the
occipital protuberance and superior semicircular curved line on the
exterior of the occiput correspond pretty closely with the 'lateral
sinuses' and the line of attachment of the tentorium internally. But
on the tentorium rests, as I have said in the preceding Essay, the
posterior lobe of the brain; and hence, the occipital protuberance, and
the curved line in question, indicate, approximately, the lower limits
of that lobe. Was it possible for a human being to have the brain thus
flattened and depressed; or, on the other hand, had the muscular ridges
shifted their position? In order to solve these doubts, and to decide
the question whether the great supraciliary projections did, or did
not, arise from the development of the frontal sinuses, I requested Sir
Charles Lyell to be so good as to obtain for me from Dr. Fuhlrott, the
possessor of the skull, answers to certain queries, and if possible a
cast, or at any rate drawings, or photographs, of the interior of the
skull.

[Illustration: FIG. 25.--The skull from the Neanderthal cavern. A. side,
B. front, and C. top view. One-third the natural size, by Mr. Busk: the
details from the cast and from Dr. Fuhlrott's photographs. 'a' glabella;
'b' occipital protuberance; 'd' lambdoidal suture.]

Dr. Fuhlrott replied with a courtesy and readiness for which I am
infinitely indebted to him, to my inquiries, and furthermore sent three
excellent photographs. One of these gives a side view of the skull, and
from it Fig. 25, A. has been shaded. The second (Fig. 26, A.) exhibits
the wide openings of the frontal sinuses upon the inferior surface of
the frontal part of the skull, into which, Dr. Fuhlrott writes, "a probe
may be introduced to the depth of an inch," and demonstrates the great
extension of the thickened supraciliary ridges beyond the cerebral
cavity. The third, lastly (Fig. 26, B.) exhibits the edge and the
interior of the posterior, or occipital, part of the skull, and shows
very clearly the two depressions for the lateral sinuses, sweeping
inwards towards the middle line of the roof of the skull, to form the
longitudinal sinus. It was clear, therefore, that I had not erred in
my interpretation, and that the posterior lobe of the brain of the
Neanderthal man must have been as much flattened as I suspected it to
be.

In truth, the Neanderthal cranium has most extraordinary characters.
It has an extreme length of 8 inches, while its breadth is only 5.75
inches, or,