in THE NEANDERTHAL MAN. 175 



nivorous 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 re- 

 mains 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. Mayer, are most distinct on the inner 

 surface of the cranial bones. They consist of a ferrugi- 

 nous compound, and, from their black colour, may be sup- 

 posed to contain manganese. Similar dendritic forma- 

 tions 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. Mayer stated that he had noticed 

 in the museum of Poppelsdorf similar dendritic crystal- 

 lizations on several fossil bones of animals, and particu- 

 larly on those of Urstts spelwus, but still more abun- 

 dantly and beautifully displayed on the fossil bones and 

 teeth of Equus adamiticus, Elephas primigenius, &c, 

 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.* I 

 am indebted to H. v. Meyer for the following remarks on 

 this subject: — 



* Verh. dcs NaturMst. Vereins in Bonn, xiv. 1857. 



