Taung: A Fossil to Rival Piltdown - The Fossil Chronicles - page 18

heap was what was undoubtedly an endocranial cast or mold of the interior
of the skull. Had it been only the fossilized brain cast of any species of
ape it would have ranked as a great discovery, for such a thing had never
before been reported. . . . Was there, anywhere among this pile of rocks, a
face to fit the brain? I ransacked feverishly through the boxes. My search
was rewarded, for I found a large stone with a depression into which the
cast fitted perfectly. . . . I stood in the shade holding the brain as greedily
as any miser hugs his gold. . . . Here, I was certain, was one of the most
significant finds ever made in the history of anthropology. . . . These pleas-
ant daydreams were interrupted by the bridegroom himself tugging at my
sleeve. “My God, Ray,” he said, striving to keep the nervous urgency out of
his voice. “You've got to finish dressing.” 5
Despite this wonderful account, it was later suggested by Sir Arthur
Keith that Young personally carried the large endocast and piece of
rock that was embedded with bone and hand-delivered it to Dart, while
the other specimens were sent by rail . 6 This is questionable, however.
Although Young became very concerned about clarifying his role in dis-
covering the crucial endocast and hunk of rock, he made no mention of
having hand-carried them to Dart in a letter that he wrote to him to set
the record straight . 7 Instead, Young wrote, “As you are aware, the part I
played . . . in the actual finding of the skull was to select, amongst other
specimens, the piece of rock containing it from some fragments of rocks
and minerals laid aside in the quarry by the quarryman (de Bruyn?) in
view of my arrival. . . . As to whether under the circumstances I could be
said to have 'found' the skull, there might be different opinions. . . . On
referring to the text of the [newspaper] report . . . I find that the phrase
used is 'got possession of ', which is beyond cavil.” 8
Dart's recollection was that all of the specimens were sent to him by
train: “When Young mentioned my interest to Mr. Spiers [a manager
at the Northern Lime Company], Spiers gave instructions for them to
be boxed and railed to me. ” 9 Some believe this later recollection con-
flicted with Dart's earlier comment that the endocast and pieces of rock
were “brought back by Prof. Young.” 10 However, Young had taken a train
to visit the Northern Lime Company, and it is possible that the two