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diff --git a/old/thx1310.txt b/old/thx1310.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b36d72b --- /dev/null +++ b/old/thx1310.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1542 @@ +**The Project Gutenberg Etext of On Some Fossil Remains of Man** +#23 in our series by Thomas H. Huxley + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to check +the laws for your country before redistributing these files!!! + +Please take a look at the important information in this header. +We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an +electronic path open for the next readers. + +Please do not remove this. + +This should be the first thing seen when anyone opens the book. +Do not change or edit it without written permission. 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If you + don't derive profits, no royalty is due. Royalties are + payable to "Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation" + the 60 days following each date you prepare (or were + legally required to prepare) your annual (or equivalent + periodic) tax return. Please contact us beforehand to + let us know your plans and to work out the details. + +WHAT IF YOU *WANT* TO SEND MONEY EVEN IF YOU DON'T HAVE TO? +The Project gratefully accepts contributions of money, time, +public domain etexts, and royalty free copyright licenses. +If you are interested in contributing scanning equipment or +software or other items, please contact Michael Hart at: +hart@pobox.com + +*END THE SMALL PRINT! FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.07.00*END* + + + + + +This etext was prepared by Amy E. Zelmer. + + + + + +ON SOME FOSSIL REMAINS OF MAN + +by Thomas H. Huxley + + + + +I HAVE endeavoured to show, in the preceding Essay, that the ANTHROPINI, +or Man Family, form a very well defined group of the Primates, between +which and the immediately following Family, the CATARHINI, there is, in +the existing world, the same entire absence of any transitional form or +connecting link, as between the CATARHINI and PLATYRHINI. + +It is a commonly received doctrine, however, that the structural +intervals between the various existing modifications of organic beings +may be diminished, or even obliterated, if we take into account the +long and varied succession of animals and plants which have preceded +those now living and which are known to us only by their fossilized +remains. How far this doctrine is well based, how far, on the other +hand, as our knowledge at present stands, it is an overstatement of the +real facts of the case, and an exaggeration of the conclusions fairly +deducible from them, are points of grave importance, but into the +discussion of which I do not, at present, propose to enter. It is +enough that such a view of the relations of extinct to living beings +has been propounded, to lead us to inquire, with anxiety, how far the +recent discoveries of human remains in a fossil state bear out, or +oppose, that view. + +I shall confine myself, in discussing this question, to those +fragmentary Human skulls from the caves of Engis in the valley of the +Meuse, in Belgium, and of the Neanderthal near Dusseldorf, the +geological relations of which have been examined with so much care by +Sir Charles Lyell; upon whose high authority I shall take it for +granted, that the Engis skull belonged to a contemporary of the Mammoth +('Elephas primigenius') and of the woolly Rhinoceros ('Rhinoceros +tichorhinus'), with the bones of which it was found associated; and that +the Neanderthal skull is of great, though uncertain, antiquity. +Whatever be the geological age of the latter skull, I conceive it is +quite safe (on the ordinary principles of paleontological reasoning) to +assume that the former takes us to, at least, the further side of the +vague biological limit, which separates the present geological epoch +from that which immediately preceded it. And there can be no doubt +that the physical geography of Europe has changed wonderfully, since +the bones of Men and Mammoths, Hyaenas and Rhinoceroses were washed +pell-mell into the cave of Engis. + +The skull from the cave of Engis was originally discovered by Professor +Schmerling, and was described by him, together with other human remains +disinterred at the same time, in his valuable work, 'Recherches sur les +ossemens fossiles decouverts dans les cavernes de la Province de +Liege', published in 1833 (p. 59, 'et seq.'), from which the following +paragraphs are extracted, the precise expressions of the author being, +as far as possible, preserved. + +"In the first place, I must remark that these human remains, which are +in my possession, are characterized like thousands of bones which I +have lately been disinterring, by the extent of the decomposition which +they have undergone, which is precisely the same as that of the extinct +species: all, with a few exceptions, are broken; some few are rounded, +as is frequently found to be the case in fossil remains of other +species. The fractures are vertical or oblique; none of them are +eroded; their colour does not differ from that of other fossil bones, +and varies from whitish yellow to blackish. All are lighter than +recent bones, with the exception of those which have a calcareous +incrustation, and the cavities of which are filled with such matter. + +"The cranium which I have caused to be figured, Plate I., Figs. 1, 2, is +that of an old person. The sutures are beginning to be effaced: all the +facial bones are wanting, and of the temporal bones only a fragment of +that of the right side is preserved. + +"The face and the base of the cranium had been detached before the skull +was deposited in the cave, for we were unable to find those parts, +though the whole cavern was regularly searched. The cranium was met +with at a depth of a metre and a half [five feet nearly], hidden under +an osseous breccia, composed of the remains of small animals, and +containing one rhinoceros tusk, with several teeth of horses and of +ruminants. This breccia, which has been spoken of above (p. 30), was a +metre [3 1/4 feet about] wide, and rose to the height of a metre and a +half above the floor of the cavern, to the walls of which it adhered +strongly. + +"The earth which contained this human skull exhibited no trace of +disturbance: teeth of rhinoceros, horse, hyaena, and bear, surrounded +it on all sides. + +FIG. 22.--The skull from the cave of Engis--viewed from the right side. +'a' glabella, 'b' occipital protuberance, ('a' to 'b' +glabello-occipital line), 'c' auditory foramen. + +"The famous Blumenbach* has directed attention to the differences +presented by the form and the dimensions of human crania of different +races. This important work would have assisted us greatly, if the +face, a part essential for the determination of race, with more or less +accuracy, had not been wanting in our fossil cranium. + + [footnote] *Decas Collectionis suae craniorum diversarum + gentium illustrata. Gottingae, 1790-1820. + +"We are convinced that even if the skull had been complete, it would not +have been possible to pronounce, with certainty, upon a single +specimen; for individual variations are so numerous in the crania of +one and the same race, that one cannot, without laying oneself open to +large chances of error, draw any inference from a single fragment of a +cranium to the general form of the head to which it belonged. + +"Nevertheless, in order to neglect no point respecting the form of this +fossil skull, we may observe that, from the first, the elongated and +narrow form of the forehead attracted our attention. + +"In fact, the slight elevation of the frontal, its narrowness, and the +form of the orbit, approximate it more nearly to the cranium of an +Ethiopian than to that of an European: the elongated form and the +produced occiput are also characters which we believe to be observable +in our fossil cranium; but to remove all doubt upon that subject I have +caused the contours of the cranium of an European and of an Ethiopian +to be drawn and the foreheads represented. Plate II., Figs. 1 and 2, +and, in the same plate, Figs. 3 and 4, will render the differences +easily distinguishable; and a single glance at the figures will be more +instructive than a long and wearisome description. + +"At whatever conclusion we may arrive as to the origin of the man from +whence this fossil skull proceeded, we may express an opinion without +exposing ourselves to a fruitless controversy. Each may adopt the +hypothesis which seems to him most probable: for my own part, I hold it +to be demonstrated that this cranium has belonged to a person of +limited intellectual faculties, and we conclude thence that it belonged +to a man of a low degree of civilization: a deduction which is borne +out by contrasting the capacity of the frontal with that of the +occipital region. + +"Another cranium of a young individual was discovered in the floor of +the cavern beside the tooth of an elephant; the skull was entire when +found, but the moment it was lifted it fell into pieces, which I have +not, as yet, been able to put together again. But I have represented +the bones of the upper jaw, Plate I., Fig. 5. The state of the alveoli +and the teeth, shows that the molars had not yet pierced the gum. +Detached milk molars and some fragments of a human skull proceed from +this same place. The Figure 3 represents a human superior incisor +tooth, the size of which is truly remarkable.