The Descent of Man

pendage is a rudiment, we may infer from its
small size, and from the evidence which Prof.
Canestrini (47. 'Annuario della Soc. d. Nat.'
Modena, 1867, p. 94.) has collected of its variability
in man. It is occasionally quite absent, or
again is largely developed. The passage is sometimes
completely closed for half or twothirds
of its length, with the terminal part consisting
of a flattened solid expansion. In the
orang this appendage is long and convoluted:
in man it arises from the end of the short caecum,
and is commonly from four to five inches
in length, being only about the third of an inch
in diameter. Not only is it useless, but it is sometimes
the cause of death, of which fact I have
lately heard two instances: this is due to small
hard bodies, such as seeds, entering the passage,
and causing inflammation. (48. M. C.
Martins ("De l'Unite Organique," in 'Revue des
Deux Mondes,' June 15, 1862, p. 16) and Haeckel
('Generelle Morphologie,' B. ii. s. 278), have