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100 Part Two /1856 to 1890
primitive peoples could not attain civilization through their own efforts
went on to suggest that civilization was a revealed gift from the Deity
to those favored peoples who were deserving of it at some period sub
sequent to the Fall. A second attack from the upholders of traditional
concepts of human origins involved the idea of macromutation: man is the
result of a divinely directed and sudden genetic leap from an animal that
was morphologically an anthropoid to a creature endowed with human
powers of cerebration, culture, and language. It is ironic that the concept
of mutation, once believed to give the coup de grace to theories of human
evolution, should today hold a necessary place in genetic interpretation of
this problem.
The final sallies of the anti-evolutionists were somewhat resolved to
the satisfaction of both parties through Wallace's hypothesis of human
cerebral evolution. Like de Quatrefages and Topinard, Wallace recognized
that the fossil discoveries made thus far in Europe were morphologically
not very different from various kinds of living hominids of different racial
groups in the world today. Even the more unusual Neanderthal Man had a
cranial capacity within the range of modern racial norms. Wallace suggested
that man's physical development had been very slow in its evolution, but
that once man was morphologically differentiated from his apish kin heremained physically stable for all time. However, he argued, the human
brain was a new feature in biological history that evolved since the Mid
Tertiary, any further phYsical development in man being unnecessary and
so impossible. Thus freed from the process of natural selection, man became
a very special creature in the biotic realm, but since, in Wallace's view,
intellectual development does not have any physical manifestation, it is not
surprising that the cranial capacities of certain fossil specimens should fall
within the same size range as the capacities of man today. The Degenera
tionists appreciated this theory since it distinguished man from the other
creatures of the natural world. The evolutionists liked it for its generous
time allowance for human evolution, particularly at a time when physicists
were seeking to estimate scientifically the age of the earth and the duration
of man's life on it. But after the discovery of Pithecanthropus in 1890-91,
these arguments for a large-brained human progenitor lost their vitality.
On Some Fossil Remains of Ma n
Thomas Henry Huxley
1863
I have endeavoured to show in
the preceding Essay, that the
Anthropini, or Ma n Family, form a
\'ery well defined group of the Pri
mates, between which and the im
mediately following Family, the
Catarhini, there is, in the existing
world, the same entire absence of
any transitional form or connecting
link, as between the C a t ~ l r h i n i an d
Platyrhini.
It is a commonly received doc
trine, however, that the structural
intervals between the various exist
ing modifications of org.1 nic beings
may be diminished. or even obliter
ated, if we take into account the
long and varied succession of ani
mals an d plants which hm'e pre
cedE'd those now living an d which
are known to us only by their fossilized remains. Ho w far this doc
trine is well based, how far, on the
other hand, as knowledge at present
stands, it is an overstatement of the
real facts of the case. and an ex
aggeration of the conclusions birly
deducible from them, are points of
grave importance, bu t into the dis
cussion of which I do not, at pres
ent, propose to enter. It is enough
that such a view of the relations of
extinct to living beings has been
propounded, to lead us to inquire,
with anxiety, how far the recent dis
coveries of human remains in a fossil
state bear out, or OppOSE', that view.T shall confine myself, in discus
sing this question, to those fragmen
tary Human skulls from the caves
of Engis in the valley of the : ~ v l e u s e , in Belgium, an d o[ the Neanderthal
near Dusseldorf, the geological rela
tions of which have been examined
with so much care by Sir CharIcs
Lyell; upon whose high authority I
shall take it [or granted, that the
Engis skull belonged to a contem
porary of the Milmmoth (Elephas
jnimigenius) an d of the woolly
Rhinoceros (Rhinoceru5 tichorhi-
!lus), with the bones of which it was
found associilted: and that the
Neanderthill skull is o[ great, though
uncertain, antiquity. Whatever be
the geological age of the latter skull,
"O n Some Fo"il Remains of l\1an." ,Han's Place in Nature. Essay 3, pp .
1:19-41, 165-67, 180-81. Univer,ity of Michigan, Ann Arbor, \959. "O n
Some Fossil Remains of Man." Evidence as to .Wan's Place in Nature. Essay ~ J Williams and Norgate, London an d Edinburgh, \863.