* + + [footnote] *In a subsequent passage, Schmerling remarks upon + the occurrence of an incisor tooth 'of enormous size' from + the caverns of Engihoul. The tooth figured is somewhat + long, but its dimensions do not appear to me to be + otherwise remarkable. + +"Figure 4 is a fragment of a superior maxillary bone, the molar teeth of +which are worn down to the roots. + +"I possess two vertebrae, a first and last dorsal. + +"A clavicle of the left side (see Plate III., Fig. 1); although it +belonged to a young individual, this bone shows that he must have been +of great stature.* + + [footnote] *The figure of this clavicle measures 5 inches + from end to end in a straight line--so that the bone is + rather a small than a large one. + +"Two fragments of the radius, badly preserved, do not indicate that the +height of the man, to whom they belonged, exceeded five feet and a +half. + +"As to the remains of the upper extremities, those which are in my +possession consist merely of a fragment of an ulna and of a radius +(Plate III., Figs. 5 and 6). + +"Figure 2, Plate IV., represents a metacarpal bone, contained in the +breccia, of which we have spoken; it was found in the lower part above +the cranium: add to this some metacarpal bones, found at very different +distances, half-a-dozen metatarsals, three phalanges of the hand, and +one of the foot. + +"This is a brief enumeration of the remains of human bones collected in +the cavern of Engis, which has preserved for us the remains of three +individuals, surrounded by those of the Elephant, of the Rhinoceros, +and of Carnivora of species unknown in the present creation." + +From the cave of Engihoul, opposite that of Engis, on the right bank of +the Meuse, Schmerling obtained the remains of three other individuals +of Man, among which were only two fragments of parietal bones, but many +bones of the extremities. In one case a broken fragment of an ulna was +soldered to a like fragment of a radius by stalagmite, a condition +frequently observed among the bones of the Cave Bear ('Ursus +spelaeus'), found in the Belgian caverns. + +It was in the cavern of Engis that Professor Schmerling found, incrusted +with stalagmite and joined to a stone, the pointed bone implement, +which he has figured in Fig. 7 of his Plate XXXVI., and worked flints +were found by him in all those Belgian caves, which contained an +abundance of fossil bones. + +A short letter from M. Geoffroy St. Hilaire, published in the 'Comptes +Rendus' of the Academy of Sciences of Paris, for July 2nd, 1838, speaks +of a visit (and apparently a very hasty one) paid to the collection of +Professor 'Schermidt' (which is presumably a misprint for Schmerling) +at Liege. The writer briefly criticises the drawings which illustrate +Schmerling's work, and affirms that the "human cranium is a little +longer than it is represented" in Schmerling's figure. The only other +remark worth quoting is this:--"The aspect of the human bones differs +little from that of the cave bones, with which we are familiar, and of +which there is a considerable collection in the same place. With +respect to their special forms, compared with those of the varieties of +recent human crania, few 'certain' conclusions can be put forward; for +much greater differences exist between the different specimens of +well-characterized varieties, than between the fossil cranium of Liege +and that of one of those varieties selected as a term of comparison." + +Geoffroy St. Hilaire's remarks are, it will be observed, little but an +echo of the philosophic doubts of the describer and discoverer of the +remains. As to the critique upon Schmerling's figures, I find that the +side view given by the latter is really about 3/10ths of an inch +shorter than the original, and that the front view is diminished to +about the same extent. Otherwise the representation is not, in any +way, inaccurate, but corresponds very well with the cast which is in my +possession. + +A piece of the occipital bone, which Schmerling seems to have missed, +has since been fitted on to the rest of the cranium by an accomplished +anatomist, Dr. Spring, of Liege, under whose direction an excellent +plaster cast was made for Sir Charles Lyell. It is upon and from a +duplicate of that cast that my own observations and the accompanying +figures, the outlines of which are copied from very accurate Camera +lucida drawings, by my friend Mr. Busk, reduced to one-half of the +natural size, are made. + +As Professor Schmerling observes, the base of the skull is destroyed, +and the facial bones are entirely absent; but the roof of the cranium, +consisting of the frontal, parietal, and the greater part of the +occipital bones, as far as the middle of the occipital foramen, is +entire or nearly so. The left temporal bone is wanting. Of the right +temporal, the parts in the immediate neighbourhood of the auditory +foramen, the mastoid process, and a considerable portion of the +squamous element of the temporal are well preserved (Fig. 22). + +The lines of fracture which remain between the coadjusted pieces of the +skull, and are faithfully displayed in Schmerling's figure, are readily +traceable in the cast. The sutures are also discernible, but the +complex disposition of their serrations, shown in the figure, is not +obvious in the cast. Though the ridges which give attachment to muscles +are not excessively prominent, they are well marked, and taken together +with the apparently well developed frontal sinuses, and the condition +of the sutures, leave no doubt on my mind that the skull is that of an +adult, if not middle-aged man. + +The extreme length of the skull is 7.7 inches. Its extreme breadth, +which corresponds very nearly with the interval between the parietal +protuberances, is not more than 5.4 inches. The proportion of the +length to the breadth is therefore very nearly as 100 to 70. If a line +be drawn from the point at which the brow curves in towards the root of +the nose, and which is called the 'glabella' ('a') (Fig. 22), to the +occipital protuberance ('b'), and the distance to the highest point of +the arch of the skull be measured perpendicularly from this line, it +will be found to be 4.75 inches. Viewed from above, Fig. 23, A, the +forehead presents an evenly rounded curve, and passes into the contour +of the sides and back of the skull, which describes a tolerably regular +elliptical curve. + +The front view (Fig. 23, B) shows that the roof of the skull was very +regularly and elegantly arched in the transverse direction, and that +the transverse diameter was a little less below the parietal +protuberances, than above them. The forehead cannot be called narrow in +relation to the rest of the skull, nor can it be called a retreating +forehead; on the contrary, the antero-posterior contour of the skull is +well arched, so that the distance along that contour, from the nasal +depression to the occipital protuberance, measures about 13.75 inches. +The transverse arc of the skull, measured from one auditory foramen to +the other, across the middle of the sagittal suture, is about 13 +inches. The sagittal suture itself is 5.5 inches long. + +The supraciliary prominences or brow-ridges (on each side of 'a', Fig. +22) are well, but not excessively, developed, and are separated by a +median depression. Their principal elevation is disposed so obliquely +that I judge them to be due to large frontal sinuses. + +If a line joining the glabella and the occipital protuberance ('a', 'b', +Fig. 22) be made horizontal, no part of the occipital region projects +more than 1/10th of an inch behind the posterior extremity of that +line, and the upper edge of the auditory foramen ('c') is almost in +contact with a line drawn parallel with this upon the outer surface of +the skull. + +A transverse line drawn from one auditory foramen to the other +traverses, as usual, the forepart of the occipital foramen. The +capacity of the interior of this fragmentary skull has not been +ascertained. + +The history of the Human remains from the cavern in the Neanderthal may +best be given in the words of their original describer, Dr +Schaaffhausen*, as translated by Mr. Busk. + + [footnote] *ON THE CRANIA OF THE MOST ANCIENT RACES OF MAN. + By Professor D. Schaaffhausen, of Bonn. (From Muller's + 'Archiv'., 1858, pp. 453.) With Remarks, and original + Figures, taken from a Cast of the Neanderthal Cranium. By + George Busk, F.R.S., etc. 