Mvt/xi'.rmwnvzrwmmwwiw ■ . •f , , i ; .:>i,- , - i : ■ •. . •>*< ■ '>" ■ ' Vv. NEWrORKS CHICAGO w, LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, Shelf ..HAtii UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. HYGIENE YOUNG PEOPLE ADAPTED TO INTERMEDIATE CLASSES AND COMMON SCHOOLS, PREPARED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE ; DEPARTMENT OF SCIENTIFIC INSTRUCTION OF THE WOMEN'S NATIONAL CHRISTIAN TEMPERANCE UNION ' X,3J' WITH A Preface and Endorsement of Scientific Accuracy BY A. B. PALMER, M.D., LL.D. PROFESSOR OF PATHOLOGY AND PRACTICE OF MEDICINE. AND DEAN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN, AT ANN ARBOR, AND AUTHOR OF A TREATISE ON THE SCIENCE AND PRACTICE OF MEDICINE MAR 13 Copyrigllfe*.* l«g± and 1885 A. S. Barnes & Company NEW YORK AND CHICAGO "An Act relating to the Study of Physiology and Hygiene in the Public Schools. " The 'People of the State of JVew York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do e?tact as follows : "Section 1. Provision shall be made by the proper local school authorities for instructing all pupils in all schools supported by public money, or under State control, in physiology and hygiene, with special reference to the effects of alcoholic drinks, stimulants, and narcotics upon the human system." Tims read, -with, slight modifications, the laws of four other states, viz., Vermont, Michigan, New Hamp- shire, and Rhode Island. This book has been prepared to meet the demands of these states for intermediate grades of schools. Since the laws say that Physiology and Hygiene, with special reference to the effects of alcoholic drinks, etc., shall he studied by all pupils in the public schools, such of the obvious facts of Physiology as would render the Hygiene intelligible have been included. 4 PREFACE. Enough, on the subject of Hygiene has "been intro- duced to give a general knowledge of the laws of health; while, as the spirit and the letter of the laws direct, especial reference has "been made to the effects of alcoholic drinks and other narcotics. Eminent physicians and teachers have contributed helpful suggestions in the preparation of this work. Among the former are Prof. Palmer, M. D., LL. D., Dean of the Medical Department of Michigan Uni- versity ; Dr. Ezra M. Hunt, A. M., M. D., President of the section of the American Medical Association on State Medicine and Public Hygiene, Vice-President of the American Public Health Association, etc., and author of "Alcohol as a Food and Medicine." Of the teachers who have helped in shaping these truths into a suitable form for young minds, first mention should be made of Miss Alice M. Guernsey, High School, Wareham, Mass. The aid of Dr. Mary V. Lee, of the Oswego, 1ST. Y., Normal School; Prof. Jones, Supt. of Public Instruc- tion, Erie, Penn. ; D. B. Hagar, Ph.D., Principal of the State Normal School, Salem, Mass. ; Mr. E. P. Church, Supt. of Public Instruction, Greenville, Mich., and other practical instructors, is also gratefully recog- nized by the department that has had this matter in charge. MARY H. HUNT, Superintendent of the National Department of Scientific Instruction of the W. C. T. TJ. INTRO DUCT ION. I have examined the manuscript of this book, and find it covering more matter that I think should "be taught in the elementary lessons on life and health in the schools, than I have found in the other works, with similar objects, which I have had occasion to examine. It is free from the errors which have been noticed and objected to in several other works on this subject designed for school use. I also think it free from such overstatements as are likely to be produced by ardent zeal. If all the facts contained in this little work are firmly lodged in the minds of the pupils in our pub- lic schools throughout the country, an immense work for good will be accomplished. Being profoundly impressed with the enormous evils to our race produced by the habitual use of narcotics, including alcohol, opium, and tobacco, I can but rejoice at the promising efforts -to make ob- ligatory in the public schools the teaching of Physi- ology and Hygiene, with special reference to these 6 INTRODUCTION". narcotics, and I know of no work which, is a better introduction to the subject than the present text- book. Of the diseases, the degeneracy, the vices, and the general ill-being produced by the alcohol habit, all observers must be aware. The evils of the opium habit are scarcely less, in proportion to its more limited extent, and the habit is, if possible, even less likely to be broken up when once established. The tobacco habit, though less disastrous to indi- viduals and in its moral and social effects upon communities, still, by its greater prevalence, is doing an amount of mischief, especially with boys, which none so fully know as those physicians who have given special attention to the subject. The influence which indulgence in one narcotic has upon the resort to others, should be more fully recognized, and the great importance of abstinence from all of them will, by these teachings, it is hoped, be more fully understood and appreciated. It therefore gives me great pleasure to say this much, and in this place, in favor of the objects and the execution of this work, and in commendation of the efforts of those who have had the labor of its preparation. A. B. PALMER. Ann Arbor, Sept. 1, 1884. TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE Introduction 5 First Words 8 I. — Alcohol 9 II. — Fermentation 15 III. — Distillation 25 IV.— Tobacco 31 V.— Opium 37 YL— Bones 41 VII. — Muscles . . . 57 VIIL— Food 65 IX. — Are Narcotics Foods? 77 X. — Digestion 87 XL — Eespiration 109 XII. — Circulation 125 XIII— The Skin 141 XIV— Animal Heat 149 XV. — Alcohol and Life 157 XVI. — The Nervous System 165 XVII. —Special Senses 193 Index 203 FIRST WORDS. " ^ NOW thyself," is old and good advice. ^#r As tlie body is an important part of a person, we are only obeying this counsel "when we learn how it is built, how it lives, and what is good or bad for its health. Because many people are ignorant of the true nature of alcoholic drinks and other poi- sons, the law in some parts of our country requires the pupils in the public schools to study the human body and the effects of these drugs upon it. From these lessons you -will learn, first, what these drugs are. That you rua3 T under- stand what they will do to those who use them, you must then learn about the human body and how to take care of it. When you see what alcohol, tobacco, and opium, do to its many wonderful parts, and what trouble and sorrow they cause, you will know why it is dangerous to use them. OHAPTEE I. ALCOHOL. LOOHOL is a colorless liquid with a stinging taste; it burns without soot, giving little light, but great beat. It is ligbter tban water, and can not be frozen. It is used to dissolve gums, resins, and oils; to make smokeless names; to take from leaves, roots, barks, and seeds, materials for making perfumes and medicines; and to keep dead bodies from decaying. People do not usually drink clear alcobol (ai'-eo h6i). Rum, whiskey, wine, cider, gin, brandy, beer, etc., are water and alcobol witb different flavors. Many million gallons of alcobol in tbese liquors are drunk every year by tbe people of this country. ORIGIN OF ALCOHOL. Water forms the larger part of the juice of the grape, apple, and other plants. The solid part of green fruits is mainly starch. 10 ALCOHOL. Under the ripening action of the sun, this starch turns to sugar; this sugar gives us our sweet-tasting fruits and plants; and from, such juices, boiled down, we get the sugar used for food. If this fruit or plant juice is drawn off from its pulp, and then exposed to the open air at summer heat, the sweet part changes: it is no longer sugar, because it has separated into a liquid called alcohol and a gas named carbon'ic ac'id. Much of this gas goes off into the air ; the alcohol remains in the liquid, changing a wholesome food into a dangerous drink. ALCOHOL A POISON.* A poison is an}^ substance whose nature it is, when taken into the body, either in small or large quantities, to injure health or destroy life. * Dr. A. B. Palmer, of Michigan University, says: "Medical ■writers admit that by far the most disastrous and frequent cause of poisoning in all our communities, is the use of alcohol." Dr. James Edmonds, of England, says: "The effects of no other common poison are more direct and certain than those of alcohol." Dr. W. J. Yournans -writes: "Alcohol a brain poison." WHAT IS A NARCOTIC? 11 Proper food is wrought into our bodies; but poisons* are thrown out of them, if pos- sible, because unfit to be used in making any of their parts. In large doses, in its pure state, or when diluted, as in brandy, whiskey, rum, or gin, alcohol is often fatal to life. Deaths of men, "women, and children from poisonous doses of this drug, are common. In smaller quantities, or in the lighter liquors — beer, wine, and cider — when used as a beverage, it injures the health in propor- tion to the amount taken. WHAT IS A NARCOTIC? Any substance that deadens the brain and nerves is called a narcotic; for example, ether (e'ther) and chloroform (e^io'ro form), which are given by the dentist, that he may extract Dr. Alden, of Massachusetts, tells us: "On every organ they touch, alcoholic drinks act as a poison. There is no such thing as their temperate use. They are always an enemy to the human "body. They produce weakness, not strength ; sickness, not health ; death, not life." * Intoxicated means poisoned. The barbarians poisoned their ar- rows ; hence, from the Latin in, into — and toxicum, a poison into ■which arrows were dipped, we get the word which describes the condition of a person under the influence of alcohol. 12 ALCOHOL. teeth without pain. Alcohol is taken for similar purposes, and is a powerful narcotic. ALCOHOL AND WATER. Into a bottle naif full of water, pour alco- liol to tire top ; then snake it "well, being very careful not to spill any of tire liquid. Now, the bottle is not full. The alcohol bas mixed with, the water, and it does this wherever it has a chance. Oil and water will not unite; alcohol and water will always unite. In our study of the human body, which is seven parts out of eight, water,* we shall see how alcohol, beginning at the lips, unites with -the water in every part of the drinker's body which it reaches, thus robbing it of the needed liquid. * I took one of those remains of the human body which have been preserved some thousands of years, and which is called an Egyptian mummy. It was probably the body of one who had been a great priest or ruler; for it had been embalmed or preserved in the most ex- pensive form of embalming and had been inclosed in a tomb which must have cost a small fortune. I measured the mummy,— its length, its girth, and the relative size of its head and limbs and trunk.* From these measurements I was able to estimate what would have been the weight of the ALCOHOLIC APPETITE. 13 ALCOHOLIC APPETITE. Like all narcotic poisons, alcohol has the fatal power of creating an increasing appe- tite for itself, tliat demands not only more frequent, "but stronger and larger doses. The greater its work of ruin, tne harder and more nearly impossible to overcome, will be its demand. The appetite does not gain with equal ra- pidity upon all ; but no one can tell how body when its owner was moving on the earth in the midst of life and health. The "weight of the body at that time, I reckoned, would have been 128 pounds. In the condition of a mummy, in which it was now before me, nothing remained but the dried skeleton or bony framework, and the muscles and other organs completely dried. The body, in fact, had, in the course of ages, lost all its water. In this state it weighed just sixteen pounds, and, as eight times sixteen are one hundred and twenty-eight, it is clear that seven parts out of eight of the whole body, or one hundred and twelve pounds, had passed away as water. In the remaining weight -was included that of the skeleton, which contains but ten per cent, of water, and some mere remnants of canvas and pitchy substances, which had been used by the embalmers, and which, like the skele- ton, still continued perfect. The soft parts of this human body, by which all its active life, its moving and thinking functions, had been carried on, were, in fact, nearly all removed by the drying process, or loss of water, to which they had been subjected. They had not been destroyed by passing into new forms of matter, as occurs when a dead substance is allowed to decay in the open air ; but they had completely lost the -water which once gave them size, flexibility, shape, and capac- ity for motion. Br. B. W. Richardson, of London. 14 ALCOHOL. long he will be satisfied with a little. This craving, so easily formed, and so hard to overcome, clings to its victims. Sometimes after slumbering through years of abstinence (at/stineng^), it is wakened by the first taste. The custom of putting wine and other alcoholic liquors into cooked foods, is a dan- gerous one, often causing the formation or return of a fearful appetite. The narcotic, or deadening, effect of alcohol upon the nerves, unfits the drinker to realize his peril; there- fore its use, even in small quantities, is a dangerous venture to the user. In this country, over 60,000 persons every year die as drunkards — that is, are killed by alcohol. None of them expected to become drunkards when they began to drink liquor; but they were ignorant, or careless, of the power of a little alcohol to create an appe- tite for more. REVIEW QUESTIONS. 