84 NEANDERTHAL SKULL. chap. y. 



end of the skull when the glabello-occipital line is made horizontal, 

 and, so far from any part of -the occipital region extending beyond 

 it, this region of the skull slopes obliquely upward and forward, so 

 that the lambdoidal suture is situated well upon the upper surface 

 of the cranium. At the same time, notwithstanding the great length 

 of the skull, the sagittal suture is remarkably short (4J inches), and 

 the squamosal suture is very straight. 



"In human skulls, the sujierior curved ridge of the occipital bone 

 and the occijaital protuberance correspond, approximatively, with 

 the level of the tentorium and with the lateral sinuses, and conse- 

 quently with the inferior limit of the posterior lobes of the brain. 

 At first, I found some difficulty in believing that a human brain 

 could have its posterior lobes so flattened and diminished as must 

 have been the case in the Neanderthal man, suj^posing the ordi- 

 nary relation to obtain between the superior occipital ridges and 

 the tentorium ; but on my application, through Sir Charles Lyell, 

 Dr. Fuhlrott, the possessor of the skull, was good enough not only 

 to ascertain the existence of the lateral sinuses in their ordinary- 

 position, but to send convincing jji-oofs of the fact, in excellent 

 photographic views of the interior of the skull, exhibiting clear 

 indications of these sinuses. 



" There can be no doubt that, as Professor Schaaffhausen and 

 Mr. Busk have stated, this skull is the most brutal of all known 

 human skulls, resembling those of the apes not only in the pro- 

 digious development of the superciliary prominences and the for- 

 ward extension of the orbits, but still more in the depressed form 

 of the brain-case, in the straightness of the squamosal suture, and 

 in the comj^lete retreat of the occiput forward and upward, from 

 the superior occipital ridges. 



" But the cranium, in its present condition, is stated by Professor 

 Schaaffhausen to contain 1033.24 cubic centimeters of water, or, in 

 other words, about 63 English cubic inches. As the entire skull 

 could hardly have held less than 12 cubic inches more, its minimum 

 capacity may be estimated at 75 cubic inches. The most cai:>acious 

 healthy Eui'opean skull yet measured had a capacity of 114 cubic 

 inches, the smallest (as estimated by weight of brain) about 55 

 cubic inches, while, according to Professor Schaafi'hausen, some 

 Hindoo skulls have as small a capacity as about 40 cubic inches 

 (27 oz. of water). The largest cranium of any gorilla yet measured 

 contained 34.5 cubic inches. The Neanderthal cranium stands, 

 therefore, in capacity, very nearly on a level with the mean of 

 the two human extremes, and very far above the i^ithecoid maxi- 

 mum. 



"Hence, even in the absence of the bones of the arm and thigh, 



