96 Original Articles. [ Jan. 
under consideration the closest affinity to the apes. Only a few points 
of proximate resemblance have been made out between it and the 
human skull ; and these are strictly peculiar to the latter in the fatal 
state. The cranium of the human fcetus, however, possesses the lofty 
dome, the forward position of the frontal respectively to the outer 
orbital processes, the greatest width at the parietal centres of ossifica- 
tion, and the vertical occipital, which are so conspicuous in the adult, 
but which are remarkably non-characteristic of the Neanderthal skull. 
Besides, so closely does the fossil cranium resemble that of the Chim- 
panzee, as to lead one to doubt the propriety of generically placing it 
with Man. T'o advocate this view, however, in the absence of the facial 
and basal bones, would be clearly overstepping the limits of inductive 
reasoning. 
Moreover, there are considerations of another kind which power- 
fully tend to induce the belief that a wider gap than a mere generic 
one separates the human species from the Neanderthal fossil. 
The distinctive faculties of Man are visibly expressed in his elevated 
cranial dome—a feature which, though much debased in certain savage 
races, essentially characterizes the human species. But, considering 
that the Neanderthal skull is eminently simial, both in its general and 
particular characters, I feel myself constrained to believe that the 
thoughts and desires which once dwelt within it never soared beyond 
those of the brute. The Andamaner, it is indisputable, possesses but 
the dimmest conceptions of the existence of the Creator of the 
Universe: his ideas on this subject, and on his own moral obli- 
gations, place him very little above animals of marked sagacity ; * 
nevertheless, viewed in connection with the strictly human conforma- 
tion of his cranium, they are such as to specifically identify him with 
Homo sapiens. Psychical endowments of a lower grade than those 
characterizing the Andamaner cannot be conceived to exist: they 
stand next to brute benightedness. 
Applying the above argument to the Neanderthal skull, and consi- 
dering that it presents only an approximate resemblance to the 
cranium of man, that it more closely conforms to the brain-case of 
the Chimpanzee, and, moreover, assuming, as we must, that the simial 
faculties are unimprovable—incapable of moral and theositic concep- 
tions—there seems no reason to believe otherwise than that similar 
darkness characterized the being to which the fossil belonged.t 
* It has often been stated that neither the Andamaners, nor the Australians, 
have any idea of the existence of God: there are circumstances, however, recorded 
of these races which prevent my accepting the statement as an absolute truth. 
+ A paper advocating the views contained in this article was read at the last 
meeting of the British Association, held in Neweastle-on-Tyne. In that paper I 
called the fossil by the name of Homo Neanderthalensis ; but I now feel strongly 
inclined to believe that it is not only specifically but generically distinct from Man. 
