Page:Headlong Hall - Peacock (1816).djvu/71

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
HEADLONG HALL.
63

protuberance.—(The skull was handed round the table.)

Mr. Escot.

I contend that the original unsophisticated man was by no means constructive. He lived in the open air, under a tree.

The Reverend Doctor Gaster.

The tree of life. Unquestionably. Till he had tasted the forbidden fruit.

Mr. Jenkison.

At which period, probably, the organ of constructiveness was added to his anatomy, as a punishment for his transgression.

Mr. Escot.

There could not have been a more severe one, since the propensity which has led him to building cities has proved the greatest curse of his existence.