THE NEANDERTHAL SKULL. 83 



with these formidable weapons, will pro- 

 bably reveal ly sneering at the line of his 

 descent." For though he no longer intends 

 to use these teeth as weapons, he will 

 unconsciously retract his snarling muscles, 

 so as to expose them ready for action, 

 like a dog prepared to fight"* 



Although this argument from the sneer- 

 ing and snarling muscles of the canine 

 race is very far from being a proof of your 

 descent from the lower animals in respect 

 to such gentle and courteous contro- 

 versialists as Mr. Charles Darwin, I am 

 afraid that the argument is peculiarly 

 applicable to some of his disciples. 



An anecdote told of the witty Canon 

 of St. Paul's, seems in some measure to 

 support the Darwinian theory of your 

 canine descent. When the famous painter 

 of animals, Landseer, offered to paint 

 his portrait, Sydney Smith rejected the 

 offer on the same grounds which made 

 Hazael of Damascus refuse the offer of a 



* Descent of Man, i. 127. 

 G 2 



