is a normal condition.

When, on the contrary, the foramina of the pupils are too large,
this constitutes _mydriasis_ (poisoning from atropine, intestinal
diseases, etc.).

In addition to these, there is _anisocoria_, when the two foramina
are unequal (neurasthenia, chronic alcoholism, first stage of
paralytic dementia).

_Form of the Pupillary Foramen._--It is not always round, sometimes
it is oval (cat's-eye). Frequently the form of the pupil is
permanently altered as the result of a surgical operation.

Thus, the contour of the pupil may be broken instead of clear cut;
in verifying this phenomenon it is important to inquire whether the
subject has suffered from any progressive disease of the iris, such
as might produce the same condition.

_Anomalies of the Ear._--While in the case of animals the external
ear is greatly developed, movable and detached from the cranium,
in man it is reduced in size, immovable and attached to the
cranium. Two measurements are taken of the ear, the length and the
width, and by means of the usual formula we obtain the index of
the ear, which for the European race is about 54 per cent. This
index has a certain importance because we find that the proportion
of width to length steadily increases as we descend through the
inferior human races, down to the ape, and the same increase
continues if we descend through the different grades of the simian
order.

This is to a large extent a result of the fact that, in the descent
from man to ape, the lobule of the ear, which is essentially a
human form, steadily diminishes, until it finally disappears.

From this it may be concluded that there exist minute zoological
differences other than generic between man and animals. As to
malformations of the human ear, which may consist of shortness
or absence of the lobule (formerly interpreted as a simian
inheritance) they are to-day attributed to physiological causes.
An abundant circulation produces an ample and _fleshy_ lobe;
in oligohæmic constitutions (deficiency of blood) the lobe is
delicate, pale and even atrophied. Brachysceles often have a big
lobe, and macrosceles, predisposed to phthisis, often have no lobe.

In regard to the external ear we should observe:

1. _Symmetry._--The ears should be symmetrical:

a. In respect to their position.

b. In respect to the more or less pronounced divergence of the
ears from the cranium.

c. In respect to their form.

a. _Position._--We must look for this form of asymmetry by
observing the cranium according to the occipital norm. The
asymmetry may be caused by one of the ears being placed _too high
up_ or _too far back_ in respect to the other, or both asymmetries
may occur together.

b. The asymmetry due to divergence is observed from two norms,
the facial and the occipital.

c. Asymmetry of _form_ is perceived by observing successively
the two external ears according to the lateral norms; their
morphological aspect should correspond on the two sides.

2. _Anatomy and Malformations of the External Ear._--A preliminary
anatomical note is necessary. The external ear consists of
various parts, which were first studied and named by Fabricius of
Acquapendente:

1. _The Helix._--This is the outermost fold of the ear; it takes
its origin above the auricular foramen in a root starting from the
inside of the concha and rises upward, to descend again describing
a regular helix; and it terminates in the _lobule_. At the point
where the helix bends downward to form the descending branch, a
small cartilaginous formation can be discerned by the sense of
touch; this is the _Darwinian tubercle_.

2. The _Antihelix._--This originates in two roots under the
ascending branch of the helix and terminates in the _antitragus_;
it is a cartilaginous formation.

3. _The Auricular Fossa._--This divides the helix from the
antihelix.

4. _The Tragus._--This is a little triangular cartilaginous
formation situated in front of the auricular foramen. Between the
tragus and the antitragus is the _intertragical fossa_.

5. _The Concha._--This is the concavity, the internal fossa of
the auricle, which leads to the channel of the internal ear.

Instances may be found of _malformation_ of each and all of these
various parts of the ear, which may be excessively developed, or
almost wanting, or altered in form.

_The Helix._--The over-folding of the cartilage may be wanting,
leaving the margin of the auricle straight; this form is met with
in the Mongolian race, but among us it is a malformation (Morel's
ear). It is a more serious malformation if it occurs combined with
excessive development of the Darwinian tubercle; in this case the
auricle assumes a really animal-like aspect ("canine ear").

