DISCUSSION 185 



laying such undue stress upon the cranial 

 capacity. It can only supply us with informa- 

 tion as to the size of the brain, but it tells us 

 nothing about the far more important differ- 

 ences of the cranial formation ; still less does 

 it enable us to judge of the intelligence of the 

 owner of the skull. Comparative anthropology 

 has declared the cranial capacity to be of no 

 use as an absolute test in determining the 

 stage of intellectual development. This is 

 plain from the following table (Ranke, Der 

 Mensch, ii. p. 482), which gives the average 

 cranial capacity of some modern and some 

 ancient races of men. 



Cubic cm. 



Parisian of the twelfth century, . . 1532 



Modem Parisian, 1558 



Modern inhabitant of Lower Brittany, . 1560 



Prehistoric northern cromlech- builder, 1580 



Spanish Basque, 1584 



Gaul, 1585 



Prehistoric cave-dweller in Cro-Magnon, 1590 (1640) 



Modern inhabitant of Auvergne, . . 1598 

 Prehistoric skull from the Homme mort 



cave, 1606 



Skull from the prehistoric outpost at 



Solutre, 1615 



These figures speak plainly enough. Man- 

 kind must have been steadily becoming more 

 stupid from the Alluvial Period to the present 

 day, if Dr. Plotz were right. 



In conclusion, Dr. Plotz remarked that the 



