Show REMNANTS PENNANTS IN THE HUNAN HUMAN BODY BODY- f THi TH most distinguishing characteristic tic of modern scientific thought is the theall theall all pervading pervading- idea of f evolution Astronomy Astronomy Astronomy Astron Astron- omy treats of the evolution of planetary planetary planetary plane plane- tary systems geology of the evolution of the earth biology of the evolution of living org organisms psychology of the evolution of mind pedagogy of the evolution of the child sociology of the evolution of society This is perhaps apology enough for speaking of the evolutionary evolutionary evolutionary evo evo- aspect of physiology B But t remnants are not confined to the human body Society is full of remnants remnants remnants remnants rem rem- nants in religion remnants in manners manners f and customs and remnants in dress To speak of them in reference to womans woman's dress would require a volume and even man has not wholly escaped The buttons on the back of his coat are useless remnants They were functional when the squire used to button up his coat when he rode on horse The buttons on the sleeves are remnants too once used to secure the gloves In this respect man seems but to be patterning af after er nature if we can speak of nature exclusive ve of man for these relics of other times and other conditions are found in both the body and the mind Psychology teaches that in his mental development the child passes through the various phases of race development That psychically he passes through the savage and barbarous stages and it is noticeable that even in his maturity 11 some of his primitive mental traits persist Physiologists and em embryologists have discovered what appears to be a lil like e analogy between the physical development develop develop- m ment nt of the individual and that of the race c This This' principle is especially well illustrated in the development of the circulatory system In the very early stages of bodily growth five aortic c arches appear and are functional At this time the heart is in the upper part of the chest The aortic arches from irom the heart pass over ver the hy hyoid id bone which at this stage stag is more elaborate and important important important im im- than in in later life as some parts corresponding corresponding- to the gill arches of fishes and tad-poles tad disappear with later development All the aortic arches except except except ex ex- one and occasionally two also dis dis- appear The one that commonly re remains remains remains re- re mains is by no means a useless remnant but serves its function as well as though it had been a special creation Here it may be proper to speak more fully of that most interesting subject subject- the hyoid bone This bone may be feltin felt feltin in the throat just above Adams Adam's Apple It is U U. U shaped U-shaped with the convex side turned ventrally The bone consists of rl five distinct parts the body which lies in front and two great and two small which point backward The great are attached by ligaments to the process of the temporal bones In some animals these ligaments ments are represented by bones so that the hyoid forms a solid arch connected with the skull as the ribs form an arch connected connected connected con con- with the vertebral column The are probably remnants of gill arches In maturity the whole bone seems to have lost its connection with the circulatory system but is by no means entirely functionless s. s In the first place it furnishes attachment for those very important and morally responsible responsible responsible re re- m muscles that control the tongue In all the hyoid bone gives attachment to ten or more muscles T To o it are also attached the hyoid membrane and three ligaments the stylo-hyoid stylo the hyoid and d the hyo t In the mature human I bod body J the arrangement arrangement ar ar- of valves in the blood vessels is another mark of the long ago and seems to point to a time when man all fours walked was less proud and on The veins coming up the limbs are abundantly supplied with valves as they properly should be since in them the blood has to be raised against t gravity But the great veins of the trunk have very few valves although the ascending veins have as much need of them as have the veins of the limbs But what is still more significant the veins that carry blood from the head down the neck have valves which it seems could ha have ve no possible function J. J of seasickness sick sea except it might be in case ness or some other abnormal condition The digestive system also bears marks 7 of progressive progressive V ch change na ge The growth and final disappearance of the thy thymus m us gland land probably marks a change in structure and function due to changing condi condi- hons The thymus gland attains its full size at the end of the second year and then dwindles until at twelve or fourte fourteen fourteen four four- te teen it has almost disappeared It lies under the sternum and extends from the fourth costal cartilage upward d f as high as the border