llness and danger. In man they are indeed
rudimentary organs, providing another proof of our simian origin. The
vermiform appendix, so frequently the cause of illness and death, is
another rudimentary organ in the human body, together with the part of
the digestive canal to which it is attached. The organ is a very old
part of the constitution of mammals, and it is because it has been
preserved long after its function has disappeared that we find it
occurring in the body of man.

I believe that not only the appendix, but a very large part of the
alimentary canal is superfluous, and worse than superfluous. It is, of
course, of great importance to the horse, the rabbit, and some other
mammals that live exclusively on grain and herbage. The latter part of
the alimentary canal, however, must be regarded as one of the organs
possessed by man and yet harmful to his health and life. It is the cause
of a series of misfortunes. The human stomach also is of little value,
and can easily be dispensed with, as surgery has proved. It is because
we inherit our alimentary canal from creatures of different dietetic
habits that it is impossible for us to take our nutriment in the most
perfect form. If we were only to eat substances that could be almost
completely absorbed, serious complications would be produced. A
satisfactory system of diet has to make allowance for this, and in
consequence of the structure of the alimentary canal has to include in
the food bulky and indigestible materials, such as vegetables. Lastly,
it may be noted that the instinct of appetite in man is largely
aberrant. The widespread results of alcoholism show plainly the
prevalent existence in man of a want of harmony between the instinct for
choosing food and the instinct of preservation.

Far stronger than the social instinct, and far older, is the love of
life and the instinct of self-preservation. Devices for the protection
of life were developed long before the evolution of mankind, and it is
quite certain that animals, even those highest in the scale of life, are
unconscious of the inevitability of death and the ultimate fate of all
living things. This knowledge is a human acquisition. It has long been
recognised that the old attach a higher value to life than do the young.
The instinctive love of life and fear of death are of importance in the
study of human nature, impossible to over-estimate.

The instinctive love of life is preserved in the aged in it