The helix may originate within the concha from a root so prolonged
that it divides the concha itself into two parts, an upper and a
lower.

The helix may be greatly developed and sharply divergent from the
cranium--handle-shaped ear; or it may be bent at an angle at the
upper outer margin--_embryonal_ _ear_.

The _lobule_ is, as we have already said, an essentially human
formation, and as though man were conscious of this fact and proud
of it, it is customary in all races to adorn it with ear-rings,
to such an extent that in India and in Cochin-China the lobe is
burdened with ornaments of great weight, in consequence of which it
has continued to develop until it almost touches the shoulder.

The lobule may be attached to the cheek (sessile lobule).

The antihelix may be so developed as to rise in front of the
helix--_Wildermuth's_ _ear_.

Another important malformation connected with the ear, which is
commonly found in idiots, is a prolongation and restriction of the
intertragical fossa into a fissure (_fissura intertragica_). The
tragus ought normally to exceed the antitragus in dimensions.

_Anomalies of the Nose._--The nose presents very numerous
individual varieties, even among normal individuals. In the
European race we distinguish the straight nose (Italian), the
aquiline, the retroussé (French), the sinuous, etc. But in all
these forms one characteristic remains more or less constant: the
aperture of the nostrils is long and narrow, or rather its length
exceeds its width (the nostrils are thin and mobile, the skeleton
of the nose projects above the plane of the face). In the other
races of mankind, on the contrary, two other types of nose are
distinguished in respect to this characteristic: 1. The aperture of
the nostrils is round (the nostrils themselves are fleshy, the base
of the nose somewhat flattened)--_mesorrhine nose_, characteristic
of the Mongolian race, and found repeatedly in mongoloid idiots;
2. the aperture of the nostrils is broadened, _i.e._, the width
exceeds the length (the nose is flattened and almost level at the
base, and furrowed for the most part with transverse wrinkles, the
nostrils are exceedingly fleshy and immobile)--_platyrrhine nose_,
peculiar to the African and Australian races. Corresponding to
the external form of the nose there is also a difference in the
skeleton in relation to the _piriform aperture_ and the naso-labial
duct; the external form of the nose is really dependent upon the
skeleton consequently, the above-mentioned nomenclature applies
also to the piriform aperture of the cranium (see _Skeleton of the
face_). The flat nose is found as a malformation in idiots, and is
usually accompanied by prognathism.

Other important malformations relating to the nose are the
development of a tubercle at the tip--_trilobate nose_, frequent in
_low types of idiots_; and the _tip of the_ _note bent sideways_
(usually toward the left); this form occurs in leptorrhine noses
and is considered to be a stigma of criminality (thieves).

_Anomalies relating to the Buccal Apparatus._--Malformations occur
in relation to the lips, the teeth, the tongue and the palate.

_The Lips._--The European type of lips is well known both as
regards their proportions and their lines of contour which
determine the distinctive form.

Sometimes this graceful modeling is wanting; the contour of the
lips is formed of almost horizontal lines, the oral aperture is
very wide, and has the appearance, especially when laughing, of
being edged by a perfectly uniform, narrow line, thus resembling
the mouth of a monkey.

At other times we meet with thick, fleshy lips, slightly pendulous,
like those of the black races, especially the Hottentots and
Australians; it is a malformation frequent among idiots, and occurs
together with prognathism and the flattened nose.

Another notable form is that in which the lips are not only thick
and fleshy, but the internal tissues are so abnormally developed
that they protrude from the oral orifice in a slight prolapsus;
this form of lips is quite characteristic of myxedematous idiots.
Finally, we may meet with the so-called hare-lip, or lip divided
in the middle, signifying an arrest of embryonal development and
frequently accompanied by a cleft palate and a double uvula (see
_Development of the face_).

