Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-10-19

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the SORROWS Of the world. The little
eohppus, the great grandfather Of the horse
suffered from carries, or liberation of the bone
and the dinotherium's mouth was sore from
pyorrhea many years before Pandora let the
troubles out of the box.
Before the caveman marked q circle on the
ground 30 tel his mate where the sun would be
when he returned home In the evening dogw
knew some of the rudimentS of medicine cats
doSed themselves for certain ailments and
wounded hareS had learned to seek out burrows
to Cooperate from illnesses and injuries.
Though disease and medicine have their be-
ginnings In prehistoric times before man an
peared on the earth, man Is the only animal
who practced surgery As soon as the first man
learned to chip flints into leaf-shaped instru-
mentS, he began using these crude surgical tools
to open ulcers, to cut away diseased tissues. and
later to cut holes in the skull Of his fellow man
to relieve mental ailments and fractures Of the
skull
These are some Of the interesting facts which
DR.. George Duncan, noted anthropologist has
brought to Light in his recent studies Of prehis-
toTic disease medicine and surgery
sEDISEAsE seems to be Is old As Life Msele,"
he said. Evidences Of many wen known
diseases have been found to exist In fossil re-
mains Of both man and animals. The animals
OF the Paleozoic era, which existed from 525.-
100000 to 225.Q00.0o0 years ago, suffered from
carries, pyoRrhea. necrosis. fractures calluses
and from parasitism, traces Of which are ey-
ident in their remains today. In the AGesozoac
era 2OO,0oo.o00 to 100000. GOO years ago. dino
saurs, turtles. crocodies and other reptiles ev-
identity were subject to LESSONS or changes in
the functioning or the texture Of their organ
isms, as shown by their skeIetal remains"
There is now I'm Kansas University Museum
the skeleton Of q sauropodous dinosaur taken
from the Como Beds Of wyoming two eaudal
VertPbfal
having the appearance OF q spongy growth sur
rounding the intervertebral articular surfaces
not unlike the tumorlike mass which grows on
oak trees.
been due to fracture Of the vertebra or to q
bone tumor. In general appearance it Is not un-
like chronic osteomyelitts.
During the early part of the Quaternaxy
Age, when man first appeared, the era EXTEND
ing from 100000 years ago to the present
time" DR.. Duncan explained, there are album
dant examples OF disease in the remains Of pre-
historic man. Carries, bone cysts and sacs con-
tmining morbid matter are found. few in
stances Of tuberculosis have been discovered.
There are evidences Of ricketts, alterations
atrophy of the skull and other bones, abnormal
curvature Of the spinal column, bony tumors
bony growths and many kinds Of Inflammation
Sir Arthur Keith has described an early
skeleton which gives definite evidence that the
man to whom it belonged suffered from q left
sided palsy which he had contracted I'm boy
hood"
Neolithic man suffered from rachitis and
arthritis deformans, although the former Of
these diseases has been previously supposed 10
be due TO the sins Of civilization That early
progenitor Of ours must have learned to become
philosophical under the durance vile Of tooth
ache, for there is abundant evidence that he
had bad cases Of pyorrhea. Osteomyelitis was
not rare among those half-man, haIf-animaI
ancestors Of ours.
PERHAPS he eOntracted them o. hroaehS
them with him, from his Freeman Stagea.
for the fossil shells and fishes which are known
to have existed before man came upon tia
earth show traces ,oe various Diseases Fossil