THE NEANDERTHAL SKULL. 43 



century. I have already reminded you 

 that it is one of the alternative theories of 

 Aristotle; and it was also held by the 

 savage philosophers of Tahiti, who seem to 

 be of the same opinion; as they declare 

 that the origin of your race may be traced 

 to a heap of vegetables in the act of rot- 

 ting, which gave rise to a number of worms, 

 and out of these said worms men and 

 women were at length evolved ! 



Having already given you the opinion 

 of the celebrated Mr. Canning on the 

 origin of man, I will add, in conclusion, 

 before taking up the teaching of Professor 

 Darwin, that of another Prime Minister, 

 Mr. Disraeli, or as known in his later 

 years by the title of Lord Beaconsfield. 

 Before publishing a work of fiction called 

 Tancred, or the New Crusade, he had de- 

 clared it was a question whether men 

 had originally been apes or angels / but in 

 Tancred he states the subject with more 

 scientific precision. 



" You must read the Revelation of Chaos, 

 which I will lend you," says a blue- 



