420 THE LAW OF COPYRIGHT. 



("Pike's claim to originaiitt ik theory on iong heads of English.") 

 Nicholas's Pleadings, Dec. 4, '69, pp. 32, Physic. Char act. 



" Now, my Lords, it is a fact that, forgetting the contents of his book, the 

 plaintiff (Luke 0. Pike) has boldly laid claim to originality in this very matter. 

 It is a fact that his friend Blake has sworn positively that the plaintiff advanced 

 this theory, and that it was a novel theory. It is a probable fact that the Vice- 

 Chancellor believed all this. I will give the proof. 



" On page 20 of the plaintiff's evidence (short-hand writer's) we have these 

 questions and answers: — ' Q. You applied that conclusion (that the early British 

 were long-headed) to your argument as regards the origin of the early British ? ' 

 A. In regard to the origin of the early English. — Q. So far as that went, is that, 

 to your knowledge and belief, an original view ? A. Yes. — Q. Have you, in the 

 course of your reading, ever found that argument applied to that particular sub- 

 ject? A. No, I cannot say that I have.' 



" This distinct claim to originality was supported as follows by Mr. Blake : 

 On page 26 of his evidence, in answer to a question by the Vice-Chancellor, he 

 says, 'Mr. Pike's argument is, that the Celtic race had long skulls; that the 

 Teutons had round heads and short skulls ; that the modern Britons have long 

 skulls, and therefore the modern English or modern Britons are descendants of 

 the ancient Britons. Q. That is an ovel view, you say ? A. That was novel. — 

 Q. That was novel at the time Mr. Pike wrote his book ? A. That was a novel 

 view.' And he finishes up on this question by saying, on the next page (2V): 

 ' All French writers on the subject asserted that the Celts had short skulls.' 



" Now, it is not my function to say here that this evidence is contrary to the 

 truth. This evidence greatly influenced the mind of the Vice-Chancellor. I had 

 not the opportunity given me of showing its inaccuracy by reference to books 

 published prior to the plaintiff's book, and which I had brought into Court. I 

 am anxious now to refer to one or two of these, that your Lordships may judge 

 of the truth or untruth of these depositions. 



"As long ago as 1863, Dr. Daniel Wilson's great work, The Prehistoric Annals 

 of Scotland, made its appearance in a second edition ; and in that work, known to 

 all students of British Anthropo';ogy, vol. 1, p. 2Y8, occur these Words, in refer- 

 ence to the modern English head-form : ' The insular Anglo-Saxon race, in the 

 Anglican and Saxon districts, de' iates from its continental congeners, as I con- 

 ceive, mainly by reason of a large intermixture of Celtic blood, traceable to the 

 inevitable intermarriage of invading colonists, chiefly male, with the British 

 women. But if the Celtic head be naturally a short one [a notion he is combat- 

 ing], the tendency of such admixture of races should have been to shorten the 

 hybrid Anglo-Saxon skull, whereas it is essentially longer than the continental 

 Germanic type.' 



" This was published three years before the plaintiff's book. But I wish to 

 rely rather on another publication, and for the reason that it can be proved to be 

 in the plaintiff's possession, at the time he wrote his MS, in 1865. 



" The same learned writer. Dr. D. Wilson, whose views in the work already 

 referred to had excited so much attention, published an elaborate article on the 



