100 The Inside s and the Worhjngs of Living Things 



testine which is relatively larger in many of the herbivorous 

 animals and in the orang-outang than it is in man. In other 

 mammals, however, it is completely reduced. In the unborn 

 infant the appendix is relatively larger than it is later in life. 

 Unless we assume that this organ relates its possessor to other 



Fig. 29. The Vermiform Appendix 



This blind sac near the beginning of the large intestine seems to be an organ of 

 diminishing magnitude, as we may judge from its relative size among the members 

 of different families of mammals, and from its relative size in the different 

 stages of individual development. 



forms which also have it, we must seek its meaning in some 

 other theory of the origin of species. To assume that the 

 orang-outang was created with a definite purpose must force 

 us to find a related purpose in the presence of this structure. 

 It has been abundantly demonstrated that the vermiform ap- 

 pendix is not only a useless structure but also, and perhaps 



