July, 1929 



EVOLUTION 



Page Nine 



McCabe- Riley Evolution Debate 



Second section of the Debate held at Mecca Audi- 

 torium, New York, February 7 , 1929, between Pro- 

 fessor Joseph McCabe, of England, Science Popular- 

 izer, and Reverend W. B. Riley, President of World's 

 Christian Fundamentals Association, on the question: 

 "Resolved That Evolution Is True and Should Be 

 Taught in the Schools." This is continued from our 

 last issue, in which Professor McCabe's first speech 

 and the opening of Dr. Rileys first speech appeared. 



REV. WM. B. RILEY (continuing) : Then, he did 

 touch slightly upon vestigial remains, those 180 what- 

 ever you want to call them, in your body that have 

 no function. I thought I taught him better in the 

 previous debates, and I felt every time he went down 

 to defeat that he wouldn't do that thing again. 

 (Laughter.) But if he won't learn, I will have to in- 

 struct him afresh tonight. 



Now, I just want to take up tonight a few of those 

 vestigial remains. For instance, let me call your atten- 

 tion to several of them just at this point in my argu- 

 ment. Vestigial remains — what are they? What ves- 

 tigial remain is there in the human body that has no 

 function ? I wish he would just tell me that. And then 

 I can take up that particular one and give attention 

 to it. But, lest he might not get to them, I will give 

 attention to a few of them just in passing. 



Take the appendix! The average man has that cut 

 out, because the modern scientist (?) has told him that 

 it has no function, and the physician is perfectly willing 

 to accommodate him for a few dollars, or several, 

 as the case may be. So he has it cut out. 



Let us see whether it has a function or not. Dr. 

 Howard Kelly of John Hopkins University, one of the 

 first authorities in America, says this : "It increases 

 the extent of the intestinal mucous surface for secre- 

 tion and absorption and is very valuable." (Applause.) 

 All right. There is your answer to that. 



A few years ago the thyroid glands were called use- 

 less glands. They are located on either side of the 

 windpipe, just below the larynx. It is now conceded 

 by Dr. Vincent that "defective thyroid function, in the 

 mother, is the essential factor in the production of 

 cretinism." You know that effects both body and mind ! 

 Dr. C. W. Saleeby says : "It provides iodine for the 

 body without which no man can live. Without enough 

 of it in the blood, an expectant mother is imperiled, 

 and her babies cannot be normally born." He further 

 says that "the thyroid saves a vast amount of ugliness, 

 idiocy, deaf-mutism, and possible cancer." 



Some years ago I was on the train going out to the 

 Pacific Coast. I picked up a paper. Professor Lull 

 of Yale University had an article in it in which he 

 spoke of another vestigial remain, namely, one that is 

 found in the head known as "the pineal gland." It is 

 located on the top of the head. It is a little organ 

 about the size of a grain of wheat, located in the roof 

 of the third ventricle of the brain. 



Now, Lull said that undoubtedly that was the re- 

 mains of a single eye left over from one of our mud- 



loving ancestors. He had that one eye so that he could 

 wallow himself in the mud, and leave that eye above 

 and look around and see if there was any danger 

 approaching. ( Laughter. ) That is exactly what he said. 

 I have the Doctor's article at home. 



Dr. Swale Vincent, professor of physiology in the 

 University of London, says that "the pineal gland is 

 the most important organ in the human body and reg- 

 ulates entirely the growth of the body itself and de- 

 termines especially sexual development; it also con- 

 trols the inflow and the outflow of the cerebral fluid 

 and cannot be dispensed with." 



Doubtless, when we know more, we will discover 

 that God didn't make as many mistakes as we imagine, 

 and that every single feature, natural to the human 

 body, was divinely appointed and has important func- 

 tions to perform. It is too bad that my friend McCabe 

 was not there when God was making Man so that 

 he could have told him a lot of things to leave off. 



Do you know, if there is any one thing that I would 

 call a vestigial remain, it is my finger nail. We do not 

 claim its usefulness since climbing is no longer our 

 animal custom. According to the McCabe view, we do 

 not need it. We don't run on the ground as the hogs 

 do. Why the nail? I smashed my thumb six months 

 ago, and the nail hasn't grown perfectly as yet, and I 

 can't open my knife. 



I tell you, there are no vestigial remains! Every 

 single part of man functions ! I want to fell you that 

 I never had a particle of my body cut away. Not a 

 thing! I still have my appendix. I have my tonsils. 

 I have everything that God gave me, and they all func- 

 tion. That is why I beat the Professor so often. 



Now, I want to call your attention, in passing to- 

 night, to another thing, and that is this : that when 

 the Professor would have you believe that all these 

 people are absolutely agreed, he is just playing with 

 you ; that is all. I'll show you how far they agree. 



The Professor believes and teaches in his books 

 everywhere that we came up from animal life, and 

 that we have a bestial pedigree, first, and then it runs 

 clear down to the fishes, to the gill slits. Yes, he 

 actually believes that, and that is what they teach you 

 young men and women in school ! 



I challenge any physician living to tell me that there 

 are gill slits in the human foetus. The human foetus 

 is never, never at any stage characterized by gill slits. 

 I come of a line of physicians. My brother is one, 

 my sons are physicians. There are no gill slits in the 

 human foetus ! I dare you to say that there are, and 

 I will go and disprove it in the laboratory. 



Professor Huxley asked a student one day: "What 

 is a lobster?" The student said : "A lobster is a red fish 

 that moves backward." 



Professor Huxley said : "That is a very good an- 

 swer but for three reasons : It is not a fish ; it is not 

 red, and it does not move backward. Aside from that 

 your answer may stand." (Laughter.) So of human 

 gill slits. They are neither gills nor slits, but folds only I 



