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diff --git a/old/65968-0.txt b/old/65968-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 6635ae4..0000000 --- a/old/65968-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,6382 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of The House We Live In or The Making of the -Body, by Vesta J. Farnsworth - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: The House We Live In or The Making of the Body - -Author: Vesta J. Farnsworth - -Release Date: July 31, 2021 [eBook #65968] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -Produced by: Brian Wilson, Les Galloway and the Online Distributed - Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was - produced from images generously made available by The Internet - Archive/American Libraries.) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN OR THE MAKING -OF THE BODY *** - Transcriber’s Notes - -Obvious typographical errors have been silently corrected. Variations -in hyphenation and spelling and punctuation remain unchanged. - -Italics are represented thus _italic_. - -All Chapter headings are within illustrations in the original. This has -been ignored. - -In The vegetarian song, (page 93) each verse is accompanied with a -small relevant illustration. These have been ignored. - -Standalone illustrations have either been accompanied by their caption -(if any) in _italics_, or a brief description by the transcriber (in -plain text). - - - - - THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN - - -[Illustration: Mother sitting with children.] - - - - - THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN - - OR - - The Making of the Body - - _A Book for Home Reading, intended to Assist - Mothers in Teaching their Children - How to Care for their Bodies, - and the Evil Effects - of Narcotics and - Stimulants._ - - _VESTA J. FARNSWORTH_ - - - “For we know that if our _earthly house_ ... were dissolved, - we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, - eternal in the heavens.” 2 Cor. 5:1 - - “What? know ye not that your body is _the temple_ of the - Holy Ghost which is in you, ... and ye are not your own?” - 1 Cor. 6:19 - - - Pacific Press Publishing Company - - OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA - SAN FRANCISCO KANSAS CITY NEW YORK - - - - - Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1900, by - PACIFIC PRESS PUBLISHING COMPANY - In the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington - - - Entered at Stationers’ Hall, London, England - - - - - To - - MY DEAR FRIENDS THE CHILDREN - - and - - To All Who See the Creator - in His Creative Work - - - - - CONTENTS - - - PAGE - - HOUSES AND TEMPLES 11 - - THE OUTSIDE OF THE BODY 17 - - SUBSTANCES IN THE BODY 23 - - OUR FRAME 27 - - PROPER CARE OF THE BONES 35 - - THE WALLS OF OUR HOUSE 40 - - WEATHERBOARDS AND ROOFING 49 - - THE CUPOLA 57 - - OUR TELEPHONE SYSTEM 63 - - THE HALL OR PASSAGE 71 - - OUR KITCHEN 77 - - THE EATING ROOM 84 - - FOOD AND FUEL 89 - - A PUMPING ENGINE 109 - - THE CARETAKER 118 - - THE BATH ROOM 129 - - HOW THE HOUSE IS HEATED 138 - - THE MUSIC ROOM 147 - - THE HEARING PASSAGE 151 - - SOME WONDERFUL WINDOWS 157 - - A GOOD SERVANT 165 - - A FAITHFUL WATCHMAN 173 - - A GENTLE NURSE 178 - - A WICKED THIEF 183 - - A CRUEL MURDERER 195 - - CHARACTER OF THE MASTER 207 - - - - - THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN - - - - - HOUSES AND TEMPLES - - -HELEN: See this picture, mother. How pretty the house looks, with its -wide windows and porches! - -MOTHER: Yes, it is a fine picture, and such a house would make a lovely -home. Men build better dwellings now than they did many years ago. - -PERCY: Do people build the same kind of houses in all countries? - -MOTHER: Oh, no! If we should visit the Indians, we would find them -living in rude tents called wigwams, or _teepees_, made of mats and the -bark of trees. In some countries people live in tents. Where it is very -warm they build so they may keep cool. In cold climates they make their -houses warm. Can you tell me some things which are used in building -houses? - -ELMER: Stone, brick, iron, wood, paper, earth, and straw. The Esquimau -lives in a house made of large blocks of snow and ice. - -MOTHER: You would not think such a house very warm, but it is the best -he can make. Perhaps you have noticed that some houses are large and -some are small. Some have many rooms, others but few. They are made -in many shapes and colors, and in some countries there are hardly two -which look alike. - -[Illustration: A temple] - -AMY: Here is another picture. What kind of a house is this, mother? - -MOTHER: That is called a temple. It is built for the purpose of worship. - -HELEN: Is a meeting-house a temple? - -MOTHER: It might be called by that name, for it is the house of God, -where His people worship Him. But as we were looking at these pictures -I have been thinking of another kind of house in which we all live, -which is more wonderful than any building ever made by men. There are a -great number of these houses. All are made of the same things, all have -the same kind of frame, all have the same number of rooms, and, though -there are thousands of them in every country, they are all lighted, -heated, finished, and furnished the same way. - -PERCY: Oh, I know what you mean! You are thinking of our bodies. - -MOTHER: Yes; and if you study this house God made for you to live in, -you will be ready to say, with King David, “I will praise Thee; for I -am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Thy works; and that -my soul knoweth right well.” The more men study this body of ours, the -more they find to make them wonder at the wisdom of its Maker. If a man -invents a useful machine, such as a watch or an engine, he is praised -and called a great man. But how few ever praise and thank the Lord for -the body He has given them, and try to learn the best way to care for -it! - -HELEN: I should like to know how to care for mine, but I never thought -of my body as a house before. - -MOTHER: We may call it a house, because the Bible calls it so; and, -more than that, it says it is a temple. Listen to this verse: “What? -know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in -you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?” - -AMY: Then this house or temple of the body does not belong to us, -mother, for it says, “Ye are not your own.” - -PERCY: I see how it is. You know people sometimes build houses to rent, -and the One who made the house we live in gives it to us for a home as -long as we live, and He wants us to take good care of it. - -MOTHER: That is right. The house is loaned or “rented” to us, as Percy -says, for us to live in and care for. God cares for it too, and if it -wasn’t for that it would have been destroyed long ago. Before any of us -were old enough to know we had such a gift as our bodies, kind friends -cared for them for us, and every moment our heavenly Father watches -over us, for “in Him we live, and move, and have our being.” When we go -to sleep He still keeps the heart engine pumping, and the parts which -become worn out during the day are nicely mended without our thought or -care. - -ELMER: I want the house I live in to be like that pretty temple we saw -in the picture. - -MOTHER: Then my boy must be very careful to keep it clean, not only -outside but inside as well. You know we sometimes see houses painted -nicely outside, and we think what good homes they would make; but when -once inside we find the rooms so dirty we want to get away. So boys and -girls may be nicely dressed and look well outside, but if they do not -eat good food and have good habits, their body-house is not fit to live -in. - -PERCY: Adam and Eve must have had fine, large houses. - -HELEN: And they lasted a long time, too. Adam lived in his for over -nine hundred years. - -MOTHER: It is said that men keep building better houses all the time, -but the first body-house God made was the best ever seen in this world. - -AMY: But why are they not made good and lasting now, mother? - -MOTHER: One reason is because we do not use them well. Many persons -would do better in caring for themselves if they knew better how to do -it. If I gave you a costly watch, Percy, what is the first thing you -would want to know about it? - -PERCY: How to take care of it. - -MOTHER: Yes, you would find out how and when to wind it, and just how -to use it so it would keep good time. We should be even more careful to -learn all we can about our bodies. We should learn for what each part -was made, and how to keep it in good order. Men have taken bodies like -ours apart, just as a watchmaker takes out all the wheels of a watch, -and they have found out many things about them in this way. We should -learn all we can about how to keep well and strong. If we are ill we -make much trouble for others, and must suffer ourselves. If we are well -we shall be a help and blessing to all around us. Not long ago I read -this prayer of a little girl for her body:— - -“Dear God, bless my two little eyes, and make them twinkle happy. Bless -my two ears, and help me to hear mother call me. Bless my two lips, -and make them speak kind and true. Bless my two hands, and make them -good and not touch what they mustn’t. Bless my two feet, and make them -go where they ought to. Bless my heart, and make it love God and my -father and mother and everybody. Please let ugly sin never get hold of -me--never, never!” - - “The Lord my body did prepare - My dwelling-place to be, - And still it is a temple where - He daily meets with me. - - “My head, my hands, my heart are His; - He knows my being well; - And all its many mysteries - My Lord alone can tell. - - “To walk in ways of wickedness - My feet can not afford; - For all the powers I possess - Are holy to the Lord. - - “I’ll pray to Him from day to day - To lead my steps aright, - That I along His heavenly way - May be a shining light. - - “And He will keep my temple free - From every touch of sin; - He truly saves and cleanses me, - That He may dwell within. - - “My eyes must see the good and true; - My ears must hear His voice; - My hands be ever glad to do - My heavenly Father’s choice.” - - —_C. M. Snow._ - - - - - THE OUTSIDE OF THE BODY - - -MOTHER Let us look at the outside of our house before we try to see -how it is made and furnished inside. I think you know now that when I -am talking about a house or temple I mean the body. In some ways our -bodies are like trees as well as houses. Look at this picture and tell -me what you see. - -PERCY: A tree with a straight stem or trunk. It also has branches, -called limbs, and is covered with bark. - -AMY: And it has roots, which hold it fast in the ground. - -MOTHER: Yes, trees are made to stand in one place while they live, and -so they have roots. We have limbs like the tree, but our lower limbs -are used to carry us from place to place, for we were not made to stand -still. Can you think of another way in which we are like the tree? - -HELEN: Oh, I know! The middle part of the body is called the trunk. - -MOTHER: Can you think of any other kind of trunk than the trunk of a -tree or the trunk of the body? - -AMY: A trunk in which to put clothes. - -[Illustration: A trunk] - -MOTHER: Yes, such trunks are useful to carry clothes. The upper part -of the trunk of the body, or the part between the arms, is called “the -chest.” Sometime we will try to learn what is packed away so nicely in -the chest, or trunk, of the