1. What Is alcohol ? — Name some of its qualities. 2. What are the uses of alcohol? 3. From what is alcohol made? 4. How can you prove that alcohol is a poison ? 5. How many persons every year die as drunkards ? CHAPTEE II. FERMENTATION. T^7HAT is fer men ta' tion ? "When moist ;©* animal or vegetable matters are ex- posed to warm air, certain changes which take place alter their nature ; these changes are produced toy a process called fermentation. When sugar is turning to alcohol and car toon' ic ac'id, the latter escapes in little toutotoles, giving the entire liquid the appear- ance of tooiling. We call this process, and others much like it, fermentation, from a Latin word which means to tooil. There are several kinds of fermentation. In these lessons we shall learn atoout only two of them. I. Vi'nous Fermentation — the change of sugar to alcohol and carbonic acid. II. A ce' tons Fermentation — the change of alco- hol and other sutostances to vinegar. 16 FERMENTATION. VINOUS FERMENTATION. BACTERIA AND YEAST. If you slioulcl look at a drop of stagnant water under a strong mi'cro scope, you would be quite likel}' to find it full of small living tilings, so tiny that you could not see theni at all with the naked eye ; these nii nute' aninial and vegetable forrns are alive, and often in rapid motion. In tlie air, also, are many living forms, too small to be seen by tlie naked eye, called bacteria (ba-e te'ri a). Tliere are particles coming from them much smaller than the full-grown bacteria, which will become bacteria by growth. These are called spores, and are floating almost every-where in the air, and, from their ex- treme srnalliiess, can get into places where the bacteria might not be able to come. They have been carefully studied with the help of the microscope, and we know that, instead of the air, it is these bacteria or their spores in the air, which produce fermentation in certain liquids. BACTERIA AND YEAST. 17 The juices of the grape, apple, and many other fruits, will, if placed under the right conditions, ferment fay the action of these living forms. In order to ferment some other liquids and thus ofatain intoxicating drinks, yeast * must fae added. In this way some people farew home-made faeer— fay steeping various roots, faarks, and herfas in "water, and adding yeast and sugar enough to cause fermenta- tion. The alcohol that is formed fay the change of the sugar, makes the faeer a dan- gerous drink. When a liquid is fermenting, the little faufafales of carfaonic acid carry a froth to the top, which can fae used as yeast to act on other liquids. At the "bottom lie the " set- tlings," a half-solid mass, sometimes called the lees. Between the froth and the lees is a thin, intoxicating liquid, which people drink under different names, as, wine, cider, faeer, etc. Dry sugar "will not ferment, nor will al- cohol fae formed in liquids which have an * Yeast is really a plant, and it is the growth of the yeast plant which causes fermentation in these liquids. 18 FERMENTATION. excess of sugar. Trie united action of sugar, water, neat, and of the bacteria or spores in the air, or of yeast — each in the right proportion — are always required to produce alcohol. ALCOHOL FROM GRAINS. Starch forms a large part of rye, corn, "barley, and other grains. If these are kept moist and warm — as when planted in the earth in spring or summer, — their starch turns to sugar, when the grain, which is a seed, begins to grow. Chew a grain of sprouted corn or barley, and you will find it sweet. Barley is kept moist with water until it sprouts, or throws out little roots. During this process, most of the starch that is in the barley, changes to sugar. Heat is then applied, strong enough to dry out all the moisture of the barley and kill the young roots. Grain thus treated is called malt, and from this malt, pale ales and beers are made. ALCOHOL AND BREAD. 19 Heating to a higher temperature, so as slightly to burn the sprouted grain, makes dark malt, from which porter and stout — dark colored drinks — are manufactured. If the sugar thus formed in barley is dis- solved out of the grain "with -water, and yeast is added, and the whole exposed to warm air, another change takes place, — the sugar which was once starch, becomes alcohol, and car- bonic acid. By this process, a good food has been changed to a poison; for the barley has become an intoxicating drink — ale, beer, or porter. ALCOHOL AND BREAD. We must not conclude that fermentation is never a good thing. If it is stopped at just the right point, and the alcohol all driven off by heat, it improves some kinds of food. Crushed grain, or flour, is a valuable food; but, in this form, is not pleasant to eat. Yeast added to warm, moistened flour causes fermentation. A little of the starch in the flour turns to sugar, and then to alcohol and 20 FERMENTATION. carbonic acid gas. This gas, in a thin liquid, would pass off into the air. But it is im- prisoned by the sticky dough, and puffs it up with little cells in its effort to escape, thus making the otherwise solid mass, light and spongy. The very small quantity of alcohol which was formed, evaporates, and the gas escapes ■when the dough is placed in the strong heat of the oven ; and a light, sweet loaf of bread is left, that is better food than the flour. Alcohol turns to vapor with less heat than water. In bread baked enough to be food fit for the human stomach, there is no alco- hol. It has been turned to vapor by the heat of the oven, and has passed off into the air. People who are ignorant of the truths you are learning in these lessons, have supposed that because fermented dough makes good bread to eat, therefore fermented barley-juice must make good beer to drink. But you know the alcohol stays in the beer and not in the bread, and that simple fact makes the difference, in this case, between a food and a poison. ALCOHOL IN FERMENTED LIQUORS. 21 AMOUNT OF ALCOHOL IN FERMENTED LIQUORS. In one hundred parts of the fermented juice of apples, or cider, there are from two to ten parts of alcohol. In one hundred parts of "beer — the fermented juice of barley— there are from three to ten parts of alcohol. In one hundred parts of the fermented juice of grapes and other kinds of fruit, or wines, there are from six to twenty-five parts of alcohol. It is estimated (in 1880) that twenty-two and three-quarter million gallons of alcohol are "consumed every year by the people of this country, in beer alone. This makes nearly one-half gallon of pure alcohol used by every man, woman, and child of our 50,000,000 — if all were foolish enough to drink it. As very many people drink no beer at all, some of the beer-drinkers must get more than this one-half gallon of poison during each year. Further study will show you the . consequences of the use of this great quantity of alcohol. 22 FERMENTATION. HEAT AND FERMENTED LIQUORS. If you were to place fermented liquors of any kind in an open kettle over strong heat, their charm for the wine, cider, or beer-lover, would soon he gone. It is for the sake of the alcohol they contain, that people are fond of these drinks, and this passes away in the form of vapor from the boiling liquid; the liquid which is left, has an insipid taste, and no one would care to drink it. ALCOHOL IN NATURE. It is a mistake to suppose that because grapes, apples, and barley, are healthful foods, that wine, cider, and beer, made from them, must also be healthful. It is important to remember that fermen- tation entirely changes the character of the substance it -works upon. Nature rots her various plant forms; but while the juice re- mains protected from the air by the skin or husk of the unbroken grain, plant, or fruit, its sugar will not ferment— therefore, alcohol is never found in them. ALCOHOL AND VINEGAR. 23 ACETOUS FERMENTATION., ALCOHOL AND VINEGAR. All vegetable substances come from earth., air, and water, and return to them again. Through the process of fermentation, vege- table liquids go back to earth, air, and water. After the alcohol is formed, if it remains in the vegetable juice, exposed to moderately warm air, the second kind, or acetous fer- mentation, takes place, changing the alcohol to a sharp acid, called acetic acid and com- monly known as vinegar. When the cook has not baked the bread at just the right time — that is, has not stopped the fermentation before the alcohol began to turn to vinegar in the dough, we say, "the bread is sour." This acetic acid does not pass off in the heat of the oven as alcohol does, but leaves its sour taste in the bread. Vinous fermentation, producing alcohol, can not take place in jellies and preserves, because they contain an excess of sugar. When they begin to "work" — as they may, 24 FEKMENTATIOtf. if kept in moderately warm air — acetic acid, or vinegar, is produced in them by acetous fermentation ; the acid is not made from alcohol in this case, hut is the result of other changes in the fruit juices. "Scalding" makes them sweet again, by driving off this acetic acid, which can escape from a thin liquid, hut not from the dough. This acid is as different from alcohol, as alcohol is from sugar. It is used for food. Vinegar is made in this way from hard cider and other fermented liquors, and will change, in its turn, if left in the same conditions that produced it, and lose its acid taste; its water all evaporating, nothing will remain but a brown powder. The earth, air, and water have claimed again the matter only loaned to make the fruit, plant, or grain. REVIEW QUESTIONS. 1. What is fermentation ? 2. Define vinous fermentation. "What are "bacteria?— spores? 3. What four things are needed to produce alcohol? 4. How is malt made? What liquors are made from it? 5. Define acetous fermentation. When does it take place? 6. What causes sour bread? — the "working" of jellies? 7. How may vinegar be changed to earth, air, and water? CHAPTEE III. DISTILLATION. T\3g*7"HEN a liquid is changed to a vapor "by Aa) neat, and that vapor is turned again to a liquid by cold, the process is called dis- tillation (dis til la'tion). Cold surfaces condense the moisture in the night air, and we say: "The dew is fall- ing." By the heat of the sun, these drops of water are turned again to vapor that rises and spreads itself in the air ; this is again changed to water by cold, and falls in the form of dew or rain. Thus, with her own heat and cold, " Fature is ever distilling." Unless sugar is dissolved in water, it will not turn to alcohol ; therefore, when first formed, alcohol is always mixed with water. Alcohol and water could not be separated, until men, in imitation of nature, learned to distill. Every child who has watched the steam DISTILLATION. puffing front a tea-kettle. knovrs that heat vrill turn a liquid to vapor. Sonie liquids require less heat than others for this change. When tvro such liquids are mixed, one can he made to pass off in vapor, leaving the other. Thus alcohol and water ruay he sepa- rated. Put a fermented liquor into a kettle over the hre. with a pipe in its closely-tltting spout to carry off the steam. Xeariy all the alcohol vrill pass off in vapor "before the vrater comes to the hoiling point. If this pipe is of the right length and is cooled by ice or cold vrater. the vapor, vrhile pa-sing through it. Trill turn to a liquid and drip from the end of the pipe. If you apply a lighted match to this nerr liquid, it vrill hum with a pale blue flame, giving out intense heat. It is mainly alcohol vrhieh has "been sepa- rated— distilled— from the fermented mixture. What remains in the kettle is principally water. The alcohol is unchanged in its na- ture: hut is stronger, hecause not so much diluted rrith rrater. DISTILLATION 27 Fig. 2. Experiment.— Yovl may easily make this experiment for yourselves. Put some hard cider into a teapot (&), and fasten a piece of rubber tubing (e) about two feet long to the spout. Let the other end of the tubing reach into a bottle (d) standing in a pail of cold water or on. a block of ice (hape of the bone, until it is roughly touched —then it crumbles into dust. This is a kind of lime, and is valuable as a fertilizer. l$$k The thigh-bone (femur) sawed lengthwise. GROWTH OF THE BONES. 43 Tlie mineral matter may be removed by- soaking a bone for a few hours in weak muriatic acid ; the animal matter, or gristle, which is left, is soft and yielding, so that you may bend the bone, or tie it in a knot if long enough. Egg-shells also contain lime. You may easily puzzle some of your friends, by putting an egg into a very small-necked bottle. All that you need to do is to soak the egg in Aveak acid, until the shell is so soft that it can be pushed through the neck of the bottle ; once in, it will take its natural form again. In childhood, the bones contain more ani- mal than mineral matter, and so are not easily broken ; in old age, there is more mineral than animal matter, and the bones are brittle and break very easily. GROWTH OF THE BONES. Like the rest of the body, the bones are fed by the food we eat. Mix some bright coloring-matter that is not poisonous, as madder, with the food given 44 BONES. to a j^oung pig" for a time, and then give the same food without the color. If the animal he killed after a short time, each bone will show the color of the madder. This proves that the hones were made from the food the animal had eaten. LIFE OF THE BONES. In infancy, bones begin their life as a sort of jelly, which hardens into gristle, or carti- lage, as the child grows. This cartilage re- ceives from the blood several kinds of food, the most important of which are certain forms of lime ; these, little by little, change the soft gristle to hard bone. Farmers give their hens oyster -shells, which contain lime, so that they may have material for the shells of the eggs they lay. Human beings get lime from milk and other foods containing it. When the bones have too little lime, they are soft and weak. A fatty matter, called marrow, is in the inside of the long bones, with blood-vessels passing through it and through very small holes in the bone itself, carrying food for its BROKEN BONES. 