"Profile of Negro, European and Oran otan"
Samuel Morton drew this depiction of the difference between the profiles of an African, white European and an orangutan. The way it was intentionally drawn demonstrates similarity between the lower face of an African and that of an orangutan. Morton did not believe in physiognomy but believed that “we cannot avoid making a remark upon the Negro’s face”. He claims that it is clear that his lips are thick, his muscle are large and full from laughing so much which is a sign of a low IQ. His jaws large and protruding, his chin retreating and his forehead low and their eyeballs are prominent. With all of these characteristics of an African’s face, Morton asks “can any such man become great or elevated?” According to the quantifiable science of Craniometry and Camper’s hierarchy of facial angels, these facial traits show that the African’s facial angle is at 70 degrees. An average European’s facial angle is at 80 degrees, much closer to the facial angle of god which is 100 degrees. The orangutan’s facial angle is 58 degrees making an African halfway between a European and an orangutan. Morton confirms this by stating that “all brutes below 70”, so according to his geometry Africans are at the bare minimum to not be considered a brute.
