Chapter LIX: Munsee Scapulæ: Comparison

LEGEND:
A = Infra-spinous height
B = Breadth
C = Scapular index
D = Infra-spinous index

------------------------+=------+------+-------+-----+--------+-----
| Spec- |Total | | | |
| imens |height| (A) | (B) | (C) | (D)
| | | | | |
------------------------+-------+------+-------+-----+--------+-----
MALES | | _cm._| _cm._ |_cm._| |
| | | | | |
Munsee | (4)| 15.2 | 11.2 |10.6 | 69.5 | 94.2
Southern Utah | | | | | |
cliff-dwellers | (18)| 15.1 | 11.6 |10.15| 67.4 | 87.7
Pima and Pueblo | (5)| 15.5 | 12 |11.05| 71 | 93
Various Mexican Indians | (9)| 15.8 | 12 |10.4 | 65.5 | 86.6
Indians, Peru | (55)| 15.83| 12 |10.17| 64.2 | 84.8
Indians, Peru (Livon)†† | (17)| 15.1 | 11.3 |10 | 63.8 | 85.6
United States whites | | | | | |
(various nationalities)| (70)| 16.4 | 12.25 |10.7 | 65.3 | 87.3
Whites (Livon)†† | (73)| 16.8 | 12.4 |10.6 | 63 | 85.5
United States negroes | (46)| 16.25| 11.6 |10.9 | 66.8 | 92.1
| | | | | |
FEMALES | | | | | |
| | | | | |
Munsee | (9)| 13.9 | 10.4 | 9.9 | 70.7 | 95.3
Southern Utah | | | | | |
cliff-dwellers | (10)| 13.7 | 10.25 | 9.7 | 70.6 | 94.2
Pima and Pueblo | (5)| 13.8 | 10.25 | 9.95| 72 | 97
Various Mexican Indians | (12)| 13.75| 10.25 | 9.75| 70.7 | 94.9
Mexican Indians[71] | | | | | |
(Livon)†† | (2)| 13.17| 10.16 |10.17| 77.2 |100
Indians, Peru | (39)| 13.78| 10.47 | 9.17| 66.5 | 87.5
Indians, Peru (Livon)†† | (6)| 13.5 | 10 | 9 | 67 | 88.4
United States whites | | | | | |
(various nationalities)| (44)| 14.4 | 10.9 | 9.6 | 66.7 | 88.4
Whites (Livon)†† |[72](51)|(13.5)|(10.25)|(9.1)| 67.5 | 88.8
United States negroes | (18)| 14.2 | 10.2 | 9.25| 65 | 90.7
------------------------+-------+------+-------+-----+--------+-----
†† M. Livon, _De l’omoplate_, etc., _Thèse_, Paris, 1879,
pp. 41-42.

[71] One subject.

[72] The averages of the measurements are exceptionally small in this series.

The above data show that the Indian scapula is on the whole somewhat smaller than that of either the whites or the American negroes, except in the females, where the bone, while shorter, is slightly broader than that in the other two races. The Munsee scapulæ compare fairly well with those of other Indian tribes, the apparent differences being doubtless due in a measure to the small number of specimens.

The scapular index in the Munsee is high, indicating that the shortness of the bone is both absolute and relative. The different Indian tribes offer considerable variation in this respect, but, as will be noted, except in the Peruvians, the index in all is above that of the whites and in the majority of cases even above that of the negroes. These high scapular indexes in the Indian approximate those of the anthropoid apes, but it remains to be determined if the phenomenon in the two genera is homologous.

In the female Munsee the scapular index is perceptibly higher than in the males, and this characteristic, owing to a relatively greater breadth of this bone in the females, is common to all the other given groups, excepting the negro.

The infraspinous index is also high in the Munsee as compared with other Indians, the whites, and even the negroes. This is particularly the case in the males, in whom the infraspinous height is exceptionally low.

The female index again exceeds that of the males in the Munsee and in all other Indian groups, as well as in the whites, owing to the relatively greater breadth of the female scapula. The negroes show here once more an exception to the rule, and it would be interesting to trace how far this peculiarity may be prevalent in that race.

High indexes, such as those of the Indians, have been reported by Livon, Broca, Ranke, and others,[73] among some of the African negroes, the Melanesians, the Malays, the Guanches, and the Egyptians.

DESCRIPTIVE FEATURES

The principal points for visual observation to which attention has been given in this instance were (_a_) the shape of the scapula as a whole, with the development of the _teres major_ region; (_b_) the form of the superior border of the bone; and (_c_) the development of the notch in the superior border.

_Type of body._—The scapula as a whole may be more or less neatly triangular or wedge-shaped, which form will be designated as type 1. Again, it may be more acutely wedge-shaped, with both its axillary and vertebral border markedly concave, a type which the author classes as 3.[74] It may be quadrilateral, type 4, with the axillary border augmented by a shorter but well-marked inferior border, due to a development of a process or angle by the influence of the _teres major_ muscle. It may be pentagonal, when the preceding type is augmented by a distinct angle in the axillary border at or above the spine, which divides it into two well-marked borders—type 5. Finally, we may have a shape resembling that in many lower mammals and characterized by marked convexity of the axillary border, which will be referred to as type 6.

[73] For literature, see R. Martin, _Lehrbuch der Anthropologie_, 1914; also A. C. Schück, Das Schulterblatt des Menschen und der Anthropoiden, _Mitteil. Anthr. Ges. Wien_, XL, 1910.

The few published reports on Indian scapulæ give scapular and infraspinous indexes as follows: Matiegka (Santa Rosa, Cal., Indians), 64.9; 90.8; Dorsey (Northwest Coast), 65.1; 83.2 (?); Martin (Fuegians), 65.4; 90.8; Martin (Peruvians), 66.6; 89; Matthews (Ancient Pueblos of Arizona), 71.1.

In the anthropoid apes the scapular index averages between 69 and 76 (Livon); but the infraspinous index is enormous, ranging from slightly over 100 in the orang to 156 in the chimpanzee.

[74] This form and various approaches to it have been referred to as “scaphoid” by Graves (_Jour. Amer. Med. Asso._, 1910, p. 12), and wrongly attributed to faulty development of the body.

Among the 19 Munsee scapulæ, a large majority show types 4 and 5, the few remaining specimens approaching type 1. There is no instance of the relatively rare type 3, nor of type 6, which is quite common in other Indians, particularly the males. The following table gives several series of records for comparison, including that of United States whites. Analysis of the data shows some marked sexual as well as racial differences, the full value of which can not, however, be determined in the absence of more ample records. It is very plain, however, that type 1, or a close approach to it, and types 3 and 5 are, on the whole, more common in the females than in the males; while type 6 is decidedly more frequent in the males. Type 3 is relatively frequent in the whites, type 5 relatively scarce. In all probability the Indians differ considerably among themselves with respect to the shape of the scapulæ, as shown by the Munsee and Peruvian males, though the two series of specimens are very unequal in numbers. Minor differences in records of this nature can not be given any weight, for naturally the matter of classification of the different shapes is less perfect than that of accurate measurements.