48 HOMO V. DARWIN. 



external ear from the Ascidian to the ape, or at least to 

 explain the process to us, and show some proof that his 

 account of it is anything more than a mere p:oduct of 

 his imagination. As to the whole external shell of the ear 

 ^>eing a rudiment, and therefore useless, I should like to 

 know how man would look without it ; yet, if Mr. Darwin's 

 principles be true, we must, I suppose, eventually lose our 

 ears, just as we have lost our tails ! 



Lord C. That does not follow, Homo. Mr. Darwin's 

 principle of " Sexual Selection " would, I presume, come 

 into play here. Ladies would certainly object to a husband 

 with a tail ; hence the tail must go : but as they would 

 hardly choose one without ears, the ears, I suppose, must 

 remain. 



Homo. And thus, ray Lord, the fact of man having re- 

 tained his ears while losing his tail would be accounted for. 



Lord C. At all events, Mr. Darwin, quite apart from the 

 question of rudiments, humanity would certainly object to 

 losing its ears. 



Darwin. My Lord, " the celebrated sculptor, Mr; Woolner, 

 informs me of one little peculiarity in the external ear, 

 which he has often observed both in men and women, and 

 of which he perceived the full signification. . . . The pecu- 

 liarity consists in a little blunt point, projecting from the 

 inwardly folded margin or helix. Mr. Woolner made an 

 exact model of one such case, and has sent me the accom- 

 panying drawing. These points not only project inwards, 

 but often a little outwards, so that they are visible when 

 the head is viewed from directly in front or behind. They 

 are variable in size and somewhat in posi;ion, standing 

 either a little higher or lower, and they sometimes occur on 

 one ear and not on the other. Now the meaning of these 

 projections is not, I think, doubtful. . . . The helix ob- 



