The Washington times., 1920-08-08

STvHE late Mark Twain more than once
bemoaned the fact that he was a
man and declared that humanity
has very little to be proud OF. And now It
appears that there Is actually a great deal
of truth In what the famous humorist said
half In Jest.
As a matter OF fact, man has surpris-
ingly. small cause, so far as his physical
body Is concerned, for regarding himself
as natures masterwork and for holding
himself superior to what he arrogantly
calls the Tower animals" Instead of be.
ing as fearfully and wonderfully made as
we are apt to think, name body Is really
a very precarious piece Of machinery.
The body is so full OF imperfections and
that there are actually many disadvant-
ages In being human.
large number of these disadvantages
are pointed out and explained by Pro.
fessor B. w. Kunkel, OF Lafayette College.
: In a most interesting and Instructive ar
ticle in the Scientific Monthly. To illus.
trate how poor our sense Of smell is as
compared with other animals he cites
remarkable experiences which he himself
had some time ago.
81 was greatly terrified" he says. "at the
sight OF my small child calmly sitting upon
climbed; and, although had Just returned
from my bath, | was conscious CT most
fetid odor from my skin Immediately after
! had rescued the child from her danger
Gus perch II was the odor of fear,
Think how vastly our knowledge of
people with whom we come In contact
would be increased II we had sense of
smell acute enough to perceive the pass
ing variations OF our bodily secretions as
I did In this instance A real Sherlock
Holmes equipped with nostrils keen enough
to differentiate between the odor OF sane
tity and deceit would make the feats OF
Conan Doyle's imaginary hero pale into
insigniRcance."
Mans organ OF smell Is defective not
only In the.way Il functions. but also In It's
manner OF construction and arrangement.
The little turbinal bones over which the
sensitive organ OF smell. Is spread out are
much smaller than In our more sharp
scented animal cousins, and they are often
so deformed as to make little pockets In
which the secretions OF the nose aocumu.
ltCb. Nnen tnbSe SeCTttlOuS utCUuiFOSt
they cause serious trouble, and the disln.
fection OF the nose and the cleaning Of
those little pockets OF their mucus de-
posts are important parts of the nose
specialists work.
Another defect OF the human body which
at FIRST glance seems trivial, but which is
really serious, is the loss of the power TO
twitch the skin as the horse does when
troubled by flies. The extensive layer OF
muscle which enables horses and other
qusdrupeds to do this has disappeared en-
tirely from the human species except on
the front OF the neck and the face and the
scalp.
Instead Of being able to drive Off insects
by a sudden contraction OF the skin, as
quadrupeds do, man ID under the necessity
of using hand or foot. As Professor
Kunliel points out, doubtless many Of our
forebears plunged TO death or serious~in.
Jury from the tree tops because they were
forced TO employ hands or feet to ward of
the attacks OF insects.
Many OF the most glaring mechanical
defects In tho human body are due to
mans present habit OF striding about on
his legs instead OF crawling on "all fourA"
This habit Ia OF comparatively recent de
velopment, as is shown by the length OF
time a baby creeps and Che Alowness with
which II learns 10 stand erect and walk.
In fact, Il Is so new 10 man that the body
has not yet had time to adapt itself fully
10 the new position,
Mans upright, position Is directly re-
pponsible for several serious disadvant.
ages In the blood vessels. Standing as
we do with the axis OF the body nearly
vertical 60 the ground, the blood vessels
OF the legs have 10 support an unusually
tall column OF blood, This greater pres.
sure Ia borne quite we'll by the strong
muscular walls of the arteries and by those
of the deepsseated veins, which although
considerably thinner, are well supported
by the surrounding muscles. but the walls
Of the veins which lie just beneath the
Great pritaip R,ghta pkscryoJ