AN EXPERIMENT IN RECONSTRUCTION 365 
halves of the skull have the appearance of being 
symmetrical (fig, 130, A). The right half, however, 
is really the larger, and when we examine the details 
it is at once seen, as already pointed out, that the right 
and left halves of the lambdoidal suture are altogether 
unlike. No animal skull has ever been seen with such 
a degree of asymmetry of the two sides of the occipital 
bone. Professor Elliot Smith is of opinion ^ that a slight 
adjustment of the parietal fragments will remove those 
defects and leave the brain capacity much of the same size 
as represented in Dr Smith Woodward's reconstruction. 
PILTDOWN (A) PILTDOWN (B) 
Fig. 130. — Occipital view of Dr Smith Woodward's original reconstruction of the 
Piltdown skull (A) contrasted with a reconstruction carried out according to 
the identifications of the middle line by Professor Elliot Smith. 
In fig. 130, B, another reconstruction of the Piltdown 
skull is reproduced. In this reconstruction the middle 
vertical line of the diagram cuts the hinder angle of 
the left parietal fragment at the point where Professor 
Elliot Smith believes he can detect definite signs of the 
suture between the right and left parietal bones. If 
that is the position of the suture — for I can see no trace 
nor sign of it — then that point must be placed in the 
middle line of our reconstruction. The left parietal, in 
fig. 130, B, has been orientated on the middle line as 
1 See Nature^ I9'3, ^'ol. xcii. p. 318. Also (2uarterly Journ. Geol. Soc, 
1914, vol. Ixx. p. 95. 
