The Descent of Man

pont found thirty per cent. of perforated bones
in the caves of the Valley of the Lesse, belonging
to the Reindeer period; whilst M. Leguay,
in a sort of dolmen at Argenteuil, observed
twenty-five per cent. to be perforated; and M.
Pruner-Bey found twenty-six per cent. in the
same condition in bones from Vaureal. Nor
should it be left unnoticed that M. Pruner-Bey
states that this condition is common in
Guanche skeletons." It is an interesting fact that
ancient races, in this and several other cases,
more frequently present structures which resemble
those of the lower animals than do the
modern. One chief cause seems to be that the
ancient races stand somewhat nearer in the
long line of descent to their remote animal-like
progenitors.
In man, the os coccyx, together with certain
other vertebrae hereafter to be described,
though functionless as a tail, plainly represent
this part in other vertebrate animals. At an ear-