156 THE HUMAN SKULL 



skull. This skull he subsequently saw and pro- 

 claimed to be that of an ape ; and he would be a 

 bold man, in the face of the divergent opinions 

 which I have recapitulated above in connection 

 with that much-debated skull, who would main- 

 tain that it had made much difference to the 

 controversy. It is not even counted in the matter 

 in Sedgwick's Zoology, from which quotations 

 have been made above. In fact, so obvious is it 

 that the skulls of these ancient races be the exact 

 date of their habitation of this world what it may 

 are nothing more or less than the skulls of human 

 beings, that Kollmann, the distinguished Swiss 

 anatomist, has proclaimed that man is a Dauertypus 

 or " persistent type," which has not varied since 

 quaternary times, those, by the way, being the 

 first times when we come in contact with anything 

 like human remains or, indeed, with any certainty, 

 in contact with any implements which can be 

 legitimately considered as of human manufacture. 

 To pursue this point further would lead me in 

 directions other than those which I have marked 

 out for this paper, though the obvious suggestions 

 which arise are well worthy of consideration and 

 discussion. I will sum up what I have tried to lay 

 down by saying that science can only deal with 

 facts, and that all theories which are not fully 

 supported and buttressed by solid evidence 

 may be fascinating, inspiring, probable, what you 

 please, but that they remain only theories and 

 nothing else. This seems a simple elementary 

 statement, but it is one which is too often for- 

 gotten by a certain class of writers. 



