We here observe facts of intercrossing similar to those which I have so often pointed out. The Merovingians, a white race of the first order, are placed between the yellow Chinese and the New Caledonians, Melanesian Negroes.
But the chief value of this table is to show into what serious errors an estimation of the intellectual development of a race from its cranial capacity would lead us. By such an estimation, the troglodytes of the cavern of L’Homme-Mort would be superior to all races enumerated in the table, including contemporary Parisians, and the Chinese would come after the Esquimaux. The French populations occupy, it is true, the upper portion of the table, and the several Negro races are at the bottom. But here, again, when we find the Nubians following closely upon the Australians, we must confess that there can be no real relation between the dimensions of the cranial capacity and social development. We meet, moreover, with similar questions when we turn our attention to the brain.
The following table, which I borrow from Morton, is as instructive as the preceding. It includes a greater number of races. Moreover, the Americansavanthas not only given the means, but also the maxima and minima as established by his researches. His measurements are given in cubic inches. As they are only required for comparison with those of other observers, I have not reduced them to cubic centimetres. I have again confined myself to arranging the means in a descending series, and to calculating the differences between the maxima and minima.