Evidence of appendicitis has been discovered in mummies of ancient Egypt.1 The earliest description of the anatomy of the appendix was recorded in 1524 by Jacopo Berengario da Carpi.2 Vesalius in 1543 termed it the cecum or blind sac. Ambroïse Paré in 1582 stated that the intestine has a long and narrow apophysis, but it is believed that Fallopius in 1561 was the first to compare the appendix to a worm.3 In the nineteenth century renewed interest aroused by the description of Gerlach's valve (1847), Treitz's pericecal fossa (1857) and Clado's ligament (1892) was followed by an active era of clinical, therapeutic and operative progress which is associated with many noted clinicians.
Somatic nerve distribution received early physiologic consideration by Gaskell.4 He described the origin of the nerves in the spinal segments of animals as having somatic and splanchnic roots. On the basis of clinical observations