On Some Fossil Remains of Man | Page 4

assume that the
former takes us to, at least, the further side of the vague biological limit,
which separates the present geological epoch from that which
immediately preceded it. And there can be no doubt that the physical
geography of Europe has changed wonderfully, since the bones of Men
and Mammoths, Hyaenas and Rhinoceroses were washed pell-mell into
the cave of Engis.
The skull from the cave of Engis was originally discovered by
Professor Schmerling, and was described by him, together with other
human remains disinterred at the same time, in his valuable work,
'Recherches sur les ossemens fossiles decouverts dans les cavernes de
la Province de Liege', published in 1833 (p. 59, 'et seq.'), from which
the following paragraphs are extracted, the precise expressions of the
author being, as far as possible, preserved.
"In the first place, I must remark that these human remains, which are
in my possession, are characterized like thousands of bones which I
have lately been disinterring, by the extent of the decomposition which
they have undergone, which is precisely the same as that of the extinct
species: all, with a few exceptions, are broken; some few are rounded,
as is frequently found to be the case in fossil remains of other species.
The fractures are vertical or oblique; none of them are eroded; their
colour does not differ from that of other fossil bones, and varies from
whitish yellow to blackish. All are lighter than recent bones, with the
exception of those which have a calcareous incrustation, and the
cavities of which are filled with such matter.
"The cranium which I have caused to be figured, Plate I., Figs. 1, 2, is
that of an old person. The sutures are beginning to be effaced: all the
facial bones are wanting, and of the temporal bones only a fragment of
that of the right side is preserved.
"The face and the base of the cranium had been detached before the
skull was deposited in the cave, for we were unable to find those parts,
though the whole cavern was regularly searched. The cranium was met
with at a depth of a metre and a half [five feet nearly], hidden under an
osseous breccia, composed of the remains of small animals, and

containing one rhinoceros tusk, 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.
FIG. 22.--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* 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.
[footnote] *Decas Collectionis suae craniorum diversarum gentium
illustrata. Gottingae, 1790-1820.
"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