576 THE NEANDERTHAL SKULL 
it is not so’plain as the coronal, and far less obvious than the lamb- 
doidal suture. 
(4)—I must ask, what has arching of the calvaria in the supra- 
occipital region to do with the “ want of space” for the posterior lobes 
of the cerebrum? Surely a local bulging does not interfere with the 
flatness of the skull as a whole? And I have been careful to point 
out that “ notwithstanding the flattened condition of the occiput, the 
posterior cerebral lobes must have projected considerably beyond the 
cerebellum.”—*“ Man’s Place, &c.” p. 143. 
(5)—As to the last paragraph (if it refers to any supposed opinion 
of mine) I can only account for it by supposing that Professor Mayer 
has not done me the honour to read what I have published on this 
subject. At least, it is inconceivable to me that he should have so 
written with the two paragraphs before him, which I will venture to 
quote :— 
“In no sense then can the Neanderthal bones be regarded as the 
remains of a human being intermediate between men and apes.’”— 
(Man’s Place in Nature,” p. 157). 
“In conclusion, | may say that the fossil remains of Man hitherto 
discovered do not seem to me to take us appreciably nearer to that 
lower pithecoid form, by the modification of which he has, probably 
become what he is .”—(zdzd. p. 159). 
After the somewhat infelicitous introductory remarks, which I 
have just ventured to criticise, Professor Mayer proceeds to communi- 
cate the results of his own observations upon the skull. These I give 
at length, in order that the judicious reader may have the means, by 
comparison with what is already extant, of forming his own judg- 
ment upon the value of Professor Mayer’s additions to our extant 
information :— 
“The calvaria in question is dolichocephalic, the longitudinal 
measurement of it, from the supraciliary arch to the occipital spine 
amounting to 7” 9". The contour of its circumference is of such a 
kind that a depression succeeds to the very considerable projection of 
the supraciliary arches, after which the frontal region slightly rises 
again, then sinks little, and next slightly ascending forms a flat parietal 
arch ; this, descending backwards, sinks again, and then descends as a 
considerable convexity from the summit of the squama occipitis (the 
lambdoid suture of which is visible externally, and internally though 
but faintly), occupying almost the whole of the occipital squama. 
“ The beautiful arching of the occipital bone is remarkable from 
the circumstance that its crest and spine project but little, shewing a 
slight development of the muscles of the neck, and leading one to. 