45 life and growth. Covering each hone is a very thin, tough skin. BROKEN BONES. If an iron rod in a steam-engine should break, would it be enough to fasten the broken pieces tightly, end to end, and then wait a few weeks for the iron to grow to- gether? You laugh at the idea. But the bones do that — they mend themselves when broken. All that is needed is to put the ends in place and fasten them tightly with splints and bandages, so that they can not move. Soon a jelly-like substance, made from the blood in the bone, connects the two ends; then this changes to gristle, and, by-and-by, into solid bone, and the break is mended. The bones of young people, when broken, unite readily, and, in a few weeks, become as strong as ever. This is due both to the composition of the bones and the abundant supply of repairing substances in the blood. A bone broken late in life is a long time in being united, and is likely to remain weak. 46 BOXES. THE SKULL AND FACE BONES. These protect tlie organs of sight, hearing, Shi ell, and taste, and the brain, the organ of thought. Fig. 5. The skutt.—l, frontal bovs ; 2, parietal bone ; 3, temporal bone ; 6, superior maxil- lary {ripper jaw) bone; 7, malar bone; 9, nasal bone; 10, inferior maxittary {lower jaw) bone. THE TRUNK. The hones of the trunk are the "backbone, or spine, the ribs, the breast-bone, and the hip bones. The spine is composed of a series of twenty-four little bones, called vertebrae. THE TRUNK. 47 Cushions of gristle lie between r w . e. the vertebrae. If it were not for this, walking- and running would jar the body greatly. In sitting or standing, as we do through the day, these cush- ions are pressed, and so flattened. When we lie down at night, they return to their natural shape, much as a rubber eraser would do if you pressed it with your finger and then took the finger away. For this reason, one is really a little taller in the morning than at night. The ribs are slender, curved bones, twenty-four in number, twelve on each side of the body. Behind, they are attached to the backbone ; in front, seven pairs are joined to a dagger-shaped bone, called the breast -bone; three pairs are joined by gristle to each other, and then to the breast-bone; two pairs are "floating" ribs. (See Fig. 7.) The spine ; the seven ver- tebrae of the neck, cervical; the twelve of the back, dor- sal; the, five of the loins, lumbar. 48 BOXES The liip bones are two large, irregular bones which form the side Trails of the lower part of the trunk. (See Frontispiece). Fig. 8. The chest ; a, the sternum or breast-bone ; b to c, the true ribs; d to f, the false ribs; g, h, the floating ?ibs ; i to k, the dorsal verte- brae. Bones of right fore-arm ; H, the humerus; E, the radius; U. the ulna. THE UPPER LIMBS. The collar-bones are in front of the upper part of the body; the shoulder-blades, at the back. Fastened to the latter, on each side, is the large bone of the upper arm ; below THE LOWEK LIMBS. 49 the elbow, are the two hones of the fore-arm, and those of the wrist, the palm of the hand, and the thumb and fingers. Bones of the foot; a, b, c, d, e, f, g, bones of the ankle and instep ; h, i, forward part of the foot ; k, 1, bones of the great toe ; m, n, o, bones of the other toes. Fig. 10. The shoulder-joint ; a, the collar-bone; b, the shoulder-blade; c, the large bone of the upper arm. THE LOWER LIMBS. The thigh-hone, in the leg above the knee, joins the hip bone. Below the knee are the two bones of the lower leg and those of the ankle, foot, and toes. In front of the knee- joint is a small bone, called the knee-pan. 50 BOXES. As tliere are nineteen bones in each hand or foot, they have a great variety of motions. A hand or foot made of one hone, would he stiff and clumsy.* CAVITIES. There are two principal cavities, or hol- low places, in the hony frame-work. The first is the cavity of the head. The second is a great hollow place, extending from the neck to the legs, divided into two parts by a partition called the diaphragm (dl'a Mm). In the tipper part— the chest— are the heart and lungs: in the lower — the abdomen — are the liver, stomach, bowels or intestines, kid- neys, and other organs. * Many Japanese and Chinese use their toes almost as readily as they do their fingers. They will pick up tools with their toes and work -with them, while managing other instruments in their hands. Workmen in Constantinople always sit on the ground, even in planing a "board ; sometimes they hold a long-handled chisel in the left hand, "while the toes guide the cutting edge in turning beau- tiful forms in a lathe." "Arabs braid ropes with their toes and fingers laboring in con- cert." Our toes are so cramped in their stiff leather boots that we do not pretend to use them. TABLE OF THE PRINCIPAL BONES, 51 TABLE OF THE PEINOIPAL BONES THE HEAD AND FACE. No. Scientific Name. 1.— Front' al 1. — O-e eip'i tal 2.— Pa ri's tal 2.— Tem'po ral 2.— Su pe'ri or Max'il la ry 1.— Infe'rior Max'il la ry 2.— Ma'lar 2.— Na'sal Common Name ob Position. Forehead. Back of the head. Upper side walls of the head. Lower side walls of the head. Upper jaw. Low'er jaw. Cheek. Nose. THE SHOULDER, ARM, AND HAND. No. 1, 1, 1, 1. 1, 8, S, 14. Scientific Name. — S-eap'u la — Slav' i el^ — Hu'me pus — Ra'di lis \ -Ul'na \ — j Car'pus — Met a -ear' pus — Pha lan'ge§ Common Name or Position. Shoulder-bl ade. Collar-bone. Upper arm. Fore-arm. Wrist. Hand. Thumb and fingers. 52 BOXES. THE TRUNK. No. Scientific Name. Common Name or Position. 24. — Ver'te brae Backbone. 24.— Ribs Side walls of the chest. 1 ,—Ster' num Breast-bone. 2. — In nom i na'ta Hip bones. THE LEG AND FOOT. No. Scientific Name. Common Name or Position. l.-Fe'mur Thigh. 1.— Pater la Knee-pan. 1.— Tib'ia , y Lower leg. 1.— Fib'ula) 7. — Tar'sus Ankle. 5.— Met a tar'sus Foot. 14.— Pha lan'ges. Toes. GENERAL DEFINITIONS. A ndt-o my tells how the body is built and the loca- tion of its parts. Phys i 6V o gy tells the uses of each part of the body. Hy'giene tells the conditions of health, and how to preserve it, POSITIONS OF THE BODY. 53 POSITIONS OF THE BODY. Tlie bones of children are easily bent out of shape by wrong positions in sitting and standing. Their feet should be supported when sitting, lest the bones of the lower limbs become bent. The head and shoulders should be thrown back and the body held erect in walking, standing, or sitting, or the spine will become crooked. The cushions of gristle between the ver- tebrse permit free and graceful motions of the body. If we stand erect, with the chin quite close to the neck, the head, without being bent forward, is perfectly balanced over our feet. But if one has the habit of stooping for- ward, these cushions are so tightly pressed on the front that they lose their elasticity; then one can hardly keep erect, and we say he is "round-shouldered." Bad as this looks, it is the cause of worse trouble, as will be seen when we study the lungs. If the body leans to one side, when one 54 BONES. is standing, the hip bones will soon grow out of shape. Unless careful about this, you will make your body one-sided by your po- sition at the blackboard, or when standing to recite. In walking, the foot expands in length and breadth. This should be remembered in buying shoes. The heels of shoes ought to be low and broad, and placed well back ; high heels crowd the foot forward and throw the whole body out of position. The shoe should be broad across the ball of the foot and the toes. Tight shoes and high heels make the toes over-ride each other, spoil the natural beauty of the foot and the graceful carriage of the person, and are likely to cause bunions, corns, and ingrowing toe nails. The laws of health are of much more importance than those of fashion. Children's shoes must be changed frequently for larger ones, on account of their rapidly-growing feet; if this is not done, serious injury will be the result. JOINTS, 55 TOBACCO AND THE BONES. In whatever way tobacco may affect grown people, it is very certain that its use in childhood stunts the hones and dwarfs all the growth of the child. No hoy who wants to become a full-grown, well-shaped man, can afford to srnoke or chew tobacco. Fig. 11. The hip-joint. JOINTS. A joint is the place of union of two or more bones. At the shoulder and hip are "ball-and- 56 BONES. socket" joints, which permit very easy move- ments of the arm and leg. In the fingers, wrist, and knee, are "hinge-joints," so named because the hones move backward and for- ward like a door upon its hinges. The hones of the head have rough edges which fit into each other, making immovable joints. An engine must be often oiled, or it will not run properly. It can not take care of itself. But the bones not only mend them- selves, but oil themselves. The joints are kept moist by a thin fluid like the white of an egg; this comes from the smooth lining of the inside of the joint; and it makes the ends of the bones move readily on each other. REVIEW QUESTIONS. 1. What is an organ? 2. Give examples of organs in plant life — in animal life. 3. What are organic bodies? — inorganic bodies? 4. What are the uses of the hones ? 5. What is the composition of the hones? 6. Why do the hones of a child not break as easily as those of an old person ? 7. What mineral food is needed for the hones ? 8. How is a hroken hone mended ? 9. How may the pones of the lower limbs he bent ? 10. Define Anatomy ; Physiology ; Hygiene. 11. Describe the position in which one ought to stand. 12. How does tobacco affect the bones of a child? 13. What is a joint? Describe two kinds. CHAPTEE Til MUSCLES. fHE muscles are the flesh, of tlie "body. Tlley con- sist of bundles of threads or fibers ; between the fibers are blood-vessels and nerves. The muscles are fastened to the bones by strong, tough cords, called tendons or sinews; these are easily seen, by pulling off the meat from the leg of a fowl. The "lean meat" which we eat is the flesh or muscles of the animal. Cut, carefully, some boiled corned beef, and you can divide it into the little threads of which it is made. When people have only Tendons of the hand. 5b MUSCLES. small, thin muscles attached to their bones, they are weak and can not do much work. In some parts of the body, fat lies over the muscles, and is, to some extent, mingled with them. A kind of inner shin, called " connective-tissue," covers the flesh, hones, gristle, and other organs. EXPANSION AND CONTRACTION. TThen a hoy raises his fore-arm. saying, •"Feel my muscle. " ; each fiber of the muscle on the front of his upper arm has shortened and thickened. This pulls up his fore-arm. TThen he stretches his arm. the fibers lengthen and return to their natural shape, and a muscle on the hack of the upper arm shortens and thickens in a similar way. USES OF THE MUSCLES. It is by means of the muscles that vce keep erect, walk, run, leap, or move in any vray. The motion of the many muscles of the face gives it variety of expression, show- ing the feelings of the mind. YTithin the skeleton, in the cavities of the VOLUNTARY AND INVOLUNTARY MUSCLES. 59 trunk, there are muscles at work, without which we could not live ; for instance, the heart, that sends the "blood all over the "body, is a strong muscle ; the outer coat of the stomach has a lining of muscular fibers. VOLUNTARY AND INVOLUNTARY MUSCLES. Some of the muscles, as those of the arm or face, we can move when we choose, or will to do so ; others, as the heart and diaphragm, keep at work without any thought of ours; they will not stop hy our wishing them to. The first are called voluntary muscles; the second, involuntary muscles. HYGIENE OF THE MUSCLES. Good food, pure air, and proper exercise, are necessary for muscular health. Long dis- use of a muscle wastes it away. Exercise causes new fibers to form and old fibers to increase in size. But too much, or too violent exercise is dangerous, and it is wrong to work so hard as to be always tired. Variety of exercise rests the muscles. •?■: MUSCLES. One who lias been working with hands, or brain, all day. will be rested by a brisk out-door walk. TTken one has been using bis lower limbs for some time, tbey are tired; if be tben sits down, and uses bis amis, or bands,, and tbus rests tbe muscles of bis legs, or uses bis brain in thinking or reading, be will feel refreshed. Brisk exercise sbould not be taken just before, nor after a full meal. Exercise out- doors is better tban exercise in-doors. and sbould be taken daily by all who would have good health. KINDS OF EXERCISE. Playing ball, rolling hoop, throwing bean- bags, coasting, skating, and swimming, are capital forms of exercise, if not carried too far. Jumping the rope is not good exercise, for it jars the body too much, while there is great danger of catching the feet in the rope and so getting a hard fall. and. perhaps, a broken limb. Sawing wood, and keeping the wood-box ALCOHOL AND THE MUSCLES. 