The broad ax. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1895-19??, 1896-03-28

mails, however, the eyes have been over
grown by the skin, so that these ewes
now would be useless for vision,
even II the animal should come
from its subterranean home to the
light Of day. The same Is true
Of several species Of burrowing ami
mails Of the mole and mouse tribes.
Indeed. all the vertebrate animals have
two eyes. whether they use them or
not
Not all animals have these two eyes
symmetrically placed IN, the head, one
On each side. Certain fishes which ap-
parently swim on the side, such as the
turbot, have both eyes on one, the dark
side OF their head. That this is not
due to simple twist of the head has
been demonstrated by Prof Steenstrup
more than twenty years ago.
At times by what is termed arrested
development animals and even human
beings appear as cyclops, or having one
eye only. But who ever heard of a
third eye In man or beast? And yet
recent researches prove that man and
all Yertebrates seem to possess the rudi-
ments Of third eye.
This discovery Is not only very in
teresting, but also remarkably instruc-
tive, since the rudImentary third eye
OF man has by one Of the most noted
philosophers of modern days been
looked upon as being the seat Of the
soul.
As organs BY proper use develop In
strength and perfection, 30 they be-
come weak by lack of use. II for many
years an organ should remain without
use its structure In time becomes SIM
pier and more imperfect. II such a
process continues through ages an or
gan by constant disuse win become re-
duced to a mere rudiment Of what It
was In the species using the same.
Thus species Of birds that only walk
and run, but never 6y, have only rudi-
mentary wings, as the ostrich, while In
the eagle and the albatross the wings
are seen In q state Of perfection.
Now, In closely examining the skulls
OF certain lizards It was found that
near the top Of the head under the
dark, opaque skin and often In the
very bone, an almost perfect eye ex-
ists, though no ray Of light could ever
reach It
This eye shows a crystalline lens, q
retina Of very complex structure and
an optic nerve-in fact, all the essen
tial parts Of a perfect eye. But being
covered by The opaque skin Of the ami
NAL, 1t is absolutely useless.
II this optic nerve is traced to the
brain 1t is found to connect the eye
with the so-called pineal gland Of the
brain. The pineal gland is, Of course.
in no sense Of the word real gland.
but definite portion of the nervous
tissue Of the brain, invariably located
Just back and partly over the cere-
brums and in front Of the rounded brain
mass which generally Is considered to
correspond 10 the corpora quadrigemina
In man.
The third eye Of the spotted lizard
Is called the pineal eye. on account Of
the nerve connection Of its retina with
the pineal gland.
Nov, while In certain lizards the
highly developed eye Is useless be-
cause 1t Il covered by opaque skin, and
in others even deeply bedded In bone,
it would seem probable that In an ear
lier stage Of development this pineal
eye was not documentary but In con-
slant use. A very slight modification
would accomplish this-namely, the
transparency Of the skin covering the
eye. This is exactly the condition Of
the normal eyes In reptiles to-day; the
ska covers them, but It Is transpar-
ent where It passes over the eye.
In the skulls Of some Of the gigantic
reptiles Of the earlier age Of this globe,
psychologists have long ago found q
large, round perforation. Probably
this was the socket Of the third or pin
cal eye Of the ichthyosaurus, the pie
siosaurus and the labyrinthodon.
But q much more important conclu-
sion must be drawn from this discov-
cry, namely, that In al vertebrates.
even including man, the traces Of this
third eye remain to-day. The pineal
eye Of lizards, being connected with
the large pfneal gland itself. Is but the
nerve center, or optic thalmus, for this
third eye. In all reptiles and am
phibia the pineal gland IN large; 20 It
is also In fishes.
In higher animals the cerebrum de-
velops very much. evergroving the
more posterior portions Of the brain
By this prepouderance OF the nerve
mass the pineai gland becomes covered
with cerebrum and assumes more ana
more rudimentary form. But Il re-
mains with obstinate pertinacity. II -
even always present In man-thougn
here only the size Of pea and ruoeiy
resembling pine cone In shape: II
seems also degenerated In structure