92 ANTHROPOID APES. 



little blunt point, projecting from the inwardly 

 folded margin, or helix. These points not only pro- 

 ject inwards, but often a little outwards, so that 

 they are visible when the head is viewed from 

 directly in front or behind. They are variable in 

 size and somewhat in position, standing either a 

 little higher or lower ; and they sometimes occur on 

 one ear and not on the other. Now the meaning 

 of these projections is not, I think, doubtful ; but 

 it may be thought that they offer too trifling a 

 character to be worth notice. This thought, how- 

 ever, is as false as it is natural. Every character, 

 however slight, must be the result of some definite 

 cause ; and if it occurs in many individuals de- 

 serves consideration. The helix obviously consists 

 of the extreme margin of the ear folded inwards ; 

 and this folding appears to be in some manner con- 

 nected with the whole external ear being per- 

 manently pressed backwards. In many monkeys, 

 which do not stand high in the order, as baboons 

 and some species of macaous, the upper portion 

 of the ear is slightly pointed, and the margin 

 is not at all folded inwards; but if the margin 

 were to be thus folded, a slight point would neces- 

 sarily project inwards and probably a little out- 

 wards. This could actually be observed in a speci- 

 men of the Ateles beehebuth in the Zoological Gardens; 

 and we may safely conclude that it is a similar 

 structure — a vestige of formerly pointed ears — which 

 occasionally reappears in man." 



I subjoin an illustration of the human ear, in 

 which the pointed tip mentioned by Darwin may be 



