SOCIETY OF THE UNIVERSITY OP ABERDEEN. 219 



The inquiry into the physical conformation of the unfit, which 

 Lombrosa and his followers were then carrying out, and which they 

 had applied to the ear, demanded extension and confirmation ; it was 

 evident that, before such a method could be applied to the insane and 

 the criminal, it must be widely applied first to the sane to give a sure 

 foundation on which to build. Further, the relationship of man to 

 other primates was a problem which was, and still is, far from being 

 definitely settled, and the external ear being a complicated structure 

 and one which, so far as we then, or even now, know serves no de- 

 finite function, was, therefore, one which would not be directly sub- 

 ject to variation on account of use. It was a character which at least 

 would remain unaltered by those conditions which do lead to altera- 

 tion of structures which play an important part in the economy of 

 the individual. So far at least my inquiry had that which every in- 

 vestigation must have, if it is to yield real knowledge a definite aim 

 or to be more exact three definite aims : 



(1) To discover what relationship lay between the peoples on the 



shores of the North Sea ; 



(2) To ascertain the degree of correlationship between a dis- 



ordered mind and the form of the outer ear ; 



(3) To see if the external ear of man indicated any definite re- 



lationship between man and any other primate. 



Having definitely settled the object of my inquiry, there re- 

 mained to be determined the features of the external ear to be ob- 

 served, and the manner in which they were to be recorded. Papers 

 on the ears of sane, insane, and of criminals, and also on the stigmata 

 of degeneration, such as those which had been then published by 

 Graclenigo, by Vali, by Fer and Leglas, and many other articles l of a 

 similar nature which have been published since, appeared to me use- 

 less for my purpose, because they were records of anomalous forma- 



1 The best introduction to and summary of the literature on the external ear is 

 given by Professor Schwalbe in Bardeleben's Lehrbucn der Anatomie, Theil ii., Bd. v., 

 1898. 



