THE DIGESTIVE SYSTEM. 337 



THE VERMIFORM APPENDIX (VERMIFORM PROCESS). 



In man the caecum is very short and has attached to it a wormlike 

 process, the vermiform appendix. This has a thin muscular coat 

 and a thicker mucous coat, the latter composed almost entirely of 

 lymphoid tissue containing scattered tubular glands. The human 

 appendix is regarded as a vestigial remnant of no functional import- 

 ance. It is homologous with the long and capacious caecum of herbi- 

 vora, which serves the useful purpose of retaining food material while 

 the cellulose undergoes bacterial decomposition. 



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