The Washington times., 1920-08-08

trunk to prevent the back how Of the blood
nothing Of the kind would happen.
In dog or other quadruped the groin
is deeply seated between the thigh and
the abdominal wall, but in man II is fully
exposed and unprotected. Just below the
groin on the front of the thigh is the
superficial femoral artery - one of the
principal channels by which blood is car
ried TO the leg.
In an animal with the thigh habitually
bent on the trunk this important artery
lies deep In the crease between thigh and
trunk where It is securely protected from
harm. But not so in man. With his feet
spread in order to give him broader base
and a more secure balance the femoral
artery lies exposed In a most dangerous
way.
Not only the groin, With its i'm rortant
artery. but the entire abdominal wall is
exposed to injury as result OF mans up
right position. This large area is wholly
unprotecteaaby the body's bohy framework
and as II this were NOT enough, the whole
trunk is Aattened and broadened so that
1t furnishes larger target for attack and
dangerously exposes some of It's most vul-
nerable parts.
In mans feet the unfortunate results of
the erect position are even more numerous
than In some other parts Of the body, and
the pain and Inconvenience which we ex-
perience from these makeshift pieces of
mechanism constitute some OF the most
serious disadvantages under which human
beings are forced to struggle along.
The foot of ancestral man was very
nicely adapted to tree climbing, the heel
being set of slightly to one side so that
the sole could be better applied to- the
cylindrical trunks and branches. But
what was Just the thing for climbing trees
proves a serious disadvantage when it
comes to walking and standing erect
Since man assumed the'upright position
his heel has moved over somewhat further
toward the inner side OF the foot in an
effort to bring the heel that was slanted
for tree climbing squarely on the! ground
for walking. The parts OF the foot. how
ever, have not yet become perfectly
adapted to the new arrangement, and as
a result there Is a weaknessthat manifests
Itself as o fallen arch In thousands of
human beings.
This weakness is largely due to the long
stretch between the bali OF the foot and
the heel and an imperfect support of the
arch on the inner margin OF the foot.
When the defect becomes serious It has
y
the shoe forward along the inner side Of
the heel to throw the sole Of the foot in
ward and shift the weight OF the body
more 20 the outer side Of the. foot
In the lungs is found aN defect which,
although seemingly trivial, Ia undoubt edly
the cause OF countless deaths As is well
known, the trachea or wtndpipe passes
from the mouth--or, more properly, 1.-THE
pharynx-to the lungs, dividing into the
two bronchial tubes. The right tube leads
of from the trachea at rnure nearly right
angle than the left, so that mtvus rolling
downward, or disease germs carried down
by the air current, nnd their way into the
left lung with greater frequency than into
the right one, Az n result of this, in the
typical case OF lohular pneumonia, the con-
gested areas cluster around the extremity
Of the left bronchial tube more closely
than -around the right
Not a few OF the disadvantages Of being
human are found In and around the mouth.
Since man became hand feeder his teeth
have grown smaller and become more
closely crowded together The wisdom
teeth show several Vnnilstakable signs Of
degenerating
We think our promnen, chins things Of
beauty and we point with pride to the
decided angles which the shortening Of
the Jaws has given them ne marks Of
mans determination and ability to accom-
plish great things Tho Congo ssvage's
receding Jaw may seem extremely ugly
to us. but science declares that from
the viewpoint OF mouth hygiene n is far
superior 10 our own much more attractive
ones.
Man has paid heavily for his superla.
tive brain-but the brain has been worth IL