Daily tobacco leaf-chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1890-1895, 1891-08-08
1T Is MANS DEATH TRAP.
PART or THE HUMAN STRUCTURE
THAT OFTEN GOES WRONG.

VIII Develop Away from 1t Altogether.
With the appearance Of cherries, plums,
raspberries and the like upon Inc fruit
stands there arises in the minds of all per-
sons, not especially parents morbid in
terest In the appendix vermiformis, or
vermiform appendix This interest al
most dies out during the winter when the
vermiform appendix has only oranges and
collar buttons and shirt studs to bring it
into prominence But with the coming Of
the fruits with small seeds the vermiform
appendix becomes n stock topic Of CONVEX
sation, and lays low many "A victim among
the budding male youth Of the land.
Nobody can be quite certain that he has
a vermiform appendix unless he gets some
thing the matter with it, FOR the doctors
have dissected people in whom there was
no trace OF vermiform appendix. This,
however, Is rare and most Of the human
beings who read this article may have the
proud assurance that it tells Of something
in which they have part,
Those who hold to the evolution theory
have no difficulty in accounting for the
vermiform appendix. They say that it
belongs to class of rudimentary struc-
lures left In the bodies of all organized
things by the process of evolution. There
are certain muscles in the human body
which have no use Mt all, but simply stand
as remnants OF muscles which are devel
oped and are useful in the bodies of some
animals Of the lower orders. The human
animal has developed into an environment
in which these muscles are no longer use
full In the course of ages they will dis
appear. Now they ARE still represented in
oh .fv ala1s a a..
USELESS AND HARMFUL.
So 1t is with the vermform appendix, &C
cording TO the evolution scientists. There
was time when it was developed and had
an important place in the economy of life. 1t
still exists in some of the lower animals in
Its complete form In the human animal
1t Is shriveled and Is no longer useful
On this last point all are agreed. 1t does
no good 1t does much harm. In fact, it
never does anything unless it does harm
That is why some pathologist few years
ago gave IL the name of death trap" And
death trap" 1t is now called when the
doctors descend from the mist enshrined
heights of Latin and Greek medical terms
to the ordinary language Of laymen.
The death trap" is a small, worm
shaped tube, the opening of which is of
of variable length in different human be.
ings. Sometimes it is six inches long, and
sometimes 1t Is but three inches long 1t
extends from the cHcum, which is the
technical name for the upper end Of the
large intestine. 1t leaves the cpcum at
point near the valve through which the
contents of the small intestine are dis
charged into the large intestine. over its
IL "a VA nd
sometimes not Generally the valve is i'm |
perfect and only adds to the danger Of the
death trap"
1t is found in most men and animals, ex
cept the orang outang and the wombat |
Sometimes it curves directly back from the |
cecum. Again it winds around the ilum,
and again IL extends along the colon.
TO grasp fully the Ga'gcr of this useless
tube, which is blunt at its other end, some |
explanation about the ceCum is necessary |
The c@cum Is n sort of expansion of the |
upper end Of the small intestine 1t is |
about two inches in diameter and receives !
the discharge Of the same intestine. There
fore all the indigestible matter that enters
the stomach lodges in the cBcum on its
way out of the system. AS tho opening to
the cul de sac, known as the death trap"
is Just there, some of this undigested mat
ter may enter the death trap" and may
remain there.
II you can imagine the stomach as being
no longer useful and shriyeling up from
inactivity, that part Of it which lies above
the valves which open from the Hsophagus
would form such cul de sac. This is
what has happened to the cpcum. Part of
1t has shriveled and the vermiform appen
dix Is the result.
WHERE THE DANGER LIES.
When the indigestble remnant of the
food has entered the cRcum from the
small intestines it stops there for little
while and then passes on. But the cDcum
is sort of stagnant reservoir. Now the
digestive apparatus of a healthy person
may be strong enough to push from the
stomach and from the small intestines not
only all indigestble matter but also all
germs of disease, all dangerous microbes
which may have entered ut the mouth
with the food But here in the cpCum
they stop for moment.
The mouth of the death trap is open,
and through unusual pressure or through
an accidentally favorable position of the
vermiform appendix these germs or "A part
of this indigestible matter may enter the
yermiform appendix.
The vermiform appendix is lined with a
membrane, but it differs from the
rest OF the intestinal canal in having only
n few very feeble muscles. 1t Is therefore
unable to eject anything that may enter it.
Say that an orange or cherry seed is pass
ing through the system when this canal is
II may be pushed into this
cul de sac, TO remain there never to leave
until the surgeons knife reaches il.
And, staying there it may do no harm
A sac may be formed about it,, and it may
even do good in preventing anything else
from passing up into the death trap, But
again II may cause death For an in6am
nation may set up about it and communi-
cate to the cncum and to all the other nd
lacent parts. Or it may set to work to
push itself out with the aid of this ulcera
ton, and may penetrate the wall Of the up
pendix and produce peritonitis and death
TO this form of danger boys between ten
and twenty years seem to be most liable
In younger boys or in men and in all fe
males the danger is not so great because OF
The different formations of the appendix.
But seeds are not the only dangers or
sven bits of foreign substances, such as
pins, needles, buttons and SO on. The
germs which have been mentioned form the
most serious danger. Several high medi
,al authorities, writing on the appendix,
have said that its part in the causing OF
disease and death has been much neglected,
and one German writer calls attention 10
.he fact that in his own experience of 800
bodies examined every third body showed
traces of present or past Inflammation of
.he appendix, while per cent showed