Contributions to the craniology of the people of the empire of India / by Sir Wm. Turner.

  • Turner, Wm. (William), Sir, 1832-1916.
Date:
1899-1901
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Contributions to the craniology of the people of the empire of India / by Sir Wm. Turner. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    foramen or supra-condylar pro6ess was present. The bones of thfe, forearm, though short, were well-proportioned and with distinct muscular impressions, but the styloid processes were feeble. —; ! ‘ The dimensions were as follows :— Right. Left. Humerus, head to trochlea. . . . 253 mm. 246 mm. Radius to tip of styloid. 203 „ 201 „ „ base „ 200 „ 1^9 „ Ulna to tip of styloid, . . 222 „ „ articular surface. . 222 „ The radio-humeral index was 80'2, or dolichokerkic,* a proportion which these bones have in common with the Andaman Islanders and with the Negritos measured by Meyer and TtiNGEL and by Hamy, which expresses that the forearm was in its relation to the upper arm proportionately longer than is found in Europeans. Lower Limb.—The right femur, tibia, fibula and tarsal bones had been sent to me. The Femur, though small, was well-proportioned, and with strong muscular impressions. The head showed the slight prolongation of the articular surface on to the upper part of the anterior surface of the neck, which I have elsewhere named the extensor area, f The upper end of the anterior intertrochanteric line w’^as unusually strong, and indicated that the ilio-femoral ligament which takes so important a part in the maintenance of the erect attitude had been well developed. The gluteal ridge and the linea aspera were strongly marked. The flattening of the upper third of the shaft which I described in some aboriginal femora,J and which Manouvrier has subsequently termed platymery^ was not present, and there was no external infra-trochanteric ridge distinct from the gluteal ridge. The transverse diameter of the upper third of the shaft was 23 mm., the antero-posterior 18 mm., and the index of platymery was 78. The transverse diameter of the shaft opposite the nutrient foramen was 20 mm., the antero-posterior diameter was 23 mm., and the pilastric index was 115, which expresses the relatively strong pro- jection of the linea aspera. The articular surface of the internal condyl was not specially prolonged upwards and backwards. The Tibia was well-proportioned. The head was somewhat retroverted ; the internal condylar surface was concave, the external was plano-concave. The shaft was not platyknemic; its breadth in the middle was 18 mm., its antero-posterior diameter 22 mm., and the index was 81‘8. At its lower end the tibia had a well-marked astragalar articular facet, prolonged to the front of the bone. Associated with this was a corresponding prolongation of the upper articular surface on the astragalus, which was almost continuous with the anterior convex surface for the scaphoid. So well defined was this additional tibio-astragalar articulation that, as Arthur Thomson and Havelock Charles have shown, the ankle joint must have been frequently acutely flexed as takes * For the use of this term see my Challenger Report on Human Skeletons, part xlvii., 1886. t Address to section of Anthropology in British Association Reports, Toronto, 1897. + Challenger Report, op. cit., page 97.