k, with several teeth of horses and of
ruminants. This breccia, which has been spoken of above (p. 30), was a
metre [3 1/4 feet about] wide, and rose to the height of a metre and
a half above the floor of the cavern, to the walls of which it adhered
strongly.

"The earth which contained this human skull exhibited no trace of
disturbance: teeth of rhinoceros, horse, hyaena, and bear, surrounded it
on all sides.

[Illustration: FIG. 23.--The skull from the cave of Engis--viewed from
the right side. 'a' glabella, 'b' occipital protuberance, ('a' to 'b'
glabello-occipital line), 'c' auditory foramen.]

"The famous Blumenbach [1] has directed attention to the differences
presented by the form and the dimensions of human crania of different
races. This important work would have assisted us greatly, if the
face, a part essential for the determination of race, with more or less
accuracy, had not been wanting in our fossil cranium.

"We are convinced that even if the skull had been complete, it would not
have been possible to pronounce, with certainty, upon a single specimen;
for individual variations are so numerous in the crania of one and the
same race, that one cannot, without laying oneself open to large chances
of error, draw any inference from a single fragment of a cranium to the
general form of the head to which it belonged.

"Nevertheless, in order to neglect no point respecting the form of this
fossil skull, we may observe that, from the first, the elongated and
narrow form of the forehead attracted our attention.

"In fact, the slight elevation of the frontal, its narrowness, and
the form of the orbit, approximate it more nearly to the cranium of
an Ethiopian than to that of an European: the elongated form and the
produced occiput are also characters which we believe to be observable
in our fossil cranium; but to remove all doubt upon that subject I have
caused the contours of the cranium of an European and of an Ethiopian to
be drawn and the foreheads represented. Plate II., Figs. 1 and 2, and,
in the same plate, Figs. 3 and 4, will render the differences easily
distinguishable; and a single glance at the figures will be more
instructive than a long and wearisome description.

"At whatever conclusion we may arrive as to the origin of the man from
whence this fossil skull proceeded, we may express an opinion without
exposing ourselves to a fruitless controversy. Each may adopt the
hypothesis which seems to hi