body, but we will only look outside now. -What is on top of the trunk? - -HELEN: A strong, shell-shaped box made of bones, called the head. - -MOTHER: This is what we might call the jewel-case, or the best part of -all, for without it all parts of the body would be useless. Here we -find the eyes, nose, mouth, and ears; and the head is fastened to the -trunk of the body by the neck. How many limbs have we? - -PERCY: We have two arms and two legs, and these are called our limbs. - -MOTHER: Now I think you can name the main parts of the body. What are -they? - -HELEN: The head, trunk, and limbs. - -MOTHER: You said the tree was covered with bark. Look at your hand. -With what is it covered? - -AMY: With skin. - -MOTHER: Yes; we will talk more about this soft covering of the body -at another time. We found these body-houses of ours are made to walk, -work, run, jump, and do many other things. How are our limbs different -from those of a tree? - -PERCY: They have joints so they can move many ways. - -MOTHER: You may all put your arms out straight. Now raise them above -your head and then touch your head without bending them. - -HELEN: We can’t do it, mother. - -MOTHER: Let us see, then, how many joints, or bending-places, we have. -We will call them the hinges of our house, for they help us to use our -limbs, just as the hinges of a door help us to open or close the door. -Please bend your arm and tell me how many parts it has. - -PERCY: My arm has two parts. - -MOTHER: What do you think would be a good name for the part near your -shoulder? - -AMY: The top arm, or upper arm. - -MOTHER: I think upper arm is best. Now if that part is the _upper_ arm, -what would you call the other part? - -ELMER: The lower arm. - -MOTHER: It is also called the forearm. Now move your elbow joint -backward and forward, and tell me what kind of joint it is. - -HELEN: It is like a door hinge, for I can move it only two ways. - -MOTHER: Yes, the elbow joint unites the upper and lower arm, and it can -swing only one way. What shall we call the joint that joins the upper -arm to the shoulder? - -[Illustration: The shoulder joint] - -PERCY: The shoulder joint. - -MOTHER: Is this joint like the one in your elbow? - -HELEN: No, for I can swing my arm backward or forward or any way I like. - -MOTHER: That is because it has a different joint than your elbow. It -is called a “ball-and-socket” joint; that is, one end of the bone is -shaped like a ball, and this fits into a hole shaped like a cup in -another bone, like the one you see in the picture. This shows the hip -joint, which is also a ball-and-socket joint, the same as we found in -the shoulder. Now what is the joint called at the lower end of the -forearm? - -AMY: It is called the wrist. - -MOTHER: The wrist is a joint that moves very easily in many different -ways. Now how many joints, or bending-places, have we found in the arm? - -PERCY: The arm has three joints. - -MOTHER: Elmer, you may take this ball. With what do you hold it? - -ELMER: With my hand. - -MOTHER: Tell me some ways in which we use our hands. - -HELEN: We hold, push, pull, lift, catch, and feel with our hands. - -MOTHER: The inside is called the palm of the hand. What do you find at -the ends of your hands? - -AMY: Fingers. - -MOTHER: Look at your fingers. Are they all alike? - -PERCY: One is much shorter than the others; all are different in -length, and one is very small. - -MOTHER: What do you call your short finger? - -ELMER: My thumb. - -[Illustration: Dog with basket] - -MOTHER: You would find it hard to button your clothes and do many other -things if you had no thumbs. A dog has no fingers, and if he wishes to -hold or carry anything, he does it with his teeth. The first finger is -called the forefinger, or index finger, because it comes first, and we -use it to point with. The second is the middle finger; then we have the -third finger; and the fourth is called the little finger, because it is -the wee, tiny one of all. Open and shut your hands quickly. What do you -call the parts of your fingers where you bend them? - -HELEN: Finger joints and knuckles. - -MOTHER: You see there are many joints in the hands, so we can move them -easily and quickly. What do you find on the ends of your fingers? - -AMY: Finger-nails. - -MOTHER: These hard, horny nails protect the ends of the fingers, and -give them strength. Our hands were given us to help ourselves and -others, and we should keep them neat and clean. They were not made to -strike or steal. - -AMY: I read this verse about our hands not long ago:— - - “Hands were made to be useful, - If you teach them the way; - Therefore for yourself or neighbor - Make them useful every day.” - -PERCY: You haven’t told us about the lower limbs yet, mother. - -MOTHER: No; and any boy or girl who enjoys running and jumping would -think theirs a hard lot if they had no legs. - -ELMER: I saw a boy with only one not long ago. - -MOTHER: It is a great loss when a person loses an arm or a leg. Such -people are called cripples. How many parts has each leg? - -AMY: Each one has two parts. - -MOTHER: And how many joints has the leg? - -HELEN: Three joints. - -MOTHER: That is right. The one at the hip, as I have said, is a -ball-and-socket joint; the one at the knee is a hinge joint, and the -ankle is quite like the wrist. Then we have the foot, with a number of -small joints, like the hand. - -PERCY: But we have toes on our feet instead of fingers; still there is -the same number. - -MOTHER: Yes, and some people can use their toes to draw pictures, -write, and do many other things. Now we have found what our body-house -is like on the outside, and we see how well each part is made for the -work given it to do. - - - - - SUBSTANCES IN THE BODY - - -MOTHER: Percy, do you remember what men use in building houses? - -PERCY: They use stone, wood, brick, iron, glass, lime, and paper. - -HELEN: And some houses are made of earth and straw. - -MOTHER: Yes, and some of these things are found in the body-house. - -AMY: Why, mother, we are not made of wood, stone, glass, or lime! - -MOTHER: That is true; yet some of these very things are in your body. -Those who have studied the blood tell us it is iron, partly, that -gives it its rich red color. You saw what a pretty red it is when you -cut your finger to-day, Helen. Some of the things of which glass is -made are in our hair and finger-nails, and our bones would soon become -useless if we did not give them plenty of lime. - -PERCY: But how do the iron and lime get inside of us? That is what I -would like to know. - -MOTHER: It does seem strange, but the houses we live in are made of -what we eat. I once knew a young lady who thought she needed more iron -in her blood, so she put some nails in water and let them stay till -it was full of iron rust, and then she drank it. Perhaps if she had -thought her bones needed lime, she would have taken lime water; but -this is not the proper way to get iron and lime “inside of us,” as -Percy says. We can not eat iron and lime, but grains and fruits can, -and we eat the grains and fruits. Iron is found in apples, tomatoes, -and strawberries. We get lime in wheat, peas, beans, and other foods. -Have you noticed how the men are building that brick house across the -street? - -AMY: They put one brick on top of another, till thousands of them are -used in making one house. - -[Illustration: Bricklayer at work] - -MOTHER: Well, that is the way the house we live in is built, only -instead of bricks it is made up of what are called “cells.” These cells -are little bags filled with something that looks like jelly. They are -so very small we can not see them at all unless we look through a glass -which makes them seem much larger than they really are. Some of these -powerful glasses make a speck of dust look as big as a large rock. - -ELMER: I wish we could see some cells. - -MOTHER: Here is a picture of some kinds. You see they are not all -alike. Some are round, others are flat, or narrow, or long, or short; -so you see they are of all shapes and sizes. Some are so very tiny -it would take three or four thousand to make a row an inch in length. -Others are large enough so we can almost see them without a glass. Some -have no color at all; others are light colored, and some are quite -black. There are millions of cells in one drop of blood. Your skin -seems like one piece, yet it, too, is made of layers of cells. If we -should look through a strong glass at a tiny piece of potato, wheat, -and some oatmeal, we would find they are all made of cells. - -PERCY: And do the cells last as long as we live, mother? - -[Illustration: _CELLS_] - -MOTHER: No, they keep changing all the time. When we walk, run, talk, -think, or do anything, some of these cells die, and others take their -places. The new ones are just like the old; for if they were not, our -appearance would so change that our best friends would not know us. -While boys and girls are growing, they are putting many new cells into -the house they live in. This is the reason auntie said the other day -that she hardly knew you when she had not seen you for a year. - -AMY: What are the cells made of, mother? - -MOTHER: They are made of the food we eat. This shows we should -be careful to put the very best things we can get into our -body-building--I mean such as the body can use, for what we _like_ -best is not always what is needed to build up and strengthen us. When -you get hungry, that is the call of the body for food to make more -cells, just as the mason calls, “More mortar,” or, “More brick,” so he -can build his wall higher and stronger. If his mortar has but little -lime, or is badly mixed, or he has only broken, badly-shaped brick, -the wall will not be strong or beautiful. So if we give the body wrong -kinds of food, it can not build such a house as you and I wish to live -in. - -HELEN: If moving about kills the cells, will they live longer if we -keep still? - -MOTHER: No, they are made to live just so long, and will die anyway. If -we should not work or play, the dead cells would stay in the body, and -make no end of mischief; but when we move about, it helps to carry them -away, and new ones take their places. So you need not be afraid to run -and jump, play and work; for the cells will take care to keep the house -you live in all right, if you only give them the right kind of food, -and not too much of it. - - - - - OUR FRAME - - -MOTHER: Every building must have a foundation and a frame of some kind -to make it strong and give it shape. It is the same with the house we -call our body. The frames of houses which men build are made of wood -or iron; but the framework of the body is built of bones. Perhaps you -have noticed that in the frames of buildings some pieces of timber are -short, and some are long, and they are cut into many different shapes -and sizes. So it is with the bones of the body. How many do you think -it takes to make our frame? - -[Illustration: Skeleton] - -HELEN: About fifty. - -PERCY: I guess one hundred. - -MOTHER: Not quite right, for there are over two hundred. All the bones -together are called the skeleton. The frame of a house divides it into -rooms, and on it are fastened the boards, laths, and shingles. In the -house in which we live the flesh is fastened to the bones, and the -whole is covered with skin. This framework also protects the curious -rooms inside the trunk of the body. The largest bone in our frame is -the leg bone, which reaches from the hip to the knee. It is called the -_femur_, or thigh