MAN FROM THE FARTHEST PAST 
brain presents a very smooth structure showing com- 
paratively few of those folds which seem so closely linked 
with intelligence. Again, by good fortune, the number 
and shape of these convolutions is indicated on the inner 
MALARNAUD 
ere / 
™CHIMPANZEE 
Fic. 8. A series of lower 
jaws showing progressive 
development of chin. After 
Boule 
surface of the skull, which nature 
molds to fit them exactly (Plate 
15). Hence, in a well-preserved 
prehistoric skull we can tell by the 
impressions on its inner surface 
whether the individual to which 
it once belonged had a brain of 
higher or of lower grade. And 
where, as in the case of Neanderthal 
man, we have found several skulls 
belonging to the same type, we can 
begin to draw conclusions regard- 
ing that race as a whole. 
Scarcely less significant are the 
base of the skull and the manner 
of its attachment to the neck. 
These help to reveal the posture 
habitually assumed by man and by 
the most manlike animals, the great 
apes. As none of the latter ever 
habitually go about erect, their 
heads are set on their necks very 
differently from ours. The face is 
pushed forward (Fig. 6), and the 
muscles of the neck are attached to 
the skull in a way calculated to sup- 
port the latter in this position. 
Moreover, the opening through 
which the spinal cord passes into 
the brain is situated much nearer 
the back of the head (Fig. 7). From 
these data we could deduce, if we 
had never seen a live gorilla, that 
[ 46 ] 