of the thyroid gland It lies on the front and sides of t the e trachea and rests ests on the perit peri peri- t- t It is two inches in length one half of an inch in breadth and about four lines in thickness It contains conI contains con con- z h haemoglobin and Gray expresses S I the opinion that it is probably one of the sources of red blood corpuscles It Itis Itis f is rich in white blood corpuscles from which it might be inferred that it bears an important relation to the nU nutrition of the body In most mammals as as' as in ina inman inman a man it undergoes a retrogressive metamorphosis metamorphosis metamorphosis meta meta- but persists life in other vertebrates Just what relation this gland holds to the body is not known with certainty certainly But it is a fact r that in the development of the indiN indi- indi r p. p ft H S J bJ i N vidual as in the development of the animal kingdom there is a tendency to 1 greater differentiation tion of organs and to greater p perfection of function And so I it is probable that in the lower vertebrates vertebrates vertebrates verte verte- J brates and in the early life of mammals j this gland supplies a deficiency which is not wanting to the digestive appa apparatus atus a- a i of the mammals in their maturity Another supposed remnant in connection connection connection tion with the digestive organs is the Vermiform Appendix the chief function of which seems to be to kill people In mammals the small intestine communicates communicates communicates cates with the ascending colon from its side and a little distance from the end This end forms a blind sack the c cum To the lower end of the c cum cumin in man the higher monkeys and the wombat is attached the Vermiform Appendix Appendix Ap Ap- so called because of its wormlike wormlike wormlike worm- worm like form Its length is from three to six inches and its diameter diameter is about eq equal ual to that of a goose quill Its coats are thick and its mucous lining is furnished furnished furnished fur- fur with a large number of solitary glands Its orifice communicating with the c cum is sometimes guarded with an incomplete valve The Vermiform Appendix is doubtless the rudiment of the once extended c cum In the herbivorous herbivorous herbivorous her her- mammals this enlarged and extended extended extended ex ex- tended sack blind-sack is retained and adds I materially to the capacity of the digestive digestive digestive diges diges- j tive organs and lengthens the time for digestion In some of the carnivorous animals the che c cum has been shortened without leaving a narrow tube as in in man These animals of course escape the dangers of appendicitis The Vermiform Ver Ve- Appendix is too small to be of value in aiding digestion and small j enough to be especially liable to dis dis- 1 ease It has been generally thought j i that appendicitis results from the lodge lodge- J ment in this narrow tube of fruit seeds y or other hard substances But it has J s lately been suggested that this theory is not entirely ti e y correct and that the disease t i t t is due to inactivity of the digestive f apparatus and perhaps to the contraction contraction contraction tion of cold in the abdominal region The reason for the diminution of the i c cum seems quite evident from the fact that man and carnivorous animals have less need Deed of digestive organs of v great capacity since their food is more more concentrated Many mammals have skin muscles which are used by them to shake off insects Very im imperfectly perfectly developed rudiments rudiments rudiments ru ru- of these muscles are found attached to the human skin in various parts Then there is the fron talis muscle which is stretched over the skull and when under control of the will enables a person to move his scalp This muscle is functional in monkeys so that they can make it somewhat uncomfortable for the parasites parasites parasites para para- sites which occasionally infest their heads There are also three rudimentary muscles attached to the ear immediately beneath the skin These are especially functional in the donkey but are not used by man except in certain individuals individuals individuals duals who are able to ge get them under control of the will A much larger muscle now almost functional is the Flexor Brevis Digi- Digi torum which flexes the foot In position position position tion and function it is analogous to the Flexor of the hand Where properly used it flexes the foot as the hand can be flexed ed which might indicate indicate indicate indi indi- cate that there was a time when there was little difference between the functions functions functions of the feet and hands We know that monkey monkeys are able to use their feet much as they do their hands and it is noticeable that even in the lower races o of f man an the foot is much more flexible than it is in the civilized who is man accustomed accustomed accustomed tomed to wear shoes Some of the native workers in the shops of Cairo sit on the floor and use their feet and toes to assist their hands in