February io, 1898] 



NA TORE 



355 



Pleistocene origin, while that from Engis, described by Schmer- 

 ling in 1833, is evidently much more recent. The origin of the 

 well-known Neanderthal calvaria has always been doubtful, but 

 its extraordinary heavy brows and low forehead gave it an 

 interest at the time of its discovery, which is not lessened now 

 that very similar skulls have been found under better authenti- 

 cated conditions. 



The Moulin Quignon jaw, which created so much discussion 

 for a few years after its its discovery in 1863, has long since 

 been put aside as lacking authenticity. But the jaw found by M. 

 Dupont in the Naulette cave is accepted as that of a human 

 being that lived with the mammoth. The human bones from 

 the caves of Aurinac, Cromagnon, Frontal, Mentone, and 

 some others were shown by Prof. Boyd Dawkins to be of neo- 

 lithic age. The skeleton found at a depth of thirty-two feet at 

 Tilbury Docks in 1883 was thought by Sir R. Owen to be of 

 palaeolithic age, but Mr. T. V. Holmes has shown that those 

 gravels are of comparatively modern origin, and could not be 

 older than neolithic. 



A fresh impetus was given to the study of palaeolithic man by 

 the memoir of MM. Fraipont and Lohest, who in 1887 gave 

 ■an account of two remarkable skeletons found at Spy, in the 

 province of Namur, Belgium. These skeletons are accepted as of 

 the same age as the extinct mammals, with the bones of which 

 they were found associated. The skulls are of a low type, and 

 one of them especially makes a very close approach to that from 

 the Neanderthal, not only in the general form, but also in the 

 great development of the brow ridges and the lowness of the 

 forehead. 



A single tooth from Pont Newydd cave, St. Asaph ; a piece of 

 a skull from the brick-earth of Bury St. Edmunds, and parts of a 

 skeleton from the high terrace-gravel of Galley Hill, Northfleet, 

 are believed to be the only well-authenticated instances of 

 palseolithic human remains yet found in Britain ; and it is only 

 the skeleton last named that is sufficiently well-preserved to give 

 any idea of the form of the skull or limb-bones. The Galley 

 Hill skull is very long and narrow, the brow ridges are strongly 

 developed and the forehead is low, but not so depressed as in the 

 Neanderthal calvaria. Although it may not be correct to include 

 the Java Pithecanthropus in the genus Homo, yet as it holds an 

 intermediate position between the lowest type of human skull, 

 — the Neanderthal — and that of certain apes, it cannot be 

 neglected when considering the early progenitors of man and 

 its position in the geological series at the beginning of the Pleis- 

 tocene, if not in the Pliocene, is precisely the place where such 

 an ancestor would be expected to appear. 



Although the greater number of the human remains supposed 

 to be of palaeolithic age are now known to be of more recent 

 origin or are not well substantiated, yet there are a few which 

 may be accepted as in all probability representatives of the men 

 who made the palaeolithic implements. In the latter category 

 may be placed the skeletons from Spy and that from Galley 

 Hill, as well as the jaw from Naulette and the piece of skull 

 from Bury St. Edmunds. The Eguisheim skull and a few other 

 remains found on the continent of Europe should perhaps be 

 included with these. The famous calvaria from Neanderthal 

 and Canstadt are among the remains of uncertain origin, 

 but, on account of their resemblance to the Spy skulls, are sup- 

 posed to be of the same age, and to belong to the same race. 



If we accept the Spy, and other skeletons, as the remains of 

 the men who made the palaeolithic implements, what do they 

 tell us of the mental and physical condition of those early pro- 

 genitors of mankind ? As a gauge of intellectual capacity, we 

 have to confess that their skulls tell us far less than do the relics 

 of their handiwork. 



Prof. Huxley's dictum regarding the Spy men was that " the 

 anatomical characters of their skeletons bear out conclusions 

 which are not flattering to the appearance of the owners. " They 

 were short and powerful, but must have walked with a bend at 

 the knees. Their skulls were depressed, with strong brow 

 ridges and lower jaws of brutal depth. The Neanderthal 

 skull has been said by the same authority to be the most ape- 

 like of human crania yet discovered. At the same time it is 

 highly probable that these palaeolithic men were not less in- 

 telligent than some of the savage races living at the present day, 

 for their brain capacity seems to have been as great as that of 

 average Hottentots and Polynesians ; and with an equal volume 

 of brain we may presume there was an equal intellectual power. 