101
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T
102Part Two / 1856 to 1890
a
Fig. I. The skull from thl: c<n e of Eng;s--Y;e\\ cd from the right side. Olle
half the size of nature a glabella, b occipital protuberance. (a to b glabello.occipital linl:), c auditory foramen.
I concein' it is quite safe (on the ceroses were washed pell-mell intoordinary principles of paleontologi the cave of Engis.
ca l reasoning) to ;lssume that the
fOJ me r takes us to, at least, the fur
ther side of the vague biologiGdSuch are the two best known
limit which s ~ p a r a t e s the presentforms of human cranium, \I'hich
geological epoch from that which hm e been found in what may beimmedia tely preceded it. And there
fairly termed a fossil state. Ca nG1I1 be no doubt that the physical either be shown to fill up or dimingeography of Europe has changed ish, to any appreciable extent, thewonderfully since the bones of Mc n
structur,tl interval which exists bean d .Mammoths, Hyzenas and Rhino.
tween .Man an d the man-like apes?
Thomas Henry Huxley / Somc Fossil Rcmains of Man
Or , on the other hand, does neither projection of the posterior lobe be
depart more widely from the an'rage yond the cerebellum. Finally, as all
structure of the human cranium, the world knows, the hair an d skin
than normally formed skulls of me n of human beings 111<1y present the
ar e knO\vn to do at the present day? most extraordinary diversities in
It is impossible to form any opin colour an d in texture.
ion on these questions, without somc So fa r as ou r present knowledge
preliminary acquaintance with thc goes, the majority of th e structural
range of variation exhibited by Imvarieties to which allusion is here
ma n structure in general-a subject made, arc individual. Th e ape-like
which has becn bu t imperfectly arrangement of certain muscles
studied, while f'\Tn of what is which is occasionally me t with! in
known, my limits will necessarily the white races of mankind, is no t
allow me to give only a \'Cry imper known to be more common among
fect sketch. Negroes or Australians: nor be
Th e student of anatomy is per· cause the brain of the Hottentot
fectly well aware that there is no t Venus was found to be smoother, to
a single organ of the human body have its com'olutions more symmet
the structure of which does no t vary, rically disposed, an d to bc, so far,
to a greater or less extent, in difIcr more ape-like than that of ordinary
en t individuals. Th e skeleton v-aries Europeans, are we justified in con
in the proportions, an d e\Tn to a cluding a like condition of the brain
ccrtain extent in the connexions, of to pre\'ail universally among the
its constitucnt boncs. Th e musclcs lower ran's of mankind, howe\-er
which move the bones vary largely probable that conclusion ma y be.
in their attachments. Th e varieties \\'e are, in fact, s'ldly wanting in
in the mode of distribution of the informa tiol1 respecting the disposi
arteries ar e ca rcfully classified, on tion of the soft an d destructible
account of the practical importance organs of e\Try Race of .M3nkind
of a knowledge of their shiftings to but our own: and even of th e skele
the surgeon. Th e characters of the ton, ou r ~ l u s e u I l l s are lamentably
brain \'ary immensely, nothing being deficient in cvery part but the cra
less constant than the form ,md size nimH. Skulls enough there are, an d
of th e cerebral hemispheres, an d the since the time when Blumenbachrichness of the con\'olutions upon and Camper fin-;t called attention to
their surface, while the most change the lllarked an d singular difIerences
able structures of all in the human which they exhibit, skull collecting
brain, are exactly those on which an d skull measuring has been ,I
the unwise attempt has been made zealously pursued branch of Natural
to base th e distincti\'e characters of History, an d the results obtained
humanity, viz. the posterior cornu1 See an excellent Essay hy Mr.
of the lateral \'entricle, the hippoCllllrch on the 11yology of the Orang, in
campus minor, an d th e degree of the Natural History Review, for 1861.
.......
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104
105
ha ve been arranged an d classified by
various writers, among whom the
late active an d able Retzius must
always be the first named.