bone. - -ELMER: Are the bones solid, mother? - -MOTHER: No; I have brought some pictures to show you how they look, -for we can not see our own bones. One of them shows a bone that is -sawed through lengthwise. You see the larger part at the end is full of -little holes, like a sponge. This makes it light and strong. There is a -hollow place in long bones filled with marrow. It also fills the spongy -parts. Marrow is made of fat and cells. - -[Illustration: _The thigh bone._] - -You must not think that live bones look like one which has been lying -out-of-doors a long time. Live bones are full of blood and have a -pinkish color. They also have an outside skin, which can be peeled off, -as you see in this picture. - -[Illustration: _A bone with the outside skin partly peeled off._] - -AMY: What are the bones made of? - -[Illustration: _End of a bone sawed open._] - -MOTHER: Of animal and earthy matter. You can take the animal matter out -of a bone by burning it in the fire. It will then be white and brittle. -If you soak a bone in a kind of acid, the earthy matter will come out, -and it will then be so soft you can tie it in a knot like this. When -children are very young, their bones are soft and easily bent. This is -because there is more animal than earthy matter. Children sometimes -get hard falls, and their bones bend but do not break. Some, when very -young, have legs that are bent like a bow. This is caused by standing -and walking before the bones are strong enough to bear the weight of -the body, or by disease. - -[Illustration: _A bone tied in a knot, after the earthy matter has been -removed by an acid._] - -In very old people the bones contain more earthy matter, and they break -easily. Grand´fa-ther and grand´moth-er must be careful not to fall, -for if they break a bone it will take a long time to heal. - -When we take a baby, we should not lift him by his arms, and we must -hold him so his bones will not grow out of shape. As he grows older, -enough earthy matter will go into his bones to make them hard and -strong. - -PERCY: But you said there was lime in the bones, mother. - -MOTHER: Yes, the earthy matter is partly lime. The blood goes into the -bones through tiny blood-vessels, and at all times of day and night the -bones keep eating their breakfasts, dinners, and suppers of lime, which -they find in the blood. - -[Illustration: “_We should not lift him by his arms._”] - -HELEN: What kind of food is best for the bones? - -MOTHER: Good whole-wheat bread will furnish them all they need. Peas -and beans are also good. - -We will now look at the largest bones of our body frame, and see if we -can learn something of their size and shape. We will not try to learn -their hard names now, but will leave that till we are older. - -We will begin with the bones of the head. They form what is called the -skull. It is made of a number of bones, joined like two saws with the -teeth hooked together. The “chin bone,” or jaw bone, is one of the -bones of the head. - -[Illustration: _Back-bone._] - -[Illustration: _Skull._] - -Let me show you a picture of one of the most wonderful bones of the -body. It is called the _spine_, or spinal column. Perhaps you can -feel some little knobs or ridges in your back. The back-bone is made -of twenty-four little bones piled one on top of another. Suppose you -had twenty-four spools or reels of cotton, and you should run a string -through them. When you hold them upright, you see you can bend them any -way you wish, or keep them straight. Now if each spool had three wings -like the one in the picture, they would be shaped very much like the -bones that form the spine. The string is like the marrow, or “spinal -cord,” which passes through the spinal column from top to bottom. The -bones which make up the lower part of the spine are much larger than -those at the top. Little soft cushions are placed between all these -bones, something like India-rubber. These cushions are to keep the -body and brain from being jarred, just as the springs in our carriage -help you to ride easily. They also help us to bend the body backward -or forward as we choose. You see if the spine was one long straight -bone we could not bend at all. If we keep bending over while walking or -working, after a time the cushions will get used to that position and -we shall have a bad figure. - -[Illustration: _Reels of cotton._] - -ELMER: The boy with his hands in his pockets does not have a good -figure. - -[Illustration: Stooped boy] - -[Illustration: Upright man] - -MOTHER: No; and if he were to go into the army, the first thing he -would have to learn would be to “straighten up,” and give his spinal -column a chance to grow the right way. - -Now we will look at the ribs. They are fastened to the spinal column -at the back, and all but four are fastened to the breast-bone in front. -There are twelve ribs on each side. There are two bones on the upper -part of the back, which seem to dance every time you move your arm. -These are the “shoulder blades.” They are thin, flat bones, which help -make the shoulder joint. You can feel two bones near your neck in -front, which are called “collar bones.” They are shaped much like the -letter _f_, and serve to preserve the shape of the shoulders. - -[Illustration: _Ribs._] - -AMY: How many bones do we have in our arms, mother? - -[Illustration: _Bones of the arm._] - -MOTHER: There are three in each arm,--one from the shoulder to the -elbow, and two from the elbow to the wrist. There are a large number of -bones in the wrist and hand. - -[Illustration: _The pelvis._] - -The middle part of the body below the spinal column is called the -pelvis. In this picture we see two curious bones. These are the hip -bones. They are like the sills of a house, which, you know, are large -and strong. There is a deep hole in each one as large as a toy teacup, -which holds the round head of the leg bone. There are three bones in -each leg, the same as in the arm, one from the hip to the knee, and two -from the knee to the ankle, besides a funny little bone or cap which -covers the knee. Then we come to the ankle bones and bones of the feet. - -HELEN: How do the bones stay in their proper places, mother? I should -think they would fall apart. - -MOTHER: They would if they were not tied together. - -ELMER: But what are they tied with? - -[Illustration: _Bones of the leg and foot._] - -MOTHER: With strong white bands or cords called lig´a-ments. Perhaps -you have seen them on the leg of a chicken. When a joint is “sprained,” -that means the lig´a-ments are stretched or hurt in some way. - -AMY: I should think the bones would get dry so they would squeak and -rub hard against one another. - -[Illustration: _Wrist bones tied together._] - -MOTHER: So they would if the Maker of the body-house had not put soft -cushions of gristle or car´ti-lage between them. A soft, thin skin -covers them, which pours “joint water” over the ends, and keeps them -oiled just right, so they bend easily, and never squeak at all. You -have seen the driver of an engine oiling it so it would run easily and -not wear out; but think of a machine which will mend and oil itself -for seventy years without wearing out! We have a most wonderful frame. -The Bible says, “Thou hast fenced me with bones and sinews,” and, “He -knoweth our frame.” Sometimes if we are ill a long time “the bones that -were not seen stick out;” but when we are well, flesh covers them over -so we hardly know we have any bones at all. - -I once read a poem which I will repeat for you. It may help you to -remember how many bones we have and where they are:— - - “How many bones in the human head? - Eight, my child, as I’ve often said. - How many bones in the human spine? - Twenty-six, like a climbing vine. - How many bones in the human chest? - Twenty-four ribs, and four of the rest. - How many bones in the human arm? - In each one, two in each forearm. - How many bones in the human wrist? - Eight in each if none are missed. - How many bones in the fingers ten? - Twenty-eight, and by joints they bend. - How many bones in the human hip? - One in each; like a dish they dip. - How many bones in the human knees? - One in each, the knee-pan, please. - How many bones in the ankles strong? - Seven in each, but none are long. - How many bones in the toes, half a score? - Twenty-eight, and there are no more. - And now altogether these many bones fix, - And they count in the body two hundred and six. - And now and then a bone I should think - That forms on a joint, or to fill up a chink, - A ses´a-moid bone, or a wormian, we call, - And now we may rest, for we’ve told them all.” - - - - - PROPER CARE OF THE BONES - - -HELEN: What’s the matter with this house, mother? It seems to be all -out of shape. - -MOTHER: Perhaps it is very old and the frame has decayed so it leans -far over to one side. It is unsafe to live in such houses, for they may -tumble down if a strong wind comes along. I have seen some body-houses -which look very much like this to me. Here is one of them. See how this -boy’s shoulders are bent forward, and his whole body is wrong. If some -disease, as consumption, should come along, like a strong wind, I fear -his house would go down. Some one should say to him, “Straighten up, -young man; throw your shoulders back, and you will look more manly and -will live much longer.” - -[Illustration: “_See how this boy’s shoulders are bent forward._”] - -PERCY: I have seen some boys at school bending over their desk when -studying and writing. Is that good for the bones? - -MOTHER: No; boys and girls should sit straight, stand straight, and -walk straight. If they do not, after a time the cushions between the -bones in the spine will grow thicker on one side than on the other, -and the back-bone will become crooked. You know soldiers stand erect -and have fine forms. How much better this man looks than the one who -bends over! Do not form the habit of bending forward while sitting or -standing. The one who made the body “made man upright,” and in this he -is different from the birds, beasts, or fishes. - -ELMER: Can the bones be broken, mother? - -[Illustration: “_Boys should sit straight._”] - -MOTHER: Yes, and it is a sad thing for one to get broken, for it is -very painful and takes a long time to heal. Children should be careful -when jumping, when climbing trees, or when they go in any place where -they may fall and break their bones. - -Many persons give the bones of the feet a wrong shape by wearing tight -boots or shoes. This causes “corns” to grow, which become very sore and -painful. Perhaps you have heard how the Chinese women bind the feet of -their little girls, and pinch them up, till they look more like clubs -than like feet. The little one often cries and moans for days, but the -mother and father pay no attention to her sufferings, for they think it -would never do for _their_ girl to have big feet. - -AMY: O, yes, mother; here is the picture of a woman with little feet! -See her tiny shoes! They are no longer than a baby’s. In the other -picture you see one of her feet with all the toes doubled under. I -don’t see how she can walk at all. - -HELEN: She must be silly. I think God knew how big to make our feet, as -well as other parts of the body. - -MOTHER: That is true, but the poor Chinese women do not know better, -and they think Christian women are more foolish than Chinese women, and -that they bind the bones in a way they themselves would never dream of -doing. - -HELEN: How, mother? - -[Illustration: “_See her tiny shoes!