'Natural History Review'. April, + 1861. + +"In the early part of the year 1857, a human skeleton was discovered in +a limestone cave in the Neanderthal, near Hochdal, between Dusseldorf +and Elberfeld. Of this, however, I was unable to procure more than a +plaster cast of the cranium, taken at Elberfeld, from which I drew up +an account of its remarkable conformation, which was, in the first +instance, read on the 4th of February, 1857, at the meeting of the +Lower Rhine Medical and Natural History Society, at Bonn.* + + [footnote] *'Verhandl. d. Naturhist.' Vereins der preuss. + Rheinlande und Westphalens., xiv. Bonn, 1857. + +Subsequently Dr. Fuhlrott, to whom science is indebted for the +preservation of these bones, which were not at first regarded as human, +and into whose possession they afterwards came, brought the cranium +from Elberfeld to Bonn, and entrusted it to me for more accurate +anatomical examination. At the General Meeting of the Natural History +Society of Prussian Rhineland and Westphalia, at Bonn, on the 2nd of +June, 1857,* Dr Fuhlrott himself gave a full account of the locality, +and of the circumstances under which the discovery was made. + + [footnote] *'Ib. Correspondenzblatt. No. 2. + +He was of opinion that the bones might be regarded as fossil; and in +coming to this conclusion, he laid especial stress upon the existence +of dendritic deposits, with which their surface was covered, and which +were first noticed upon them by Professor Meyer. To this communication +I appended a brief report on the results of my anatomical examination of +the bones. The conclusions at which I arrived were:--1st. That the +extraordinary form of the skull was due to a natural conformation +hitherto not known to exist, even in the most barbarous races. 2nd. +That these remarkable human remains belonged to a period antecedent to +the time of the Celts and Germans, and were in all probability derived +from one of the wild races of North-western Europe, spoken of by Latin +writers; and which were encountered as autochthones by the German +immigrants. And 3rdly. That it was beyond doubt that these human +relics were traceable to a period at which the latest animals of the +diluvium still existed; but that no proof of this assumption, nor +consequently of their so-termed 'fossil' condition, was afforded by the +circumstances under which the bones were discovered. + +FIG. 23.--The Engis skull viewed from above (A) and in front (B). + +"As Dr. Fuhlrott has not yet published his description of these +circumstances, I borrow the following account of them from one of his +letters. 'A small cave or grotto, high enough to admit a man, and +about 15 feet deep from the entrance, which is 7 or 8 feet wide, exists +in the southern wall of the gorge of the Neanderthal, as it is termed, +at a distance of about 100 feet from the Dussel, and about 60 feet +above the bottom of the valley. In its earlier and uninjured +condition, this cavern opened upon a narrow plateau lying in front of +it, and from which the rocky wall descended almost perpendicularly into +the river. It could be reached, though with difficulty, from above. +The uneven floor was covered to a thickness of 4 or 5 feet with a +deposit of mud, sparingly intermixed with rounded fragments of chert. +In the removing of this deposit, the bones were discovered. The skull +was first noticed, placed nearest to the entrance of the cavern; and +further in, the other bones, lying in the same horizontal plane. Of +this I was assured, in the most positive terms, by two labourers who +were employed to clear out the grotto, and who were questioned by me on +the spot. At first no idea was entertained of the bones being human; +and it was not till several weeks after their discovery that they were +recognised as such by me, and placed in security. But, as the +importance of the discovery was not at the time perceived, the +labourers were very careless in the collecting, and secured chiefly +only the larger bones; and to this circumstance it may be attributed +that fragments merely of the probably perfect skeleton came into my +possession' + +"My anatomical examination of these bones afforded the following +results:-- + +"The cranium is of unusual size, and of a long elliptical form. A most +remarkable peculiarity is at once obvious in the extraordinary +development of the frontal sinuses, owing to which the superciliary +ridges, which coalesce completely in the middle, are rendered so +prominent, that the frontal bone exhibits a considerable hollow or +depression above, or rather behind them, whilst a deep depression is +also formed in the situation of the root of the nose. The forehead is +narrow and low, though the middle and hinder portions of the cranial +arch are well developed. Unfortunately, the fragment of the skull that +has been preserved consists only of the portion situated above the roof +of the orbits and the superior occipital ridges, which are greatly +developed, and almost conjoined so as to form a horizontal eminence. It +includes almost the whole of the frontal bone, both parietals, a small +part of the squamous and the upper-third of the occipital. The +recently fractured surfaces show that the skull was broken at the time +of its disinterment. The cavity holds 16,876 grains of water, whence +its cubical contents may be estimated at 57.64 inches, or 1033.24 cubic +centimetres. In making this estimation, the water is supposed to stand +on a level with the orbital plate of the frontal, with the deepest +notch in the squamous margin of the parietal, and with the superior +semicircular ridges of the occipital. Estimated in dried millet-seed, +the contents equalled 31 ounces, Prussian Apothecaries' weight. The +semicircular line indicating the upper boundary of the attachment of +the temporal muscle, though not very strongly marked, ascends +nevertheless to more than half the height of the parietal bone. On the +right superciliary ridge is observable an oblique furrow or depression, +indicative of an injury received during life.* + + [footnote] *This, Mr. Busk has pointed out, is probably + the notch for the frontal nerve. The coronal and sagittal + sutures are on the exterior nearly closed, and on the + inside so completely ossified as to have left no traces + whatever, whilst the lambdoidal remains quite open. The + depressions for the Pacchionian glands are deep and + numerous; and there is an unusually deep vascular groove + immediately behind the coronal suture, which, as it + terminates in the foramen, no doubt transmitted a 'vena + emissaria'. The course of the frontal suture is indicated + externally by a slight ridge; and where it joins the + coronal, this ridge rises into a small protuberance. The + course of the sagittal suture is grooved, and above the + angle of the occipital bone the parietals are depressed. + + mm.* + + [footnote] *The numbers in brackets are those which I should + assign to the different measures, as taken from the plaster + cast.--G. B. + +The length of the skull from the nasal +process of the frontal over the vertex +to the superior semicircular lines of the +occipital measures.............................303 (300) = 12.0". +Circumference over the orbital ridges and +the superior semicircular lines of the +occipital......................................590 (590) = 23.37" or 23". +Width of the frontal from the middle of +the temporal line on one side to the +same point on the opposite.....................104 (114) = 4.1"--4.5". +Length of the frontal from the nasal. +process to the coronal suture..................133 (125) = 5.25"--5". +Extreme width of the frontal sinuses...........25 (23) = 1.0"--0.9". +Vertical height above a line joining the +deepest notches in the squamous border +of the parietals...............................70 = 2.75". +Width of hinder part of skull from one +parietal protuberance to the other.............138 (150) = 5.4"--5.9" +Distance from the upper angle of the +occipital to the superior semicircular +lines..........................................51 (60) = 1.9"--2.4". +Thickness of the bone at the parietal +protuberance...................................8. +--at the angle of the occipital................9. +--at the superior semicircular line of +the occipital..................................10 = 0.3" + +"Besides the cranium, the following bones have been secured:-- + +"1. Both thigh-bones, perfect. These, like the skull, and all the +other bones, are characterized by their unusual thickness, and the +great development of all the elevations and depressions for the +attachment of muscles. In the Anatomical Museum at Bonn, under the +designation of 'Giant's-bones,' are some recent thigh-bones, with which +in thickness the foregoing pretty nearly correspond, although they are +shorter. + + Giant's bones. Fossil bones. + mm. mm. +Length.....................................542 = 21.4"......438 = 17.4" +Diameter of head of femur.................. 54 = 2.14"..... 53 = 2.0" + " of lower articular end, from + one condyle to the other................ 89 = 3.5"....... 87 = 3.4" +Diameter of femur in the middle............ 33 = 1.2"....... 