The Neanderthal Skull. METHOUGHT I was seated one summer evening of the year 2085, in St. James' Hall, Piccadilly. It was filled with a vast assemblage of people, amongst whom I recognised celebrities who had long passed away, as well as many who were still in the land of the living. Suddenly the green curtain was drawn up, when I beheld in the middle of the stage a table, on which was placed a large charger, or dish, containing a skull, very like one seen at the Polytechnic Exhibition some years ago, when Professor Pepper appeared to make the head minus its trunk talk in the usual way. An undefined sensation ran through the assembly; loud exclamations of surprise were uttered on all sides, in the midst of which a voice exclaimed, "Why, it is the exact counterpart of the NEANDERTHAL SKULL!" on which another voice, apparently that of Professor Huxley, remarked, "It is the most ape-like skull I ever saw." I then recollected having read of a meeting of savans held at Bonn, in 1857, when this famous skull was produced, having been found not long before in a cave close to the village of Neanderthal. It then excited great interest in the scientific world, though many doubted whether it belonged to the simian or the human race. When it was exhibited by Professor Shafenhausen at the Swansea Meeting of the British Association in 1880, Professor Rolleston took the skull lovingly in his arms, and declared his unhesitating belief that it was not that of an ape nor of an idiot, but that of a savage man about 50 years of age, with a small brain, but well able to hold his own in the struggle for existence. And Carl Vögt, a strong partisan of the Atheistic development theory, acknowledged that one of his best friends, a man of great distinction, had precisely the same conformation of the occiput. On the other hand, many supposed the Neanderthal skull to be either that of an intellectual ape of the highest order, or else the veritable missing link for which speculative savans have been so long searching, and hitherto in vain. Dr. Bernard Davis considered that "the form of the Neanderthal skull was the result of a synoptasis ;" and as this then newly-coined word technically means "ossification of the sutures," being derived from the Greek sun-ousia, which the lexicon describes as "a meeting of friends," we may conclude that the skull acquired its apelike shape from its converse with such a large family party as were gathered in the scientific circle at Bonn. Suddenly a voice was heard issuing from the interior of the skull, which recalled to mind a tradition current in medieval times respecting the skull of a * See Dr. Davis' Essay on the subject, in the first volume of the Anthropological Review. Christian martyr found in the Roman catacombs, which was said to have rewarded its discoverer by informing him of its name, age, and some interesting antecedents, the truth of which was confirmed by a learned Canonist explaining that “it was without doubt an angel which did speak in the skull."* As soon as the vast assembly had sufficiently expressed their opinions on the object before them, and had subsided into that happy state of silence which betokens the height of expectation, the voice from the skull delivered the following address: SPEECH OF THE NEANDERTHAL SKULL. Gentlemen, and with your permission I will add, dear Relatives and Friends, I might begin my address with the usual formula, "Unaccustomed as I am to public speaking," for many centuries have rolled by since I last addressed such a learned assembly, and my old jaws have * Alphonsus Mendoza, Controv. Theol. Quæst. vi. Scholiast, § 5. grown rusty for want of practice in the art of elocution. I will, however, try to do my best, while trusting to your kind indulgence for the mistakes I may commit on the present occasion. During my long retirement I have witnessed with much satisfaction the wonderful advance of Science in these latter days, in its various branches, more especially in that which relates to the human race, as the Greek philosopher Epicurus justly remarked "We are a sufficient theme for contemplation, the one for the other." And one of your own poets sings in the same strain, when he says "Know thou thyself, presume not man tò scan, It is truer now than it was two centuries ago, when the erratic Lord Chancellor Brougham gave utterance to his memorable saying, "The schoolmaster is abroad;" and I am sanguine enough to believe that his travels have not yet come to an end. |