shaped, and its proper proportion and size may be inferred from the table just given; in the adult it should not average over two and a half inches in length and one and a quarter in breadth. The aural deformities that fall under the head of stigmata, or have been classed as such, affect all portions of the external ear. The helix may be imperfect, it may be angular, from Darwin's tubercle it may lack its inward roll, it may be interrupted, the root of the helix may extend inward completely across the concha, and in very rare instances it may be bifurcated. The anti-helix may be unduly prominent or be insignificant; the scaphoid fossa may extend through the lobule or be triple.[213] The lobule may be adherent and sometimes almost absent, thus producing the jug-handle-shaped, or so-called Morel ear. It may be exaggerated in size; the whole ear may be misshapen, too large or too small. These deformities may exist in nearly every degree, only when pronounced can they be considered as stigmata. Others have been noted, but their importance as signs of degeneracy is not very significant unless they co-exist with several of those above mentioned. [Illustration: FIG. 39.] The ears of degenerates frequently grow in later life to an enormous size. On examination of 207 paupers over 50 years old the shortest ear was found to be 2·25 inches, the longest 3·36; the average on the right side was 2·73, on the left 2·76; the narrowest ear was ·88, the widest 1·50, the average 1·26. These results, compared with the results of the measurements of normal persons from 12 to 50 years, plainly demonstrate that the ears of degenerates grow after the twenty-sixth year, when the skeleton has completed its development. With such large ears other stigmata are generally associated. A few of the best types of stigmata of the ear illustrate better than any description the general characteristics. Fig. 39 illustrates the ear _par excellence_ of degeneracy, the typical jug-handled ear first described by Morel and called by his name. This consists of a long, narrow ear attached its entire length, and tapering upward and outward from the lobe to the point where the Darwinian tubercle is located, and there it may take any shape--round, straight, or pointed--as illustrated in the drawing. The most singular deformity of the helix is the tubercle of Darwin, which is a little blunt point, projecting from the inwardly folded margin or helix. When present it is developed at birth and, according to Ludwig Meyer, more frequent in men than in women. Fig. 40 shows ear and tubercle taken from Darwin.[214] These points not only project in toward the centre of the ear, but open a little outwards (Fig. 41) from its plane, so as to be visible when the head is viewed from directly in front and behind. They are variable in size, number and somewhat in position (Fig. 42), standing either a little higher or lower, and they sometimes occur on one ear and not on the other.