In my Crania Americana I have given abundant instances of a remarkable vertical flattening of the occiput, and irregularity of its sides, among the Inca Peruvians who were buried in the royal cemetery of Pachacamac, near Lima. These heads present no other deviation from the natural form; and even this irregularity I have thought might be accounted for by a careless mode of binding the infant to the simple board, which, among many Indian tribes of both North and South America, is a customary substitute for a cradle. It is probable, however, that even this configuration was intentional, and may have formed a distinctive badge of some particular _caste_ of these singular people, among whom a perfectly natural cranium was of extremely rare occurrence. We are now acquainted with _four_ forms of the head among the old Peruvians which were produced by artificial means, viz: 1. The horizontally elongated, or cylindrical form, above described. 2. The conical or sugar-loaf form, represented in the preceding diagrams. 3. The simple flattening or depression of the forehead, causing the rest of the head to expand, both posteriorly and laterally; a practice yet prevalent among the Chenooks and other tribes at the north of the Columbia river, in Oregon. 4. A simple vertical elevation of the occiput, giving the head in most instances a squared and inequilateral form. A curious decree of the ecclesiastical court of Lima, dated A. D. 1585, and quoted by the late Prof. Blumenbach, alludes to at least four artificial conformations of the head, even then common among the Peruvians, and forbids the practice of them under certain specified penalities.[TN-4] These forms were called in the language of the natives, "Caito, Oma, Opalla, &c.;" and the continuance of them at that period, affords another instance of the tenacity with which the Peruvians clung to the usages of their forefathers. FOOTNOTES: [4-*] See more particularly the communications of Mr. R. C. Taylor, in vol. xxxiv, of Mr. S. Taylor, in vol. xxxiv, and of Prof. Forshey in vol. xlix. [5-*] We take this occasion to observe, that skulls taken from the mounds, should at once be saturated with a solution of glue or gum, or with any kind of varnish, by which precaution further decomposition is effectually prevented. [6-*] Incidents of Travel in Yucatan, I, p. 281. [6-+] Rambles in Yucatan, p. 217. [6-++] L'Homme Americain, Tome I, p. 306. I corrected my error before I had the pleasure of seeing M. D'Orbigny's very interesting work. Amer. Jour. of Science, vol. xxxviii, No. 2. Jour. Acad. Nat. Sciences of Philadelphia, vol. viii; and again in my Distinctive Characteristics of the Aboriginal Race of America, p. 6. [6-§] See Proceedings of the Acad. of Nat. Sciences of Philadelphia for Dec. 1844. [7-*] Amer. Jour. of Science, xxxii, p. 364.