2 SCIENCE PROGRESS 



ments of the Chellean type. Messrs. Dawson and Woodward 

 conclude that the gravel-bed is of the same age as the embedded 

 Chellean implements, which are less water-worn than most 

 of the associated flints; but that the teeth of the elephant 

 (which is of a Pliocene type) and mastodon are derived from 

 older (Pliocene) gravels, while the skull and jaw belong to the 

 period of the bed in which they were found. The remoteness 

 of that period is indicated by the subsequent excavation of the 

 Ouse valley to a depth of 80 ft. On the other hand, Sir E. R. 

 Lankester, after first committing himself to the statement {Daily 

 Telegraph, Dec. 19, 1912) that the skull and jaw "were probably 

 embedded for the first time in the existing gravel and not 

 washed out of a previous deposit," subsequently shifted his 

 ground and asserted {op. cit. Jan. 6, 19 13) that the specimen 

 " was undoubtedly washed into the gravel where it was found 

 from a previous deposit." 



The skull, which lacks the bones of the face, and is other- 

 wise imperfect, is stated by Dr. Smith Woodward to exhibit 

 all the essential features of that of modern man {Homo) and 

 has a brain-capacity of at least 1070 c.c. It is, however, 

 remarkable for the excessive thickness of the bones of the 

 roof, which averages 10 mm. and in one spot reaches 12 mm. 

 The forehead is steeper than in skulls of the Neanderthal 

 type but shows only slight development of the brow-ridges 

 and also affords evidence that the plate of bone (tentorium) 

 dividing the cerebral hemispheres from the cerebellum occupies 

 the same relative position as in modern man. Viewed from 

 the back, the skull is remarkably low and broad, with relatively 

 small mastoid processes. 



Of the lower jaw, the right half or ramus is nearly com- 

 plete, with the exception of the loss of the articular condyle, 

 as far forward as the middle of the bond of union or symphysis 

 with its fellow of the opposite side. Unfortunately, however, 

 only two teeth, the first and second molars, remain, although 

 the socket of the third is preserved. In place of the thickened 

 and rounded posterior border of the symphysis and the promi- 

 nent chin of man, this portion of the jaw slopes regularly 

 upwards towards the position which would be occupied by 

 the bases of the front teeth. In fact, whereas a modern human 

 jaw, when viewed from below, has the appearance of a horseshoe- 

 like arch, the Sussex jaw has a contour recalling that of a pair 



