'Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh,' 1866-67, p. 65.) that the
musculus sternalis or sternalis brutorum, which is not an extension of the
rectus abdominalis, but is closely allied to the panniculus, occurred in
the proportion of about three per cent. in upwards of 600 bodies: he adds,
that this muscle affords "an excellent illustration of the statement that
occasional and rudimentary structures are especially liable to variation in
arrangement."

Some few persons have the power of contracting the superficial muscles on
their scalps; and these muscles are in a variable and partially rudimentary
condition. M. A. de Candolle has communicated to me a curious instance of
the long-continued persistence or inheritance of this power, as well as of
its unusual development. He knows a family, in which one member, the
present head of the family, could, when a youth, pitch several heavy books
from his head by the movement of the scalp alone; and he won wagers by
performing this feat. His father, uncle, grandfather, and his three
children possess the same power to the same unusual degree. This family
became divided eight generations ago into two branches; so that the head of
the above-mentioned branch is cousin in the seventh degree to the head of
the other branch. This distant cousin resides in another part of France;
and on being asked whether he possessed the same faculty, immediately
exhibited his power. This case offers a good illustration how persistent
may be the transmission of an absolutely useless faculty, probably derived
from our remote semi-human progenitors; since many monkeys have, and
frequently use the power, of largely moving their scalps up and down. (27.
See my 'Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals,' 1872, p. 144.)

The extrinsic muscles which serve to move the external ear, and the
intrinsic muscles which move the different parts, are in a rudimentary
condition in man, and they all belong to the system of the panniculus; they