feits. The men protested and pledged their honour, quite as earnestly as M. Boucher de Perthes' townsmen could have done, that the implements were all genuine, till Mr. Christy quietly suggested that the long winter evenings were just coming on, so that they would have plenty of time to make a fresh batch for the spring tourists. This was too much for them, and they let him take the false implements away at his own price.

Further investigations may possibly prove either that the bone is genuine, or not. At present the discovery cannot be accepted as proved, as there are such strong grounds for suspecting that years of practice in fabricating sham antiquities, with the additional stimulant of the reward offered by M. Boucher de Perthes, have at length enabled the quarrymen to put bones and implements into the gravel so skilfully as to deceive even the Patriarch of Primeval Archæology himself.

What we want to know is if the colour on the human jaw is merely a tint, or if it permeates the internal structure, and we may hope that this point may be soon settled. It would be well to ascertain the specific gravity of the jaw. It is possible that the human remains may have been obtained from the Roman cemetery at Amiens, or the Merovingian burying ground near Montreuil, from which numerous remains are on sale at Abbeville. The ramus of the Abbeville jaw is more oblique than ordinary, and is incurved, but such forms are not uncommon in Europe, although they may be characteristic of some Australian races.

We should not expect the gravel of Abbeville to be favourable for the preservation of human remains that may have been imbedded in it. It contains no fine sands charged with mollusca in which delicate bones might be preserved.

We saw the fragment of human jaw in the collection of the Marquis de Vitré; but in this case also there is a difficulty, as the marquis had left the cave a few minutes previously to the discovery of the specimen.

NOTICE OF A CASE OF MICRO-CEPHALY.

By R. T. GORE, Esq., F.A.S.L., ETC.

I HAVE much satisfaction in offering to the Anthropological Society a contribution towards the important objects for which it is instituted, and which presents some special points of interest on a subject comparatively new in its scientific relations. Many of the members of the society are, I am aware, well acquainted with the valuable essay of Wagner on the subject (Vorstudien, Th. 2), of micro-cephaly; and, therefore, in describing the physical and mental conditions of the

case I now submit, I shall mainly limit myself to description and history, guided by a constant reference to that eminent man's production.

The individual in question, now some years dead, was for a long time (several years), under my own observation. She was a female, the offspring of healthy parents, and without any known instance of idiotcy or defective intellect in the family. She lived to her fortysecond year, and died of phthisis. Her height was about five feet, her figure slight and rather well proportioned. She menstruated with regularity for some years after puberty, but had ceased to do so for some years before death. As far as I am aware no sexual propen

sities ever showed themselves.

As regards intellect, the best expression that can be used is to say, that it was infantine; i.e. corresponding to that of a child three to four years of age, beginning to talk. She could say a few words, such as, "good," "child," " mama,' ," "morning," with tolerable distinctness; but without connection or clear meaning, and was quite incapable of anything like conversation. Her habits were decent and cleanly; but she could not feed herself, at least with any degree of method or precision. She was fond of carrying and nursing a doll. In walking, her gait was unsteady and tottering, the heels not bearing with any firmness on the ground.

As regards the skull, the photographs will give a better idea of the exterior than any description, though they, perhaps, fail to show the perfection of all the sutures, and the absence of anything like consolidation (Synostosis)—a point that negatives the notion that premature consolidation of the bony case has any effective part in bringing about the arrest of development characterizing such cases. The large orbits, with the comparatively narrow inter-orbital space, give some approximation to an ape-like character to the facial region; but, on the other hand, the transverse diameter of the face is proportionally rather large.

The best idea of the interior of the skull will be afforded by the plaster cast exhibited, which is at least fairly correct. The sphenoidal alæ (anterior), are sharply and well defined, as are also the margins of the sella turcica. The petrosal ridge is a good deal elevated, and well marked, with a very deep depression at its mesial and anterior extremity for the lodgment of the Gasserian ganglion. All foramina for nerves, etc. are proportionally large and well marked. The occipital foramen is situated far back, i.e., at a point corresponding to one-fifth of the antero-posterior diameter of the basis cranii, which measures 4.25 inches (say 106 millimetres). The greatest transverse

diameter is 3.25 inches (say 84 millimetres). The occipital foramen is 1.25 inch long (31 millimetres), and 1.125 inch wide (28 millimetres). The crista galli is well marked and projects fairly within the cranium, leaving a rather deep but narrow fossa on each side. The greatest depth of the cranium corresponds to the region of the vertex, and may be taken as 2.625 inches (68 millimetres).

The relations of the brain and cerebellum to each other are shewn by the photographs, due allowance being made for flattening unavoidably consequent on even careful suspension in spirit; though to obviate this, much care was originally taken by well supporting and maintaining a due position on and in a thick bed of horse-hair. The cast of the interior of the skull, though less sharp than could be wished, may also be relied on for the same purpose. Leaving a due estimate of the character and meaning of the cerebral convolutions as well shown in the photographs, I content myself with noting the narrowing of the anterior lobes towards the apex, the comparative breadth of the hemispheres, the well-marked separation of the posterior lobes, and their extreme shortness, whether considered absolutely, or with reference to the portion of cerebellum left uncovered. The length of the cerebrum is now, after long maceration in alcohol, 3.1 inches (77 mill.). The extreme breadth of each hemisphere is 2 inches (50 mill.). The length of the posterior lobe from the apex to a well-marked fissure at its inner margin is 11 inch (27 mill.). The portion of cerebellum left uncovered is 0.8 inch (20 mill.). The parts of the base of the brain will be seen in the photograph to be well marked and developed in due proportion to the superior parts. The cerebellum is proportionally large, and all its parts well developed, as are, also, the component parts of the medulla oblongata.

