BLAKE ON THE CHAIS^IA OF ANCIENT RACES. 



209 



tion, stone, or metallic implements. The cranial appearance of the 

 skull is, however, truly remarkable, although it approaches very much 

 to the configuration of the cranium from Montrose, to v^hich I shall 

 presently allude. It is braehycephalic, the occiput being high, and 

 the supraorbital ridges well developed. The length from the glabella 

 to the occiput is 6" 5"', the breadth across the parietal tubers 5" 5'". 

 Dr. Schauffhausen states : " jS'otwithstandiiig tlie great similarity in 

 the form of the forehead between this skull and tliat from the Nean- 

 derthal, the prominence of the supraorbital ridges in the latter is 

 more marked, and they are completely continuous with the orbital 



margin, which is not the case in the former. But the skulls are 

 essentially distinguished by their general form, which in the one is 

 long-elliptical, and in the other rounded." A portion of the upper 

 jaw with the teeth, and the entire lower jaw, have been preserved, in- 

 dicating that the Plau man was orthognathous. As in most of these 

 cases, the sole chemical evidence of the antiquity of the Plau skele- 

 ton is, that "the bones are thick but very light, and adhere strongly 

 to the tongue." More exact analysis of their component parts is 

 unrecorded by Dr. Schauffhausen. 



Aiwignac {Gascony). — The human remains from this cavern, which 

 were associated, but in a way not known, with those of J^lephas pri- 

 mir/enms, Bhinoceros tichorhinus, Megaceros, etc., after their discovery, 

 fell into the hands of the mayor of Aurignac. Not regarding the in- 

 terests of science, and in order to prevent the dissemination of any 

 hypotheses on the subject amongst the Gascons, he carefully collected 



VOL. V. 2 E 



Fig. 4. — Ilumaii skull IVoni Plau (scale \ linear). 



