gin, or helix. When
present, it is developed at birth, and, according to Prof. Ludwig
Meyer, more frequently in man than in woman. Mr. Woolner made an
exact model of one such case, and sent me the accompanying
drawing.... The helix obviously consists of the extreme margin of
the ear folded inwards; and the folding appears to be in some
manner connected with the whole external ear being permanently
pressed backwards. In many monkeys, which do not stand high in the
order, as baboons and some species of macacus, the upper portion of
the ear is slightly pointed, and the margin is not at all folded
inwards; but if the margin were to be thus folded, a slight point
would necessarily project towards the centre.... The following
wood-cut is an accurate copy of a photograph of the foetus of an
orang (kindly sent me by Dr. Nitsche), in which it may be seen how
different the pointed outline of the ear is at this period from its
adult condition, when it bears a close general resemblance to that
of man [including even the occasional appearance of the projecting
point shown in the preceding woodcut]. It is evident that the
folding over of the tip of such an ear, unless it changed greatly
during its further development, would give rise to a point
projecting inwards[8].

[8] _Descent of Man_, 2nd ed., pp. 15-16.

[Illustration: FIG. 20.--Human ear, modelled and drawn by Mr.
Woolner. _a_, the projecting point.]

[Illustration: FIG. 21.--Foetus of an Orang. Exact copy of a
photograph, showing the form of the ear at this early stage.]

The following woodcut serves still further to show vestigial
resemblances between the human ear and that of apes. The last two
figures illustrate the general resemblance between the normal ear of
foetal man and the ear of an adult orang-outang. The other two figures
on the lower line are intended to exhibit occasional modifications of
the adult human ear, which approximate simian characters somewhat more
closely than does the normal type. It will be observed that in their
comparatively small lobes these ears resemble those of all the apes; and
that while the outer margin of one is not unlike that of the Barbary
ape, the outer margin of the other follows those of the chimpanzee and
orang. Of course it would be easy to select individual human ears which
present either of these characters