61 and coal-hod rilled, running home-errands with happy faces and light hearts, are healthful ways of exercise. Cheerfulness is a great help to exercise. Whistling or singing is a good sign in a working hoy or girl. ALCOHOL AND THE MUSCLES. Press your finger on lean heef before it is cooked, and notice how the part touched springs hack when you take your ringer away. Do the same with fat meat, and you will find that a deeper dent staj^s there. If the flesh in your body, like the fat, could not contract, you would not be able to move. Beer, gin, wine, cider, and all alcoholic drinks, tend more or less to change the muscles themselves to fat. The muscles can not move and work properly, "when thus changed; not only does this fat prevent their healthy action, but it is made from waste matter that should be sent out of the body. 62 MUSCLES. Beer is especially "bad in this respect. Beer-drinkers think they are growing strong because they grow fleshy. But they are only loading their muscles with this use- less fat, which hinders instead of helping them. Beer-drinkers often die from a cer- tain kind of heart disease, called "fatty heart." The poor heart is not only clogged, but also weakened by this increase of fat, and the more beer one drinks, the greater the increase of fat. The heart bears this abuse as long as it can, and then it stops — the drinker is dead. LIFE AND DEATH. Let us try to see with " the mind's eye," the bones, the gristle, the muscles, the tendons and connective-tissue, the cavities of the head, chest, and abdomen with their organs ; remember, as we look, that these are all bound together in one life. The most wonderful thing in the living body is the mind or soul. We think at once, when we see a dead body : "How still and cold it is ! " Bodily warmth and motion show m V.l W 1 4 ■ REVIEW QUESTIONS. 63 life; but what life is, we have no means of knowing. Our present study will teach us how to preserve it, and how to keep our bodies strong and healthy. So important a subject should receive the careful attention of every one, and the rules that are of benefit to health ought to be followed. REVIEW QUESTIONS. 1. What are muscles ? Describe their structure. 2. How are muscles fastened to the hones? 3. Where is the fat of the body ? 4. What is connective-tissue? 5. How do the muscles act in moving the limbs ? 6. What is the special work of the muscles on the outside of the skeleton ? 7. Give examples of those muscles within the skeleton. 8. Name the two classes of muscles, and define each kind. 9. What things are needed for the production of healthy muscular- tissue ? 10. What are the dangers connected with exercise ? 11. Is overwork -wise or right ? 12. How may one rest and yet keep at work? 13. When is brisk exercise unhealthful? 11. What is said of outdoor exercise ? 15. Name some healthful kinds of exercise. 16. How does cheerfulness help the muscles ? 17. State one difference between fiesh and fat. 18. How is the action of the poison, alcohol, likely to affect mus- cular-tissue ? 19. Does an increase pf flesh always mean an increase of health? Why? 6± REVIEW QUEoIIOxnS. 20. What is said of beer as a drink? 21. How may a "fatty heart" be caused? 22. State difference between living and dead bodies. 23. What reasons can you give for studying pbysiology ? CHAPTER VI. WTiat are the solid parts of the body called? How many bones are there in the human skeleton ? Mention some of the long bones ; — some short ones. By what process may an egg be put into a small-necked bottle ? Describe the changes in the composition of the bones from in- fancy to old age. "What are the names of the bones of the arm? — of the trunk? WTry should the shoes of children be changed frequently ? What are some of the results from -wearing tight shoes? ■nan CHAPTEE VIII. FOOD. [g^OOD is any substance which, can be taken into tlie body and used for its health, life, and growth.. We must nave daily food to repair the daily waste of our bodies, to keep them warm, and, in childhood and youth, to make them grow. SOURCES OF FOOD. The earth and the air contain the ma- terials on which our lives depend. But most of these materials must be changed in form, before they are fit for us to eat. "We hold in the hand a grain of "wheat. It has no sign of life ; no leaves show tnat it can drink in moisture and sunlight. Its outer husk is hard and dry. It seems no more alive than the grains of sand on which we are standing. 66 FOOD. Put it into well-prepared ground. By the help of the sun, air, and moisture, it sends out rootlets into the dark earth, green shoots "break through the soil, and the stem length- ens. By-and-by, a graceful plume loaded with the grain that is to make our oread, trembles in the breeze. Down in the meadow is a beautiful car- pet of green grass. It is a good place for play, but you could not eat the grass ; you ■would starve to death if you had nothing else. But that grass is growing, in order to make food for you. Cattle are feeding on it ; it goes into their bodies, and out of it, are made the milk you drink so freely, and the flesh which may come to your table as roast beef or beefsteak. We eat, unchanged, a few inorganic sub- stances, or substances which have never had life, such as "water and salt ; but most of our food is organic — has been living, — it has been prepared by plants from the earth and air, or by animals who, by their own eating and living, have changed vegetable into ani- mal matter. MINERAL FOOD. 67 KINDS OF FOOD. Our food is divided into three great classes— 1st.— Mineral food. 2d.— Tissue-making food, or food for the growth or life of the various parts of the body. 3d.— Heat-making food. MINERAL FOOD. This includes all inorganic substances that we eat unchanged, together with some that we get in other kinds of food. The most important of these are water and salt. If a man weigh 160 pounds, about 140 pounds of this weight is nothing but water — "quite enough, if rightly arranged, to drown .him." Much of this is in the blood, some in the muscles, some in the tears, and the rest in other parts of the body, as you will learn by further study. It dissolves other food, so that the body can use it, and helps to regulate the heat of the system. 68 FOOD. We must have water to drink, and it should be pure and good. Death from thirst is quicker and more painful than death from lack of food. We do not drink all the "water -which the body requires ; for we get a large part of the amount needed in the food itself, as in fruits and vegetables, the juices of meat, milk, and the "water used in cooking these. PURITY OF WATER. Water that runs through lead pipes, is very likely to dissolve some of the lead, if it stands in the pipes for any length of time. Lead is a very sure poison. Care must be taken to draw off all the water that has so stood, so as to avoid danger. You will learn more about poisoned water in the chap- ter on respiration. SALT. Watch the sheep when the farmer " salts " them, and see how eager they are for the treat. Salt is necessary to man, as "well as TISSUE-MAKING FOODS. 69 to the lower animals; but it exists natur- ally in most food-materials. A moderate amount of it, as seasoning, makes our food more agreeable and healthful. LIME, PHOSPHORUS, AND IRON. The bones need lime, the brain requires phosphorus, and the blood must have iron, in order to be perfectly healthy. But we can not eat clear lime, phosphorus, or iron. We must get them by eating vege- tables which have taken these minerals from the ground and made them into ma- terial fit for our use, or by eating the flesh of animals which have fed upon such vege- tables. TISSUE-MAKING FOODS. Among the most important of these are eggs and the different kinds of meat ; they are found, too, in milk and the grains. Wheat contains more of these foods than other common grains, and bread made from this grain is most nourishing and best. TO FOOD. HEAT-MAKING FOODS. These are of three kinds : fats or oils, starch, and sugar. THE FATS OR OILS. These are found in both animal and veg- etable food ; for example, "beef and mutton suets, the cream of milk, the j^olks of eggs, Indian corn, olive and palm oils. People who live in cold climates need and crave much of this kind of food. A stor}^ is told of some English sailors "who prepared a "Christmas tree," as a treat for a company of Esquimau children. As no suitable tree could be had, they made an imitation one, by tying together walrus bones, shaping the whole to look as much as pos- sible like a tree. Instead of candy, they made some balls of whale blubber and hung them on the "tree." The children were delighted and ate the balls of fat as eagerly as you eat your Christmas candies. Some food of this kind is necessary; and, STARCH. 71 if one does not like it, lie should learn to eat enougli of it for health. Those wlio do not eat fats of any kind, are usually thin and unhealthy and likely to have some serious disease, as scrofula or consumption, even while young. Butter may he used instead of fat meat if preferred. On the other hand, too much fat must not he eaten; a naturally fleshy person requires less than the average amount. STARCH. Starch forms a large part of most grains, seeds, roots, and unripe fruits. As you know, it must he cooked, or, in fruits and nuts, ripened, "before it is fit for food. Corn-starch and potato-starch are in com- mon use by the cook and laundress. Rice, the chief food of the people of India, China, and Japan, is three-quarters starch. Unripe fruits, as green apples, contain so much starch that they are very likely to make you sick if you eat them uncooked. All starchy foods, as those from the grains, require long and thorough cooking to make 72 FOOD. them more easily digested and more nour- ishing. Gum resembles starch, hut is less nutri- tious. Some kinds, as gum arahic, are used for food in Eastern countries. SUGAR. Sugar is an important article of food. But a person would, in time, starve to death if fed alone on either sugar or starch. Too much sugar is often eaten in the form of candy, and does much harm when eaten between meals. Injurious substances are often put into candy, to give it color or increase its weight. The results of eating much candy are a " sour stomach," "bad breath," and other serious troubles. The coloring matter in candies is often really poisonous, and even the white candy, usually considered the purest, is sometimes largely made of "terra alba" (ter'ra ai'ba), a kind of -white earth. Put a piece of candy into a tumbler -with a little water; if it is not pure, -when the sugar has dissolved, the terra alba will sink MILK. T3 to the bottom, of the tumbler in the form of a white powder. Thus yon can easily prove whether yon are eating sngar, or a snbstance that is worse than useless, becanse it clogs the body. MILK. Milk is the only food provided by natnre for young children. Since the child lives and grows upon it, we should expect milk to contain, as it does, the different classes of food. The cream is fat, or beat-forming sub- stance; the curd, which can be pressed into cheese, belongs to the tissue-making foods; there is enough sugar to give it a sweet taste, and it contains lime and other min- erals needed to sustain healthy life, besides water, of which it has 88 parts in 100. WHAT TO EAT. Most people, in temperate climates, eat both animal and vegetable food. "Yolt will usually find the three great classes of food on the dinner-tables of your homes. 74 FOOD. Water and salt are mineral foods; pota- toes and meat, heat and t issue-making foods. Most persons crave the fat of butter with the starch of bread. Pepper, mustard, and vinegar, are not needed in building up the body and should be very sparingly used, if at all. Probably a perfectly natural and healtbv appetite would not crave them. If the system needs acids, lemons and limes, which are more healthful than vin- egar, may be eaten. Fresh, ripe fruit which generally contains some acid, is wholesome when too much is not taken. TEA AND COFFEE. The value of these to adults is doubted by many wise physicians. Certainly they are not necessary or safe drinks for chil- dren. COOKING. Health is, in great measure, dependent upon the way in which our food is cooked. Meat should be boiled, roasted, or broiled. Neither meat nor airy other food should be COOKING. 75 fried ; "because heated fat hardens whatever is cooked in it, making it indigestible. To eat or drink what we know is un- healthful, "because it tastes good, is not only foolish hut wicked. A cook who well understands the laws of health, will not feed the family on hot bread, because it makes a pasty mass in the stomach which can not easrlv be di- gested. Instead of rich pastry, and cake heavy with fruit and spices, which overload the stomach and unfit it for proper work, juicy meat, mealy potatoes, ripe fruit, and light, sweet bread, will be prepared. The latter, when it is made from the whole wheat, ground, forms, with, the addition of butter, ' and some water to satisfy thirst, a perfect food. In "bolting," the phosphorus and much of the flesh-making part of the grain is lost. Fine wheat flour is not so nourishing for the brain and muscles, as that flour •which contains some of the outer portion of the kernel. FOOD. FRUITS. Ripe fruits, such as apples, oranges., ba- nanas, and berries, make the most healthful "dessert." The skins, cores, and seeds should not be swallowed, as they are useless and may cause trouble if eaten. REVIEW QUESTIONS. 