624 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



sidered it as intermediate between man and the apes, and at last, 

 in order to find some place for it, it was regarded by many as the 

 skull of an idiot. 



The peculiarities that gave rise to these opinions consist main- 

 ly as follows: A long, narrow skull, a low, rapidly retreating 

 forehead, and an exceptional development of the brow ridges (su- 

 perciliary ridges) ; these are so prominent that there is a depres- 

 sion behind or between them and the frontal bone. They, more- 

 over, coalesce in the middle line, making a deep depression at the 

 root of the nose. The bones are also unusually thick, the whole 

 configuration remarkable and decidedly apelike and brutal. 



The other bones found are in keeping with the skull, being 

 thick and characterized by the unusual development of ridges 

 and depressions for attachment of muscles; they would indi- 

 cate a stature of five feet six to five feet eight inches (1'68 to 

 172 metre). 



The cranial capacity has been calculated to be 74'42 cubic 

 inches (1,220 cubic centimetres), said to be equal to that of the 

 Malays and superior to that of the Hindus of small stature. The 

 cranial capacity of the most capacious gorilla skull yet measured 

 is thirty-four and a half cubic inches, while the largest human 

 skull had a capacity of one hundred and fourteen cubic inches, the 

 mean European skull being from ninety to ninety-six cubic inches, 

 so that, while in capacity there is a wide difference between the 

 Neanderthal skull and the gorilla skull, there is also a wide dif- 

 ference between it and the European skull. 



In what is known as the cephalic index this skull does not 

 compare unfavorably with skulls of some existing races. The 

 cephalic index is based upon the proportion between the antero- 

 posterior and transverse diameters of the brain case. It is ascer- 

 tained by multiplying the transverse diameter by one hundred 

 and dividing the result by the antero-posterior diameter ; this re- 

 sult is the cephalic index. When it is less than eighty the skull 

 is said to be dolichocephalic, or long-headed; when more than 

 eighty the skull is brachycephalic, or short-headed. The antero- 

 posterior diameter of the Neanderthal skull is eight inches, the 

 transverse diameter 575 inches ; the cephalic index is therefore 

 seventy-two, and the skull is dolichocephalic, having an index 

 less than eighty. The mean cephalic index of the existing Eski- 

 mos is 69'3. 



Similar crania have been found in the tufa beds of La Denise, 

 in Auvergne, France ; at Eguisheim, in Alsace ; and in the lowest 

 gravels of the plain of Grenelle. All these are long-headed, 

 or dolichocephalic, and correspond in other characteristics, but 

 none are so apelike and brutal. It was therefore until recently 

 thought that the Neanderthal man was simply a more pro- 