_”] - -MOTHER: They say Christian women and girls squeeze the waist so -tight it gives no room for some of the most important parts of the -body-house. I think you said, Helen, that God knew how big to make our -feet. Do you think He knew how big to make the waist? - -[Illustration: “_All the toes doubled under._”] - -HELEN: I suppose so, but a small waist looks so much better than a -large one. - -MOTHER: And the Chinese lady thinks her little feet are so much -prettier than large ones, and she would rather suffer the pain, and -hobble around all her life leaning on a servant, than be out of -fashion. The Christian woman thinks a small waist is pretty, so she -makes her clothes tight, and suffers all kinds of aches, rather than -let the body remain as God made it. What is the difference? Here is a -picture of the ribs as God made them, and here is one after the waist -has been bound around with tight dresses. - -[Illustration: “_Here is a picture of the ribs as God made them, and -here is one after the waist has been bound around with tight dresses._”] - -If we saw a man putting iron bands around his house we would think the -one who built it had made some mistake or it would not need anything to -hold it together. If people feel as though they would “fall to pieces,” -or if they have the backache, when their clothes are loose, it shows -they have abused the muscles of the body and made weak that which God -made strong. - -AMY: Is it wrong to wear tight clothing, mother? - -MOTHER: Yes; it is very hurtful for girls to wear their dresses even -a _little_ tight, for the bones are soft and easily pressed out of -place. We should wear warm, loose clothing on all parts of the body, -and never, _never_ squeeze the feet, waist, or any other part out of -shape. Your arm would be very painful with a tight band around it, but -that would not do as much harm as tight shoes or tight bands around -the waist. It is better to be healthy than to be in fashion. - -You remember that the blood flows through the bones to feed and make -them grow. Good blood will make them strong and healthy. Children -sometimes have a disease called the “rickets.” This shows that their -bones are soft and need more lime. They should eat plenty of good brown -bread. - -No boy who wishes to grow large and strong should touch beer or -tobacco. These poisons in the blood will make the bony framework of -the body small and weak. The size of the man depends on his frame. -Many boys are making their bodies and minds very small by smoking -cigarettes. By using strong drink or tobacco the house we live in is -defiled. The blood and all the body, inside and out, becomes soiled and -filthy. “If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; -for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.” If one should go -into a beautiful temple and break the windows, stain the white marble -walls, and cover the floor with filth, we would think they did wrong. -How much worse to destroy the wonderful, living temple which God -Himself has built! - - - - - THE WALLS OF OUR HOUSE - - -ELMER: I don’t like to look at pictures of bones and skeletons, mother. - -MOTHER: No; like the framework of a house, they are not pretty, and yet -they give shape to what we _do_ like to see. When your father built -this house, do you remember how he made the walls? - -PERCY: The spaces between the timbers were filled with bricks, so there -was a solid wall. - -MOTHER: Well, it is that way in the body-house. The bones are all -covered over and filled in between with muscles. It is these which make -the cheeks so plump, and give the whole body its round, pleasing form. -It is the muscles which move the bones. - -AMY: But what is a muscle? - -MOTHER: You have seen lean meat, have you not? That is muscle. When -boiled it seems to be made up of little bundles of tiny threads of -fibers, each wrapped in its own thin blanket. Here is a picture of a -muscle. These small threads are not twisted together, but are laid -side by side. It takes one thousand seven hundred of them to make a -muscle an inch thick in children, but in grown people it takes only -five hundred. - -HELEN: Are the muscles fastened to the bones, mother? - -[Illustration: “_Muscles of the arm, with their tapering tendons at the -wrist._”] - -MOTHER: Yes; many muscles are joined to the bones by strong cords, -called tendons. The picture shows the muscles of the arm, with their -tapering tendons at the wrist. You see our muscles end in these little -ropes, or cords, to save room. What a large wrist we would have if the -muscles were as large there as in the arm! Now grasp your right arm and -open and shut the fingers of your right hand. What do you feel? - -PERCY: The flesh moves. - -[Illustration: _Muscles of the hand._] - -MOTHER: That is because the muscles of your arm pull back when you shut -your fingers, and stretch out when you open them. They are some like -this piece of India rubber. If you pull it out, it gets thinner, and if -you let go, it snaps back and becomes short and thick. Perhaps you have -seen the leg of a fowl cut off at the joint, and know if you take hold -of the strong cords you can move the toes up or down. So the muscles -and tendons move in our feet and hands in the same way. Every step we -take, one muscle lifts the toes in front, and another pulls up the heel -behind. - -If a person sits still much of the time, he will have weak, small -muscles, because he does not use them. That is one reason why people -are so very weak after being ill. When we use our muscles, they grow -large and strong. You have seen the blacksmith’s arm and noticed how -large and strong it is. To use our muscles does not wear them out, but -does them good. - -ELMER: I should think the muscles were our servants, to do whatever we -wish done. - -MOTHER: Yes; and better servants no person ever had. If the brain says, -“I want a book,” the muscles of the legs carry the body where the book -is; those of the eye look for it; those in the arm and hand lift it; -and the master of the house gets what he wants. We can not move or do -anything without these servants to help us. - -AMY: It must take a good many to serve one who wants as many things as -I do. - -HELEN: I read not long ago there were about five hundred of them, big -and little, and that they have many shapes and sizes. - -[Illustration: Blacksmith] - -MOTHER: That is true; and one who has so many servants as that, ought -to be able to wait on himself, and help other people, too. Some of -these servants, those in the feet, legs, arms, and hands, wait to be -told what to do. Others go to work and keep at it without telling, and -they will work even though the one living in the house should tell them -to stop. When you wink, you do it without thinking, for the little -muscles over the eye know it is their duty to keep the eye clean and -bright, and they keep at their work even though you should tell them -to keep still. Your heart is a hollow muscle, and it works faithfully -night and day as long as you live. The stomach is made of muscles, -which take care of your breakfast and dinner without a word from you; -and there are many more of these faithful servants who work to keep our -house in order. - -PERCY: But don’t the muscles get tired, mother? - -MOTHER: Yes; and when they ask for rest, we should give it to them. We -do not need to sit still and do nothing in order to rest the muscles. -If we have been studying, it rests them to sweep the floor, hoe in the -garden, or work or play. If we have been playing or working hard, it -rests us to sit down and read or study. Change of work is better than -to be idle. Walking, running, or working makes the muscles grow large -and strong. - -We must also have plenty of sleep. A boy or girl who works and plays -out in the fresh air and sunshine, will be strong and well, while those -who sit in the house will be weak and sickly. But it is not best to -work the muscles till they are “all tired out,” for using them too much -is nearly as bad as not using them at all. - -HELEN: I read a story not long ago about the king of a tribe in Africa. -He did not move about or work, so he became ill. He sent for his -doctor, who saw that all he needed was to use his muscles, but he did -not dare tell him to go to work, so he made two large clubs, and told -the king the medicine which would make him well was in the handles, -and if he would swing the clubs each day till his body was moist, the -medicine would go from the clubs into his hands, and make him strong -and well. The king did as the doctor said. Each day he swung his clubs -in the open air, and he soon became strong. He thought he had a very -skilful doctor, and praised him for his great cure. - -[Illustration: “_Giving his muscles exercise._”] - -MOTHER: And yet it was only giving his muscles exercise which helped -him so much. This shows the importance of using them. - -ELMER: Do we need anything else to make the muscles strong, mother? - -MOTHER: Yes; one of the best things to make them strong is plenty of -good, plain food. As the muscles are used, they wear out, and must -have new timber to build themselves up. You would think it strange if -a carpenter brought brick, mortar, glass, and timber to mend a house, -and without his help each part should take just what it needed, putting -in half a dozen bricks in the chimney, a board in the floor, a new pane -of glass in the window, and some mortar in the right place. But this is -what the house we live in is doing day and night. When we sleep, the -mending goes on better than when we are awake, and it is done so well -we do not hear or think of the busy little workmen inside. All they ask -is the right kind of food, not too much or too little of it, and they -will take the right thing to the right place, and keep the house in -good order. - -HELEN: I have read of some men “training” their muscles. What did they -do to train them? - -MOTHER: They were very careful to take only that kind of food which is -good for the muscles. They can not use wine, beer, whisky, or tobacco, -for these make bad blood and weak muscles. Then they work all they can -bear, but not too much. - -PERCY: But Mr. Blank says it makes him strong to have a glass of beer -or whisky. - -AMY: And Mr. Blank is such a big man he must have strong muscles. - -MOTHER: To be big is not to be strong. It is well to have some soft -cushions of fat between the muscles, but, as a rule, those who have -much fat are not as strong and well as those who have less fat and more -muscle. Whisky does not make the muscles grow, nor does it make any one -strong. Would you like to have me tell you why this is so? - -ELMER: Please do, mother. - -MOTHER: Do you remember when we were driving up that long hill -yesterday how tired the horse seemed till he was struck with a whip? -After that he went much faster, and did not seem tired at all for a -little while. The whip was a stim´u-lant to the horse. Whisky and beer -are stim´u-lants, too. Mr. Blank works till his muscles are tired, and -then, instead of giving them food and rest, he gives them beer, which -makes him think he is stronger when he is really weaker. The whip made -the horse forget he was tired, but don’t you think if he had rested an -hour and eaten some good oats and sweet hay, he would have had more -strength than he had after he was struck with the whip? - -PERCY: I think so; for if we had given the horse no rest and had kept -whipping him, after a time he could not work at