210 THE NEANDERTHAL SKULL. 



and origin, as are the American bison and 

 the European cow." * 



Such was the reasoning of a Yankee 

 infidel, who called himself a scientific 

 investigator of the " Origin of Man." 

 Considering that the greatest minds of all 

 time, of any age, and of all climes, such as 

 Francis Bacon, John Milton and Isaac 

 Newton, contradicted practically the silly 

 utterances of this bumptious American, 

 who has done his utmost to degrade the 

 name of " Professor," you will not wonder 

 if I apply the words of a very eminent 

 Englishman, Robert Hall, as peculiarly 

 applicable to this wretched scoffer of the 

 infallible truths of the Bible: " Igno- 

 rance the most profound, joined to 

 dogmatism the most presumptuous, is the 

 marked characteristic" of Professor Les- 

 ley's unhappy creed. 



But he did not stand alone in his folly ; 

 as there existed in his time, in the chief 

 city of the American Republic^ a Society, 



* See Appendix V. 