sewing leather A Achild child too is is able atile to flex its foot much foot much 1 more than can an a grown person In our ouI modern civilization where boots and shoes are constantly worn the Flexor of 1 0 the foot and other muscles that govern J the toes are but little used and ev eventually eventually event event- nt- nt J will doubtless be reduced to k rudiments Man has also made some progress in substituting the wool of sheep for the coat of hair which covers the bodies of k mammals in general It is a fact however however however how how- i ever that the human body is covered with rudimentary hairs varying in their f degree of development in individuals t f and in races The American Indians J Jare are almost devoid ot of hair while the C are said to have been a shaggy race s There are also some parts of the brain i whose functions have not yet been dis dis- covered But that organ is so complex and so little understood compared with t h what is known of other organs of the body that it is hardly safe to lay do down n anything very positive especially concerning concerning con con- l what we do not know about the f functions of its various parts The ni 1 study of embryology however has pretty ji well determined th the fact that the pineal body is the remnant remnant of a median eye possessed by primitive vertebrates In t.- t. 1 j very early life the pineal gland resembles resembles resembles bles the developing optic nerves and r l their connections but soon ceases to develop develop and even degenerates Scientists Scientists cIen- cIen I were unable to find out that it had any function at all until Descartes discovered discovered dis dis- lJ covered that it was wa the seat of the soul f If this gland is a remnant as supposed Y it must be a very ery ancient one as as s no surviving species of vertebrates has this median eye except the which X Xmay r may be classed as a vertebrate only in inthe inthe 0 the first stage of its life The pineal I. I body however is more highly developed developed devel devel- J in reptiles than in man These peculiarities of the bodily 21 of man are such as are regular and constant In addition to th these se nu nu- r anomalies appear A A. detailed account of some of these is given by Dr Francis J. J Shepherd in the Popular Science Monthly on October 1884 under the title II The Significance of Human Ano- Ano malies II Concerning these variations Dr Shepherd says It may not be generally known that no two individuals have exactly th the w. w same anatomical structure and that nearly everyone ha has in him some bony j r prominence supernumerary muscle or abnormal vessel blood-vessel which tells the tale of his descent t. t During the past I. I nine years I have been teaching anaI anatomy anatomy anatomy ana ana- I tomy and nearly subjects have been dissected under my immediate supervision supervision supervision sion in these I have carefully noted the variations occurring with the result of finding that scarcely one body is perfectly perfectly per per- normal in every part part nay nay many are very abnormal having as many as thirty to forty variations in their bones muscles or arteries 1 have found variations variations variations varia varia- to occur more frequently in negro and Indian subjects than han in in those of European descent When a a variation T in a bone muscle or vessel blood-vessel is found the asked is What is its morphology morphology- and it is the exception exception exception tion not to make it out if one fails it itis itis itis is concluded that our knowledge is deficient but that the variation has a history if we could only discover it i I may remark that what Dr Shepherd means means by making II it it out is the discovery discovery discovery dis dis- covery of a similar permanent and functional functional functional structure in a living species of animal and from this concluding that in man it is a reversion to a remote ancestral type His article gives a clear exposition of the subject and is worth careful study F C In this paper I have endeavored only J to rehearse a few well known physiological physiological physiological logical facts and the conclusions that have been drawn from them Whether or not the facts justify the conclusions i is a qUest question n not yet fully d decided but 1 j i r f i until more plausible explanations explanations' are I offered the th theory theory theory-of of evolution will 1 doubtless continue in favor with But however that may be we e have nothing to fear from honest investigation investigation investigation gation nor from the discovery of truth And even t the e propagation tion of a false th theory y cannot change the facts If man has been developed from a lower order of life all the theological and mythological mythological mythological logical accounts in the world to the contrary cannot make him a special creation if he is a special creation all the and H and all the forces of science cannot make him the descendant co-descendant with other mammals of a common common progenitor II Milton oil Bennion ti |