all. - -[Illustration: “_LIFT, BROTHER, LIFT._”] - -MOTHER: And that is just what happens to the man who drinks beer. -Perhaps you have seen a man stumbling along the sidewalk. He is first -on one side and then on the other, and we say he is drunk. This means -that the alcohol he has taken has poisoned his body so the muscles -will not do their work properly. The man can not make his servants do -as he tells them; for he has made them all sick, and _he_ is sick. -It is a sad sight to see any one drink this poison, and make himself -helpless. - -AMY: I never knew before that strong drink hurt the muscles. - -MOTHER: And there is another poison about as bad for them, and that -is tobacco. If a boy wishes to grow to be a large, noble man, with -an active mind, a clean mouth, sweet breath, clear eyes, and strong -muscles, he will not touch tobacco. In some countries there is a law -against boys using it, because it does them so much harm. Tobacco makes -the muscles weak and unsteady. Like alcohol, it makes a person _feel_ -stronger when he is really weaker. - - - - - WEATHER-BOARDS AND ROOFING - - -MOTHER: After your father had filled the framework of his house with -bricks, can you tell me, Elmer, how the outside was covered? - -ELMER: The walls were covered on the outside with boards, and the roof -with shingles. - -MOTHER: That would do very well for a wooden house, but for one that -can walk, run, jump, and skip about, such a stiff covering would be -sadly out of place. We sometimes smile because the snail carries his -house around on his back; but the house we live in must move itself and -carry the one who lives in it. How are boards and shingles fastened -onto common houses so they will stay? - -PERCY: With nails. - -MOTHER: Just think of driving nails into muscles! Yet you see our -body-houses must have some kind of a covering. It must be thin and -strong and one that will stretch. Look at your hands and see if they do -not have the very best covering that could be made. Pinch up the skin, -and see how thin it is, and yet how well it fits every part of the -body. - -AMY: And the skin stretches, mother. See, I can bend my knee and elbow, -and move my fingers as I please. - -MOTHER: Yes, it is like a close-fitting garment. What we call the skin -is really _two_ skins. You see I can put a pin through the outer skin -in the palm of my hand, and I feel no pain, and you see no blood. - -HELEN: Isn’t that all the skin we have? - -MOTHER: No; for under this thick, outer skin is what is called the true -skin. It has such fine blood-vessels that if you could see them, they -would look like fine network. If you should prick this _inner_ skin -it would hurt, and the blood would flow. This shows it has nerves as -well as blood. Under the true skin is a layer of fat. This is like a -warm woolen garment to keep the body warm. Between the outer skin and -the true skin there is some jelly-like coloring matter, which gives it -color. - -HELEN: Is that why some persons are very dark and others are light, -mother? - -MOTHER: Yes; your true skin is just the same color as that of the -negro and the Indian. The coloring matter under the outer skin is all -that makes the difference. This outer covering is made of little horny -scales laid one over another, much as a roof might be if it had ten -or twelve layers of shingles. The outer scales keep wearing away all -the time, and new ones take their places. You know a snake sheds its -skin and crawls away with a new one. We shed our skin, too, little by -little, but the scales are so small we can hardly see them. If you -should wear your under-clothing several days, and then shake it in the -sunlight, you would see little scales floating about in the air like -dust. - -AMY: Isn’t the skin thicker in some parts of the body than others? - -MOTHER: Yes; on the palms of your hands and the soles of your feet it -is quite thick, while on the lips and some other parts of the body -it is very thin indeed. Have you noticed how the skin looks if it is -scratched and then heals up? - -ELMER: Just the same as it did before. - -MOTHER: But if there is a deep cut or a severe burn, how does it look -after it heals? - -HELEN: There is a scar left. - -MOTHER: This shows that the outer skin and the coloring matter will -come back as they were before if they are hurt; but when the true skin -is injured, the blood makes a kind of patch, which we call a scar. -Another curious thing about the true skin is that it has tiny muscles, -and when the body is cold, they draw up and make little hillocks, which -we call “goose-flesh.” - -But the skin is very useful, besides being a covering for the body. -When we were getting dinner to-day, what did we do with the potato -parings and other things we did not wish to keep? - -PERCY: We put them in the garbage box. - -MOTHER: Why did we do that? - -AMY: Because they were not fit for food. - -MOTHER: And what do we call that which we do not wish to keep, and so -throw away? - -HELEN: We call it _waste_. - -MOTHER: What do we do with waste matter? Do we let it stay in the house? - -ELMER: No; we throw it away. - -MOTHER: Why would it not be best to let it remain in the house? - -PERCY: Because it would decay and make us ill. - -[Illustration: “_One inch square._”] - -MOTHER: Well, it is the same way in the house we live in. All the food -we eat can not be used, and some parts of the body are wearing out all -the time. If the waste stayed inside, we should become ill. In the skin -there are thousands and millions of little tubes called _pores_, which -help carry away the waste. If you become very warm, you say you are -“sweating,” or per-spir´ing; that is, drops of water come out all over -your body. They come through the pores, or little holes in the skin. -But we sweat, or perspire, all the time, whether we can see it or not. -If the pores of the skin were stopped up, a person would soon die. If -the skin is very dirty, the sweat can not get out, and it stays inside. -To show you how many pores there are, you may look at this little piece -of paper, which is just one inch square. In such a space on the limbs -there are _five hundred_ pores. On the trunk of the body, forehead, -back of the hand, and on the foot, _one thousand_; and on the palm of -the hand and sole of the foot there are _twenty-seven hundred_. Each -of these little waste-pipes is one-fifth of an inch long. If they were -placed one after another, wise men tell us we would have two or three -miles, and perhaps even more, of waste-pipes for the body. What do you -suppose would happen if they were choked up, and all the waste should -remain inside? - -AMY: We would become ill. - -MOTHER: We surely would. Sometimes we call it “taking cold.” If we cool -off too quickly when warm, or get our clothes wet and do not put on dry -ones, or in a warm spring day put on thin clothes, all these things -stop the waste-pipes, and we “catch cold,” have a sore throat, and we -may have a fever, which shows that the waste is being burned up inside; -and the house becomes burning hot. - -PERCY: Then the pores must be kept open all the time if we would be -well. - -MOTHER: Yes; but there is another way than those I have told you by -which they get choked up. The waste-pipes leave the dirt they carry out -of the body on the skin, for that is as far as they can carry it. The -master of the house must see that the skin is kept clean, so the pipes -will not be choked. - -ELMER: Then he ought to wash it often. - -MOTHER: I think so, and not only some parts, but the whole house needs -a good scrubbing with soap and warm water as often as twice a week, and -if he will then take a bath of some kind each day, that will keep the -skin clean and healthy. Even rubbing the whole body once a day with a -damp towel and then with a dry one, will keep the waste-pipes open, so -they can do good work, if there is a thorough scrubbing twice a week, -as I have said. We should also be careful to wear clean clothing next -to the skin, for there is about a quart of waste matter carried through -the pores every day. Can you think of any other ways in which the skin -is useful besides being a covering and carrying away the waste? - -HELEN: It helps us _feel_ different objects. Those who are blind learn -to do many useful things by the sense of touch. - -[Illustration: “_A thorough scrubbing._”] - -MOTHER: Yes, we learn many things by this sense. You know when you show -anything to a baby it stretches out its little hands to “feel” of the -object. How do you think such poisons as alcohol and tobacco affect -this covering of the body? - -AMY: They must make more waste in the body, and so the skin has more to -do. - -PERCY: I think it must fill it full of poison. - -ELMER: Does alcohol make the skin look red, mother? - -MOTHER: Yes; that is why a man who drinks beer or other drinks -containing alcohol, has such a red face. Sometimes his nose is called -a “rum blossom.” The alcohol makes the blood-vessels larger than they -should be, and so his nose and face become very red. Bad food is also -hurtful to the skin, for it can not be clear and healthy if the blood -is not clean. Pimples and sores are caused by bad blood, and they show -that better food is needed in the body. - -AMY: But you haven’t told us what the roof of the body house is, mother. - -MOTHER: Have you ever seen a house with a thatched roof--I mean one -covered with hay or straw instead of iron or shingles? - -ELMER: Oh, yes, we saw some when we were out in the country! - -MOTHER: Well, the roof of the house we live in is more like that than -like a shingled roof. - -PERCY: Now I know what you mean: the body-house has a roof of hair. - -MOTHER: And it is a most beautiful covering, too. Each hair grows in a -little pocket, which is furnished with a tiny bag of coloring matter -and a bottle of hair oil. These give color to the hair, and keep it -soft and smooth. If we put much oil on the hair, it causes the oil -bottles in the skin to dry up. There is no dressing so good as that -which is made in the skin. We should brush and comb the hair carefully, -to keep it shining and healthy. - -People sometimes lose this beautiful thatch, and we say they are -“bald-headed.” In very old people it turns gray or white, and it is -like a beautiful, silvery crown. The Bible says that “a hoary head is -a crown of glory.” Very small, new houses sometimes have no thatch at -all, but as they get larger and older, one grows, and at first it is -fine as softest silk. The Bible says that even the hairs of our head -are all numbered or counted by our heavenly Father. From this we may -see how much He loves and cares for us. - - - - - THE CUPOLA - - -ELMER: Have you seen the cupola on the new house in the next street, -mother? - -MOTHER: Yes; it is very pretty. It is quite common now to build cupolas -on large houses. But I was thinking, as you came in, of the cupola, or -tower, on the house we live in. Can you think what it is? - -PERCY: It must be the head. - -MOTHER: That is right, but, unlike the cupola of a common house, which -is used but little, the head is the best room of all, and the others -would be of little worth without it. It is here we find the master, the -one who gives orders to his servants, the muscles, and directs all they -do. - -In large business houses you sometimes see a room having on the door -the word “Office,” and you know if you have business there, that is the -place for you to go to find the manager. We might call the head the -office room of the body, for it is