As a matter of fact the boundary between the two Departments of Dordogne and Corrèze was formerly precisely that between Périgord and Limousin, and in earlier times between the Petrocorii and Lemovices. To the right of this entirely conventional frontier the indices run from 85.4 to 87.3, while to the left they vary from 78.7 to 81.4, but there The Distribution of the Cephalic Index in the Dordogne District; Areas with an index of less than 80, shaded; those between 80 and 83, is nothing in history to explain this discrepancy. The explanation appears to be that well before the Conquest the two peoples differed in race, the one being what Cæsar called Celts, the other probably belonging to the people whom he named Aquitainians. The southern portion of Dordogne is also brachycephalic and Celtic, and so Dr. Collignon is inclined to think that it did not form part of the territory of the Petrocorii, but that it should be divided among the Nitiobriges and Cadurci, whose equally brachycephalic descendants still people Lotet-Garonne and Lot. Another line of evidence supports this conclusion. It is known that the primitive episcopal dioceses corresponded to the territories of the ancient Roman civitates, since a bishop was established in each city by the emperors. Whilst the northern, eastern, and western frontiers of the diocese of Périgueux correspond very closely with those of the modern Department, the region south of the Vézère belongs to the Bishop of Cahors, which tends to show that the natives of the south of Dordogne are the descendants not of the Petrocorii, but of the Cadurci. The differences between the two parts of Limousin, of which the one forms part of Corrèze and the other the south of Haute-Vienne, can be explained in an analogous manner. The former is brown and brachycephalic, while the latter is fair and dolichocephalic. One may well believe that the Lemovices, those of the neighbourhood of Limoges, were no more Petrocorii than Celtæ, but a fair people of Belgic or Germanic origin, established in Celtica, who had overlorded the ancient brachycephalic people who there preceded them. Inversely, Briva-Curetia, another old Gaulish town of Limousin, was the centre of gravitation of the first inhabitants, if not their capital. In Charente there is only one canton in which the mean index rises over 83. In this canton of Chabanais is the small village of Chassenom on the left bank of the Vienne. It is interesting to see the old Celtic race here, preserved with a relative purity, still grouped around the ruins of its oppidum (Cassinodunum), where, compared with the rest of the Department, it appears as an island surrounded by the combined flood of brown and fair dolichocephals. COLOUR OF THE HAIR AND EYES. A statistical inquiry concerning the distribution of the colours of the eyes and hair leads to the following results. The browns predominate markedly over the blonds. But for a group of cantons in Creuse all the district should be ranged under the brown or moderately brown categories. In the following table the numbers are in relation to 100; the differences between 100 and the fairs and the darks represent the eyes and hair of intermediate tint: Corrèze... 21.8 49.6 5.25 29.2 37.I 7.9 28.3 38.6 10.3 25.5 40.6 15.1 Dordogne. 22.3 40.9 18.6 34.2 23.6 15.0 66.3 12.05 24.6 45.0 20.4 On comparing this table with the map, it will be seen that although Dordogne has an absolute greater number of blonds than Corrèze it is relatively darker, owing to the fact that the darks are greatly in excess in certain cantons; in other words, Dordogne is more patchy and Corrèze more uniform in the distribution of their hair and eye colours. is evident that in using the word blond, this term is employed in only a relative sense. It is with this reserve and for the sake of convenience that the term blond will be employed. In the most blond group, that in the neighbourhood of Aubusson in Creuse, the blonds amount to only 33.6 per cent. that is to say, one-third. FIG. 18. The Distribution of Combined Hair and Eye Colour in the Dordogne District; after Collignon. Excess of browns from o to 10, shaded; 10 to 30, blank; over 30, cross-hatched. In order to gain a clear conception of the distribution of the hair and eye colours, it will be simpler to assume the whole region as originally inhabited by a brown population, and then to follow the probable route of the blonds. The most important spot where the blond type is best preserved is the east of the Department of Creuse, especially the plateau of Gentioux and the upper basin of the river Cher and of its left affluents. The second relatively blond region has Limoges for its centre. In certain spots the type is preserved with a remarkable purity, particularly among the women. Dr. Collignon was very much struck with the resemblance of these to the women of Cotentin in Normandy. It appears that the blonds radiate from Limoges in four directions: (1) towards the north in the direction of the old Roman road of Argentomagus and Avaricum (Argentan and Bourges), later the route to Paris-that is to say, along the road which united this town with the great blond centres of the north of France; (2) towards the east where it joins with blonds of the Cher region; (3) to the west in the direction of Angoulême; and (4) southwards towards Périgueux. The third route of blond immigration would be the route from Paris to Bordeaux through Angoulême. Limoges formed a centre, and towards the four points of the compass lay four very ancient and important towns, Avaricum (Bourges), Gergovia (Clermont), Vesuna (Périgueux), and Ecolisma (Angoulême). The latter town was the only one of the four that was not united to Limoges either by a Roman road of the first order, or later by a postal route; and we find that in the region between these towns the blonds are deficient. The importance of the communications between Limoges and Bordeaux through Périgueux is affirmed by the long line of blonds which occur along that route. To take a biological simile, Limoges represents a ganglion protruding its nerve fibres in all directions towards other similar ganglia. In The distribution of black hair is worthy of note. Dordogne it is marked in la Double, in the valleys of the rivers Dordogne, Isle, and Dronne. Secondary centres extend towards the north of Charente and of Creuse. There |