THE BRAIN OF FOSSIL MAN 411 
by a narrow area, less than 8 mm. wide, lying between 
the second temporal convolution and the orbital part 
of the third frontal. It would be a very remarkable 
condition if the second and third temporal convolutions 
were so well developed as they are in the Piltdown brain, 
and the first reduced to such a narrow limit at its anterior 
end. The explanation I offer of this anomaly is that in 
articulating the temporal bone, which contains the greater 
part of the temporal lobe of the brain, Dr Smith 
Woodward tilted it too far forwards. The great wing 
of the sphenoid was prevented from taking its due 
share in the formation of the wall of the brain cavity. 
When the sphenoid is given its fair share, as in fig. 147, 
the abnormal contraction of the first temporal convolution 
disappears. Indeed, if the restoration just suggested is 
the right one, then the temporal lobe of the Piltdown 
brain differs very slightly from the corresponding lobe 
in the brain cast of a modern native Australian or of an 
average European. 
When the temporal bone is articulated as in fig. 147 
another feature disappears from the temporal lobe of the 
Piltdown brain. Professor Elliot Smith has drawn 
attention to the manner in which this lobe is bent 
inwards on the base of the brain. The same feature 
is present, but to a less extent, in the Gibraltar brain 
cast and in brain casts of anthropoids. We have a 
reasonable explanation for the sharp inward bend of the 
temporal lobe in Neanderthal brain casts. In Neanderthal 
skulls, as in those of anthropoid apes, the brain chamber is 
flattened, as if the vault had been compressed towards the 
base. The shape of the brain explains why the temporal 
lobe in these cases is bent inwards. In the Piltdown man 
the sharp inward bend of the temporal lobe results from 
the manner in which the reconstruction was originally 
carried out. When the side of the skull is moved 
outwards so as to bring the parts on the vault into their 
just relationship with the middle line, and at the same 
time the temporal bone adjusted so as to give room for 
the great wing of the sphenoid, the inward bend of the 
