Idaho semi-weekly world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1875-1908, 1892-12-30
MANklND's THIRD EYE.
It IL Near the Center Of the Head and
Is In Innoeuous Desuetude.

|
! It II Near the Center Of the Head and
Is In Innoeuous Desuetude.
..There is kind of lizard found in Vir
| ginia and Maryland that has three eyes
one OF them on the top Of his head, !" said a
man of science the other day to a representa-
| tive of The Star. at is generally supposed
| that they are very rare, but, on the con-
trary, they are quite common You can
| find plenty of them II you take the trouble
to look. They are green and about three
inches long"
sAre there any other animals in the world
shat have three eyess"
Lots. For example, you yourself have
third eye, though 1t has become rudi-
nentary through disuse."
Where b itsi
"Just In tho middle OF your head, as
nearly MS its location can be described off
hand ANTAGONISTS know 1t as the 'pineal
gland, but 1t is actually an eye that has
become rudimentary. Place the tip Of your
finger Just above the bridge Of your nose
and on the level with your eyes Directly
behind that point about five inches, at the
base Of the brain. Is this gland speak of,
which the aneients used to imagine was the
center OF consciousness and the seat Of the
Nbul. LIS NlTuIhltt iitS lpSt MI ItSttiibihitC
TO that OF an eye, but you can find 1t re-
tanning more of its original development
in some turtles and other reptiles With
them this gland has still. though In the
middle Of the head, an actual eye socket,
an optic nerve connecting with the visual
tract OF the brain, and even the pigmentary
inner coat, the object OF which in all eyes
Is to absorb light There is no retina, but
It Is an eye for all that, In the case Of the
lizard mentioned this pineal eye actually
appears ut the top OF the head and Is useful
for seeing with.
"rhere are quite IA number Of rudiment-
AIRY organs In the human body which have
become so because nature has no longer
any use for them, For example, there Is
the thyroid gland In the neck, the only
usefulness OF which seems to be in occa-
sioning the disease known as goitre. Peo-
pie In Savoy and the Tyrol are worst af-
flicted with this complaint. It Is supposed
that the water they drink, derived from
tho melting Of the glaciers Of the Alps,
causes the hypertrophy Of the thyroid
gland, the result OF which Is nm enormous
swelling, so that sometimes the unfortu-
nate comes to have a baglike appendage
dangling down as far as the waist. There
Il no known cure for the trouble after II
has got well started, though the swelling
may be trific reduced by injections into
Its substance 1t is very curious fact
that II n human being or any other animal
IL deprived OF this apparently useless gland
| by cutting It out, there always follows q
general degeneration OF all the tissues OF
| the body.
"Anothcr seemingly useless organ Is the
supra -renal capsule attached to each OF
the kidneys Its only purpose in a human
being appears to be to occasion what Il
| known as 'Addison's disease, In cases
| where II gets out OF order. In such cases
which are happily rare, the skin Of tn,
body loses its natural color aud becomes Of
muddy brown hue, This capsule |,
presumably the remains OF what was once
a secretory organ.
'"rhen there Is the mysterious 'vermi
form appendix attached to the small In
| testine. Once In while an apple seed OIL
| some such thing gets into II, and cause.
Inflammation. Until within the last -four
or Eve years such cases were always fatal
but now they are usually cured by cutting
open the stomach and removing the ap
pendix. Until very recently operations re
auiring the cutting open OF the body IL
this way invariably resulted In death, fol
the reason that germs could not be pre-
vented from getting into the wound ant
creating subsequent Inflammation. Bu
the bacteriologists have taught. through
their researches, how such germs may b,
killed by spraying with antiseptic solu
tons. The yermiform appendix has con
siderable usefulness among the lower ami
mails. With the COW and other beasts tha
chew the cud 1t Is a large sac attached t.
the stomach, and is utilized as a storag,
reservoir for food that is not needed foi
immediate consumption" - Washington
4 Star