1. What is food? 2. State tliree ways in which it is used by our bodies. 3. What names are given to the three classes of food? 4. Xaine the three principal mineral foods. 5. Do we need to drink: all the water the "body requii 6. "What care should he taken in the use of lead water-pipes 7. How do we get salt, lime, and other mineral substances for our bodiT- 8. Xanie the principal tissue-ma k ing foods ;— heat-making foods. 9. "Where are fats or oils found? 10. Is it necessary to eat fat of some kind? 11. How is starch made fit for food? 12. "Why is green food likely to make one sick ? 13. "What are the results of eating too much sugar? 14. Show that all three classes of food are contained in milfc. 15. Are pepper, mustard, and vinegar, essential to health I 16. "Why should a cook understand the laws of health 17. "Why is whole wheat flour better food than finely bolted flour? CHAPTER IX. ARE NARCOTICS FOODS? IS ALCOHOL FOOD? PERFECT food, as we have seen in the case of milk, contains water, tissue- making, and neat-making materials. Alcohol is not a food, for it can not build up any part of the body. It contains no min- eral substance, and will not make healthy fat. Materials in the blood which should make muscles, bone, etc., as well as those which should be sent out of the body, are some- times changed into useless fat by the action of alcohol. The heat of the body is lessened by alcohol, instead of being increased. IS BEER FOOD? Beer is made from water, malt, hops, and yeast. "Water can be obtained better and cheaper elsewhere. The starch of the grain, 78 ARE NARCOTICS FOODS? you remember, was changed into sugar by malting, and the sugar turned into alcohol by fermentation, thus losing its food nature. The gummy substance left after the starch turned to sugar and then to alcohol, and the hops, may contain a slight amount of ma- terial that the body can use. But the amount of food in beer is so very small, as scarcely to be worth taking into account in speak- ing of its effects. " As much flour as can lie on the point of a table-knife is more nutritious than eight quarts of the best Bavarian beer." (Liebig.) A man gets one glass of pure alcohol in every twenty glasses of lager -beer that he drinks ; in the stronger beer, one glass of alcohol to thirteen of beer. There is no truth, you see, in the claim that beer makes one stronger. There is no food in it worth mentioning, and its alcohol does a vast amount of harm. IS WINE FOOD? A few raisins contain more nourishment than much wine. Sugar in fruit-juice be- IS WINE FOOD? T9 conies alcohol by fermentation; it is the al- cohol, which is not food, that the wine- drinker Avants. Often more alcohol is added to the wine made from pnre fruit-juice, to satisfy the craving for a stronger drink. The more sugar there is in a liquid un- dergoing vinous fermentation, the more al- cohol will it produce. Sweet apples and sweet grapes make strong cider and strong wine. Currant, gooseberry, elderberry, and other home-made wines, sometimes contain even more alcohol than the wines of commerce, because sugar is added to the fermenting juices. Cider and these home-made -wines contain the merest trine of food-material, and are no more "innocent drinks" than port or "champagne (sham pan'). The poison, alcohol, is there, ready to do its deadly "work. People not only become intoxicated by drinking these wines ; but, by their use, a craving is often created for stronger drinks — that is, those -which contain more alcohol. By drinking a larger quantity of the c '~ ARE XARCOTICS FOODS' weaker liquors, tiie user gets the alcohol his increasing appetite demands. This is espe- cially true of beer-drinkers. IS CIDER FOOD? Cider is a fermented drink made from the juice of apples. In the open air. at summer heat, apple-juice begins to ferment in about six hours after it is drawn off from the pulp. and sometimes sooner. A little juice often remains in the cider- mill after a previous grinding. If this fer- ments and is allowed to remain, it will act as yeast, hastening fermentation in the juice of the next lot of apples ground. \Vhen little bubbles begin to pass through the liquid and break at the top,, as the froth gathers, we may know that the sugar is turning to alcohol. The bubbles are the es- caping carbonic acid gas. If the apples are fairly sweet, alcohol •will form until in ten cups of hard cider, there will be one cup of pure alcohol. Thus the barrel of cider that may possibly have been sweet, when it was put into the cellar. STIMULANTS. 81 gains in alcohol every day, until it begins to turn to vinegar. Cider is mainly water and alcohol. As the latter is a poison, the old custom of con- sidering the barrel of cider as important a part of the family food as the barrel of flour, had no truth for its foundation. There is great danger that the cider- drinker will learn to crave a stronger drink, because alcohol makes those who drink it thirsty for more. Many of those who die as drunkards in this country, began their course at the cider barrel. If the people who drink cider for its acid taste and effect, would take lemon or lime- juice instead, they would get the acid with- out the poison of alcohol. STIMULANTS. The term stimulant,* when used with * Alcohol has been falsely called a stimulant, because it some- times makes the person who takes it feel stronger, and seem more quick-witted and talkative, for a short time. But a reaction fol- lows, just in proportion to the amount of excitement there has been, and the person is more or less weak and depressed. Whipping a horse causes him to move faster for a while ; yet it gives no fresh strength to the animal, but rather uses up that 82 ARE NARCOTICS FOODS? reference to the human body, means some- thing- which adds to its strength. A true food does this. People have called alcohol a stimulant, because they were ignorant of its real na- ture. It gives the body no added strength; its only effect on pain and fatigue is the deadening of the nerves, so that one does not realize the disordered, exhausted condi- tion of his body.* The apparent increase of energy which alcohol gives, is due to the partial paralysis of a certain class of nerves in the body which act as its "brakes." Alcohol, there- which he already possessed, so that he overworks and is more tired as the result. Spurring to increased action without giving any food which the "body can use to balance the extra "wear and tear," is not the action of a true stimulant, but rather that of a poison. * Suppose, for instance, you measure your muscular strength with a health-lift, and then take some of the drink which you think "will give you power. "When you feel strong, measure your strength again. The drink has fooled you, that is all. You felt that you "were stronger than natural ; you find that the narcotic has been true to its paralyzing nature and that you are weaker. Then, after a time, "when the drug has spent itself and you feel weak and prostrated, measure your strength once more. Fooled again ; the stuff has fooled you twice. "When you felt yourself strong, you were weak ; and now, when you feel yourself weak, you find yourself really stronger, for your natural strength is re- turning.— Adapted from Dr. A. F. Einne. ALCOHOL AND WORK. 83 fore, is not a stimulant in the proper sense of that word. ALCOHOL AND WORK. A vessel coming from Australia sprung 1 a leak soon after starting, and the men had to •work at the pumps all the way home. At first, regular rations of liquor were given; hut the sailors soon hegan to grow weak and tired. Then the captain stopped the use of liquor, giving an extra supply of food, instead. At once, the men hegan to sleep well and to waken strong and rested. In spite of the hard work at the pumps, the crew were in good health when they reached England. The liquor deadened — nar- cotized — the nerves which control muscular action, and the men lost strength therehy; the food furnished huilding material for their hodies and so increased their working power. " The folio wing statement was made hy Sir William Fairhairn, an eminent engineer of Manchester, England, when at the head of a ARE NARCOTICS FOOL- firm employing between one and two thou- sand workmen : ■' "I strictly prohibit on my works the use of beer or fermented liquors of any sort, or of tobacco. I enforce the prohibition of al- coholic drinks so strongly, that if I found any man transgressing the rule in that respect, I would instantly discharge him.' "The reasons for these measures are thus stated : "'In those foundries in which there is drinking throughout the "works all day long, it is observed of the men employed as work- men, that they do not work so well : their perceptions are clouded, and they are stupe- fied and heavy. "'I have provided water for the use of the men in every department of the works. In summer-time, the men engaged in the strong- est work, such as strikers to the heavy forges, drink water very copiously. "'I am convinced that workmen who drink water are really more active and do more work, and are more healthy than those who drink alcoholic liquors.' REVIEW QUESTIONS. 85 " This is tlie testimony of all accurate ob- servers." — Dr. A. B. Palmer. Observation of the effects of alcohol shows us— 1st.— That the healthy action of the mus- cles is hindered by the useless fat formed through the influence of alcohol. 2d. — That the nerves are deadened. 3d. — That the blood is poisoned and dis- ease caused throughout the body. REVIEW QUESTIONS. 1. What does a perfect food contain ? 2. Can alcohol do the work of any of the three classes of food? 3. How does it act to make one fleshy? 4. How does it affect the heat of the body ? 5. Compare the food-materials in beer and bread. 6. How much alcohol is there in lager-beer? 7. How much in the stronger beers ? 8. "What harm may this do to the drinker ? 9. How is wine made ? 10. Do "home-made -wines" contain alcohol? 11. Are they nourishing ? 12. How is cider made ? 13. How much alcohol is there in hard cider? 14. Is cider food? 15. Why do cider-drinkers often become drunkards? 16. What acids are more healthful than cider? 17. What is the true meaning of the word stimulant? 18. What is its false meaning ? 19. Name a true stimulant. REVIEW QUESTIONS. 20. Why is alcohol not a true stimulant? 21. Does alcohol give strength for work ? Illustrate. 22. Give Sir Wm. Fairbairn's statements in regard to the use of alcohol and tobacco by the men in his workshops. CHAPTER VII 1. "What kind of meat are the muscles called? 2. Show how the size of the muscles affects one's strength. 3. What is the effect of disuse upon a muscle ? 4. How does "variety of exercise affect the muscles? 5. What are the best times for exercise? 6. How does an increase of fat sometimes affect the heart ? OHAPTEE X. DIGESTION. UNGER and thirst are cries of the whole ~B LIFE. days of tlie English nation, wine and ale were every-where used. In America, only a few years ago, cider and mm were found in the cellar and on the table of nearly every farmer; and no wedding, funeral, or public gathering of any sort, was without its free liquor. The ignorance of that time in regard to the origin, nature, and consequences of alco- hol, is shown by the fact that the first tem- perance pledge- signed in this country, pro- hibited the use of liquor sav e at weddings and funerals," and the taking of " alcoholic drinks, excepting wine, beer, and cider." The hardy, outdoor life which was led by so many of our forefathers, prevented them from feeling the full effects of their poisonous "fir - Tl";. ± i-. The English and Americans of to-day are descended from these drinMng ancestors, and inherit from them a craving for alcohol, and are safe from the poison only when they let it entirely alone. The taking of a single glass of liquor, the eating of brandy sauce or wine jelly, may REVIEW QUESTIONS 163 rouse this inherited desire, though, its po- sessor may not have discovered that the taint is in his blood ; the appetite, becoming uncontrollable, may bring its owner to a drunkard's grave. REVIEW QUESTIONS. 1. Why have those who never drink liquor a prospect of living longer than those "who do ? 2. Name good preventives of such diseases as cholera and yellow fever. 3. What do the records kept hy life insurance companies prove in regard to total abstinence? 4. What class of men will insurance companies not insure? 5. If we are sick, whose fault is it usually? 6. By the faults of -what other persons may our illness sometimes he caused? 7. What physical traits are often inherited ? — what mental traits? 8. How do the habits of drinking men and women affect their descendants ? 9. What is this law called? 10. From whom do English-speaking people inherit the taste for alcohol ? 11. How were liquors used in America, a few years ago? 12. Why did not our forefathers feel the full effect of the liquor they drank? 13. Is it safe to take "the first glass"? — why? CHAPTER XIII. 1. What are "goose-pimples"? — papillae? 2. Is it safe to -wear clothing -which will prevent perspiration from passing into the air ? 3. How are the skin and hair kept smooth and glossy ? 4. What is the effect of face-powders and hair-dyes ? 5. What is said about the use of soap ? 6. Should the sunlight be allowed to enter our dwellings ? 164 REVIEW QUESTIONS. 7. How should The nails he cared for? 8. Why is "bathing important? 