The weight of this brain is remarkably small. Carefully weighed when recent, after the membranes and vessels had been removed, it weighed 10 ounces 5 grains (avoirdupois)=4380 grains=283.75 grammes. I see no reason to doubt the correctness of the memorandum made at the time (now some years since), as I find, on again weighing it, after having been long immersed in alcohol frequently changed, that the present weight is 71⁄2 ounces (avoirdupois)=3281·75 grains=212.75 grammes, or less by, say, circa one-fourth a fair correspondence.

I abstain from any attempt to enter upon any estimate of the special development of individual convolutions, or groups of convolutions, as designated by Gratiolet and Wagner, knowing that this

matter will be subject to the observation and judgement of those who are more competent than I can pretend to be, even had I sufficient leisure to enter fully into the needful study of them. For the purpose of such judgement I trust that the photographs will be found available and adequate.

I venture on some remarks that suggest themselves on other points:

1st. The subject of this case was a female, which appears to be rather exceptional.

2nd. There is a total absence of evidence of disease having been concerned in the production of the micro-cephaly; the bones, sutures, cerebral texture and membranes being perfectly normal.

3rd. The mental condition well corresponds with the idea of arrest of development of the brain at some comparatively early period, probably during intra-uterine existence. As already stated, the mental phenomena were very similar to those of early infancy; contrasting in all respects very strongly to those which we usually associate with the conception of idiocy, in the common acceptation of that word.

4th. The weight of the brain, etc. is unusually small, being 283.75 grammes, as against 300 grammes in Theile's case (Wagner, Vorstudien 2, s. 19).

Independent of the cases of micro-cephaly enumerated by Wagner, there are some others that appear to have escaped his notice. One by Spurzheim (Anatomy of the Brain, London, 1826), figured as the brain of an idiot girl, at Cork. Of this brain I have a cast, which originally belonged to Spurzheim, and presents the closest resemblance to his figures. This cast is now in the care of Mr. Flower, Conservator of the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons.

In the appendix to his Anatomy, (London, 1830), are figures of another brain of the same character, shewn to him by the late Mr. Stanley. This, no doubt, is one of two brains, with the corresponding skulls, now in the museum at St. Bartholomew's Hospital, and carefully described in the catalogue thereof. The brain of the second (a, 123) is of a male, and stated to weigh 13 ounces, 2 drams (avoirdupois)=332 grammes. It has also been described by Professor Owen, "On the Osteology of the Chimpanzee, etc., etc." Trans. of Zoolog. Society, vol. i, p. 343.

I conclude by asking the indulgence of the members of the Anthropological Society for these hastily compiled notes on a subject that I am aware is well calculated to interest them.

172

NOTES ON SIR CHARLES LYELL'S ANTIQUITY OF MAN.*

BY JOHN CRAWFURD, Esq., F.R.S.,

PRESIDENT OF THE ETHNOLOGICAL SOCIETY. HONORARY FELLOW OF THE
ANTHROPOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON.

In his introductory remarks Mr. Crawfurd stated that in his observations on Sir Charles Lyell's book he should strictly confine himself to those branches of the subject on which he had bestowed special attention. He stated his conviction that the evidence which of late years had been adduced, giving to the presence of man on the earth an antiquity far beyond the usual estimate of it, is satisfactorily established, and that there can now be no question that man was a contemporary of animals, such as lions, hyænas, elephants, and rhinoceroses, extinct far beyond the reach of human record. Among the evidences brought forward to prove the antiquity of man, the paucity of relics of his own person, compared with the abundance of those the unquestionable work of his hands, has attracted special notice. That scarcity of human remains, compared with those of the lower animals, might, he thought, be to some extent accounted for. In the savage state man is ever few in number compared with the wild animals; and when he first appeared on earth-when naked, unarmed, without language, and even before he had acquired the art of kindling a fire, the disparity must have been still greater. In that condition he would have to contend for life and food with ferocious beasts of prey, with nothing to depend upon but a superior brain. In such circumstances the wonder is, not that he should be few in number, but that he should have been able to maintain existence at all. Sir Charles Lyell adopted the theory of the unity of the human race, which no doubt best accords with the hypothesis of the transmutation of species; but neither he nor any one else has ventured to point out the primordial stock from which the many varieties which exist proceeded. We see races of men so diverse, physically and mentally, as Europeans, negroes of Africa, negroes of New Guinea and of the Andaman Islands, Arabs, Hindus, Chinese, Malays, Red Americans, Esquimaux, Hottentots, Australians, and Polynesians. So far as our experience carries us, these races continue unchanged as long as there is no intermixture. The Ethiopian represented on Egyptian paintings four thousand years old is exactly the Ethiopian of the present day. The skeleton of an Egyptian mummy of the same date does not differ from that of a modern Copt. A Persian colony settled in Western India a thousand years ago, and rigorously refraining from intermixture with the black inhabitants, is not now to be distinguished from the descendants of their common progenitors in the parent country. Recent discoveries enable us to give additional evidence of the most instructive kind. Sir Charles Lyell himself stated, "The human skeletons Extracted from a paper read before the Ethnological Society, April 14th,