An d now, to return to the fossil
skulls, an d to the rank which they
occupy among, or beyond, these
existing varieties of cranial confor
mation. In the first place, I must
remark, that, as Professor Schmer
ling well observed in commenting
upon the Engis skull, the formation
of a safe judgment upon the ques-
tion is greatly hindered by the
absence of the jaws from both the
crania, so that there is no means
of deciding, with certainty, whether
they were more or less prognathous
than the lower existing races of man
kind. And yet, as we have seen, it ismore in this respect than any other,
that human skulls vary, towards an d
from, the brutal type--the brain case
of an average dolidlocephalic E uro
pean differing fa r less from that of
a Negro, for example, than his jaws
do. In th e absence of the jaws, then,
any judgment on the relations of
the fossil skulls to recent Races must
be accepted with a certain resen'a
tion.
But taking the evidence as it
stands, an d turning first to the Engis
skull, I confess 1 can find no charac
ter in the remains of that cranium
which, if it were a recent skull,
would gi\'e any trustworthy clue as
to the Race to which it might ap
pertain. I ts contours an d measure
ments agree very well with those of
some Australian skulls which I ha w
examined-and especially has it a
Part Two /1856 to 1890
tendency towards that occipital flat-
tening, to the great extent of which,
in some Australian skulls, I ha\'e
alluded. Bu t all Australian skulls do
not present this Battening, an d the
supraciliary ridge of the Engis skull
is quite unlike that of the typical
Australians.
On the other hand, its measure
ments agree equally well with those
of SOllle European skulls. An d
assuredly, there is no mark of degra
dation about any part of its struc
ture. It is, in fact, a fair average
human skull, which might have be-
longed to a philosopher, or might
have contained the thoughtless
brains of a sa\'age.
Th e case of the l'\eanderthal skull
is \'ery different. L'nder whatever
aspect we view this cranium,
whether we regard its \Trtical depression, the enormous thickness of
its supraciliary ridges, its sloping oc-
ciput, or its long an d straight
squamosal suture, we meet with ape
like characters, stamping it as the
most pithecoid of human crania yet
discovered. But Professor Schaaff
hausen s t ~ l t e s that the cranium, in
its present condition, holds 1033.24
cubic centimetres of water, or about
63 cubic inches, an d as the entire
skull could hardly have held less
than an additional 12 cubic inches,
its capacity may be estimated at
about 7:5 cubic inches, which is the
average capacity given by "'forton
for Polynesian and Hottentot skulls.
So large a mass of brain as this,
would alone suggest that the pithe
coid tendencies, indicated by this
skull, did not extend deep into the
organization; an d this conclusion is
Thomas Henry Huxley / Some Fossil Remains of Ma n
borne out by the dinwnsiolls of the
other bones of the skeleton given by
Professor S c h ~ l a f f h a l l s e n , \vhicll show
that the absolute height ;llld relatin'
proportions of the limbs \\Tre quite
those of ~ l J l European of middle
stature. Th e bOlles ~ I r e indel'd stout
er, but this an d the great den·lop
ment of the muscular ridges notedby J)r. Schaaffhausen. are characters
to be t'xpected in savages. Th e Pata
gonians, exposed without shelter or
protection to a clillla te poss ibly not
very dissimilar from that of Europe
at th e time during which the .l'\ean-
c1erthal n l ~ l I l lived. are remarkable
for the stoutness of their limb bones.
III no sense, then, call the .l'\ean-
derthal bones be rcgarded ;IS t i l l '
rem;lills of a human being inter
mediate bet\H'en },fen an d Apes. At
most, they demonstrate the existence
of ;1 :\lan \vhose skull mZlY be sZlid
to r e \ ' l ~ r t somewhat tow;uds the
pithecoid type- jus t ZlS a C ~ l l T i e r , or
;1 Pouter, or a Tumbler, lllay some-
tiIlles put 011 tlw plumage of its
primitive stock, the Colulllba livia.
An d indeed, though truly the most
pithecoid of known human skulls,
the Nc;mderthZlI craniUlll is by no
means so isolated as it appears to be
at first. bu t forms, in reZllity, the
extreme term of ZI series leading
gradually from it to the highest an d
best den:loped of 11lIIllZln crania. On
the on e hand, it is closl'ly approached
by the flattelled Australian skulls, of
which I hZl\'e spoken, frOlll \vhich
other Australian forms lead us grad
ually up to skulls having \Try Illuch
the type of the Engis cranium. And,
on the other hand, it is e n ~ l l more
closely Zlffined to the skulls of certain
ancient people who inhabited Den
11l;lrk during the 'stone period,' and
were probably either contemporane
ous \\'ith, or hter than, the makers
of the 'I'dusc h e ~ l ps,' or 'K jokken
mijddings' of that country.