here the manager is always found if -at home. - -While you know there is a master to our house, yet you can not see him. -He may peep through the windows, you may hear him speak, and you can -talk to him. Perhaps you will love him very much, or you may dislike to -be near him. You may see his work, but still you can not see _him_. - -AMY: You must mean that the mind is master of the body, is it not, -mother? - -MOTHER: It surely _ought_ to be; but I am sorry to say that in some -houses the servants get the master to do as they like, and then the -body-house has a bad time, for “whether one member suffer, all the -members suffer with it.” The apostle Paul said, “I keep under my body, -and bring it into subjection,” and this is the work given to the master -of every body-house. The mind should know what is good for the body, -and, though the servants may ask many times to do as they like, he -should firmly say, “_No_,” whenever they wish to do wrong. Can you tell -what the mind is? - -HELEN: It is the part of me that thinks and remembers. - -MOTHER: And it also _wills_, that is, we “make up our mind,” as we say. -Why do you think our mind is in the head? - -PERCY: Why, if our hands, arms, or feet were cut off, we could still -think. - -MOTHER: Do you remember the name of the organ inside the head with -which we think? - -AMY: The brain. - -MOTHER: Yes; and since the brain is such an important part of the body, -it is put in the strongest room of all. It sometimes becomes ill if not -used right, so we should learn how to keep it well. The worst sickness -in the world is mind sickness, and it is hardest to cure. - -The brain has six coverings in all. The outside coverings are the hair -and scalp, or skin. Then we find the strong bones, fitted closely -together with saw-teeth edges. Inside the bones the brain has three -coverings: first, a tough, strong skin; then a very thin covering, -hardly thicker than a spider’s web; and the third is made up of many -little blood-vessels, which feed the brain. - -AMY: I wish we could see how the brain looks, mother. - -PERCY: I have seen brains at the butcher shops. Do ours look like that? - -MOTHER: Yes, quite the same. You have all seen the marrow in the bones. -The brain looks some like that, too. It is made of jelly-like matter, -and seems to be all crumpled up, so it is full of ridges and creases, -as you see in this picture. It is said a baby’s brain is quite smooth, -but the more a person thinks, the more ridges and furrows his brain -will have and the deeper they are. A frog’s brain is smooth, like this. - -[Illustration: _The brain is full of ridges and creases._] - -[Illustration: “_A frog’s brain is smooth._”] - -ELMER: But I don’t see how the brain thinks. - -MOTHER: That is one of the things we can never understand. God gave men -life, and when we are alive we think. “In Him we live, and move, and -have our being,” and to be able to think is one of the best gifts that -comes with life. It is the life God gives us which makes the body-house -worth more than the most costly palace in the world. - -If we look carefully into the brain, we see that the outside is gray, -and the inside is white. Wise men tell us this matter is made of cells, -called nerve cells, or brain cells. The gray matter tells the muscles -what to do, and the white part sends the orders to all parts of the -body through the nerves. - -ELMER: Have we more than one brain, mother? - -MOTHER: I might say no, and yes. It is really one, and yet it is in -several parts. One is the big brain, which is found above the ears in -the top of the head. It is with this part we think and reason. Then -there is a little brain, in the back part of the head under the large -brain. It is about as big as a medium-sized orange. Each brain has two -parts, a right and left half, so we really have two brains. It might be -said we are “left brained” when we are “right handed,” for the right -hand is ruled by the left half of the brain. - -AMY: How large is the brain, mother? - -MOTHER: That of a man weighs about three pounds. An elephant’s weighs -eight or ten pounds, and that is the heaviest of any we know. The brain -must be used, the same as the muscles, if we would have it do its work -well. It makes it grow and does it good when we study and think. As it -was made to think about something, we should give it good things to -think about. If it is lazy, it will lose the power to work, just as the -muscles do, and if used, it will grow stronger and can do still harder -work. - -HELEN: And does it ever need rest? - -MOTHER: Certainly; it must rest, the same as the muscles. People -sometimes hurt the brain by working it very hard and letting the -muscles do nothing. - -PERCY: But how can it rest? We can’t stop thinking. - -MOTHER: No; we think of something all the time we are awake, so the -best way to rest the brain is to take plenty of sleep. Sometimes a part -of it keeps awake while the body is asleep, and then we say we had a -dream. Another way to rest the mind is to set the muscles at work after -we have been reading or studying. Boys and girls in school should spend -part of each day working, or in some way using their muscles in the -open air. - -ELMER: I should think the master of the body-house would want to look -outside of his little room sometimes. - -MOTHER: Yes, he does; and the cupola of which we have been talking has -two wonderful windows. - -AMY: Oh, I know what they are! They are our eyes. - -MOTHER: Yes, and through them the master looks out and sees all that is -passing around him. - -HELEN: I should think there ought to be windows on all sides of his -room. He can look out only one way. - -MOTHER: But you see this cupola is placed on top of a tower we call the -neck, which turns easily and quickly, and, besides, the whole house can -“face about” in an instant, so he can look other ways than straight -ahead, with no trouble. - -PERCY: Why do you call the brain the master of the house, mother? - -MOTHER: Because it tells the feet, hands, tongue, eyes, and all other -parts of the body what to do, and they obey it. Sometimes we find a bad -master in one of these beautiful houses. He tells the feet to go to a -saloon. He tells the tongue to ask for beer and other kinds of strong -drink. He tells the hand to lift the glass to his lips. It may be he -knows he is taking poison into the house, which will make his servants, -the muscles, unfit for work. Perhaps he knows, too, that the drink will -hurt himself more than any other part of the body-house, for it puts -him to sleep when he ought to be awake telling his servants what to -do, yet he does it, and often suffers all the rest of his life for his -folly. - -ELMER: Does alcohol hurt the brain? - -MOTHER: Surely it does. It makes the blood impure, so it can not -furnish good food for the brain. It causes more blood to go to the head -than ought to be there. It makes people mad, crazy, or insane. - -Sometimes it brings that awful disease, delirium tremens, and then the -poor master thinks his best friends are his enemies, that serpents and -horrible creatures are crawling over his body, and he dies a terrible -death, and goes into a drunkard’s grave. He ruins the house God gave -him to live in, and finds it is true that “at the last it biteth like a -serpent, and stingeth like an adder.” - -Children, never touch these poison drinks. - - “Never put them in your mouth, To steal away your brains.” - - - - - OUR TELEPHONE SYSTEM - - -PERCY: Ting-a-ling! There’s the telephone bell. How strange it seems to -talk to people, and hear them talk, when they are miles away! - -MOTHER: But the most wonderful telephone in the world is found in the -house we live in. - -HELEN: Why, mother, you don’t mean to say we have wires all through our -bodies, do you? - -MOTHER: Not wires, but something that answers the same purpose, only it -is far more perfect. You know the brain is the master of the house, and -there are hundreds of muscles waiting to do what he bids them. But the -brain is upstairs, safe in his own strong little room. How can he tell -the fingers how to work, and the feet where to walk? - -AMY: Please tell us, mother. I’m sure I don’t know. - -MOTHER: Well, instead of wires we have thousands of little lines -called _nerves_, reaching from the brain to every part of the body. -They are made of matter like that in the brain, and they are so close -together that you can touch no place on your body, even with the point -of a pin, without touching a nerve. Messages are sent over them to the -brain, and back again to the muscles. With the nerves we _feel_. We -call it the sense of touch. - -We might call the brain the “central office,” from which messages are -sent, and where they come back. In the city you have seen many wires -stretched on poles. Sometimes they are bound up together and covered -over, making a cable like a big rope. You remember I told you there -is a spinal cord or marrow running through your backbone. This is -made up of many nerves, as the cable is made of many wires. There are -sixty-two branch lines coiled up in it. By looking at the bottom part -of the picture of the brain you will see where this large cable enters -the central office. Really, the top part of the cord is a little brain -itself, with a long name, which we will not trouble now to learn. - -[Illustration: _The nerves._] - -ELMER: If all the nerves come from the backbone, how do any get to the -face? - -MOTHER: There are some little holes in the skull, and through these -twenty-four branch lines pass, carrying the nerves all over the face -and head. One pair find their way to the nose, and they tell the master -of the house how things smell. Another pair reach to the eyes, and tell -him how things look. They are nerves of sight. There are three pairs to -tell the muscles of the eye how to move. One pair passes to the ears, -and are called nerves of hearing. The others are scattered all over the -face, passing to the teeth, tongue, and throat, and even to other parts -of the body. This picture shows the brain as the main office, the cord -or cable in the back-bone, and how the branches extend to all parts of -the body. Still there are thousands of smaller lines which can not be -seen at all. - -HELEN: And what sends the messages to and from the brain over the -nerves, mother? - -MOTHER: The power which sends them is called “nerve force,” though -what it is even the wisest men do not know. We can stop it by pressing -on the nerves, just as you can stop the current of the telegraph. We -sometimes say that our leg or arm is “asleep.” If we try to move, it -gives us pain, or it may be we can not move at all. One nerve runs -along the back side of the arm over the elbow. If we hit the elbow, -it makes the arm and hand feel numb. We say the “funny bone,” or the -“crazy bone,” is hurt, but it is not the bone at all, but the nerve. - -AMY: I heard a lady who is ill say she wished she had no nerves. Why do -we have them? - -MOTHER: I think we have already learned how useful they are to carry -messages for us. We would be quite helpless without them, for the -brain sends word over them every time we move any part of the body. -Another reason is they watch for our welfare. If we are cut or burned, -it gives us pain. We don’t like the pain, so we are more careful when -we use sharp tools or go near the fire. - -If you touch the hot stove, you jerk away your hand. “I’m burnt,” the -finger sends word to the brain. The brain sends back the message, “Get -off the stove, quick.” And