_The Teeth._--There is nothing new to tell of the characteristic
forms of the teeth--the incisors, the canines, the premolars,
and the molars--nor of their regular placement in a single row
corresponding to the curve of the maxilla and the mandible. I shall
therefore merely give the two dental formulæ corresponding to the
two dentitions of man.

First dentition, or "milk teeth":

2--2 1--1 2--2
2--2 2--2 2--2 = 20 teeth
incisors canines premolars

Second or final dentition:

2--2 1--1 2--2 3--3
2--2 1--1 2--2 3--3 = 32 teeth
incisors canines premolar molars

In relation to the teeth there are a great number of anomalies
which may occur, in number, in position, in size and form, and
these anomalies are so frequent that we may say the _smile_
stigmatizes the degenerate. Frequently it is the most evident
stigma of the whole face; so much so that this same smile which
adds so much charm to the normal human countenance becomes ugly and
repulsive in degenerates.

_Anomalies in Number of Teeth._--Sometimes there are more than 32
teeth, owing to the presence of certain _supernumerary teeth_;
these will be found to occur most frequently in the case of the
canines, next in that of the incisors, and lastly in that of the
premolars.

Sometimes the number of teeth is less than 32, in which case it is
necessary to distinguish two cases of very different significance:
First, the last molars ("wisdom teeth") may be wanting; secondly,
some of the other teeth may be wanting (incisors, canines, or
premolars). The last molar is of no use whatever to man, because it
does not enter into the service of mastication, and it is tending
to disappear. We may even predict that the day is coming when
mankind will no longer have wisdom teeth, and the human dental
formula will be as follows:

2--2 1--1 2--2 2--2
---- ---- ---- ---- = 28 teeth
2--2 1--1 2--2 2--2
incisors canines premolar molars

The absence of useful teeth, on the contrary, is a grave sign of
degeneration, and one which leaves wide spaces between two adjacent
teeth (wide diastemata).

The _diastema_, or space left between adjacent teeth, is of great
importance.

There are various causes for this stigma. Besides the one already
mentioned, due to congenital absence of a tooth (broad diastema),
another recognized cause is an _anomalous placing_ of the teeth
(narrow diastema). The significance of this is not always the same:
for example, the diastema between two upper incisors indicates a
very slight anomaly of embryonal development, and, some people
think, gives a sympathetic charm to the smile. On the contrary,
a diastema occurring at the side of a canine tooth signifies a
congenital malformation.

At other times such anomalous spaces may be due to the fact
that the teeth have remained small, or happen to have worn away
laterally and present an almost filiform or thread-like aspect
(diastemata due to microdontia resulting from syphilis or various
dystrophic conditions).

The _form_ of the teeth demands consideration next in order
of importance. Sometimes we encounter cases of teeth that are
all nearly alike in form; they have lost that morphological
differentiation which already existed in the anthropoid apes; there
is an insensible transition from the incisors, all exactly equal in
form and dimensions, to the premolars, which also present the same
appearance, passing over a tooth which it would be difficult to
define either as incisor or premolar (the canine tooth). Usually in
such uniform dentition there are slight diastemata.

This condition, however, is not frequently met with; it is much
more usual to find this anomaly occurring only in part; the incisor
teeth are all equal, or else the canine resembles an incisor or a
premolar. In combination with this characteristic, it often happens
that there is a diastema next to the canine.

In regard to size, the teeth may be too large, _macrodontia_, or
too small, _microdontia_.

Microdontia may be due to a true and actual arrest of development
of the teeth (white teeth, small and narrow, often all very much
alike), or to a kind of _corrosion_ of the teeth due to congenital
dystrophism (syphilis). In this case the teeth are ground down and
_worn away_ either horizontally or laterally (filiform teeth), or
again the cutting edge of the tooth is not horizontal in the two
upper canines, but oblique, so that the teeth have the appearance
of being broken.

Often the teeth are furrowed transversely with yellow streaks
corresponding to a lack of development of the enamel.

