Casting Off the Useless Organs 



end of the vertebral column there are In every human being, 

 the bones and muscles or the atrophied muscles of a rudi- 

 mentary tail. The number of these bones vary in number 

 from three to five. This coccyx and its attendant bands of 

 fibrous tissue served the ancestors of man as a useful organ 

 when they lived among the tree tops but after their tree 

 dwelling environment had changed, It became useless and 

 the external tail was cast off. 



The teeth of man and of his immediate ancestors bear 

 evidence of his change of diet. The huge Interlocking tusks 

 and cutting teeth of the early ape-like men bear evidence of 

 their raw meat diet but when their food was cooked and 

 their diet became mixed, their teeth took on a human form. 

 Diet is the one and greatest factor in changing the form of 

 the teeth. We have seen the flying crocodiles lose their 

 teeth when they changed to an Insect diet and develop a 

 horn-like turtle mouth. Again we have seen the whale change 

 its teeth for flexible bone to fit Its change of diet. The tusks 

 of the ape-like men are still found in a dwarfed form in the 

 human mouth. 



In the digestive systems of both man and the animals, 

 many changes have taken place as the forms and food of 

 ancestral life have changed. The most outstanding vestigial 

 organ of the human digestive system is the Vermiform 

 Appendix. In some of the herbivorous animals, especially 

 the sheep, this organ Is greatly developed and is of much 

 use in digestion; while In man, it serves no useful purpose 

 but serves as a dangerous receptacle or trap for foreign 

 substances and which when its membranous parts become 

 infected, will often produce death unless it is removed. It is 



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