to the nerves of the eye it says, “See if -it is blistered.” To the face muscles, “Make up a wry face to show how -badly it hurts.” To the feet and hands, “Get some cold water to put -the burned finger in.” To the tongue, “Tell your mother about it.” All -these messages are sent at the rate of one hundred feet a second, and -the eye, face, hands, feet, and tongue all feel sorry for the burnt -finger, and do all they can to help it. - -[Illustration: “_Tell your mother about it._”] - -Every part of the body, the bones, muscles, stomach, heart, and lungs, -has these useful little nerves to let the master know when anything is -wrong with them. - -ELMER: Do the nerves ever get sick, mother? - -MOTHER: Oh, yes, very often! Sometimes they are so ill that no message -can pass over them to the brain. Then we say the person is paralyzed. -A lady had her limbs paralyzed. She could not walk, or move her feet -at all. One day she took a foot bath. She could not tell whether the -water was cold or hot, and soon the nurse found the skin on her feet -blistered, because the water was too warm. The nerves were dead, and -she felt no pain at all. Pain is hard to bear, but if there were no -pain, the house we live in would soon be ruined. It tells us when -danger is near, and because we do not like the pain, we take care -of the body. The nerves are more wonderful than any telephone or -telegraph, and when you get older, you must learn all you can about -them. - -HELEN: The brain must have a lot of work looking after the nerves and -sending so many messages over them. I don’t see how it can think of -anything else. - -MOTHER: Perhaps I can explain it to you. Suppose there is a family who -have much to do. The father does the hardest work of all. When his -wife sees how much he has to do, she tries to help him all she can, -so she does many things without saying anything to her husband about -it. They have one son, a strong, upright young man, and he takes part -of the work, because he wishes to help his parents. We will call the -large brain the father, because it does so much of our thinking. As you -say, Helen, if he looked after all parts of the body, there would be -but little time for study and helping other people. Besides, he falls -asleep sometimes, so the little brain, which we will call his wife, -takes the work that must be done _all_ the time, as good wives and -mothers do, such as keeping the heart beating, the lungs breathing, and -other parts of the body at work which can not stop to rest. Then there -is the spinal cord, which we will call the son, and he takes charge of -the feet and hands when they have common kinds of work to do. When you -went to school this morning, I saw you reading a book while you walked. -Your brain did not send word to each muscle what to do every time you -took a step, but you walked “without thinking,” as we say. The spinal -cord took charge of your feet, so we know it can do an easy kind of -thinking. When you were learning to skate, Percy, you kept thinking all -the time how to move your feet and what to do to keep from falling. -But after you had learned how, Father Brain gave his son, Spinal Cord, -charge of you, and he thinks of something else most of the time while -you skate. It is the same with anything we have learned to do well by -doing it over and over, such as playing the piano, riding a bicycle, -and many other things we keep doing again and again. - -PERCY: Does alcohol harm the nerves, mother? - -MOTHER: Yes, indeed. Alcohol seems to like the nerves better than any -other part of the body, and it does them more harm than any other, -except the brain. When alcohol touches a nerve, it dries it up and -makes it hard, as though it had been burned. It causes that dreadful -disease, paralysis, of which I have told you. The nerves get so stupid -and sleepy they do not know what the brain says to them. They can not -tell the muscles what to do, and this is why a drunken man staggers. -A drunkard has trembling hands, because the poison has made his nerves -sick. Sometimes those wonderful nerves of the eye and ear tell him -lies, and he believes what they say. Sometimes the poor nerves and -brain are so nearly dead that the man falls down, and people say he is -“dead drunk.” - -ELMER: I have heard people say tobacco was good for the nerves, that it -made them feel rested, and they could think better. - -[Illustration: “_The little boy is forming a bad habit._”] - -MOTHER: Tobacco is a poison, and is as hurtful to the nerves as -alcohol. One who uses it thinks he is rested, but the reason he feels -so is because the poison has put his nerves to sleep. Tobacco also -creates an appetite for strong drinks. It is very bad for boys to use -tobacco in any way. - -AMY: What should we do to keep the nerves well? - -MOTHER: Give them good food, plenty of fresh air, and no poisons of -any kind. They must also have rest to keep them strong. It helps -the nerves to be happy and cheerful. The little boy in this picture -is forming a bad habit, which will not only make him unhappy but -unhealthy. Hateful, unpleasant thoughts make poisons in the body and -cause sickness in the brain and nerves. People sometimes drop dead by -becoming very angry. “A merry heart doeth good like a medicine.” Yes, -it is much better than any medicine men can make. Children should form -the habit of being happy and hopeful. The brain and nerves will form -good or bad habits, and the master of the body-house should use all his -power to have them good instead of bad. Every evil habit leaves a scar -on the brain. - - - - - THE HALL OR PASSAGE - - -MOTHER: I once read a book called “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” and in it a -story was told of how a lady was once talking with a little negro girl -named Topsy. - -“Who made you?” she asked the child. - -“Nobody, as I knows on. _I s’pect I grow’d_,” was the answer. - -Now we know God made the body-houses we live in, for “it is He that -hath made us, and not we ourselves;” yet in one way Topsy was right, -for we all “grow’d.” God made us grow, and it is He only that can make -anything grow. - -ELMER: But we must have food to make us grow. - -MOTHER: Yes, everything that has life must have food of some kind. You -remember I told you we had iron, lime, and other things to build the -body-house, just as a man must have wood, brick, iron, and glass when -he wishes to build. We have looked at the outside of the house we live -in, and we have learned some things about its frame, its servants, the -telephone system, and the master who lives inside. Now we will look -through some of the wonderful rooms in the house, and I am sure you -will enjoy learning how they are made, and the work that is done in -them. - -The door, or entrance, is so small we can not possibly go inside -ourselves, so here is a slice of good whole-wheat bread we will send, -and I will tell you what it finds within. As it has no tongue, I will -speak the words it would say if it could talk, and you may ask any -question you wish. Now listen:— - -I was made from the wheat that grew in a farmer’s field. After the -miller had ground me into flour, your mother made me into a loaf, and I -was baked in a hot oven till I was brown all over outside. As she put -me away to cool, she said, “That will make the children grow.” She left -me alone a whole day, for she knew I was unfit to be eaten while so -warm. After that I was cut into slices and made ready to help mend and -build up the body-house. - -I started on my way to the kitchen, where much of the work is done, and -to get there passed through a pair of front doors, which were a pretty -red color. These doors, I have been told, can do wonderful things -besides opening to let visitors pass in. They can sing, whistle, and -talk. They look best when the corners turn up; if they turn down, one -does not care to go near them. - -HELEN: Oh, I see! You mean our lips. - -MOTHER: Yes, I think that is what you call them. When I passed inside -the doors, I found a double row of thirty-two servants, all dressed in -clean white dresses, waiting for me. Children have only twenty-eight of -these servants, I am told. It was their work to make me ready for the -kitchen downstairs. If the house is very new, you will find only three -or four, or perhaps none at all. - -[Illustration: “_WHEAT THAT GREW IN A FARMER’S FIELD._”] - -PERCY: The servants must be the teeth. I didn’t know there were so -many. - -AMY: And I think the bread we eat doesn’t always find them wearing -clean white dresses, either. There is Uncle John; his teeth are all -stained with nasty tobacco juice. - -MOTHER: But they _should_ be dressed as I have said, and they need -careful brushing and washing every day. They should not be used to -crack nuts, for they may get broken. If they are not well cared for, -the dresses wear out, and great holes can be seen in them. Sometimes -they can be mended, and again they cause the master of the house much -trouble, and he is obliged to get some one to take them away, because -they give him so much pain. - -I was quite surprised at the way these servants treated me, though I -suppose they knew best what to do. Some of them cut me in two. Others -tore me into pieces and ground me till I thought I was passing through -another mill. As I had a chance, I looked around, and then I saw the -room I was in had a beautiful arched ceiling of a pale pink color. - -There was a large servant behind those dressed in white, and he wore -a pink uniform. You should have seen the way he rolled me over and -over in that room. The servants in white dresses never stirred from -where they were standing, but the one wearing the pink uniform jumped -from one side of the room to the other, and seemed to be a very lively -fellow. I don’t know what he would have done had he not been fastened -to the floor. Sometimes, I am told, he peeps out between the folding -doors to see what is going on outside, or to tell what kind of work -is being done inside. I have heard that sometimes his dress becomes a -dirty yellow or brown, and a man with a wise look comes and asks this -servant to step outside a moment, till he can see how his uniform looks. - -HELEN: How funny to think of our teeth and tongue as our servants! - -MOTHER: But that is what they are. There is another group of servants -in this passage, called _glands_. They have little rooms opening into -the passage near the floor, and also in the back part of the room. If -you ever visited a cave, you remember the walls were wet, and water was -dropping from them. You know the skin on the outside of your body feels -dry. Some parts of the body have skin inside, but it is _wet_ instead -of dry. It is that way in this hall. That which makes it so is called -_saliva_, and it is the duty of the servants called glands to pour -saliva over the food as soon as it comes through the front doors, while -the tongue rolls it about, and the teeth grind it. - -ELMER: But what good does that do? - -MOTHER: It moistens the food and makes it slippery, so it can pass -on to the kitchen. Perhaps you know bread is partly made of starch. -Another thing the saliva does is to turn starch into sugar, and this -makes less work in the kitchen downstairs, as the cook down there has -but little to do with starch. - -AMY: How may we know when the starch in bread or biscuit is changed to -sugar? - -MOTHER: If you let the teeth chew your food a long time, until it -becomes well mixed with saliva, you will find that it tastes