THE DESCENT OR ORIGIN OF MAN 31 



the long-continued persistence or inheritance of this power, 

 as well as of its unusual development. He knows a family 

 in which one member, the present head of the family, could, 

 when a youth, pitch several heavy books from his head by 

 the movement of the scalp alone ; and he won wagers by per- 

 forming this feat. His father, uncle, grandfather, and his 

 three children possess the same power to the same unusual 

 degree.. This family became divided eight generations ago 

 into two branches; so that the head of the above-mentioned 

 br&nch is cousin in the seventh degree to the head of the 

 other branch. This distant cousin resides in another part 

 of France, and on being asked whether he possessed the 

 same faculty, immediately exhibited his power. This case 

 offers a good illustration how persistent may be the trans- 

 mission of an absolutely useless faculty, probably derived 

 from our remote semi-human progenitors; since many 

 monkeys have, and frequently use, the power of largely 

 moving their scalps up and down." )( 



The extrinsic muscles which serve to move the external 

 ear, and the intrinsic muscles which move the different parts, 

 are in a rudimentary condition in man, and they all belong 

 to the system of the panniculus ; they are also variable in 

 development, or at least in function. I have seen one man 

 who could draw the whole ear forward ; other men can draw 

 it upward; another who could draw it backward;" and, 

 from what one of these persons told me, it is probable that 

 most of us, by often touching our ears, and thus directing 

 our attention toward them, could recover some power of 

 movement by repeated trials. The power of erecting and 

 directing the shell of the ears to the various points of the 

 compass is no doubt of the highest service to many animals, 

 'xn.€-e€ff, thus perceive the direction of danger; but I have 

 be very smaup sufficient evidence, of a man who possessed 

 complete suppressi. which might be of use to him. The 

 reduced in size, in 



■ > Emotions in Man and Animals," 1812, p. 144. 



^ Some good criticisms on Ajinuario della Soc. dei Naturalisti, " Modena, 

 and Mivart, in "Transact. Zoolog. 



