1913-14.] The Place in Nature of the Tasmanian Aboriginal. 171 
The Physical Relations of the Australian and Tasmanian to 
the Spy-Neandertal Race. 
It has repeatedly been stated that the Australian aboriginal is, in his 
physical construction, so closely related to the Spy-Neandertal men as to 
justify the assumption that they are of the same race, or at all events have 
been derived from the same stock. Thus Klaatsch (18) says, “ The general 
formation of the skull capsule and the form of the facial skeleton have 
led him to the conclusion that the Australian and the Neandertal race 
have many features in common as heirlooms from a common primitive 
stock from which the Australian and the Neandertal race have developed 
in different directions.” 
von Luschan (19) probably shares this belief, for he says, “The primi- 
tive qualities or characters (Eigenschaften) of the Australian show a con- 
siderable amount of similarity with similar characteristics of the oldest 
European man, which possibly underlies a real relationship.” 
Stratz (20), in advancing his ideas for the correct racial divisions of 
mankind, says that amongst the “ protomorphic ” races he regards the 
modern Australian as amongst those which stand nearest to the oldest 
monogenetic common primitive stock. 
Schoetensack (21), in advancing his theory that man originated in 
Australia, states that in Pliocene times the fauna of Australia contained 
not even one single dangerous rival for the evolution of man. Many 
human varieties could have developed themselves under these conditions, 
and the modern Australian is even to-day extraordinarily rich in varieties ; 
the closely allied form relations of the oldest European human species 
(Spy-Neandertal) turns one’s thoughts towards the emigration of such a 
variety. 
Alsberg (13) agrees with Klaatsch as to the primitive nature of the 
Australian and points to the Neandertal species as a step in the ancestral 
series. 
In view of the above opinions — and they could be multiplied — we thought 
that it would be of some interest to apply Mollison’s variation index to the 
alleged relationship of Australian and Spy-Neandertal. For this purpose 
we have employed the 32 form analysis observations only, as it is obvious 
that the 14 general craniological characteristics, including as they do 
orbital and nasal measurements and indices, are not available for the Spy- 
Neandertal group. 
In fig. 6 the variation index of the three Spy-Neandertal crania is 
plotted out upon our 100 Australians as a basis. A glance at the resulting 
