What's the purpose of the groove in our upper lip? Before I answer this question, a proper introduction is in order: meet your philtrum. If you researched this question at your local playground, you might conclude that the function of the philtrum is to provide storage for snot until a grownup arrives with a tissue. As noble a calling as that may be, it is not the purpose of the philtrum. That's because the philtrum has no purpose. It's one of a bunch of merger-lines known as "raphes". As our tiny embryonic selves are developing, the right and left sides are merged at various points on the body, leaving a raphe at the meeting point. Other raphes can be found on the middle of the tongue, in the dent under the point of your chin, and other, far more personal parts of your body. (Source: WHEN DID WILD POODLES ROAM THE EARTH? By David Feldman) (C) Copyright MailBits.com 1998-1999. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without the written permission of the copyright owner is prohibited. (Yea, but feel free to forward to your friends.)