Finally, the teeth may present various anomalies of position, which
may be grouped under three heads:

a. Narrow teeth, so placed as to leave slight intervals between
them.

b. Isolated teeth, planted outside the common line, or else
transversely instead of horizontally.

c. The dentition does not follow the regular curved line, but shows
various sinuosities, usually bending in at the point corresponding
to the canine tooth.

_The Tongue._--The tongue may present morphological anomalies of
great importance, since they are the cause of many defects of
speech. Sometimes the tongue is too big--_macroglossia_, in which
case it cannot move freely within the buccal cavity and even finds
difficulty in remaining within the mouth, but projects between
the lips, contributing in no small measure to giving the face an
imbecile expression. At other times it is too small--_microglossia_.

A deficient or excessive development of the lingual frenulum may
also interfere with the movements of the tongue (tongue-tie).

_The Palate._--It is a frequent experience to meet with idiots
having an _ogival_ or gothic-arched palate, with the vault much
curved and narrow, such as is met with in animals and similar in
section to a gothic window. A special bony ridge or crest may also
occur along the _raphe_ or median line. Lastly, the palatine vault
may be divided in two (cleft palate), a form frequently accompanied
by a double uvula; this stigma may also be one of the causes of
defective speech, so frequently met with in deficient children.

The palate normally presents a diversity of forms: Narrow and
high, or broad and low--forms associated with the general type of
head (dolichocephalic, high palate; brachycephalic, low palate)
and especially with the type of face, as we have already seen in
treating of the latter.

=Importance of the Study of Morphology.=--The study of morphology is of high importance in biology, and even more so in anthropology. And since the organism is a harmonic whole, in which the parts and their functions are closely interrelated, any external anomaly leads us to assume that there are corresponding anomalies of the internal organs, and hence, functional anomalies; hence also, in man, psychic anomalies. And conversely, if perfection of form has been attained, it leads us to assume that the entire organism is perfect in its internal organs as well, and in its complex physical and psychic functional action.

"Assure yourselves and one another," says Lelut in his _Cadre_ _de philosophie et de l'homme_, "that wherever you see a change in the body, you will have to search for a corresponding change in the intelligence. Assure yourselves that you will have to establish this correlation throughout the entire scale, from the lowest degradations of imbecility to the highest achievement of genius, from the clearest and strongest mentality to that which is most profoundly and irremediably disordered."

This correlation between the morphological and the psychic personality must be sought throughout the entire scale of human variations, from the genius to the most degraded of imbeciles, from the strongest and most upright character to that which is most profoundly perturbed. Hence morphology constitutes a fundamental part in the study of human personality.

The principle of this aforesaid correlation was at first exemplified in the field of biological science only by abnormal persons, whose noticeable deviations from the customary limits, both in the external form of the body and in their psychic manifestations, gave proof of the phenomenon by exaggerating it. In his classic work, _Traité des dégénérescences_, Morel asserts that "the study of physical man cannot be isolated from the study of moral man." But in our own day, the theory has been marvellously illuminated and popularised by Cesare Lombroso, and precisely on its pathological side.

The Lombrosian theories were so rapidly popularised even before they were fully matured, that it seemed as though the spirit of the times was ripe to receive them, and had awakened to greet the new order of thought, after having long slumbered over the old; thus they wrought a revolution in the field of law and morality, and even laid a foundation for the erection of a new pedagogy.

Or to state it better, they again brought to light certain principles of truth that had been understood even from the most ancient times. For the principles proclaimed by Lombroso are in their general line certainly nothing new nor suddenly derived from a study of modern civilization; the belief that a physical stigma represents a moral stigma is exceedingly ancient. In the Bible we find Solomon saying: we may read the heart in the face. Homer describes the malignant Thyrsites as having a narrow forehead and ferret-like eyes. Caesar feared only those conspirators who were pale and lean. In the Middle Ages there was a law which held that in case of doubt as to which of two men was guilty, the uglier looking one should be hanged. And this same principle has been established from time immemorial in the current wisdom of the people, as is demonstrated by proverbs, which are like laws graven upon stone, and have been gathered experimentally through the repeated observation of successive generations. The proverbs tell us of the physical stigmata of the wicked: "Beware of those who bear the mark of God;" "The bristles prove the brute." Even in art, degenerative stigmata are introduced to represent the malevolent. The satyrs are represented as being of the microcephalic type. The devil was formerly represented as having goat's feet and a tail; Michelangelo pictures him with a narrow, receding forehead and pointed ears.