 Moreover, men of no mean intellectual capacity are known to 

 have possessed skulls of the Neanderthal type. 



NO. 1476, VOL. 57] 



It may be doubted whether we are right in regarding the 

 Neanderthal type of skull as typical of the palaeolithic race, for 

 other skulls referable to this period are less marked in character, 

 and appear to indicate a greater lange of form within the race 

 than has usually been supposed. At present we have too few 

 examples to allow of any definite deductions being made ; but 

 what we do know, points to the palaeolithic race having had long 

 skulls (dolichocephalic), in which particular they approach the 

 neolithic race ; but differ from them in the greater development 

 of their brow ridges, in their lower and more receding foreheads, 

 and in their shorter stature. 



That palaeolithic man possessed considerable mechanical skill, 

 is shown by the well-fashioned flint implements that have been 

 found ; and the striking outlines of animals and men incised by 

 him on pieces of ivory and bone, as well as the clever carvings 

 in similar material, is evidence of no little artistic ability. And 

 further, if we bear in mind how little of his work has been pre- 

 served to us, and how much that was perishable must have en- 

 tirely disappeared, we shall be inclined to credit our palaeolithic 

 ancestors with a somewhat higher social status than we have 

 usually supposed them to have enjoyed. 



ALCOHOL 



IN RELATION TO 

 DISEASES. 



MICROBIAL 



'X'HE effect of alcohol on the artificial production of immunity 

 in animals in regard to rabies, tetanus, and anthrax has 

 been recently studied by Dr. Delearde. It has been frequently 

 observed that persons addicted to alcohol suffer, as a rule, far 

 more severely from the effects of microbial infections than normal 

 individuals, and not long ago, in 1896, Abbot, of Philadelphia, 

 showed that pathogenic bacteria, incapable of killing healthy 

 animals, were able to produce fatal results in animals intoxicated 

 with alcohol. This was found to be the case with the B. colt 

 communis, the staphylococcus, and the streptococcus. Delearde 

 has turned his attention to the effect produced by alcohol on the 

 artificial prevention of disease in animals ; and, considering the 

 great importance of the subject, it is to be regretted that his 

 conclusions are drawn from so few experiments. It appears that 

 a rabbit vaccinated against rabies, and then given considerable 

 quantities of alcohol (introduced into the oesophagus by means 

 of a tube) for several weeks, and subsequently inoculated with 

 fresh rabid virus, did not succumb to rabies, whilst another 

 rabbit treated similarly, only omitting the doses of alcohol, died 

 of rabies. In this case the alcohol had apparently preserved 

 the animal's immunity to rabies. On the other hand, a rabbit 

 dosed with alcohol during the course of the anti-rabic inocula- 

 tion, obtained absolutely no immunity from rabies ; whilst a 

 rabbit, first of all intoxicated and then vaccinated, acquired 

 immunity to rabies as long as the supply of alcohol was stopped 

 as soon as the vaccinations were commenced. In the case of 

 tetanus, however, if the anti-tetanic inoculations were succeeded 

 by the administration of alcohol, the animal lost all its artificially 

 acquired immunity to the disease, and invariably succumbed to 

 tetanus infection ; again, if treated with alcohol during the 

 vaccinations, it only acquired immunity to tetanus with difficulty, 

 and if first of all intoxicated and then vaccinated, the animal 

 obtained immunity as long as the supply of alcohol ceased when 

 the vaccinations began. As regards anthrax, it is almost im- 

 possible, it appears, to protect animals from this disease if they 

 are treated with alcohol during the vaccination period. On the 

 other hand, animals first intoxicated and then vaccinated can 

 acquire immunity providing, as in the other cases mentioned 

 above, the alcohol is stopped as soon as the vaccinations are 

 commenced, but they suffer considerably more during the process 

 than animals which have received no alcohol. The experimental 

 results obtained with rabies bear out the observations which 

 have been made with regard to intemperate persons and the anti- 

 rabic treatment in various Pasteur Institutes, and a very striking 

 instance of the ineffectuality of the treatment in such a case was 

 recorded only this year. An habitual drunkard was bitten by a 

 mad dog, as was also a child by the same dog ; both underwent 

 precisely the same anti-rabic treatment. The man during the 

 whole time continued to drink to excess, and subsequently died 

 of rabies, whilst the child remained perfectly well. In the case 

 of the administration of antitoxins it would appear, therefore, 

 highly desirable that at least during the vaccinations alcohol 

 should be prohibited. 



