The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1905-08-03
THE EANATOMY OF MAN
SOME HIDDEN FEATURES AND oTh.
ERS THAT ARE USELESS,

Has any one ever complimented you
on the beauty Of your upper eye or in
quired after your gills? For, though
You may not know it, you number
these among the disused features Of
your body.
In the center Of your brain, looking
vaguely skyward, lie the atrophied re-
mains of third eye, which, it is sup
posed, was actually one of mans use
full features at 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 as well without
them. All the work of hearing is done
by the middle ear, or tyn panum, and
the internal ear. The outer feature Is
purely pleasant sort of finishing
touch to your hearing system. The
muscles of the outer ear are 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 Il series Of tiny
hairs which yibrate 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 it. SO
each of these hairs inside your ear VI
brates in sympathy with the musical
sound corresponding with 1t.
An appendix is generally 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-
lists cannot trace that the vermiform
appendix was ever of any service to
man.
Toe nails are entirely useless. and
toes are quite superfluous. A man
could get along as well without toes.
In fact, doctor removed eight of a
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 decaying.
The fact that the teeth Of our an
cestors 400 or 500 years ago were in
finitely bigger than our own shows
that nature Is gradually taking away
these organs.
Tonsils. too, are almost useless and
| fulfill no serviceable object to the body.
People can get along quite well with
out them, and q very large proportion
Of the population have had them re-
moved.
Both the hair and the skin have end
ed their days Of usefulness to the hu-
man race. The hair was intended to
cover our heads from the heat Of the
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 ad0rn.
ment, and it is estimated that In time
we shall cease to grow it.
AS to the skin, it was given US to
protect our bodies from the elements
BY covering it up with clothing and
preventing 1t getting proper respira
tion we deprive ourselves Of it's use
1t is not inconceivable that the man OF
very remote future period may be
not only hairless and toothless. but
skinless as well.
The most extraordinary thing to BIZ
noted about all this is that those parts
Of the body which are useless give nj
the most trouble. while those In con
slant activity remain quiescent. Tht
teeth, through lack Of work, get lazy
as it were. and decay.
The tonsils, having nothing to do
make your life misery to you through
continually swelling until they are re
moved. The skin, which is useless t
civilized man, has a large variety O
diseases to vent on us, largely due t.
its compressed condition.
The vermiform appendix, which i
absolutely useless, has nice little dis
ease of it's own, which it develops witt
often fatal results, known as appendi
citis.
A man can live without his frontn
bone At recent accident workman
was struck by crowbar. The onl
possibility Of saving his life was b
excising the frontal bone. The resul
was that the man survived, without 81
rious injury, though he was consciou
of some mental defect.
1t is quite possible that an artis
writer or musician would find the e.
; feet Of the removal to deprive him .
. the particular faculty for producin
} his work, but otherwise his brai
would be unaffected for Its ordinar
functions.