9. "What is the best time for a hath? 10. Explain the warm glow that is felt after a cold hath and brisk mhhing. CHAPTER "XIV. 1. Is it wise to allow one's self to feel cold? 2. "VThat is meant hy taking cold? 3. What is the cause of "a cold in the head," or "on the lungs"? i. What remedies are useful in case of "being chilled through? 5. Should Ave keep our overcoats. shaAvls. or furs on when we come into a "warm room? — for how long a time? 6. "Why is a man under the influence of liquor not apt to feel cold ? 7. What vras the experience of Adam Ayles in the Arctic regions ? OHAPTEE XVI. THE NERVOUS SYSTEM. MAN AND OTHER ANIMALS. (^fUSCULAR action, digestion, circulation, 4%$t and all the work of the "body, need to he directed and controlled. This wonderful task is given to the nervous system. Plants have no power to think or feel : cut a tree, and the hark and -wood have no sense of pain ; the rose is neither glad nor sorry when you take it from the stem — it knows nothing of what is being done. The simplest forms of animal life have very little of this nervous power ; one of them, the hydra (hy'dra), may be cut into pieces, and each piece will form a new hydra. But animals which have the sense of feeling — those which can be taught by man— possess most of this power. 166 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM Fig. 27. The nervous system. A, ctr' Z briun ; B, cer e beV lum. PARTS OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM. 167 The dog obeys his master's orders; horses are trained to understand the slightest word of command. The elephant, though huge and clumsy, is used in India to build bridges, move and pile heavy logs, and to do many other kinds of work. But no other animal has so complete a nervous system as man ; and so, no other animal can think and plan so well. He is placed at the head of living creatures, not to be a tyrant to torment and destroy others ; but to "protect all harmless living creatures," and to treat none with cruelty. PARTS OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM. The nervous system is divided into cen- ters, cords, and nerves. The most important center is the brain ; the principal cord is- the spinal cord, which passes down the back through a series of holes in the vertebrae ; from the brain and spinal cord, slender white threads, called nerves, extend to all parts of the body. Other nerves start from small centers or knots of nerve-matter, near the backbone. 168 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM. NERVOUS POWER Tlie nerve-centers are mainly composed of soft, gray matter ; the spinal cord has a core of this same gray matter, surrounded by vrhite nerve-fibers. What nervous povrer is, or how it is made, vre do not knovr; but it begins in the gray matter, and is sent along the vrhite fibers. The centers are often compared to the stations of a telegraph system vrhere all mes- sages, home and foreign, are received, and vrhence orders are sent out in every direction. The cords and nerves resemble, in the same way, the vrires along vrhich messages are sent. THE BRAIN. The brain is protected from injury by the strong bones of the skull, and by three cov- erings or coats. The onter coat is very tough; the inner ones are soft and delicate. The two principal parts of the brain are called the cerebrum ($er'e brum) and cerebellum (£er e bel'lum). THE CEREBRUM. 169 THE CEREBRUM. Fig. 28. The cerebrum is the part of the brain in the upper, middle, and front of the head. It has gray mat- ter on the out- side, and white nerve-fibers on the inside. The gray mat- ter is coiled back and forth, so that a great deal is packed away in this part of the skull. You may get a good idea of these wrinkles or foldings, by look- ing at a piece of brain coral, or at the meat of an English walnut. This is the part of the brain by means of ■which we think ; and wise thinking strength- ens it, as proper exercise strengthens the muscles. The greater the power and activity Surface of the cer'e brum. 170 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM. of the mind, the more wrinkled and coiled will the gray matter of the cerehrum become. If this part of the "brain is taken away from a pigeon (pij'un), it "becomes stupid, and takes no notice of things around it. Fig. 29. Pigeon from which the cerebrum has been removed. THE CEREBELLUM. In the lower, hack part of the skull, is the smaller division of the "brain called the cerebellum. Like the cerehrum, the gray matter is on the outside ; the white matter, inside ; hut the coilings of the gray matter are finer, THE CEREBELLUM. 171 more like layers or foldings; and the white fibers extend into the gray, in such a man- ner that they look somewhat like the branch of a tree— this is sometimes spoken of as "the tree of life." Fig. 30. Pigeon from which the cerebellum has been removed. The special work of the cerebellum is not fully understood. If it is injured, one can not use his body as he wishes ; the messages of motion are not sent correctly, the muscles do not obey his will, and he acts as if in- toxicated. If the cerebellum is taken from pigeons, 172 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM. they make "uncertain, sprawling move- ments. Fig 31. THE SPINAL CORD. At tlie very base of tlie brain, is an im- portant mass of white and gray nerve-matter, situ- ated at tlie upper end of tlie spinal cord ; it is often called tlie ''vital knot." because one nerve which -tarts from this center. controls tlie act of breath- ing. If the knot is injured nerve, as is the Section of the Spinal Coni. a, b. Section of the cord. c. ?. c. c. Spinal nerve*. d. d d; d. Posterior or sensory roots of the spinal e. e, e, e. Anterior or moiory roots liear tlli of the spinal nerves. case when one's neck i broken, respiration stops and death occurs instantly. This part of the brain is so placed as to be protected as fully as possible, and it is rarely injured except in death by hang- ing. The spinal cord, as has been said, extends down the trunk through the backbone. It is a vrhite cord, about as large as the end THE SPINAL NERVES. 173 of a man's little finger ; down its whole length, front and hack, are two deep fur- rows. THE SPINAL NERVES. Thirty-one pairs of nerves pass off from the sides of the spinal cord, divide and re-divide, and send tiny nerve-threads all over the hody. Touch the skin ever so lightly and you feel the touch, because the cutis is full of nerve- ends. NERVE -TUBES. Each nerve appears to he a bundle of small fibers ; when viewed under a strong microscope, the separate fibers are seen to be really very small tubes. These nerve-tubes do not branch off from larger nerves as the smaller arteries branch from the larger, but lie side by side, bound together by delicate membranes. Each tiny nerve-tube is distinct from the others as it passes into the brain. Were it otherwise, we should often be confused and often in danger. If the nerve-tubes from your first finger 174 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM. 'were to unite with those from your thumb, so as to make one large tube, you could not tell, unless you used your eyes, whether you pricked your ringer or your thumb. If the nerve-tubes from the feet united to make one large tube, you could not know by feeling, alone, which foot was cold, cut, or bruised. But when a fly lights on your hand, you do know perfectly well that he is not on your face ; the nerves carry word of his presence to the part of the brain which has to do with your hand. KINDS OF NERVES. In studying the heart, you learned that two sets of nerves were necessary to its proper "beating." So the lungs, brain, and other organs, are kept at work by certain nerves and held from overaction by other nerves which serve as "brakes." By other sets of these signal-lines, we know about the world around us. TTe can not hear with our eyes, nor smell with our ears ; for the nerves of sight are affected by light only, those of hearing by sound only. FIBERS OF FEELING AND OF MOTION 175 By tlie nerves of smell, we perceive differ- ent odors ; by those of taste, Ave enjoy food and drink, and dislike some medicines and various disagreeable things ; while by those of touch, we are told about the various objects with which we come in contact — as, for example, whether they are hard or soft, rough or smooth. In the cutis, too, lie the ends of those fibers, or tubes, by means of which we re- ceive our sensations of pain ; and here also are the nerves which give us the power of muscular motion. FIBERS OF FEELING AND OF MOTION. The two sets of nerve-tubes last mentioned, though they look exactly alike, have two kinds of work to do. However closely they may be bound together, each performs its own task and never interferes with that of its neighbor. One set — the fibers of feeling — carries mes- sages to the brain from the body ; another set — the fibers of motion — brings messages from the brain to the muscles. 176 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM. HOW THE NERVES WORK. Tlie nerve-fibers are like those telegraph lines on which messages travel in a single direction only : on one wire, all the telegrams are sent to the central office ; while on the other, they are received from the central office. When the ringer touches a hot iron, nerve- ends of the fibers of feeling send the message along up the arm into the spinal cord, and thence to the brain, which feels the pain. At once, the brain sends back over the mo- tion-fibers a message to the muscles in the finger, telling them to remove it from the iron. All this is done in the twinkling of an eye; and the pain, which seems to be in the finger, is really perceived in the brain ; and yet the brain itself may be injured severely without suffering, though it is the seat of all pain. An iron bar "was once driven through the upper part of a man's head and he felt no pain. INJURIES OF THE NERVES. 177 INJURIES OF THE NERVES. The fibers of motion and of feeling look exactly alike, as has been said. The large nerve of the arm or leg is formed of many of these fibers bound together. Near the spinal cord, it is divided; all of its motion-fibers come from the front part, all of its feeling- fibers from the back part of the cord. In time of war, soldiers often cut the tele- graph lines leading to the enemy's camp ; then no message can be given or sent, till the line is repaired. In a similar way, if the back part of the spinal cord, just where the nerve goes off to the right foot, is injured, the sense of feeling in the foot is gone. You may prick it, or burn it, as much as you please ; no pain will be felt, because the nerve fiber which should carry the message of trouble to the brain is injured. If the front part of the spinal cord is in- jured at the same place, the order to move the foot may start from the brain ; but the muscles do not obey, because they do not re- 178 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM. ceive it. Tlie message can not get by the broken place on the line. This is bow we know tbere are two sets of fibers connected with the brain-center. Fig. 32. '^^'A' << Nerves of the face and neck. Have yon ever had yonr foot soundly " asleep " ? Ton had held it in snch a position that the nerves were pressed, and this partly paralyzed them, so that, for a moment, the foot conld scarcely move or feel. THE CRANIAL NERVES. 179 If the spinal cord be divided, or seriously diseased or pressed upon, there is no feeling or motion in any part of the body below the point of injury. This is called paralysis (pa- rarysis), and is quite common. THE CRANIAL NERVES. The nerves which start directly from the brain, are called the cranial (-epa'niai) nerves. Among these are the nerves of sight, smell, hearing, and taste ; those which move the muscles of the face ; and those which con- trol digestion, respiration, and the motions of the heart. From one of these nerves, a number of little branches go to the center of each tooth, and, in case a tooth decays so that either the food or the air can reach them, we suffer severe pain. Sometimes, the dentist "kills the nerve" by putting against it creosote (-ere'o sot^), or some other substance. Then he takes out a piece of the little white thread, and fills the cavity with gold, or some other material, to prevent further decay. 