VIII CORRESPONDENCE— ARGYLL 107 



be, it was still the rule to decline, the first duty 

 being to the Zoological Society. 



As showing the interest which his lectures 

 aroused among men of ** all-round " accomplishments 

 who were not specialists, we may take the following 

 portion of his correspondence with the Duke of 

 Argyll. They refer to various lectures and papers 

 of Flower's, and are fair specimens of his epistolary 

 style : — 



The Duke of Argyll to Professor Flower 



October 21, 1878. 



I think I heard you say that the skull of the Tasmanian is 

 the only skull on which you could pronounce with certainty as 

 to the race to which it belongs ; that it is so separate from all 

 others by marked characteristics that it can never be mistaken. 

 On the other hand, I think I have heard you also say that there 

 is no skull, however exceptional, which cannot be occasionally 

 matched by individual skulls among other races. 



May I ask whether this last generalisation holds good of the 

 Tasmanian skull as well as of others ? That is to say, whether 

 skulls with all the characters of the Tasmanian (square orbits, 

 etc.) do not occasionally occur among the higher races ? Among 

 the Australians especially I should suppose that, if anywhere, 

 individual cases would occur of skulls of the Tasmanian type. 

 The race which inhabited Tasmania must, almost certainly, have 

 originally crossed from Australia. It would be very strange if 

 they had left no trace behind them on the large island. 



I think you read a paper on the subject at the late Belfast 

 meeting. If you could send me a copy I should be very much 

 obliged to you. 