30 = 1.1" + +"2. A perfect right humerus, whose size shows that it belongs to the +thigh-bones. + mm. + Length.....................................312 = 12.3" + Thickness in the middle.................... 26 = 1.0" + Diameter of head........................... 49 = 1.9" + +"Also a perfect right radius of corresponding dimensions, and the +upper-third of a right ulna corresponding to the humerus and radius. + +"3. A left humerus of which the upper-third is wanting, and which is so +much slenderer than the right as apparently to belong to a distinct +individual; a left 'ulna', which, though complete, is pathologically +deformed, the coronoid process being so much enlarged by bony growth, +that flexure of the elbow beyond a right angle must have been +impossible; the anterior fossa of the humerus for the reception of the +coronoid process being also filled up with a similar bony growth. At +the same time, the olecranon is curved strongly downwards. As the bone +presents no sign of rachitic degeneration, it may be supposed that an +injury sustained during life was the cause of the anchylosis. When the +left ulna is compared with the right radius, it might at first sight be +concluded that the bones respectively belonged to different individuals, +the ulna being more than half an inch too short for articulation with a +corresponding radius. But it is clear that this shortening, as well as +the attenuation of the left humerus, are both consequent upon the +pathological condition above described. + +"4. A left 'ilium', almost perfect, and belonging to the femur: a +fragment of the right 'scapula'; the anterior extremity of a rib of the +right side; and the same part of a rib of the left side; the hinder +part of a rib of the right side; and lastly, two hinder portions and one +middle portion of ribs, which from their unusually rounded shape, and +abrupt curvature, more resemble the ribs of a carnivorous animal than +those of a man. Dr. H. v. Meyer, however, to whose judgment I defer, +will not venture to declare them to be ribs of any animal; and it only +remains to suppose that this abnormal condition has arisen from an +unusually powerful development of the thoracic muscles. + +"The bones adhere strongly to the tongue, although, as proved by the use +of hydrochloric acid, the greater part of the cartilage is still +retained in them, which appears, however, to have undergone that +transformation into gelatine which has been observed by v. Bibra in +fossil bones. The surface of all the bones is in many spots covered +with minute black specks, which, more especially under a lens, are seen +to be formed of very delicate 'dendrites'. These deposits, which were +first observed on the bones by Dr. Meyer, are most distinct on the +inner surface of the cranial bones. They consist of a ferruginous +compound, and, from their black colour, may be supposed to contain +manganese. Similar dendritic formations also occur, not unfrequently, +on laminated rocks, and are usually found in minute fissures and cracks. +At the meeting of the Lower Rhine Society at Bonn, on the 1st April, +1857, Prof. Meyer stated that he had noticed in the museum of +Poppelsdorf similar dendritic crystallizations on several fossil bones +of animals, and particularly on those of 'Ursus spelaeus', but still +more abundantly and beautifully displayed on the fossil bones and teeth +of 'Equus adamiticus', 'Elephas primigenius', etc., from the caves of +Bolve and Sundwig. Faint indications of similar 'dendrites' were +visible in a Roman skull from Siegburg; whilst other ancient skulls, +which had lain for centuries in the earth, presented no trace of them.* + + [footnote] *'Verh. des Naturhist'. Vereins in Bonn, xiv. + 1857. I am indebted to H. v. Meyer for the following + remarks on this subject:-- + +'The incipient formation of dendritic deposits, which were formerly +regarded as a sign of a truly fossil condition, is interesting. It has +even been supposed that in diluvial deposits the presence of +'dendrites' might be regarded as affording a certain mark of distinction +between bones mixed with the diluvium at a somewhat later period and +the true diluvial relics, to which alone it was supposed that these +deposits were confined. But I have long been convinced that neither +can the absence of 'dendrites' be regarded as indicative of recent age, +nor their presence as sufficient to establish the great antiquity of +the objects upon which they occur. I have myself noticed upon paper, +which could scarcely be more than a year old, dendritic deposits, which +could not be distinguished from those on fossil bones. Thus I possess a +dog's skull from the Roman colony of the neighbouring Heddersheim, +'Castrum Hadrianum', which is in no way distinguishable from the fossil +bones from the Frankish caves; it presents the same colour, and adheres +to the tongue just as they do; so that this character also, which, at a +former meeting of German naturalists at Bonn, gave rise to amusing +scenes between Buckland and Schmerling, is no longer of any value. In +disputed cases, therefore, the condition of the bone can scarcely +afford the means for determining with certainty whether it be fossil, +that is to say, whether it belong to geological antiquity or to the +historical period.' + +"As we cannot now look upon the primitive world as representing a wholly +different condition of things, from which no transition exists to the +organic life of the present time, the designation of 'fossil', as +applied to 'a bone', has no longer the sense it conveyed in the time of +Cuvier. Sufficient grounds exist for the assumption that man coexisted +with the animals found in the 'diluvium'; and many a barbarous race +may, before all historical time, have disappeared, together with the +animals of the ancient world, whilst the races whose organization is +improved have continued the genus. The bones which form the subject of +this paper present characters which, although not decisive as regards a +geological epoch, are, nevertheless, such as indicate a very high +antiquity. It may also be remarked that, common as is the occurrence +of diluvial animal bones in the muddy deposits of caverns, such remains +have not hitherto been met with in the caves of the Neanderthal; and +that the bones, which were covered by a deposit of mud not more than +four or five feet thick, and without any protective covering of +stalagmite, have retained the greatest part of their organic substance. + +"These circumstances might be adduced against the probability of a +geological antiquity. Nor should we be justified in regarding the +cranial conformation as perhaps representing the most savage primitive +type of the human race, since crania exist among living savages, which, +though not exhibiting, such a remarkable conformation of the forehead, +which gives the skull somewhat the aspect of that of the large apes, +still in other respects, as for instance in the greater depth of the +temporal fossae, the crest-like, prominent temporal ridges, and a +generally less capacious cranial cavity, exhibit an equally low stage +of development. There is no reason for supposing that the deep frontal +hollow is due to any artificial flattening, such as is practised in +various modes by barbarous nations in the Old and New World. The skull +is quite symmetrical, and shows no indication of counter-pressure at +the occiput, whilst, according to Morton, in the Flat-heads of the +Columbia, the frontal and parietal bones are always unsymmetrical. Its +conformation exhibits the sparing development of the anterior part of +the head which has been so often observed in very ancient crania, and +affords one of the most striking proofs of the influence of culture and +civilization on the form of the human skull." + +In a subsequent passage, Dr. Schaaffhausen remarks: + +"There is no reason whatever for regarding the unusual development of +the frontal sinuses in the remarkable skull from the Neanderthal as an +individual or pathological deformity; it is unquestionably a typical +race-character, and is physiologically connected with the uncommon +thickness of the other bones of the skeleton, which exceeds by about +one-half the usual proportions. This expansion of the frontal sinuses, +which are appendages of the air-passages, also indicates an unusual +force and power of endurance in the movements of the body, as may be +concluded from the size of all the ridges and processes for the +attachment of the muscles or bones. That this conclusion may be drawn +from the existence of large frontal sinuses, and a prominence of the +lower frontal region, is confirmed in many ways by other observations. +By the same characters, according to Pallas, the wild horse is +distinguished from the domesticated, and, according to Cuvier, the +fossil cave-bear from every recent species of bear, whilst, according +to Roulin, the pig, which has become wild in America, and regained a +resemblance to the wild boar, is thus distinguished from the same animal +in the domesticated state, as is the chamois from the goat; and, +lastly, the bull-dog, which is characterised by its large bones and +strongly-developed muscles from every other kind of dog. The estimation +of the facial angle, the determination of which, according to Professor +Owen, is also difficult in the great apes, owing to the very prominent +supra-orbital ridges, in the present case is rendered still more +difficult from the absence both of the auditory opening and of the +nasal spine. But if the proper horizontal position of the skull be +taken from the remaining portions of the orbital plates, and the +ascending line made to touch the surface of the frontal bone behind the +prominent supra-orbital ridges, the facial angle is not found to exceed +56 degrees.