sweet. -This is because the starch has become sugar, though you must not think -this kind of sugar is as sweet as the sugar which you buy. - -HELEN: If the walls in this room moisten the food, why should we drink -while eating? - -MOTHER: It is not best to drink much when you eat, and not at all -unless your food is very dry. The glands furnish from one to three -pints of saliva a day. If you drink much, the saliva is not well -mixed with the food, and it is hurried down to the kitchen before the -servants have finished their work. This makes extra work for the cook -downstairs. - - - - - OUR KITCHEN - - -MOTHER: We will now let Bread proceed with its story. Remember I am -telling you what it would say if it could talk. Now listen. While I -was in the passage and the servants were making me ready to go to the -kitchen, I saw a small pink curtain in the back end of the room, and -I wondered what was behind it. I soon found out. After the tongue had -pulled and pushed me around and rolled me over as long as he wished, he -pushed me back toward the curtain, and I found myself in a room with no -floor. I saw a passage which opens into the nose, but as soon as I came -in sight, a curtain fell back and closed it, so I knew I was not wanted -there. Then I saw another door, which I afterward learned led to the -bath-room in the lungs, but as I was about to go in, a little trap door -closed tightly, and so I found that was not the way to the kitchen. -There was still another passage, for this room seemed to be filled with -doors, even though it was so small, but that led to the ear. I began to -think I was not wanted at all, for every door I came to was shut in my -face, as it were. - -HELEN: I don’t wonder Bread didn’t know which way to go, do you, -mother? and it was a stranger in the house, too. - -MOTHER: I was just thinking about going back through the folding doors -through which I came, when a door opened in the back part of the -throat, and I began to slide downstairs. Such queer stairs you never -saw. They seemed to grow larger as I went down, and smaller at the top, -so they kept pushing me, and I could not go back if I would. - -[Illustration: _The stomach._] - -PERCY: I suppose it was the same way when I swallowed a button the -other day. I wanted it back badly enough, but it wouldn’t come. - -HELEN: That shows you should never put such things as pins and buttons -in your mouth. - -ELMER: And what did the kitchen look like? - -MOTHER: Like no room you ever saw in your life. I looked around for the -corners, but there were none. It is shaped some like an egg. Here is a -picture, which will help you to understand the shape of the room. - -You see it has two doors, or openings,--one at which to go in, and the -other to pass out. The walls are a pale pink color and are full of -wrinkles if the room is empty. When the master of the house sends down -so much bread or other food that it fills the kitchen full, the walls -become smooth and the room is larger, but when the food first begins -to go down, it finds the room quite small, and the walls full of folds, -or wrinkles. - -This room is very strong, as there are really three walls, one inside -the other. The pink lining inside is made of wet skin, something like -that found in the room upstairs. The middle wall is made of muscles, -which cross one another in different ways; for the kitchen has many of -these useful servants. The outer coat, or “overcoat,” of the stomach -has for its work to pour out a kind of water to keep the walls moist so -they will not stick to other things which are packed so closely in the -trunk of the body. I am sure no person could ever pack so many things -in a trunk the same size without crowding some of them or getting them -out of order. - -HELEN: But I would like to know who acts as cook in this curious -kitchen. - -MOTHER: The name of the head cook is Di-ges´tion. There is a whole -family of helpers, named Juice, whose work it is to assist Di-ges´tion. -Of course they do not boil and bake, as we do, but they take the food -and make it ready for the use of the body. Perhaps you would call it -di-gest´ing it. - -The chief helper is a very important person, called Gastric Juice. When -the kitchen is empty, Gastric Juice stays in some tiny bags or bottles -which cover the walls of the kitchen all over, but as soon as anything -comes into the room from the stairway at the top, she comes out and -goes to work. She pours a fluid which looks like water, over the food, -which dissolves, or melts it. If you could look inside you might think -the stomach was “sweating;” but it is only Gastric Juice coming out -to care for the food you have sent down to build and mend the body. -Several quarts come from the walls of the kitchen every day. - -Were you ever in a ship at sea? If so, you know that everything in the -boat was shaking and moving. As soon as Bread comes into the kitchen, -it finds the room moving like that, and it is thrown from one side to -the other, and churned up and down, over and over, till, if you could -see it, you would never think it was bread at all. Gastric Juice melts -and mixes it, and it becomes so changed it looks very much like paste. -After Bread comes downstairs, some potatoes, fruit, and other things -“come tumbling after,” but after all has been in the kitchen two hours, -you could not tell which is bread, fruit, or potatoes; for they are all -mixed together. - -I expect you are wondering how the food would ever get out of the -kitchen. After it was shaken and churned several hours, the walls -gave it a push, and it came to the door where visitors pass out. Such -a queer door it was, too, but it opens and shuts like the one at the -entrance to the passage. This door has neither hinges nor rollers. It -was kept tightly closed while the food was churned about and melted, -and it looks quite like a boy’s lips when he is going to whistle. As -Bread came near, the door opened, and part of the food paste passed -through into another room. Strange as it may seem to you, this door -seems to do a kind of thinking, and if food tries to get through -before it is made as fine as it should be, the door seems to say, “No, -_sir_; you can not go through here;” and it shuts so close together -that not another thing can pass out. So when the food came the first -time, the door seemed to think part of it was too big to go through, -and it was sent back, to be churned and squeezed again before it could -go into the next room with the rest of the food. - -ELMER: I didn’t know it took so much work and such a long time to -digest what we eat. - -MOTHER: This should teach us to use care in what we send into the -stomach. Let me tell you a few other things about the stomach, which -we call the kitchen of the body. The helper, Gastric Juice, does her -work perfectly if she is used well; but when the master of the house -is unkind, she always makes him suffer for it. Sometimes he sends down -a lot of cold water, ice-cream, or some other kind of ice, when she -is just ready to begin her work. This makes her kitchen so cold that -she is obliged to wait till it gets warm again. She doesn’t like much -water when she has work on hand; for she thinks Saliva and herself can -moisten the food as much as it needs. - -AMY: Does Di-ges´tion like hot drinks, mother? - -MOTHER: No; they burn the tender walls of the stomach and make them -weak. Tea and coffee are hurtful to the stomach, as well as to the -nerves and other parts of the body. Another thing Di-ges´tion likes is -to have all the food she is going to work on at once. That means we -should eat what we need and then stop. If the master of the house sends -down a good-sized dinner, and, after waiting an hour or two, sends -some more, the poor cook has a hard time, and it is no wonder that she -gets sulky. It is as though you had been at work during the day, and -then I should ask you to work all night, and give you no time to rest. - -The cook in our kitchen is willing to work hard, and then she wants -a rest, and this she ought to have. She hates to work at night after -working all day, but some masters are so unkind as to even call her up -after she has gone to bed, thinking her day’s work is done; and she -works and works away while other parts of the body have rest. - -HELEN: I suppose that is when we eat between meals or late at night. - -MOTHER: Yes; and another thing the cook dislikes is to have her kitchen -filled so full that no more can get in. She must have room to work. - -ELMER: That means we should not eat too much. - -MOTHER: That is right. We should never eat till we feel so full we can -take no more. If a builder was beginning to build or mend a house and -you should pile bricks, timber, stones, and lime around him till he had -no room to work, he would say, “Please take part of this out of my way, -and then I can do something.” So the stomach wants just enough, but no -more, and we should not make the cook cross by abusing her in this way. -She also dislikes hot things, such as mustard, pepper, and spices. How -would your eye feel if you should get some pepper or mustard in it? - -ELMER: It would smart. - -PERCY: It would look red. - -MOTHER: That is the effect they have on the stomach, too. Neither does -the cook like to have much fat or sugar. Sometimes she gets so provoked -when the master of the house sends down things she can not use, or -too much even of that which is good, that the doorway to the stairway -opens by which they came down, and she throws them back in his face. -He has a sorry time of it then, and it may be quite a while before she -is pleased again. But she only does this after she has suffered a long -time, and when she knows it is for the good of the body-house. - -AMY: What a long time it takes to fix up the food we eat so it can be -used in the body! I would like to know where the food goes after the -cook in the kitchen has digested it. - -MOTHER: We will finish this part of the story in the next chapter. - - - - - THE EATING ROOM - - -MOTHER: While waiting for the door to open to let the food pass from -the stomach kitchen, let me tell you that the walls of the kitchen are -covered with hundreds of little mouths; for you must remember this room -is like no other that was ever made. These tiny mouths keep drinking -the food which is digested, and it is taken into the blood through the -tiny blood-vessels which cover the stomach. - -At last comes the food which could not pass the door again, and this -time it passes through into a long, narrow room, with walls quite like -those of the kitchen. Sometimes a plum pit gets into the kitchen; the -cook is unable to use it, and when it goes up to the door, it closes -quickly, so it must stay where it is. Sometime after the door will open -and let it through. - -HELEN: That is the same as though you should tell me I should not do a -thing, and then, because I teased or coaxed, you should let me do what -you had before said I should not. - -MOTHER: Yes, that is the way with this door-keeper. But sometimes the -door closes very tightly, and then there is trouble, for that which can -not get through the second door must find its way back through the -first. We should be very careful about swallowing large seeds of fruit, -buttons, or anything that is hard and can not be digested. People are -sometimes made very ill in this way. But now we will learn what is done -in the second room. - -Perhaps it might be called the “serving room;” for it is here the food -is made ready for the eating room. