especially with the
shape of the skull, of the eye-sockets, and the hair.
"Thus in the black races the skull is long and narrow, the eye-sockets
are long and narrow, and the hair is flat and ribbon-like, and usually
coiled up like a watch-spring. In the white races the skull is oval, the
eye-sockets are oval, and the hair is slightly flattened or oval in
section, and tends to be wavy; while in the yellow or Mongol races, the
skull is short and round, the eye-sockets are short and round, and the
hair is straight and circular in section. So that we have, in the black
races, long skull, long orbits, flat hair; in the white races, oval
skull, oval orbits, oval hair; and in the yellow races, round skull,
round orbits, round hair.
"Now, in this case we had to deal with a very short round skull. But you
cannot argue from races to individuals; there are many short-skulled
Englishmen. But when I found, associated with that skull, hairs which
were circular in section, it became practically certain that the
individual was a Mongol of some kind. The mother-of-pearl dust and the
granules of rice starch from the inside of the hat favoured this view,
for the pearl-shell industry is specially connected with China and
Japan, while starch granules from the hat of an Englishman would
probably be wheat starch.
"Then as to the hair: it was, as I mentioned to you, circular in
section, and of very large diameter. Now, I have examined many thousands
of hairs, and the thickest that I have ever seen came from the heads of
Japanese; but the hairs from this hat were as thick as any of them. But
the hypothesis that the burglar was a Japanese received confirmation in
various ways. Thus, he was short, though strong and active, and the
Japanese are the shortest of the Mongol races, and very strong and
active.
"Then his remarkable skill in handling the powerful caretaker--a retired
police-sergeant--suggested the Japanese art of ju-jitsu, while the
nature of the robbery was consistent with the value set by the Japanese
on works of art. Finally, the fact that only a particular collection was
taken, suggested a special, and probably national, character in the
things stolen, while their portability--you will remember that goods of
the value of from eight to twelve thousand pounds were taken away in two
hand-packages--was much more consistent with Japanese than Chinese
works, of which the latter tend rather to be bulky and ponderous. Still,
it was
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