The Evening statesman. [volume] (Walla Walla, Wash.) 1903-1910, 1904-12-27
DEFENSE OF THE APPENDIX
IT SHOULD NOT BE CUT OUT
WITHOUT THERE is A
GOOD CAUSE.
Perhaps Nature Knew Z Thing or Two
When She Developed the Human
Body.

It has sometimes appeared to the
lay mind that surgeons take unneces-
sary pleasure in demonstrating that
one or another portions of the human
body is dispensable, If not superfiu-
Gus possession, says the Providence
Journal. Those who are conscious of
such an impression will be glad to
Sir William MacEwen, who occupies
a prominent position in the front rank
of modern physicians, has entered the
lists to combat the widespread belief
that the vermiform appendix which in
| recent years has formed the piece de
| resistance for many an eager scalpel,
! is an Objectionable and dangerous
member of the human machine. Less
| learned physicians than the Londoner
have argued gravely to attentive pa
tents that the appendix is simply
disease center, a trap for irritating
foreign substances, serving no good
end, and to be disposed of at what
ever expense of money, pain and even
deadly peril. Sir William must be
credited with speaking whereof he
have freely admitted that when making
an incision in a patient for some other
disease they frequently remove the
little organ as a precaution against
appendicitis"
Has Important Function.
| In support of his contention that
such a course is improper Sir William
expresses conviction that the appen-
dix, so far from being a useless and
rebellious organ, has an important
function in assisting digestion. In an
age of quick lunches all assistance
Moreover, the appendix is the chief
habitat of certain microorganism
which is most useful in attacking i'm
perfectly assimilated nourishment, and
| if only as medium for the cultivation
Of these bacteria has a useful mission
to perform and should be retained.
Because it can be successfully removed
| is clearly not an adequate reason for
an operation, for there are few organs
however necessary they may be to the
pursuit Of happiness. With evidences
of extreme joy physicians have pro-.
claimed the possibility of getting along
without the stomach-that of their
patient; the lesser intestines and the
| spleen have been successfully removed,
and sections of the brain have been
cut away, in rare cases without APP
probable loss Of vitality or mental
power.
sSIashina Customs.
But delightful as these triumphs of
surgery may be to the profession, there
is some danger that the slashing GUS
| toms of the time may, in the case Of
the human race, invalidate altogether
the conservative and fake. if slow
methods of nature which, in the pro-
cess known as evolution, eliminates in
her own good time the unworthy and
unnecessary. While body lacking a
stomach. appendix and other organs
may be highly satisfactory to the
pure scientist as illustrating the ca
pilities of the human mechanism and
the degree of skill attained in the use
of the knife, it is not necessarily a
more desirable or praiseworthy kind
of body than one equipped with its
full complement of organs, all doing
their allotted work conscientiously. The
| coming of the day of tabloid lunch
cons and capsular dinners has often
been predicted, but a luxury loving
IpeOple will hold it at arms length as
long as possible, and if other surgeons
of high attachments will join with Sir
William in trying to prove that nature
really knew a thing or two when she
developed the body to its present high
estate they may rest assured of CRATE
full remembrance by generations yet
unborn.