The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1904-07-27
I'HE ANATOMY OF MAN
SOME HIDDEN FEATURES AND 9TH
ERS THAT ARE USELESS.

An Eye That Is Now Blind and Gill
That Are Closed Up-Thc Outer Ears
and the Toe Nails Are More Orna.
mental Than scrviccnble.
Has any one ever compllmented you
on the beauty of your upper eye or in
quired after your glls? For. though
you may not know it, you number
these among the dlsused features of
your body.
In the center of your brain, looking
vaguely skyward, lie the atrophled re.
mains of n third eye, which, 1t is sup
posed, was actually one of mans use
ful features mt some previous state of
development. 1t is known as the pineal
gland. though covered by skin, and is
formed IN an almost perfect condition
in certain lizards.
You have four gills, or bronchial
clefts, which, however, are now closed
up and useless. You originally had
six, but two of them, by forming Into
your ear and mouth, respectively
turned themselves TO some account
However, before your lungs developed
and became fitted TO carry on your
breathing system, the work was done
by the four gills which have since
childhood ceased to develop and be
come closed up,
Your ears-that is, the outer ones
are quite useless save as ornaments.
You could hear just rs well without
them. All the work of hearing Is done
by the middle ear. or tympanum, and
the internal ear. The outer feature is
purely a pleasant sort of finishing
touch to your hearing system. The
muscles of the outer ear nre powerless
and not under our control,
Are you aware that you have mini
ature grand piano in your auditory
nerve. which is tuned UP to every note
in music? This Is known as Corti's
organ and consists of series OF tiny
hairs which vibrate on the drum of
your ear and enable you TO distinguish
the differences of sounds.
AS sometimes when you strike note
on the piano some ornament in the
room will be found to sing with 1t, so
each of these hairs inside your ear vi.
brates in sympathy with the musical
sound corresponding with it,
An appendix is generally a useful
thing when applied to books, but mans
appendix is not only useless, but very
troublesome. This is the remains of
an intestine supposed TO have formed
part of our ancestors. Though many
other parts of the body are practically
useless, they are supposed to have
been useful at some time, but scien'
fists cannot trace that the vermiform
appendix was ever of any service to
man.
Toe nails are entirely useless, and
toes are quite superfluous. \ man
could get along as we'll without toes.
In fact, n doctor removed eight of q
mans toes without any Inconvenience
being suffered, and the loser got along
quite as well without them.
The teeth are rapidly becoming quite
useless. Now that nearly all our food
Is chopped up for us and we do not
have TO bite through hard substances
teeth are gradually decaylng.
The fact that the teeth Of our an,
cestors 400 or 500 years ago Were in
flnitely bigger than our own shows
that nature is gradually taking away
these organs
Tonsils, too, nre almost useless and
fulfill no serviceable object to the body.
People can get along quite well with
out them. and very large proportion
of the population hive had them re
moved,
Both the hair and the skin have end
ed their days of usefulness TO the hui
man race, The hair was intended to
cover our heads from the heat of tho
sun. We cover Up the hair, and by
shutting It off from the exposure which
nature intended it to have we are
gradually but surely losing this adorn-
ment. and It is estimated that in time