Anatomy, Comparative; Embryology, Human; Evolution; Human beings -- Origin
Fig.182. Median longitudinal section of the tail of a human embryo,
two-thirds of an inch long. Fig. 182—Median longitudinal section of the
tail of a human embryo, two-thirds of an inch long. (From _Ross
Granville Harrison._) _Med_ medullary tube, _Ca.fil_ caudal filament,
_ch_ chorda, _ao_ caudal artery, _V.c.i_ caudal vein, _an_ anus, _S.ug_
sinus urogenitalis.
Fig.183. Human embryo, four weeks old, opened on the ventral side. Fig.
183—Human embryo, four weeks old, opened on the ventral side. Ventral
and dorsal walls are cut away, so as to show the contents of the
pectoral and abdominal cavities. All the appendages are also removed
(amnion, allantois, yelk-sac), and the middle part of the gut. _n_ eye,
_3_ nose, _4_ upper jaw, _5_ lower jaw, _6_ second, _6″_ third
gill-arch, _ov_ heart (_o_ right, _o′_ left auricle; _v_ right, _v′_
left ventricle), _b_ origin of the aorta, _f_ liver (_u_ umbilical
vein), _e_ gut (with vitelline artery, cut off at _a′_), _j′_ vitelline
vein, _m_ primitive kidneys, _t_ rudimentary sexual glands, _ r_
terminal gut (cut off at the mesentery _z_), _n_ umbilical artery, _u_
umbilical vein, _9_ fore-leg, _ 9′_ hind-leg. (From _Coste._)
Human embryo, five weeks old, opened from the ventral side. Fig.
184—Human embryo, five weeks old, opened from the ventral side (as in
Fig. 183). Breast and belly-wall and liver are removed. _3_ outer nasal
process, _4_ upper jaw, _5_ lower jaw, _z_ tongue, _v_ right, _v′_ left
ventricle of heart, _o′_ left auricle, _b_ origin of aorta, _b′, b″,
b‴_ first, second, and third aorta-arches, _c, c′, c″_ vena cava, _ae_
lungs (_y_ pulmonary artery), _e_ stomach, _m_ primitive kidneys (_j_
left vitelline vein, _s_ cystic vein, _a_ right vitelline artery, _n_
umbilical artery, _u_ umbilical vein), _ x_ vitelline duct, _i_ rectum,
_8_ tail, _9_ fore-leg, _9′_ hind-leg. (From _Coste._)
It sometimes happens that we find even external relics of this tail
growing. According to the illustrated works of
Surgeon-General Bernhard Ornstein, of Greece, these tailed men are not
uncommon; it is not impossible that they gave rise to the ancient
fables of the satyrs. A great number of such cases are given by Max
Bartels in his essay on “Tailed Men” (1884, in the _Archiv für
Anthropologie,_ Band XV), and critically examined. These atavistic
human tails are often mobile; sometimes they contain only muscles and
fat, sometimes also rudiments of caudal vertebræ. They have a length of
eight to ten inches and more. Granville Harrison has very carefully
studied one of these cases of “pigtail,” which he removed by operation
from a six months old child in 1901. The tail moved briskly when the
child cried or was excited, and was drawn up when at rest.
Fig.185. The head of Miss Julia Pastrana. Fig. 185—The head of Miss
Julia Pastrana. (From a photograph by _Hintze._)
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