THE NEANDERTHAL SKULL. 75 



One portion declaring that it is impossible 

 for a human being to have a tail, because 

 the spinal vertebrae in the human race do 

 not admit of an elongation, as the spine 

 terminates in the os sacrum, thus entirely 

 precluding production or continuation, as 

 in caudate animals. Others assert that 

 the coccyx, or lower extremity of the spine, 

 consists of four vertebrae, which in their 

 estimation constitutes a rudimentary tail ; 

 but this is curved forwards, and is not 

 visible externally, an arrangement which 

 is also found in the anthropoid asses and in 

 Hoffman's sloth. It is on this ground, as 

 I conclude, that Darwin confidently asserts 

 that " the os coccyx, though functionless as 

 a tail, plainly represents this part in other 

 vertebrate animals ; and in certain . rare 

 and anomalous cases it has been known, 

 according to Isidore, Geoffry St. Hilaire 

 and others, to form a small external rudi- 

 ment of a tail" * 



But now we call History to our aid, and 



* Descent of Man , i. 29. 