* Unfortunately, no portions of the facial bones, whose +conformation is so decisive as regards the form and expression of the +head, have been preserved. The cranial capacity, compared with the +uncommon strength of the corporeal frame, would seem to indicate a small +cerebral development. The skull, as it is, holds about 31 ounces of +millet-seed; and as, from the proportionate size of the wanting bones, +the whole cranial cavity should have about 6 ounces more added, the +contents, were it perfect, may be taken at 37 ounces. Tiedemann +assigns, as the cranial contents in the Negro, 40, 38, and 35 ounces. +The cranium holds rather more than 36 ounces of water, which +corresponds to a capacity of 1033.24 cubic centimetres. Huschke +estimates the cranial contents of a Negress at 1127 cubic centimetres; +of an old Negro at 1146 cubic centimetres. The capacity of the Malay +skulls, estimated by water, equalled 36, 33 ounces, whilst in the +diminutive Hindoos it falls to as little as 27 ounces." + + [footnote] *Estimating the facial angle in the way + suggested, on the cast I should place it at 64 degrees to + 67 degrees.--G. B. + +After comparing the Neanderthal cranium with many others, ancient and +modern, Professor Schaaffhausen concludes thus:-- + +"But the human bones and cranium from the Neanderthal exceed all the +rest in those peculiarities of conformation which lead to the +conclusion of their belonging to a barbarous and savage race. Whether +the cavern in which they were found, unaccompanied with any trace of +human art, were the place of their interment, or whether, like the bones +of extinct animals elsewhere, they had been washed into it, they may +still be regarded as the most ancient memorial of the early inhabitants +of Europe." + +Mr. Busk, the translator of Dr. Schaaffhausen's paper, has enabled us to +form a very vivid conception of the degraded character of the +Neanderthal skull, by placing side by side with its outline, that of +the skull of a Chimpanzee, drawn to the same absolute size. + +Some time after the publication of the translation of Professor +Schaaffhausen's Memoir, I was led to study the cast of the Neanderthal +cranium with more attention than I had previously bestowed upon it, in +consequence of wishing to supply Sir Charles Lyell with a diagram, +exhibiting the special peculiarities of this skull, as compared with +other human skulls. In order to do this it was necessary to identify, +with precision, those points in the skulls compared which corresponded +anatomically. Of these points, the glabella was obvious enough; but +when I had distinguished another, defined by the occipital protuberance +and superior semicircular line, and had placed the outline of the +Neanderthal skull against that of the Engis skull, in such a position +that the glabella and occipital protuberance of both were intersected by +the same straight line, the difference was so vast and the flattening +of the Neanderthal skull so prodigious (compare Figs. 22 and 24, A.), +that I at first imagined I must have fallen into some error. And I was +the more inclined to suspect this, as, in ordinary human skulls, the +occipital protuberance and superior semicircular curved line on the +exterior of the occiput correspond pretty closely with the 'lateral +sinuses' and the line of attachment of the tentorium internally. But on +the tentorium rests, as I have said in the preceding Essay, the +posterior lobe of the brain; and hence, the occipital protuberance, and +the curved line in question, indicate, approximately, the lower limits +of that lobe. Was it possible for a human being to have the brain thus +flattened and depressed; or, on the other hand, had the muscular ridges +shifted their position? In order to solve these doubts, and to decide +the question whether the great supraciliary projections did, or did +not, arise from the development of the frontal sinuses, I requested Sir +Charles Lyell to be so good as to obtain for me from Dr. Fuhlrott, the +possessor of the skull, answers to certain queries, and if possible a +cast, or at any rate drawings, or photographs, of the interior of the +skull. + +FIG. 24.--The skull from the Neanderthal cavern. A. side, B. front, and +C. top view. One-third the natural size, by Mr. Busk: the details from +the cast and from Dr. Fuhlrott's photographs. 'a' glabella; 'b' +occipital protuberance; 'd' lambdoidal suture. + +Dr. Fuhlrott replied with a courtesy and readiness for which I am +infinitely indebted to him, to my inquiries, and furthermore sent three +excellent photographs. One of these gives a side view of the skull, +and from it Fig. 24, A. has been shaded. The second (Fig. 25, A.) +exhibits the wide openings of the frontal sinuses upon the inferior +surface of the frontal part of the skull, into which, Dr. Fuhlrott +writes, "a probe may be introduced to the depth of an inch," and +demonstrates the great extension of the thickened supraciliary ridges +beyond the cerebral cavity. The third, lastly (Fig. 25, B.) exhibits +the edge and the interior of the posterior, or occipital, part of the +skull, and shows very clearly the two depressions for the lateral +sinuses, sweeping inwards towards the middle line of the roof of the +skull, to form the longitudinal sinus. It was clear, therefore, that I +had not erred in my interpretation, and that the posterior lobe of the +brain of the Neanderthal man must have been as much flattened as I +suspected it to be. + +In truth, the Neanderthal cranium has most extraordinary characters. It +has an extreme length of 8 inches, while its breadth is only 5.75 +inches, or, in other words, its length is to its breadth as 100:72. It +is exceedingly depressed, measuring only about 3.4 inches from the +glabello-occipital line to the vertex. The longitudinal arc, measured +in the same way as in the Engis skull, is 12 inches; the transverse arc +cannot be exactly ascertained, in consequence of the absence of the +temporal bones, but was probably about the same, and certainly exceeded +10 1/4 inches. The horizontal circumference is 23 inches. But this +great circumference arises largely from the vast development of the +supraciliary ridges, though the perimeter of the brain case itself is +not small. The large supraciliary ridges give the forehead a far more +retreating appearance than its internal contour would bear out. + +To an anatomical eye the posterior part of the skull is even more +striking than the anterior. The occipital protuberance occupies the +extreme posterior end of the skull, when the glabello-occipital line is +made horizontal, and so far from any part of the occipital region +extending beyond it, this region of the skull slopes obliquely upward +and forward, so that the lambdoidal suture is situated well upon the +upper surface of the cranium. At the same time, notwithstanding the +great length of the skull, the sagittal suture is remarkably short (4 +1/2 inches), and the squamosal suture is very straight. + +FIG.25.