FOSSIL REMAINS OF MAN. 165 



To an anatomical eye the posterior part of the skull is 

 even more striking than the anterior. The occipital pro- 

 tuberance 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^- inches), and the squamosal 

 suture is very straight. 



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. 25 a, below h. It is particularly interest- 

 ing, as it suggests that, notwithstanding the flattened con- 

 dition of the occiput, the posterior cerebral lobes must 

 have projected considerably beyond the cerebellum, and 

 as it constitutes one among several points of similarity be- 

 tween 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 



