154 



FACTS AND FANCIES 



lished with excellent figures in the Reliquice 

 AquitafiiccB. They are, therefore, of the ut- 

 most interest for our present purpose, and I 

 shall try s to divest the descriptions of ana- 

 tomical details as to give a clear notion of their 

 character. The ' Old M^n of Cro-magnon * 

 was of great stature, being nearly six feet 

 high. More than this, his bones show that he 

 was of the strongest and most athletic muscu- 

 lar development — a Samson in strength ; and 

 the bones of the limbs have the peculiar form 

 which is characteristic of athletic men habit- 

 uated to rough walking, climbing, and running, 

 for this is, I believe, the real meaning of the 

 enormous strength of the thigh-bone and the 

 flattened condition of the leg in this and other 

 old skeletons. It occurs to some extent, though 

 much less than in this old man, in American 

 skeletons. His skull presents all the charac- 

 ters of advanced age, though the teeth had 

 been worn down to the sockets without being 

 lost ; which, again, is the character of some, 

 though not of all, aged Indian skulls. The 

 skull proper, or brain-case, is very long — more 

 so than in ordinary modern skulls — and this 

 length is accompanied with a great breadth; 

 so that the brain was of greater size than in 



