1897.] bP HAIE UPON IHf) HUMAK EA^. 303 



curving round the infolded rim o£ the helLv below Darwin's 

 Point, directing their gro\vth towards it until their tips meet and 

 touch those of the hairs approaching from above (see Plates XIX. 

 & XX. figs. 2, 3, 11, 13, and 19). 



The significance of this countermarch or reversal of direction 

 it is proposed to discuss later in this paper. 



The opposing growths of hairs do not approach one another from 

 directly opposite directions ; they cross one another's paths diagon- 

 ally, as though seeking something which was once there, but which 

 no longer exists. 



Pigs. 1, 2, and 3 are well-marked cases. On many infant ears 

 Darwin's Point is not sufficiently pronounced to enable its precise 

 locality to be determined. Its position varies much in my 

 experience, and the tract around it, or its presumed site, is very 

 frequently bare, as already remarked. In short, the external 

 infant ear is a very variable organ, but whenever hair is present 

 it seems to follow the above-described lines, although it may be 

 almost invisible and need a dark card to be placed between the 

 ear and head aud the use of a lens to discover the hairs. 



I have observed a case where an infant's ear showed Darwin's 

 Point well and the small white tubercle beneath the skin was 

 marked by a minute tuft of down. 



The ear drawn in tig. 1 was so noticeable that tiie child's 

 mother, a woman in humble circumstances, was struck by its 

 appearance and sent ft)r me to see it. Where the two streams of 

 hairs met the hairs were longest, a distinct tuft of hairs twisted 

 upon one another came partly from behind the ear and partly 

 from the fold of the helix and projected laterally at right angles to 

 the median line of the body from one-eighth to one-quarter of an 

 inch. The sjnna helicis was thickly clothed with hairs pointing 

 towards this tuft. The child was a fair-skinned infant with very 

 dark brown hair. 



In but one case have I examined an ear completely at variance 

 with this rule. It is upon a foetal head in spirit in the Oxford 

 University Museum. No Darwin's Point is discernible and the 

 growth of hair follows an unbroken sequence round the helix. 

 This head however is abnormal in other respects, one cranium 

 growing out of another, so that it is difficult to say what import- 

 ance should be attached to it. My observations of foetal ears 

 have so far beeu inconclusive. Of some the epidermis seems 

 imperfectly developed and is hairless. In no case are very small 

 hairs easily observed whilst the subject is immersed, and when 

 removed from the spirit the lanugo clings to moist skin and it is 

 difficult to determine the direction of its natural growth. 



The Darwin's Point was not well marked, or indeed determinable, 

 upon most of the foetal ears \^hich I have examined; but no stress 

 need be laid upon this, as this feature is very variable and 

 frequently absent, as is well known. One foetal ear was remarkable 

 for having Darwin's Point directed backwards {fh^' helix being 

 unfolded as in Monkeys), aud this point was tufted with small pale 



