BLUNDERS IN OUR BODIES.

Dunstan Times, Issue 2675, 21 July 1913, Page 2

BLUNDERS IN OUR BODIES.

[n making men, Nature did her work very poorly, according to a remarkable arraignment made by Dr Augustus Maverick, of San Antonio, Texas. Our bodies are full of examples, he declares, of how Nature, through carelessness, brings destruction and death to its progeny. In this indictment, tha doctor starts at the. top and works down. The teeth ;u man, ho points out, are by no means naturally perfect. Digestive disorders are often encouraged by this fact. As natural mischief-makers of the mouth, the wisdom teeth play an important role. These are useless additions to the mouth,” he says, “and in spite ol their size they are never great chewers . on tho other hand the pain they cause in making their debut and the troubh they so often produce, including abscesses. diffuse suppuration, necrosis 01 the jawbone, and even cancer, is common knowledge to us all. About seventeen persons out of one hundred in out race cheat the dentist by ( not cutting their upper wisdom teeth'; they may well consider themselves lucky.” The doctor then proceeds to criticise the tonsils which, he says, stand up like little tombstones. “The simile, he adds, is a good one, since the tonsils and the grave are closely related. “Evidently placed by nature as sentries to guard the throat from the invasion of bacteria in the food, they have not only failed in their duty, but they have apparently in many peopm become centres of attraction for all stray germs. It is only necessary to mention the frequency of ton si litis and the relation between tonsilitis and diseases such as rheumatism, appendicitis sepsis, scarlet fever, diphtheria, and nephritis. “Very similar to the tonsils are the adenoids, so common in younger life. Here we have a natural growth of tissue, of little or no use, which on one hand plugs the breathing space and causes general ill health and deformitv of the chest, on the other hand predispose the nose and throat to recurring catarrhal affection, including mt!animation of the inner ear and deafness.’ i Strangely enough, the doctor has a kind word'to say for the appendix, although he prefaces it with sonic hard knocks. It isn't as bad as it might Referring to this appendage_ as “an antique of the salad age which is of us» to no one unless the abdominal surgeon,” ho declares that “we certain 1 v have not thanks to give nature for this miniature gut which, because of its low vitality and ease of strangulation. Ims become the target for nil abdominal infections. The frequency of appendicitis is one of the by-words of our times.” But the doctor points out that about one out of every four persons has an appendix the canal of which is partially or wholly occluded, making the possibility of appendicitis Jess frequent or preventing it altogether. In taking up the nervous system the doctor "shows up” nature in finished

style. ‘■"The nerves which branch through out tlie body,” ho says, “are often conipared with telegraph wires, since the,' both carry messages to and fro. tu making this comparison, however, it !• well to remember that the wires made by man carry their messages much faster than the nerves made by Nature, and that while a single telegraph wire avill carry several messages at once, the nerve trunk must have a. separate fibre for each.

“Telegraph wires do not lie as often as nerves do. Thus it is not rare to .see a child with.Jbeginning pneumonia or pleurisy who has severe pains for down in the abdomen instead of over the chest, sometimes causing the surgeon to operate for appendicitis, A one-legged unfortunate will often experience pain in his amputated limb for months or years after ho and his lee have parted.” The doctor points in great detail too, how inefficiently Nature designed the nervous system, certain nerves being very poorly arranged.

While we value our sight next to our life, Nature lias loft much to be do sired in supplying us with proper organs. “We do not expect our eyes to see as far as a telescope, as minutely as a microscope, or as quickly as a camera,” the doctor says, “but we do demand that our eyes bo perfect n structure, and this they are not. The natural: errors of the eyeball have caused endless gossip among eye men for years, and given many physicians a chance to rap at Nature as an optician.” . The doctor specifies many of the faults possessed by our eyes, and which be says are a handicap to our sight, and if wo did not have two eyes instead of one and were not constantly changing our glance, we would not be able to get along as wed as we do.