FOSSIL KEMAINS OF ^lAN. 181 



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 con- 

 tained the thoughtless brains of a savage. 



The case of the l^eanderthal 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 sloping 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 Schaaff hausen states 

 {supra, jp. 152), 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 Y5 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 conclu- 

 sion 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 stat- 

 ure. The bones are indeed stouter, but this and the great 

 development of the muscular ridges noted by Dr. Schaaff- 

 hausen, 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. 



In no sense, then, can the Neanderthal bones be re- 

 garded as the remains of a human being intermediate 