180 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM. THOUGHT. But tlie brain has other important work to do besides merely keeping us alive. It is the organ of the mind. By it, we think and reason : how, we do not know ; but God has given us this wonderful instrument, and with it we may do either good or evil. Every time one does right, it is easier for him to keep on doing right, because he strengthens that part of the brain which is used by the good powers of his mind. Every time he does wrong, he weakens this part, and strengthens the part used by the evil powers of his mind, making it much easier to do wrong the next time. Thus we form habits that control us. In this way, boys and girls who are mean and cruel, whose thoughts are impure and lives untrue, make the men and women who do the mischief and sin of the world ; while those whose lives are pure and true, make the men and women who are honored and loved. One reason why it is almost impossible HYGIENE OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM. 181 for a drunkard to reform, is, because alcohol has deadened that part of the brain which he needs to use in order to master his appe- tite. The best quality of brain, as in the case of gifted men and women, seems to suffer the most. HYGIENE OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM. Healthy blood is needed in order to have healthy nerves ; and proper food, fresh air, and exercise, are necessary to healthy blood. To keep the mind strong and happy, we must observe the rules of right living, and so protect the brain. When the mind is hard at work, an extra supply of blood is sent to this organ; if it is over- worked, too much blood and energy are thus taken from other parts of the body, which then become weak and feeble. Neither brain-work nor muscle-work must be neglected, for both are important. Rest must also be given to this busy organ, and quiet, dreamless sleep is the best brain- rest. Sleeplessness is often one of the first signs of insanity, that terrible disease in 182 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM. which the mind loses, niore or less, its con- trol over the brain. Blows on the head are dangerous, and children in their play, as well as older per- sons, should never give them. Causes which weaken other parts of the body, weaken the brain as well. Hence, im- pure air, unwholesome, ill-cooked food, un- suitable clothing, lack of cleanliness — all these tend to injure not only the brain, but the whole nervous system. The lack of properly prepared food and other unhealthful ways of living, often lead men and women to use alcohol, tobacco, and opium, to deaden their feelings of restless discomfort. ALCOHOL AND THE NERVOUS SYSTEM. You have learned how alcohol injures the organs of digestion, so that the food we eat can not make us good blood ; and how it unfits the blood for the best use of the body. About one-fifth of all the blood in the body is in the brain. Through and around ALCOHOL AND THE NERVOUS SYSTEM. 183 the soft gray matter, in and out among the white fibers, are tne tiny blood-vessels. Yon know, already, that these enlarge from the drinking of alcohol ; the blood then sometimes stagnates, and, at other times, rushes through them too violently. No won- der a headache so often follows the glass of liquor. Sometimes, an artery bursts, because its walls have been weakened by alcohol so that they can not bear the extra strain ; the blood flows out, and death occurs at once. This is called apoplexy (ap' o plex f), and may result from other causes than the use of alcohol. But this is not all. The brain asks for good blood, but it gets injured and unhealthy blood. Of course the brain can not be healthy when made of poor material. A boy can not whittle well with a broken, rusty knife ; a musician can not bring sweet music out of a piano "whose strings are not in tune ; and the mind can not do good thinking, if it has to work through an un- healthy brain. A large share of the water in the body is 184 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM. contained in the brain and the nerves, and alcohol unites with this water, taking it away from the parts where it is needed. More alcohol goes to the brain of the drinking man, than to any other organ except the liver ; its effect on the nerve-substance is deadening— paralyzing— as you have learned. The drinking man may not feel pain from his inflamed stomach, partly because it has hut few nerves of feeling, and partly because these are out of order and fail to carry mes- sages correctly. Supposing that the alcohol has "been a good friend, he satisfies the crav- ing it has caused, by another dose. Perhaps he takes it under the name of "Bitters," or '•'Patent Medicine,'* ignorant of the fact that most of these are only extracts of herbs mixed with alcohol, and that the harm done by the alcohol more than bal- ances the good gained from the herbs. When the brain is partly paralyzed by this narcotic, the man does not know what he is doing — his power of thought is deranged, and that of correct thought is gone — he is "crazy with liquor." He believes himself ALCOHOL AND THE NERVOUS SYSTEM. 185 stronger in body and mind ; lie sometimes talks faster, but thinks less wisely.* " The word of a drunkard, especially "with regard to his drinking habits, can not be trusted. An old, but true, proverb says : ' A drunkard is a liar.' His love of truth seems entirely destroyed. And 'the tendency to *" Among the immediate effects of a few doses of alcohol, are drunkenness, and, in rarer cases, crazy drunkenness and alcoholic convulsions or fits. " Still further use of the poison, brings on delirium tremens (de lir' I um tre' mens), and various maladies of the stomach, liver, kidneys, lungs, and other organs of the body ; insanity, and another disease of the nervous system, called dipsomania (dip so ma' ni a) ; the latter is an intense craving for alcoholic or other narcotic sub- stances. " This uncontrollable desire for liquor does not appear in those who have never used alcoholic drinks ; but sometimes, the first in- dulgence awakens the desire. With others, only a longer use will produce it. " Most persons, in their earlier indulgence, think themselves capable of controlling their habits, and indulge without appre- hension of danger. "Even when that danger is apparent to others, it may not be to them, until the desire and the habit are too strong, the will too weak, or the indifference to consequences too great for any effectual effort to change this course. "The longer the indulgence, the stronger the habit, the feebler the resistance, and the greater the indifference — until the victim is swallowed up in his self-invited destruction. " From this view of the facts, it becomes too obvious to need re- peating, that the remedy for drunkenness as a vice, and inebriety as a disease, is abstinence from alcoholic drinks. "It would be an insult to the intelligence of the reader to say that the remedy for drunkenness is the use of wine or beer, of which alcohol is the essential and active ingredient."— Prof. Palmer. 186 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM. rintrLithfulness often descends to his chil- dren.' " — Dr. B. IT'. Richardson. Many railroad companies will not employ drinking men as engineers, since they can not trust them to run their engines safely. Many battles have been lost, because the generals in command -were so intoxicated that they could not properly order their troops. If more liquor is taken, the paralyzed nerves can not control the muscles, the man staggers, his hands tremble, and are beyond his proper control. The brain is still more affected, and the drunken talk and actions show too plainly that alcohol has conquered all the better part of the man. It is fully proved that a large number of crimes for which men are sent to prisons or jails, are committed when they are in this condition. A noted murderer confessed that never, but once, did he feel any remorse. Then he was about to kill a babe, and the little crea- ture looked up into his face and smiled. "But," said he, "I drank a large glass of brandy, and then I didn't care." ALCOHOL AND SLEEP. 187 Tlie poison deadened his nerves and brain, the better part of his mind— his conscience — was thus put to sleep, and the evil of his nature controlled him. Many a man spends the most of his life behind prison bars, for crimes that he would have shrunk from with horror, had he not been drunk when he com- mitted them. The drinking of a very little alcohol is enough to deaden, to some extent, the noblest powers of a man's mind, and to make him careless about the results of his actions. But anger, cruelty, fierceness — the baser tenden- cies, in which he is like savages and wild beasts, are not overcome until he is "dead drunk." Then all signs of life are gone, save breath- ing and the motions of his heart. Probably the brain of a man who has once been " dead drunk," can never be so strong and perfect as it otherwise would have been. ALCOHOL AND SLEEP. The exact cause of sleep is unknown ; but we do know that in healthy sleep, the heart 188 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM. "beats more slowly tlian wlien one is awake ; tlie breatliing is less rapid ; and less blood is coursing through the brain. Alcoliol interferes with all this, and tlie sleep caused by its use is not healthy brain- rest, but a heavy stupor from which the drinker wakens tired and often suffering. A narcotic has no power to cure fatigue — it can only deaden the nerves for a while, and thus prevent one from knowing that he is weary while under its influence. ALCOHOL AND THE MIND. No man can explain the connection be- tween body and soul, the brain and the mind. We simply know that a sound mind goes with a sound body, a healthy mind with a healthy brain. Alcohol never helps a healthy body.* The craving for itself which the poison sets up in the system, tends to the destruc- tion of health, character, friends, happiness, * "Indirectly, alcoholism favors the production of nearly all dis- eases, by lessening the power of resisting their causes ; and it con- tributes to their fatality, by impairing the ability to tolerate or overcome them."— Prof. A ustin Flint. TOBACCO AND THE NERVOUS SYSTEM. 189 usefulness, mind, and life. The only safe course is never to drink alcohol in any form ; or, if the habit is formed, to break it off, at once and forever. The sudden ceasing to drink is not a danger, but the wise way of recovering lost health. Men in state-prisons are not made sick by having their supply of liquor taken entirely away. TOBACCO AND THE NERVOUS SYSTEM. Dizziness and partial paralysis are com- mon results of trie use of tobacco, , especially by tbe young. Tbe deadening of tbe nerves explains tbe "quieting" power of cigars. When tbe effect of tbe tobacco has passed away, the abused nerves are very likely to tell the user of their discomfort, by leading him to be irritable and unhappy. What would you think of a young man who, if his father gave him $1,000 to start him in business, should at once burn up $500, and then begin work with the rest? Just so foolish is the boy "who destroys the God-given powers of his mind and body, by the use of tobacco. He is cheating him- 190 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM. self, throwing away a large part of trie en- ergy and strength, which lie needs for the work of life.* It is even worse than this ; for often one of the first effects of tobacco and alcohol is to make one un gentlemanly and forgetful of the rights and feelings of others. Tobacco-users smoke right in the faces of other people, without once thinking of the impoliteness of such an act. The odor of the tobacco often makes others very sick ; but the smoker does not care — he is. enjoying "a good smoke." These are not the habits of true gentle- men ; but the^ are the very habits which tobacco teaches. A boy who attends its school, must not only pay out much money, but must give up a large share of his manhood, in return for its teachings. * Young men who use tobacco, say: "It does not hurt me." Does not hurt you! Wait and see. In years to come, when you ought to be in your prime, you will be a poor, nervous, irritable, nerve-dried creature. Tour hands will tremble, your head will ache, your sleep will be fitful and disturbed, and your stomach out of order. Sins against the laws of health, not punished at one end of life. are sure to be at the other.— {Adapted from J. E. Black.) OPIUM AND THE NERVOUS SYSTET, . 191 In Germany, children under sixteen are forbidden to rise it ; the same is true of the pupils of the public schools in France ; and of the students in the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, and the Military School at West Point. Those who run races or engage in rowing matches, are denied alcohol and tobacco while in "training." Each man would be glad to have his opponent drink a single glass of liquor just before the contest, so as to weaken him and make his nerves unsteady. OPIUM AND THE NERVOUS SYSTEM. The opium-eater looks old while yet young. It is harder to break off from the use of this drug, than from that of alcohol or tobacco. In sickness, it often relieves pain tempo- rarily ; but when long continued, and always if taken in health, it paralyzes the nerves and throws the telegraph lines of the body out of order, so that no correct message can be given or received, and deranges, often be- yond repair, the whole system. 192 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM. It is a true narcotic. If a certain amount quiets the brain to-day, more must be taken next week to produce the same effect. The opium-user is so enslaved by the poison, that he will lie, or steal, or commit even worse crimes, to obtain the fatal drug-. CHLORAL AND THE NERVOUS SYSTEM. Chloral is also used to quiet the brain and induce sleep. It, too, must often be in- creased in dose. Its continued use greatly injures the health, and there is constant danger of taking a fatal overdose. REVIEW QUESTIONS. 1. "What is tlie work of the nervous system? 2. Name the parts of the nervous system. 3. "What is nervous power? — where does it "begin?— along what is it sent? 4. Compare centers, cords, and nerves, to telegraph stations and wires. 5. How is the "brain protected? 6. "What are the parts of the brain called ? — describe each part, and its special work. 7. What is the "vital knot?"— where is it? 8. Describe the spinal cord; — the spinal nerves. 9. Do the nerve-tubes unite on their way to the brain? — what is the advantage of this ? 10. What is the work of th? fibers of feeling? — the fibers of motion ? CHAPTEE XTIL SPECIAL SENSES — TASTE. THE ORGAN OF TASTE. 