tH£ human raC£. 205 



ately much shorter than the legs, and also the spine ; the thumb 

 is also longer in proportion than in the Apes, and, as the fingers 

 have all separate movements, the hand is thus better able to be 

 adjusted to minute operations. The head in Man is equi- 

 poised on the vertebral column just under the centre of its 

 mass, and is thus easily supported and moved, whereas, in all 

 lower forms of Vertebrates, it is placed further and further from 

 the centre towards the back, with its weight thrown towards the 

 front. In Man the skull cavity, not intruded upon and dimin- 

 ished by the roof of the orbits, is characteristically high and 

 arched, its capacity being twice as great as any Ape's ; still the 

 difference in the cranial capacity of different races of Man is 

 much greater absolutely than that between the highest Ape 

 and the lowest Man. {Huxley.) His facial and jaw-bones are 

 smaller, and project far less, even in the most prognathous of 

 men, than in the Apes ; the lower front margin of the under jaw is 

 characteristically human, being produced forward to form the 

 chin. In the human skull there is always a spike-like bone — the 

 styloid process —dependent from and ossified to the ear-bones. 

 In Man the form of the pelvis — the large osseous block 

 to which the legs are articulated- is very characteristic in its 

 width ; its great basin-shaped cavity receives and supports his 

 lower internal organs; to its extensive external surface the 

 muscles for enabling him to retain the erect position are 

 attached, while its width, by separating the thigh-bones, gives 

 to the body a form favourable to stability, which is increased 

 by the wide angle at which the articulating head of the femur 

 is attached to its shaft. " Were he to desire it, Man could not, 

 with convenience, walk on all fours : his short and nearly 

 inflexible foot, and his long thigh, would bring the knee to the 

 ground ; his widely separated shoulders and his arms, too far 



