Page 131 - Once Upon a Time There Was Darwinism
P. 131

Harun Yahya
                                     (Adnan Oktar)





                    appendectomy impairs the development of mucosal im-
                  munity. Morphological and functional studies of the rabbit ap-
                  pendix indicate that it is probably the equivalent of the avian
                  bursa in mammals. The bursa plays a critical role in the develop-
                  ment of humoral immunity in birds. The histological and immuno-
                  histochemical similarity of the rabbit and human appendix suggest
                  that the human appendix has a similar function to that of the rabbit
                  appendix. The human appendix may be particularly important
                  early in life because it achieves its greatest development shortly
                  after birth and then regresses with age, eventually resembling such
                  other regions of GALT as the Peyer's patches in the small intestine.
                  These recent studies demonstrate that the human appendix is not a
                  vestigial organ, as originally claimed. 75
                  In short, the reason why the appendix was famously thought
             to be vestigial was the dogmatism of Darwin and his followers,

             thanks in turn to the unsophisticated level of science of their time.
             With the primitive microscopes at their disposal, they could not
             observe the lymphatic tissue of the appendix; and because they
             could not understand its structure, they regarded it as useless and
             included it on their list of functionless vestigial organs. Once
             more, Darwinism was abetted by the unsophisticated level of
             19th-century science.
                  This situation also pertained to all the other organs on
             Wiedersheim's list. As years went on, the tonsils that were thought

             to be vestigial were discovered to have an important role in pro-
              tecting the throat from infection, especially before adulthood. It
                became known that the tail bone at the base of the spinal col-
                  umn supported the bones around the pelvis and there-
                     fore, if it were not for it, an individual could not
                         sit comfortably. In addition, this bone was



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