--Drawings from Dr. Fuhlrott's photographs of parts of the +interior of the Neanderthal cranium. A. view of the under and inner +surface of the frontal region, showing the inferior apertures of the +frontal sinuses ('a'). B. corresponding view of the occipital region of +the skull, showing the impressions of the lateral sinuses ('a a'). + +In reply to my questions Dr. Fuhlrott writes that the occipital bone "is +in a state of perfect preservation as far as the upper semicircular +line, which is a very strong ridge, linear at its extremities, but +enlarging towards the middle, where it forms two ridges (bourrelets), +united by a linear continuation, which is slightly depressed in the +middle." + +"Below the left ridge the bone exhibits an obliquely inclined surface, +six lines (French) long, and twelve lines wide." + +This last must be the surface, the contour of which is shown in Fig. 24, +A., below 'b'. It is particularly interesting, as it suggests that, +notwithstanding the flattened condition of the occiput, the posterior +cerebral lobes must have projected considerably beyond the cerebellum, +and as it constitutes one among several points of similarity between the +Neanderthal cranium and certain Australian skulls. + +Such are the two best known forms of human cranium, which have been +found in what may be fairly termed a fossil state. Can either be shown +to fill up or diminish, to any appreciable extent, the structural +interval which exists between Man and the man-like apes? Or, on the +other hand, does neither depart more widely from the average structure +of the human cranium, than normally formed skulls of men are known to +do at the present day? + +It is impossible to form any opinion on these questions, without some +preliminary acquaintance with the range of variation exhibited by human +structure in general--a subject which has been but imperfectly studied, +while even of what is known, my limits will necessarily allow me to +give only a very imperfect sketch. + +The student of anatomy is perfectly well aware that there is not a +single organ of the human body the structure of which does not vary, to +a greater or less extent, in different individuals. The skeleton varies +in the proportions, and even to a certain extent in the connexions, of +its constituent bones. The muscles which move the bones vary largely +in their attachments. The varieties in the mode of distribution of the +arteries are carefully classified, on account of the practical +importance of a knowledge of their shiftings to the surgeon. The +characters of the brain vary immensely, nothing being less constant +than the form and size of the cerebral hemispheres, and the richness of +the convolutions upon their surface, while the most changeable +structures of all in the human brain, are exactly those on which the +unwise attempt has been made to base the distinctive characters of +humanity, viz. the posterior cornu of the lateral ventricle, the +hippocampus minor, and the degree of projection of the posterior lobe +beyond the cerebellum. Finally, as all the world knows, the hair and +skin of human beings may present the most extraordinary diversities in +colour and in texture. + +So far as our present knowledge goes, the majority of the structural +varieties to which allusion is here made, are individual. The ape-like +arrangement of certain muscles which is occasionally met with* in the +white races of mankind, is not known to be more common among Negroes or +Australians: nor because the brain of the Hottentot Venus was found to +be smoother, to have its convolutions more symmetrically disposed, and +to be, so far, more ape-like than that of ordinary Europeans, are we +justified in concluding a like condition of the brain to prevail +universally among the lower races of mankind, however probable that +conclusion may be. + + [footnote] *See an excellent Essay by Mr. Church on the + Myology of the Orang, in the 'Natural History Review', for + 1861. + +We are, in fact, sadly wanting in information respecting the disposition +of the soft and destructible organs of every Race of Mankind but our +own; and even of the skeleton, our Museums are lamentably deficient in +every part but the cranium. Skulls enough there are, and since the +time when Blumenbach and Camper first called attention to the marked and +singular differences which they exhibit, skull collecting and skull +measuring has been a zealously pursued branch of Natural History, and +the results obtained have been arranged and classified by various +writers, among whom the late active and able Retzius must always be the +first named. + +Human skulls have been found to differ from one another, not merely in +their absolute size and in the absolute capacity of the brain case, but +in the proportions which the diameters of the latter bear to one +another; in the relative size of the bones of the face (and more +particularly of the jaws and teeth) as compared with those of the +skull; in the degree to which the upper jaw (which is of course +followed by the lower) is thrown backwards and downwards under the +fore-part of the brain case, or forwards and upward in front of and +beyond it. They differ further in the relations of the transverse +diameter of the face, taken through the cheek bones, to the transverse +diameter of the skull; in the more rounded or more gable-like form of +the roof of the skull, and in the degree to which the hinder part of +the skull is flattened or projects beyond the ridge, into and below +which, the muscles of the neck are inserted. + +In some skulls the brain case may be said to be 'round,' the extreme +length not exceeding the extreme breadth by a greater proportion than +100 to 80, while the difference may be much less.* Men possessing such +skulls were termed by Retzius 'brachycephalic,' and the skull of a +Calmuck, of which a front and side view (reduced outline copies of which +are given in Figure 26) are depicted by Von Baer in his excellent, +"Crania selecta," affords a very admirable example of that kind of +skull. Other skulls, such as that of a Negro copied in Fig. 27 from +Mr. Busk's 'Crania typica,' have a very different, greatly elongated +form, and may be termed 'oblong.' In this skull the extreme length is +to the extreme breadth as 100 to not more than 67, and the transverse +diameter of the human skull may fall below even this proportion. +People having such skulls were called by Retzius 'dolichocephalic.' + + [footnote] *In no normal human skull does the breadth of the + brain-case exceed its length. + +The most cursory glance at the side views of these two skulls will +suffice to prove that they differ, in another respect, to a very +striking extent. The profile of the face of the Calmuck is almost +vertical, the facial bones being thrown downwards and under the forepart +of the skull. The profile of the face of the Negro, on the other hand, +is singularly inclined, the front part of the jaws projecting far +forward beyond the level of the fore part of the skull. In the former +case the skull is said to be 'orthognathous' or straight-jawed; in the +latter, it is called 'prognathous,' a term which has been rendered, +with more force than elegance, by the Saxon equivalent,--'snouty.' + +Various methods have been devised in order to express with some accuracy +the degree of prognathism or orthognathism of any given skull; most of +these methods being essentially modifications of that devised by Peter +Camper, in order to attain what he called the 'facial angle.' + +But a little consideration will show that any 'facial angle' that has +been devised, can be competent to express the structural modifications +involved in prognathism and orthognathism, only in a rough and general +sort of way. For the lines, the intersection of which forms the facial +angle, are drawn through points of the skull, the position of each of +which is modified by a number of circumstances, so that the angle +obtained is a complex resultant of all these circumstances, and is not +the expression of any one definite organic relation of the parts of the +skull. + +FIG. 26.--Side and front views of the round and orthognathous skull of a +Calmuck, after Von Baer. One-third the natural size. + +I have arrived at the conviction that no comparison of crania is worth +very much, that is not founded upon the establishment of a relatively +fixed base line, to which the measurements, in all cases, must be +referred. Nor do I think it is a very difficult matter to decide what +that base line should be. The parts of the skull, like those of the +rest of the animal framework, are developed in succession the base of +the skull is formed before its sides and roof; it is converted into +cartilage earlier and more completely than the sides and roof: and the +cartilaginous base ossifies, and becomes soldered into one piece long +before the roof. I conceive then that the base of the skull may be +demonstrated developmentally to be its relatively fixed part, the roof +and sides being relatively moveable. + +Fig. 27.--Oblong and prognathous skull of a Negro; side and front views. +One-third of the natural size. + +The same truth is exemplified by the study of the modifications which +the skull undergoes in ascending from the lower animals up to man. + +FIG. 28.