Th c correspondence between the
10ngitudinZlI contour of the ::\eander
thai skull and that of SOIlle of thoseskulls from the tUll1uli at Rorreby,
\Try ;Iccurate drawings of which
h a n ~ been made by :\11'. Rusk, is
\'erv close. Th e occiput is quite as
retreating, tile supraciliary ridges are
nearly as prominent, and the skull is
as low. Furthnmore, the Borreby
skull resembles the ~ e a n d e r t h ; l l form
more closely than allY of the Aus
trZllian skulls do. by the much more
rapid retrocession of the foreheZld.
On th e other halld, the Rorreby
skulls are all somewhat broader, in
proportion to their length, tlwn the
::\eaderthal skull, while some attain
that proportion of breadth to length
(flO: ] (0 ) which consti tutes brachy
ceplJaly.
In conclusioll, I may SZlY, that the
fossil l('mains of .'.fan hithnto dis-
con'red do not seem to me to tZlke
lIS appreciably nearer to that lower
pithecoid fonll, by the modification
of \\hich he has, probably, become
what he is. And considering whZlt isnO\\' known of the most Zlncient
Races of men; seeing tlwt they fash-
ioned flint aXl'S an d flint knives and
bone-ske\\ers, of much the same pat
tern as those fabricated by the lowest
s;I\'ages at the present day, and that
\\'e h a n ~ every reason to believe the
habits Zlnd modes of living of such
people to hZlve remained the sallie
from the time of the ,Mammoth alld
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107
..,..
Lyell / Post-Pliocene: Bones of Ma n
await the researches of some unbornthe tichorhine Rhinoceros till now,
I do not know that this result is paleontologist?
Time will show. But, in the meanother than might be expected.
\Vhere. then, must we look for while, if any form of the doctrine
of progressive development is corp r i l 1 1 ~ e v a l .Man? \Vas the oldestrect, we must extend by long epochsJIomo sajJicl/s pliocene or miocene,the most liberal estimate that has
yet been made of the antiquity ofor yet more ancient:' In still older
strata do the fossilized bones of an
Ape more anthropoid, or a ~ 1 a n Man.
more pithecoid, than any yet known
Post-Pliocene Period: Bones of Man and
Extinct Mammalia in Belgian Caves.
Post-Pliocene Period: Fossil Human Skulls of
the Neanderthal and Engis Caves
Charles Lyell1863
Post-Pliocene period-bones DISCOVERIES OF MM. Tt :RNAL AN D
of man and extinct CHRISTOL IN 1828, II'." TH E S OUT H
mammalia in Belgian caves OF FI{AI'."CE
Having hitherto considered those
formations in which both the fossil
In the Principles of Geology,
when treating of the fossil remains
found in alluvium, an d the mu d ofshells and the mammalia are of liv
ing species, we may now turn our
attention to those of older date, in
caverns, I gave an account in 1832
of the investigations made by MM .
Tournai and Christal in the South
which the shells being all recent, of France. 1some of the accompanying mam ~ Tournai stated in his memoir,malia are extinct, or belong to that in the cavern of Bize, in thespecies not known to ha\'e lived
within the times of history or tradi l I s t cd. vol. ii. ch. xiv., 1832; an d
tion. 9tfl cd. p. 738, 185:3.
"Post-Pliocene Period: Bones of Ma n and Extince Mammalia in BelgianCa\'Cs." "Post-Pliocene Period: Fossil Human Skulls of the Neanderthal and
Engis Caves." Th e (;eological E"idences of the A ntiquity of jl,[an with
Fig. 2. Ancient Dani. 'h skull from a tumulus at Borreby;
natural size. From a calU('[a lucida drawing by Mr . Busk.
one-third of th eRemarks on Theories of the Origin of Species by Variation. Chapter 4,
59-74; Chapter 5, pp. 75-80, 92. John Murray, London, 1863.
pp .
106
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