THE DESCENT OR ORIGIN OF MAN 



33 



The celebrated sculptor, Mr. "Woolner, informs me of one 

 little peculiarity in the external ear, which he has often ob- 

 served both in men and women, and of which he perceived 

 the full significance. His attention was first called to the 

 subject while at work on his figure of Puck, to which he 

 had given pointed ears. He was thus led to examine the 

 ears of various monkeys, and sul^sequently more carefully 

 those of man. The peculiarity consists in a little blunt 

 point, projecting from the inwardly folded margin, or helix. 

 "When present, it is developed at birth, and, according to 

 Prof. Ludwig Meyer, more frequently in man than in wo- 

 man. Mr. "Woolner made an exact model of one such case, 

 and sent me the accompanying draw- 

 ing (Fig. 2). These points not only 

 project inward toward the centre of 

 the ear, but often a little outward from 

 its plane, so as to be visible when the 

 head is viewed from directly in front 

 or behind. They are variable in size, 

 and somewhat in position, standing 

 either a little higher or lower; and 

 they sometimes occur on one ear and 

 not on the other. They are not con- 



j^j, T ■ J s TT, J ^o- 2.— Human Ear, modellei 



fined to mankind, tor i observed a and drawn by Mr. Woo'ner. 

 J. ,1 . n 1 a. The projeetinff point 



case m one oi the spider-monkeya 



{Ateles beehebuth) in our Zoological Gardens; and Dr. E. Eay 

 Lankester informs me of another case in a chimpanzee in the 

 gardens at Hamburg. The helix obviously consists of the 

 extreme margin of the ear folded inward ; and this folding 

 appears to be in some manner connected with the whole ex- 

 ternal ear being permanently pressed backward. In many 

 monkeys, which do not stand high in the order, as baboons 

 and some species of Macacus, ^' the upper portion of the ear 

 is slightly pointed, and the margin is not at all folded in- 



'^ See alao some remarks, and the drawings of the ears of the Lemuroidea, 

 in Messrs. Murie and Mivart's excellent paper in "Transact. Zoolog. Soc," voL 

 vii., 1869, pp. 6 and 90. 