--Longitudinal and vertical sections of the skulls of a Beaver +('Castor Canadensis'), a Lemur ('L. Catia'), and a Baboon +('Cynocephalus Papio'), 'a b', the basicranial axis; 'b c', the +occipital plane; 'i T', the tentorial plane; 'a d', the olfactory plane; +'f e', the basifacial axis; 'c b a', occipital angle; 'T i a', +tentorial angle; 'd a b', olfactory angle; 'e f b', cranio-facial angle; +'g h', extreme length of the cavity which lodges the cerebral +hemispheres or 'cerebral length.' The length of the basicranial axis +as to this length, or, in other words, the proportional length of the +line 'g h' to that of 'a b' taken as 100, in the three skulls, is as +follows:--Beaver 70 to 100; Lemur 119 to 100; Baboon 144 to 100. In an +adult male Gorilla the cerebral length is as 170 to the basicranial +axis taken as 100, in the Negro (Fig. 29) as 236 to 100. In the +Constantinople skull (Fig. 29) as 266 to 100. The cranial difference +between the highest Ape's skull and the lowest Man's is therefore very +strikingly brought out by these measurements. In the diagram of the +Baboon's skull the dotted lines 'd1 d2', etc., give the angles of the +Lemur's and Beaver's skull, as laid down upon the basicranial axis of +the Baboon. The line 'a b' has the same length in each diagram. + +In such a mammal as a Beaver (Fig. 28), a line ('a b'.) drawn through +the bones, termed basioccipital, basisphenoid, and presphenoid, is very +long in proportion to the extreme length of the cavity which contains +the cerebral hemispheres ('g h'.). The plane of the occipital foramen +('b c'.) forms a slightly acute angle with this 'basicranial axis,' +while the plane of the tentorium ('i T'.) is inclined at rather more +than 90 degrees to the 'basicranial axis'; and so is the plane of the +perforated plate ('a d'.), by which the filaments of the olfactory nerve +leave the skull. Again, a line drawn through the axis of the face, +between the bones called ethmoid and vomer--the "basifacial axis" ('f +e'.) forms an exceedingly obtuse angle, where, when produced, it cuts +the 'basicranial axis.' + +If the angle made by the line 'b c'. with 'a b'., be called the +'occipital angle,' and the angle made by the line 'a d'. with 'a b'. be +termed the 'olfactory angle,' and that made by 'i T'. with 'a b'. the +'tentorial angle,' then all these, in the mammal in question, are nearly +right angles, varying between 80 degrees and 110 degrees. the angle 'e +f b'., or that made by the cranial with the facial axis, and which may +be termed the 'cranio-facial angle,' is extremely obtuse, amounting, in +the case of the Beaver, to at least 150 degrees. + +But if a series of sections of mammalian skulls, intermediate between a +Rodent and a Man (Fig. 28), be examined, it will be found that in the +higher crania the basicranial axis becomes shorter relatively to the +cerebral length; that the 'olfactory angle' and 'occipital angle' +become more obtuse; and that the 'cranio-facial angle' becomes more +acute by the bending down, as it were, of the facial axis upon the +cranial axis. At the same time, the roof of the cranium becomes more +and more arched, to allow of the increasing height of the cerebral +hemispheres, which is eminently characteristic of man, as well as of +that backward extension, beyond the cerebellum, which reaches its +maximum in the South America Monkeys. So that, at last, in the human +skull (Fig. 29), the cerebral length is between twice and thrice as +great as the length of the basicranial axis; the olfactory plane is 20 +degrees or 30 degrees on the 'under' side of that axis; the occipital +angle, instead of being less than 90 degrees, is as much as 150 degrees +or 160 degrees; the cranio-facial angle may be 90 degrees or less, and +the vertical height of the skull may have a large proportion to its +length. + +It will be obvious, from an inspection of the diagrams, that the +basicranial axis is, in the ascending series of Mammalia, a relatively +fixed line, on which the bones of the sides and roof of the cranial +cavity, and of the face, may be said to revolve downwards and forwards +or backwards, according to their position. The arc described by any +one bone or plane, however, is not by any means always in proportion to +the arc described by another. + +Now comes the important question, can we discern, between the lowest and +the highest forms of the human cranium anything answering, in however +slight a degree, to this revolution of the side and roof bones of the +skull upon the basicranial axis observed upon so great a scale in the +mammalian series? Numerous observations lead me to believe that we must +answer this question in the affirmative. + +The diagrams in Figure 29 are reduced from very carefully made diagrams +of sections of four skulls, two round and orthognathous, two long and +prognathous, taken longitudinally and vertically, through the middle. +The sectional diagrams have then been superimposed, in such a manner, +that the basal axes of the skulls coincide by their anterior ends, and +in their direction. The deviations of the rest of the contours (which +represent the interior of the skulls only) show the differences of the +skulls from one another, when these axes are regarded as relatively +fixed lines. + +The dark contours are those of an Australian and of a Negro skull: the +light contours are those of a Tartar skull, in the Museum of the Royal +College of Surgeons; and of a well developed round skull from a +cemetery in Constantinople, of uncertain race, in my own possession. + +It appears, at once, from these views, that the prognathous skulls, so +far as their jaws are concerned, do really differ from the +orthognathous in much the same way as, though to a far less degree +than, the skulls of the lower mammals differ from those of Man. +Furthermore, the plane of the occipital foramen ('b c') forms a +somewhat smaller angle with the axis in these particular prognathous +skulls than in the orthognathous; and the like may be slightly true of +the perforated plate of the ethmoid--though this point is not so +clear. But it is singular to remark that, in another respect, the +prognathous skulls are less ape-like than the orthognathous, the +cerebral cavity projecting decidedly more beyond the anterior end of the +axis in the prognathous, than in the orthognathous, skulls. + +It will be observed that these diagrams reveal an immense range of +variation in the capacity and relative proportion to the cranial axis, +of the different regions of the cavity which contains the brain, in the +different skulls. Nor is the difference in the extent to which the +cerebral overlaps the cerebellar cavity less singular. A round skull +(Fig. 29, 'Const'.) may have a greater posterior cerebral projection +than a long one (Fig. 29, 'Negro'). + +Until human crania have been largely worked out in a manner similar to +that here suggested--until it shall be an opprobrium to an ethnological +collection to possess a single skull which is not bisected +longitudinally--until the angles and measurements here mentioned, +together with a number of others of which I cannot speak in this place, +are determined, and tabulated with reference to the basicranial axis as +unity, for large numbers of skulls of the different races of Mankind, I +do not think we shall have any very safe basis for that ethnological +craniology which aspires to give the anatomical characters of the crania +of the different Races of Mankind. + +At present, I believe that the general outlines of what may be safely +said upon that subject may be summed up in a very few words. Draw a +line on a globe from the Gold Coast in Western Africa to the steppes of +Tartary. At the southern and western end of that line there live the +most dolichocephalic, prognathous, curly-haired, dark-skinned of +men--the true Negroes. At the northern and eastern end of the same +line there live the most brachycephalic, orthognathous, +straight-haired, yellow-skinned of men--the Tartars and Calmucks. The +two ends of this imaginary line are indeed, so to speak, ethnological +antipodes. A line drawn at right angles, or nearly so, to this polar +line through Europe and Southern Asia to Hindostan, would give us a +sort of equator, around which round-headed, oval-headed, and +oblong-headed, prognathous and orthognathous, fair and dark races--but +none possessing the excessively marked characters of Calmuck or +Negro--group themselves. + +FIG.29.--Sections of orthognathous (light contour) and prognathous (dark +contour) skulls, one-third of the natural size. 'a b', Basicranial +axis; 'b c, b1 c1', plane of the occipital foramen; 'd d1', hinder end +of the palatine bone; 'e e1', front end of the upper jaw; 'T T1', +insertion of the tentorium. + +It is worthy of notice that the regions of the antipodal races are +antipodal in climate, the greatest contrast the world affords, perhaps, +being that between the damp, hot, steaming, alluvial coast plains of +the West Coast of Africa and the arid, elevated steppes and plateaux of +Central Asia, bitterly cold in winter, and as far from the sea as any +part of the world can be. + +From Central Asia eastward to the Pacific Islands and subcontinents on +the one hand, and to America on the other, brachycephaly and +orthognathism gradually diminish, and are replaced by dolichocephaly +and prognathism, less, however, on the American Continent (throughout +the whole length of which a rounded type of skull prevails largely, but +not exclusively)* than in the Pacific region, where, at length, on the +Australian Continent and in the adjacent islands, the oblong skull, the +projecting jaws, and the dark skin reappear; with so much departure, in +other respects, from the Negro type, that ethnologists assign to these +people the special title of 'Negritoes.' + + [footnote] *See Dr. D. Wilson's valuable paper "On the + supposed prevalence of one Cranial Type throughout the + American aborigines."