ANATOMICAL PECULIARITIES 141 
in form and in degree, but they never assume the 
anthropoid or Neanderthal form. Their usual develop- 
ment is that shown in fig. 46 (Combe Capelle). The 
supra-nasal or middle parts of the ridge are quite dis- 
tinguishable from the lateral or temporal parts. No doubt 
they tend to become less developed in civilised races. 
There is also no doubt that the supra-orbital ridge or 
torus is part of that bony scaffolding erected on the face 
and skull to serve the purposes of mastication. The outer 
or temporal projections of the supra-orbital ridge give 
attachment to two of the chief muscles of mastication — 
the right and left temporal muscles. The upper jaw 
sends upwards, between the eyes, supporting processes to 
transmit strains from the palate to the supra-orbital bar 
(see fig. 46). On the outer side of each orbit, the cheek 
or malar bone also reaches up to the supra-orbital bar, 
transferring to it the strains and stresses caused by other 
muscles of mastication — the masseters — which rise from 
the cheek bones and from the zygomatic arches. A fuller 
knowledge of the mechanism of mastication is likely to 
throw light on the nature of the various shapes and 
types assumed by the supra-orbital ridges. Meantime we 
simply note the fact that Neanderthal man had eyebrow 
ridges of the anthropoid type. 
We have just seen that in general form of cranial 
cavity and of supra-orbital ridges. Neanderthal man re- 
sembles anthropoid apes, while, in these features, the 
modern type of man differs from them. Are we, then, to 
conclude that Neanderthal man is directly related to, is a 
direct descendant of, an anthropoid form, while modern man 
is not ? I do not think so. We must take into account 
the condition of the supra-orbital ridges in all anthropoid 
apes. In the Malayan orang, which is a distant cousin 
to the African anthropoids — the gorilla and chimpanzee — 
the supra-orbital ridges do not form a prominent torus. 
When the outlines of the skull of a chimpanzee and 
orang are superimposed, as in fig. 48, some light is thrown 
on the cause of their great development in the former 
and slight size in the latter. In the orang the face is 
