296 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY. 



well marked ; in the other, deficient. These peculiarities had been 

 referred to by Todd and Bowman. From a very prolonged investi- 

 gation into the characters of animals, he felt persuaded that the 

 characters of the brain were the most steadfast ; and he was thus 

 induced, after many years of study, to propose his classification of the 

 mammalia, based upon the differences in the development of their 

 brain structure. Pie had placed man owing to the prominence of 

 the posterior lobes of his brain, the existence of a posterior cornu in 

 the lateral ventricles, and the presence of a hippocampus minor in 

 the posterior cornu in a distinct sub-kingdom, which he had called 

 Archancephala, between which and the other members of the mam- 

 malia the distinctions were very marked, and the rise was a very 

 abrupt one. The brain, in his estimation, was a far better guide in 

 classifying animals than the foot ; but the same difference that existed 

 between their brains was also observable between their feet. 



Prof. Huxley observed, that Prof. Owen's statements appeared to 

 him in no way to represent the real nature of the problem under dis- 

 cussion. He would, therefore, put that problem in another way. 

 The question was partly one of facts, and partly one of reasoning. 

 The question of fact was, What are the structural differences between' 

 man and the highest apes ? the question of reasoning, What is the 

 systematic value of those differences ? Several years ago, Prof. 

 Owen had made three distinct assertions respecting the differences 

 which obtained between the brain of man and that of the highest apes. 

 He asserted that three structures were " peculiar to and character- 

 istic " of man's brain these being the "posterior lobe," the "pos- 

 terior cornu," and the " hippocampus minor." In a controversy which 

 had lasted for some years, Prof. Owen had not qualified these asser- 

 tions, but had repeatedly reiterated them. He (Prof. Huxley), on 

 the other hand, had controverted these statements ; and affirmed, on 

 the contrary, that the three structures mentioned not only exist, but 

 are often better developed than in man, in all the higher apes. He 

 (Prof. Huxley) now appealed to the anatomists present if the uni- 

 versal voice of Continental and British anatomists had not entirely 

 borne out his statements and refuted those of Prof. Owen. Prof. 

 Huxley discussed the relations of the foot of man with those of the 

 apes, and showed that the same argument could be based upon them 

 as on the brain ; that argument being, that the structural differences 

 between man and the highest ape are of the same order and only 

 slightly different in degree from those which separate the apes one 

 from another. In conclusion, he expressed his opinion of the futility 

 of discussions like the present. In his opinion, the differences be- 

 tween man and the lower animals are not to be expressed by his toes 

 or his brain, but are moral and intellectual. Prof. Rolleston said he 

 would try and supply the members of the Association with the points 

 of positive difference between the human and the ape brain. For 

 doing this we had been abundantly shown that the hippocampus 

 minor and the posterior lobe were insufficient. As differentive, they 

 must be given up at last. This analysis of the brain's structure had 

 established as differentive between man and the ape four great differ- 

 ences two morphological, two quantitative. The two quantitative 

 are the great absolute weight and the great height of the human 



