Note on the Ancient Hitman Skull-remains from the Transvaal. 9 
The second molar measures 10-5 mm. in length, and has a maximum 
width of 9*5 mm. Its crown is not complete, but, as far as can be seen, it 
shows no trace of a posterior denticle such as appears in several primitive 
types. The second external denticle is large. 
The great length of the tooth compared with its width is a point of 
interest, even if some slight addition to the width given be made because 
of possible loss. In Bantu jaws in the Museum collection which possess the 
second molar the width is either equal to, or slightly greater than, the 
length, save in one instance, in which the tooth is 10'3 mm. long and 
10-15 mm. wide. In jaws of the Bush race the length and width of this tooth 
are approximately equal. In a semi-fossilised fragment of jaw from Harri- 
smith, recently discovered by Dr. T. F. Dreyer, and by whom permission has 
been granted for an examination to be made, the second lower molar is broken 
off at the alveolar border, where it has a length of 8 '4 mm. and a similar width 
across the anterior portion. This jaw is rather striking, in that the width 
anteriorly is much greater than the posterior width, the anterior roots being 
strongly developed in a somewhat greater degree than is seen in other jaws 
of the Bush type, with which it seems to have most affinity. In the 
Boskop jaw, however, there is apparently no such great development of the 
anterior roots. 
One noticeable feature of the fragment is the thickness of the hinder part 
of the horizontal ramus. At the back of the second premolar it begins to 
thicken appreciably, so that at the level of the front of the second molar it is 
18 mm. thick, and at the front of the third molar about 21*5 mm. A 
portion of this latter must be subtracted as a correction for displacement of 
the outer surface. In the Grimaldi male skull the thickness at the second 
molar is 19 mm., a figure which M. Yerneau points out is rarely met with 
even on the thick mandibles of the Neanderthal race. A Caucasian lower 
jaw in the possession of the South African Museum has a thickness of 
19 mm. at the second molar ; but it is an extremely massive example, and 
possesses a thickness of 16*5 mm. at the foramen mentale, whereas the Boskop 
jaw only gives 14-5 mm. at the same point. 
It has been possible to gain a very nearly perfect idea of the shape of 
the jaw, which is striking on account of its obtuseness. Comparison with 
other jaws shows that the jaw is shortened nearly as much as in the average 
European of to-day. The jaw of the Grimaldi man is long and the arcade 
narrow ; in the Australian the arcade is more open, and there is a gradual 
widening of the jaws as we trace them through the Bushman and Bantu to 
the European. Simultaneously with the shortening of the alveolar border 
and the widening of the arcade there is a thrusting forward of the chin. 
The development of the chin in the Boskop jaw — although a matter open to 
dispute — seems to be approximately equal to that in the normal Bushman 
type, and somewhat inferior to that of the Bantu. 
