The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1873-08-04

A HUMAN SKULL FOUND IN SOLID Rock
ISt. Louis observation-disclosures were
given of Il human skeleton unearthed by the
quarry men in Neander valley, near the Dus.
sci. at Elbenfeldt, in Rhenish Prussia. The
professors pronounced it to be Of great an
tiu,lity. and were of the opinion that the
Neander man, whose bones possessed in
general the same qualities which character
ize the bones of the mammoth found in
ueichboring districts and incoscd in the
same diluvial loam lived together with the
mammoth and other extinct animals of the
drift period. The skull was the subject OF
measurement and calculation Of brain power.
Its capacity was found to be about equal to
that of the average Polynesan and Hotten-
tot. and while the opinion of biologists diff
feled in regard to minor points, all admitted
the great an tiquity of the skull and bones.
And now Kansas furnishes an old skull for
biologists and phrenologistS to puzzle over,
aud to display their usual lack Of learning
when they try to grappe with the question
of mans age on the earth. When the Swans
are brought face to face with dead fact of
which the books make no record and tradi-
ton utters no faint word, they must feel how
little they know-With no sensation but that
of wonder, which is the acknowledged adj
mission of ignorance. The human intellect
has its fixed bounds of positive knowledge,
and can neither soar above nor dig below
itself, But strata are books and fossils are Il
written language we'll understood by geolo-
gists, and read with ease until even these
characters become blurred and indstinct-by
ages upon ages and periods upon periods OF
the unknown. A few bricks or Il block Of
stone or two enable archaologists to restore
an edifice that has been mouldered for CEN
turies and passed entirely out OF the minds
OF men. So a few rocks and fossils have en-
abled biologists and psychologists to build
and people world. The subject has grown
into such popular interest now that these
scientific men are always at it-building and
reconstructing, and every discovery fills them
With Joy and new ardor in their Network.
The Usage Mission (Kansas) Journal gives
| an account of late discovery near the west
| ern line of the county. 1t is human skull
imbeddcd in q rock, aud was brought to
| light by blasting. DR.. j. c. Weibley, OF
| Usage Mission, thus describes it: .s
1T is that of the Uranium Of the human
species, of large size, imbedded in conSlotne-
rate rock of the tertiary class, and found
several feet beneath the surface. Parts OF
the frontal, parietal, and occipital bones were
carried away by explosion. The piece OIL
rock holding the remains weighs some forty
or fifty pounds, with many impressions OIL
marine shells, and through it there runs Il
vein of quartz, or within the Uranium crys.
talized organic matter, and by the aid of u
microscope presentsa beautiful appearance
If this be fact, and it seems to bear the
impress Of truth in the description, neither
Eyell, nor Hugh Miller, nor any of the rest
of the subterranean explorers report any,
thing so strange. The Neander man comes
the nearest to it, but the Nelnder bones were
found in loan only two or three feet be-
meath the surface. This skull was discov.
cred in solid rock. 1t was compared with
another skull which the doctor had in his
office. The rock-tombed specimen had far
better developed Uranium in its several
diameters, and was exactly like the other
skull, except that in its greatest diameter ii
measured an inch and u quarter more. The
Inference is that the antedluyian, or pre-.
adamic meu of this continent were intelIcc
tualIy better developed than the men OF the
old world. That may turn out to be very
distant source of pride TO us, as the heirs of
the new world soil and life. But there are
Il great many missing links to find before we
take hold of this chain of thought with
much confidence. If the Kansas discovery
be real, it is worthy of thorough scientific
investigation.