'HE tongue helps in the acts of chewing, swallowing, and speaking ; but it is the special organ of taste. The nerves of taste are mainly in the papilla of the tongue; as they are covered by a thin skin— the mucous membrane— food must be dissolved so as to pass through this skin before it can be really tasted. If one eats rapidly, he not only injures his stomach, but loses much of the flavor of the food. When the tongue is coated, as in a fever, the sense of taste is impaired or, sometimes, lost. The nerves of the front part of the tongue taste sweet and sour things; those of the back part, "salt and bitter things. The former 194 SPECIAL SENSES — TASTE. are connected with those of the face, so, when you eat something sour, your face is likely to "pucker up." The latter are connected Fig. 33. The tongue, showing the three kinds of papilla— the conical (D), the whip-like (K, I), the entrenched (H, L) ; E, F, G, nerves; C, glottis. with the nerves of the stomach, hence hitter tastes often make us " sick at the stomach." THE ORGAN OF SMELL. 195 SMELL. THE ORGAN OF SMELL. The nose is the org^an of smell. It is composed of hone and gristle. It is con- nected with the hack part of the mouth, and is lined, like the throat, with the mu- cous membrane. It is divided into two parts called nostrils. The nerves of smell enter the nostrils through small openings in the hone at the back of the nose. The sense of smell helps ns to decide what things to eat. If, for instance, the nose were on one side of the month, we should not be so likely, as we are now, to smell food before eating it, and should be in much more dan- ger of eating things unfit for food. When we must swallow something that is not pleasant to the taste, like some kinds of medicine, it is well to shut the eyes and hold the nose ; it will not be so disagreeable, if we use the sense of taste alone. Impure air often warns us of its presence through our sense of smell. 196 SPECIAL SENSES-HEARING. Fig. 34. HEARING. THE ORGAN OF HEARING. The ear is one of the most difficult parts in the whole "body to study or understand. It is divided into the outer, middle, and inner ear. When Ave speak of the ears, we usu- ally mean the curi- ously shaped pieces of gristle on the sides of the head. Their principal use seems to he to help catch the . sound. The opening which passes from these into the head is called the auditory (auditory) canal. This extends to the middle ear, or the " drum " of the ear, as it is sometimes called. The "head" of the "drum" is a delicate mem- brane which is stretched tightly across the inner end of the auditory canal. Both the middle and the inner ear (which The ear. CARE OF THE EYES. 197 lies deeper in the head) are in the solid hone of the skull, and are thus carefully protected from injury". A tuhe leads from the middle ear to the throat. Perhaps you have noticed that old people who are a little deaf, open their mouths when they want to hear distinctly. This is to let the sound pass in through this tuhe, as well as through the auditory canal. Very small hones, strangely curved tuhes, a little water, and millions of tiny nerves of hearing, are found in the middle and in the inner ear. CARE OF THE EARS. Very cold water should not he used in the ears, nor should a draught of cold air he al- lowed to enter them. No hard substance, like a pin, should he pushed into the canal; for it might hreak the "head of the drum," and when this hap- pens, the sense of hearing is injured. If there is too much ear-wax, it will often fall out of itself, in fine scales. It may, how- ever, accumulate and require to he carefully 198 SPECIAL SEKSES — SIGHT. removed. A "box on the ear" should never he given ; there is great danger of its making one deaf. Pulling the ears is a cruel and in- jurious practice. TOBACCO AND HEARING. Ringing sounds in the ears and partial deafness sometimes result from the use of tobacco. Fig. 35. SIGHT. THE ORGAN OF SIGHT. The eyes are placed in deep, bony sockets in the head, and are protected by the brows and lids. The eyebrows are projections of skin covered with short, stiff hairs ; the eye- lids are two flaps, or curtains, of some- what gristly skin. They have oil and sweat-glands like the rest The eye. THE ORGAN OF SIGHT. 199 of the skin, and a row of hairs grows from each edge. These hairs, or eyeiashes, help to keep dust out of the eye. The tears come from a gland that lies above the eye, and just within the outer edge of its roof. Every time you wink, some of this moisture is washed over the eyeball, clearing it of dust. The overflow passes by a small tube, into the nose. Grief, or even great joy, makes the tears now so freely that they run down over the cheeks. The eyeball, by means of nerves and muscles, can move inward, outward, upward, and downward. The "white of the eye" is a hard coat which protects the parts beneath. The colored circle— that which makes us call the eyes black, or blue, or brown — is the iris (I'ris). It is like a circular curtain with a hole in the center called the pupil. When the light is too bright, the pupil contracts ; when too dim, it enlarges. This is done by muscular fibers that run round the hole somewhat like the string in a hat- lining ; they contract and so draw the sides 200 SPECIAL SENSES — SIGHT. of the pupil together, or stretch, and make it larger. A cat's eyes can do this hetter and more quickly than ours. They need to he able to see their prey in the dark, and so can open their pupils very wide. Back of the iris are various fluids and parts, all of which help us to see. The fine nerves of sight form a delicate expansion or coat, which is the inner lining of the eye. CARE OF THE EYES. Looking at a bright light, or directly at the sun, dazzles the eyes and may greatly injure them. Weakness of vision and some- times blindness result from allowing sun- light, or an artificial light, to shine directly into an infant's eyes. Squinting or rolling the eyes, even " for fun," is a dangerous practice, because it strains the muscles which should hold the eyeball in place. School seats ought not to face the win- dows, and one should never read or write with strong sunlight falling on book or TOBACCO AND SIGHT. 201 paper. Reading in the twilight, or on the cars when in motion, strains the eyes. In reading in the evening, he sure ydu do not face the artificial light ; let the lamp he shaded and the light fall from behind ; for writing, the lamp should he behind, and at the left, so that the shadow of the hand will not he in the way of the pen. A lighted lamp, standing on a "white or red cloth, and facing a person, as at the tea table, is very trying to the eyes; the cloth should be of a neutral tint, drab or brown, and the light so placed as to be above the level of the eyes. Sleeping-rooms should be partly darkened, so that on waking in the morning, the eyes may not be required to meet suddenly a bright light. Cinders may be removed from the eye, by a little loop of fine thread or hair. TOBACCO AND SIGHT. • Imperfect sight, and specks of light danc- ing before the eyes, sometimes result from the use of tobacco. 202 SPECIAL SENSES — SIGHT. A certain kind of blindness is caused by tnis drug, and is cured by stopping its use. REVIEW QUESTIONS. 1. Where are the nerves of taste? 2. Which of them are connected with the nerves of the stomach?— with those of the face ? 3. Describe the nose. 4. How does it act as a sentinel? 5. Describe the ear. 6. What care should be taken of the ears ? 7. How does tobacco affect the sense of hearing? 8. How is the eye protected?— how kept free from dust? 9. How is the eyeball moved? 10. Describe the eye. 11. Why can a cat see better in the dark than we can? 12. How are the eyes often injured? 13. How should a light be placed for reading or writing ? 14. How does tobacco affect the sense of sight? CHAPTER XVI. 1. Describe the messages sent and received, when the finger touches a hot iron. 2. Where is pain really perceived? 3. What causes your foot to get "asleep"? 4. What is the most important work of the brain? 5. How does one form good habits? — how evil ones? 6. How does the power of habit make it hard for a drunkard to reform ? 7. How do unhealthy ways of living lead to the use of narcotics ? 8. What is apoplexy? 9. What is the danger in using "Bitters" and "Patent Medicines"? 10. Why does a drunken man stagger? 11. What powers of the mind are first deadened by alcohol? — what powers are the last to yield? 12. Explain the "quieting" power of cigars. 13. Does opium furnish a real cure for pain ? INDEX. A PAGE Abdomen 96 Absorptive power of the skin. 147 Absorption of food 97 Acetous fermentation 23 Air, The 114 Albucasis 30 Alcohol 9 " a Narcotic 12 " a Poison 10 " and Bread 19 " and Cold 153 " and Life 157 " and Sleep 187 " and Water 12 " and Work 83 " Appetite for 13 " Cost of 34 " Discovery of 29 " Effect upon Blood 136 " " Brain 188 " " Circulation 137 " Digestion 100 " " Heat of body.. . 154 " Heart........ 138 " Kidneys 106 " Life 157 " " Liver 105 " Lungs 122 " Mind 188 " " Muscles 61 " Nervous System. 182 " " Stomach 100 PAGE Alcohol not a Eood 77 " Origin of 9 " Properties of 9 " Uses of 9 Alimentary Canal 88 Anatomy 52 Ancestors, Our 161 Aorta 129 Apoplexy 183 Arteries 127 Auricles 128 Ayles, Adam 155 Bacteria Ball-and-socket joint. Barley Bathing Beef. .... 16 .... 56 .... 18 .... 146 .... 61 Beer 18, 62, 77 Bile 104 Bitters 184 Bleeding 135 Blindness 202 Blood, The 125 Body, Positions of 53 Bones, The 42 " Table of 51, 52 Brakes, The 174 Brain < 168 " Exercise of. 181 Bread 19 204 IXDEX. PAGE Breast-bone 48 Breathing 109 ' ' Hygiene of 115 Bronchial Tubes 112 Bronchitis 117 C Canal, Food 88 Capillaries 114, 128, 137 Carbonic acid... . ..10, 20 Cartilage 44 Cavities 50 Cerebellum 170 Cerebrum 169 Chloral 39, 104 " and the Nervous System. 192 Chloroform 39 Choking 112 Chyle 98 Chyme 97 Cider 9, 21, 80 Cigarettes 32 Cilia, The 113 Circulation 125-140 Clavicle 51 Clothing 150 Clotting of Blood 126 Coffee 74 Cold, A 117, 152 Collar-bones, The 48, 51 Complexion, The 145 Connective-Tissue 58 Consumption 117, 123 Cooking 74 Contraction, Muscular 58, 61 Cords, Vocal 112 Corns 54 Cosmetics 147 Cranial Nerves 179 Croup 117 Curvature of the Spine 53 Cuticle, The 142 PAGE Cutis, The 141 D Delirium Tremens 185 Diaphragm 50, 109 Digestion 87-108 Diphtheria 119 Distillation 25 Drains 118, 143 Drinking-water 68, 118, 119 Drunkards 14 Dyspepsia 93 E Ear, The 196 Eating, Bapid 93, 99 Eggs 70 Elbow, The 49 Epiglottis Ill Esophagus 88, 95 Ether 11 Exercise, Brain 181 ' ' Muscular 59, 60 Expansion, Muscular 58 Expiration 109 Eye, The 198 F Fats, The 70 Fermentation 15 ' ' Acetous 23 " Vinous. 16 Fever, Typhoid.. 119 Food 65 " Absorption of 97 " Cooking of... 74 " Definition of 65 " Digestion of 87,108 ' ' Heat-making 70-72 " Mineral 67-69 " Need of 88 " Tissue-making 69 INDEX. 205 PAGE Foot, The 49, 52 Frost-bite 1 54 Fruit 76 Gall-bladder 104 G-astric Juice 96 Gin 28 Glands, The Salivary 92 Grains, Alcohol from 18 Gristle '.'. 44, 45 II Hair, The 145 Hair-dyes 147 Hand, The 49, 51 Head . 46, 51 Hearing 196 Heart 128 Heat of Body 149-156 Heredity . 159 Hinge-joints 56 Hip-bones, The 48 Humerus 48, 51 Hygiene 52 " of the Nervous System .. 181 Inorganic Bodies 41 Inspiration 109 Insurance 157 Intestines, The 97 Iris 199 Iron 69 Joints 55 Jellies 23, 44 Kidneys 106 Knee-pan 49, 52 PAGE L, Lacteals 98 Larynx Ill Lees 17 Liquors, distilled 28 " drugged 28 " fermented 21 Lime 69 Liver 104 Lungs, The Ill, 112 " Work of the 114 M Malt 18 Marrow 44 Mead 161 Meals 99 Milk 73 Mucous Membrane 141 Mumps, The 92 Muscles, The 57 " Involuntary..: 59 " Voluntary 59 Mummy, The 12 N Nails, The 145 Narcotic Habit 39 Narcotics 11 Nerves, The 174 Nerve-fibers 175 Nerve-tubes 173 Nervous Power 168 Nervous System 165-192 Nicotine 31 Nose, The 195 O Oesophagus, see Esophagus. Oil-glands, The... .....144 Oils, The ....... 70 20fi INDEX. PAGE Opium 37,104 " ana rhe Xervous System. 191 ::r;.i= ii "• cf D:^r5:::n ■ - C :^3.i:: ":: : iie = ii Oxygen 114 P Pancreatic Juice 98 Papillae 142 Paralysis 179 Patella, The 52 Patent Medicines 184 Pepsin 96, 102 Perspiration, The 143 Phosphorus 69 Physiology . . 52 Pleurisy 117 Pneumonia 117 Poison 10 Pores. 143 Positions of the body .. 53 Preserves 23, 24 Pulse 133 Pupil 199 R Radius . . .-.-. 48, 51 Respiration 109 Diseases of .117 Rest 60,188 Ribs, The 47 S St Martin, Ataxic 103 a. The 92 Elands 92 3alt 68 5 ; ;-.-; :'_: ■: 1 Secretion, Definition of . 89 The 193 tain .— 128 Settlinge l - - - - C i " Shoulder-blades, The 51 Sirht. ^i-t :: : >5 Skeleton, The 41 gry. 7ir 141-14* Skull, The 46 Sleep 187, 188 " by narcotics 188 Smell, Sense of 195 Soothing-syrup 38 Speech, Organs of. 112 Spinal cord l~: Spinal nerves. 173 Spine, The « Spores Starch 9,18, 71 STrrzi-ari 45 >---- r^; .-._!":- 5i Stomach 96 Sugar 11- 72 Sunlight 148 Sunstroke 144 Sweat 143 Taste, Sense of- 193 Tea Tears, The 199 Teeth, The 89 " Care of the 91 Temperature of the Body 149 Tendons Terra alba Thigh-bones, The 49 Thought. .180 Throat 95 Tight-lacing — 115, 116 Tissues, The. 41 Tobacco -- 31 " and Alcohol 95 " Cost of.. 34 " Effect on Bones of 55 Growth of .. . . 33 INDEX. 207 PAGE Tobacco, Effect on Heart 139 " Mouth 94 " " Nervous System. 189 " Sight 201 " " Stomach 103 Tongue, The 193 Tooth-ache, The 91 Touch, Sense of 142, 175 Trachea Ill Training 191 Trunk, The 46 V Valves of Heart and "Veins.... 132 Veins 127 Ventilation 117, 119 PAGE Ventricles 128 Vertebrae 46 Vinegar 15,23 Vinous Fermentation 16 Vocal Chords 112 W Walking 53, 54 Water 67 Windpipe Ill Wine . 9, 11 Woolen 151 Wounds 135 Y Yeast 16