facial angle

facial angle

Anatomy

Source: Webster's New World Dictionary of the American Language (College Edition) ©1955

1. Angle which results from intersection of two imaginary lines measured on the human face. One line is drawn from the base of the nostrils (opposite the incisor teeth) and connected to the base of the skull (the external ear) and the second to the most prominent part of the forehead.
2. Angle measurement between the line representing the face-height and the axis of the skull, from the edge of central incisors to the auricular point.

The purpose of the angle is to measure the elevation of the forehead. This angle was developed as the basis for classifying the various races of man (see Ethnology) by the Dutch anatomist, Pieter Camper, and is sometimes called Camper's angle. While it has served a useful purpose in ethnology, it is not an infallible criterion to measurement of the intellectual capacity of an individual. Median facial angles of anthropoid apes are around 40°, and of the African Negro approximately 70° and 80° for Europeans. Since such angles are almost as much in a single large community, the Camper method has been superseded by methods created by Blumenbach, Cuvier, and soforth.

acf = facial angle Source: Modified from Funk and Wagnall's Standard Dictionary, Comprehensive International Edition, ©1976

References

Webster's New World Dictionary of the American Language (College Edition) ©1955

The New World Family Encyclopedia, ©1955

Funk and Wagnall's Standard Dictionary, Comprehensive International Edition, ©1976