To-day all this is shown to be true. The truth, and sometimes the intuitive semblances of truth in their relation to outward phenomena, have the most ancient and diffuse history, because, since they always existed, they were analogously interpreted by the intelligence of man. And this is proved by the glorious discoveries of positive science, which we may trace back to far distant foreshadowings; what was in danger of being lost has been born again with an overpowering fertility. The great theories of Darwin regarding evolution were already perceived by Herodotus. The cycle of indestructible material, proclaimed by Greek philosophy, formed the palpitating heart of the teachings of Giordano Bruno; and in our day it formed the fascinating halo of materialism which illuminated the face of my own teacher, Jakob Moleschott.

Now, the fact that it is not new demonstrates that the Lombrosian theory explains phenomena which really exist, since they came under the observation of man from the earliest times. And the fact that this theory has become popularised tells us that the times were ripe to fertilise its renovating principles into practical action. For where is it that we find the triumphant success of science? The attainment of its most profound purposes? We find it wherever science achieves something that is practical and useful for all mankind. Because, so long as anything is merely perceived or looked into, or even deeply studied, it never attains the apogee of its scientific glory and dignity unless it finds some means of benefiting and ameliorating humanity.

Lombroso grasps a principle and turns it into a benefit; and he sends it broadcast throughout human society, to purify society of the spirit of personal vengeance.

Garibaldi redeems an oppressed people and saves the oppressors from the burden of being unjust and tyrannical, through a work of humanity which has no national boundary; Lombroso, by means of his new scientific and moral principle, effects a world-wide redemption of a despised and outcast class, and saves us from the iniquitous burden of social vengeance. Two great deeds of heroism, one of the heart and the other of the brain; two great works of redemption.

Nevertheless, the principle of a morphological and psychic relationship was not wholly wanting in examples of practical application. Not, however, in the case of man; but in regard to animals it had been utilised for a long time back. For instance, when a horse cannot be broken by ordinary methods, the veterinary is called in, and he either discovers some ailment and prescribes a treatment, or else be studies the conformation of the forehead and the nasal bones, and if they are abnormal, he declares that the horse is absolutely untameable. In India the natives are afraid of the solitary elephant with a narrow forehead, for they know that he is ferocious.

To-day we know that many children who can be taught nothing in the public schools are really sick children, in whom anomalies of character coincide with morphological anomalies; and we are beginning to replace the old custom of blind and brutal punishment with a personal interest that leads us to invoke the aid of the physician and to establish special schools for the mentally deficient.

We may say that this new and reforming principle of pedagogics and the school, which transforms punishment into medical care and creates special educational institutions which are at the same time sanatoriums, constitutes the pedagogical application of the Lombrosian theories and accomplishes that social task which was foreordained to emanate from the lofty brain of Lombroso.

In its special application to pedagogics, anthropology aids in the difficult task by its diagnosis between the _normal_ and the _abnormal_ child.

But the contribution of anthropology to pedagogics is vastly wider than this. In this restricted sense of diagnosis, it accomplishes, to be sure, a complete reform of the penal sciences, but it is very far from doing like service to the science of pedagogy.

Scientific pedagogy must concern itself before all and above all, with _normal_ individuals, in order to protect them in their development under the guidance of biological laws, and to aid each pupil to adapt himself to his social environment, _i.e._, to direct him to that form of employment which is best suited to his individual temperament and tendencies.