The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1897-09-25
DUB THIRD EYE
9ctontiste Claim That We Have
sss4+s.4an "a -Extra4 Qptio


| ana all svertebrAteAD seem 70 p000ess the
rudiments of third eye. This discov.
cry is not only very Interesting, but
alaD remarkably instructive, since the
ruAimentary third eye of q man has, BY
one Of the most noted philosophers o1
lmodern days, been looked upon AZ be
ing tho seat Of the soul.
As organs by proper use develop in
strength and perfection, SO they be-
come weak by lack of use. If formany
generations an organ, should remain
without use, it's structuresin time be-
comes simpler and more imperfect. II
such process continues throughout
ages, an organ, by constant disuse, will
become reduced to mere rudiment OF
what it was in the species using the
same. Thus, species Of birds that only
walk and run, but never fly, have only
rudimentary wings, as the ostrich;
while in the eagle and the albatross
the wings are seen In a state of perfec-
ton.
Now. in closely examining the skulls
near the top of head. under the dark,
opaque skin, and often in the very bone,
an almost perfect eye exists, although
no ray Of light ever couldreach it. This
leye shows crystalline lens, retina of
very complex structure and an optic
nerve; in fact, all the essential parts
of q perfect eye. But being covered by
the opaque skin of the animal it is abb
solutely useless. If this optic nerve is
traced to the brain it is found to con-
meet the eye with the so-called pineal
gland of the brain. This pineal gland
is. of course, in no sense of word a
real gland, but q definite portion of the
nervous tissue of the brain, invariably
located just back and partly over the
cerebrum, and in front Of the rounded
brain-mass which generally is consid-
cred to correspond to the corpora
quadrigemina in Q man.
This third eye of the spotted lizard
Is called the pineal eye, on account of
the nerve connection of the retina with
the pineal gland. Now, while in GER
tain lizards this highly developed eye
; is useless because it is covered by
Opaque skin, and In others even deep
ly bedded In bone, 1t would seem proba-
BILE that in An earlier stage of develop
ment this pineal eye was not rudi-
mentary. but in constant use. Avery
slight modification would accomplish
this-namely. the transparency Of the
skin covering the eye. This is exact
ly the condition of the normal eyes in
reptiles to-day; the skin covers them,
but II is transparent where it passes
over the eye. In the skulls of some of
the gigantic reptiles of the earlier age
of this globe, paleontologists have long
ago found . large round perforation.
third or pineal eye of the ichthyosau-
rus. the plesiosaurus and the labyrin-
thodon.
But much more important conclu-
sion must be drawn from this discov-
'ery-namely, that in all vertebrates,
even including man, the traces of this
third eye remain to-day. The pineal
eye of lizards being connected with the
large pineal gland of the same4 it
would seem that the pineal gland itself
is but the nerve center or optic thalmus
for this third eye. In all reptiles and
amphibia the pineal gland is large; SO
it is also in fishes. In higher animals
the cerebrum develops very much, over
growing the more posterior portions of
the brain. BY this preponderance OF
the nerve mass the pineal gland be-
comes covered by the cerebrum and as
sumes more and more rudimentary
forms. But it remains with obstinate
pertinacity. 1t is even always present
in man-though here only of the size of
q pea and rudely resembling a pine cone
in shape. 1t seems also degenerated in
structure, having hardly any nervous
tissue. These facts OF form and struct-
ure have given rise to its name, that of
pineal gland.-Popular Science Month
ly.