6 THE NEANDERTHAL SKULL. 



Christian martyr found in the Roman 

 catacombs, which was said to have re- 

 warded its discoverer by informing him of 

 its name, age, and some interesting ante- 

 cedents, the truth of which was confirmed 

 by a learned Canonist explaining that " it 

 was without doubt an angel which did speak 

 in the skull"* 



As soon as the vast assembly had 

 sufficiently expressed their opinions on the 

 object before them, and had subsided into 

 that happy state of silence which betokens 

 the height of expectation, the voice from 

 the skull delivered the following address : 



SPEECH OF THE NEANDERTHAL SKULL. 



Gentlemen, and with your permission I 

 will add, dear Relatives and Friends, I 

 might begin my address with the usual 

 formula, " Unaccustomed as I am to 

 public speaking," for many centuries have 

 rolled by since I last addressed such a 

 learned assembly, and my old jaws have 



* Alphonsus Mendoza, Controv. Theol. Qusest. vi. 

 Scholiast, 5. 