--'Canadian Journal', vol. ii., 1857. + +The Australian skull is remarkable for its narrowness and for the +thickness of its walls, especially in the region of the supraciliary +ridge, which is frequently, though not by any means invariably, solid +throughout, the frontal sinuses remaining undeveloped. The nasal +depression, again, is extremely sudden, so that the brows overhang and +give the countenance a particularly lowering, threatening expression. +The occipital region of the skull, also, not unfrequently becomes less +prominent; so that it not only fails to project beyond a line drawn +perpendicular to the hinder extremity of the glabello-occipital line, +but even, in some cases, begins to shelve away from it, forwards, +almost immediately. In consequence of this circumstance, the parts of +the occipital bone which lie above and below the tuberosity make a much +more acute angle with one another than is usual, whereby the hinder +part of the base of the skull appears obliquely truncated. Many +Australian skulls have a considerable height, quite equal to that of +the average of any other race, but there are others in which the cranial +roof becomes remarkably depressed, the skull, at the same time, +elongating so much that, probably, its capacity is not diminished. The +majority of skulls possessing these characters, which I have seen, are +from the neighbourhood of Port Adelaide in South Australia, and have +been used by the natives as water vessels; to which end the face has +been knocked away, and a string passed through the vacuity and the +occipital foramen, so that the skull was suspended by the greater part +of its basis. + +FIG. 30.--An Australian skull from Western Port, in the Museum of the +Royal College of Surgeons, with the contour of the Neanderthal skull. +Both reduced to one-third the natural size. + +Figure 30 represents the contour of a skull of this kind from Western +Port, with the jaw attached, and of the Neanderthal skull, both reduced +to one-third of the size of nature. A small additional amount of +flattening and lengthening, with a corresponding increase of the +supraciliary ridge, would convert the Australian brain case into a form +identical with that of the aberrant fossil. + +And now, to return to the fossil skulls, and to the rank which they +occupy among, or beyond, these existing varieties of cranial +conformation. In the first place, I must remark, that, as Professor +Schmerling well observed ('supra', p. 300) in commenting upon the Engis +skull, the formation of a safe judgment upon the question is greatly +hindered by the absence of the jaws from both the crania, so that there +is no means of deciding with certainty, whether they were more or less +prognathous than the lower existing races of mankind. And yet, as we +have seen, it is more in this respect than any other, that human skulls +vary, towards and from, the brutal type--the brain case of an average +dolichocephalic European differing far less from that of a Negro, for +example, than his jaws do. In the absence of the jaws, then, any +judgment on the relations of the fossil skulls to recent Races must be +accepted with a certain reservation. + +But taking the evidence as it stands, and turning first to the Engis +skull, I confess I can find no character in the remains of that cranium +which, if it were a recent skull, would give any trustworthy clue as to +the Race to which it might appertain. Its contours and measurements +agree very well with those of some Australian skulls which I have +examined--and especially has it a tendency towards that occipital +flattening, to the great extent of which, in some Australian skulls, I +have alluded. But all Australian skulls do not present this flattening, +and the supraciliary ridge of the Engis skull is quite unlike that of +the typical Australians. + +On the other hand, its measurements agree equally well with those of +some European skulls. And assuredly, there is no mark of degradation +about any part of its structure. It is, in fact, a fair average human +skull, which might have belonged to a philosopher, or might have +contained the thoughtless brains of a savage. + +The case of the Neanderthal skull is very different. Under whatever +aspect we view this cranium, whether we regard its vertical depression, +the enormous thickness of its supraciliary ridges, its sloped occiput, +or its long and straight squamosal suture, we meet with ape-like +characters, stamping it as the most pithecoid of human crania yet +discovered. But Professor Schaaffhausen states ('supra', p. 308), that +the cranium, in its present condition, holds 1033.24 cubic centimetres +of water, or about 63 cubic inches, and as the entire skull could hardly +have held less than an additional 12 cubic inches, its capacity may be +estimated at about 75 cubic inches, which is the average capacity given +by Morton for Polynesian and Hottentot skulls. + +So large a mass of brain as this, would alone suggest that the pithecoid +tendencies, indicated by this skull, did not extend deep into the +organization; and this conclusion is borne out by the dimensions of the +other bones of the skeleton given by Professor Schaaffhausen, which +show that the absolute height and relative proportions of the limbs +were quite those of an European of middle stature. The bones are +indeed stouter, but this and the great development of the muscular +ridges noted by Dr. Schaaffhausen, are characters to be expected in +savages. The Patagonians, exposed without shelter or protection to a +climate possibly not very dissimilar from that of Europe at the time +during which the Neanderthal man lived, are remarkable for the +stoutness of their limb bones. + +FIG. 31.--Ancient Danish skull from a tumulus at Borreby: one-third of +the natural size. From a camera lucida drawing by Mr. Busk. + +In no sense, then, can the Neanderthal bones be regarded as the remains +of a human being intermediate between Men and Apes. At most, they +demonstrate the existence of a man whose skull may be said to revert +somewhat towards the pithecoid type--just as a Carrier, or a Pouter, or +a Tumbler, may sometimes put on the plumage of its primitive stock, the +'Columba livia'. And indeed, though truly the most pithecoid of known +human skulls, the Neanderthal cranium is by no means so isolated as it +appears to be at first, but forms, in reality, the extreme term of a +series leading gradually from it to the highest and best developed of +human crania. On the one hand, it is closely approached by the +flattened Australian skulls, of which I have spoken, from which other +Australian forms lead us gradually up to skulls having very much the +type of the Engis cranium. And, on the other hand, it is even more +closely affined to the skulls of certain ancient people who inhabited +Denmark during the 'stone period,' and were probably either +contemporaneous with, or later than, the makers of the 'refuse heaps,' +or 'Kjokkenmoddings' of that country. + +The correspondence between the longitudinal contour of the Neanderthal +skull and that of some of those skulls from the tumuli at Borreby, very +accurate drawings of which have been made by Mr. Busk, is very close. +The occiput is quite as retreating, the supraciliary ridges are nearly +as prominent, and the skull is as low. Furthermore, the Borreby skull +resembles the Neanderthal form more closely than any of the Australian +skulls do, by the much more rapid retrocession of the forehead. On the +other hand, the Borreby skulls are all somewhat broader, in proportion +to their length, than the Neanderthal skull, while some attain that +proportion of breadth to length (80:100) which constitutes +brachycephaly. + +In conclusion, I may say, that the fossil remains of Man hitherto +discovered do not seem to me to take us appreciably nearer to that +lower pithecoid form, by the modification of which he has, probably, +become what he is. And considering what is now known of the most +ancient races of men; seeing that they fashioned flint axes and flint +knives and bone-skewers, of much the same pattern as those fabricated +by the lowest savages at the present day, and that we have every reason +to believe the habits and modes of living of such people to have +remained the same from the time of the Mammoth and the tichorhine +Rhinoceros till now, I do not know that this result is other than might +be expected. + +Where, then, must we look for primaeval Man? Was the oldest 'Homo +sapiens' pliocene or miocene, or yet more ancient? In still older +strata do the fossilized bones of an Ape more anthropoid, or a Man more +pithecoid, than any yet known await the researches of some unborn +paleontologist? + +Time will show. But, in the meanwhile, if any form of the doctrine of +progressive development is correct, we must extend by long epochs the +most liberal estimate that has yet been made of the antiquity of Man. + + + + + +End of The Project Gutenberg Etext of On Some Fossil Remains of Man + diff --git a/old/thx1310.zip b/old/thx1310.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..c5705b8 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/thx1310.zip |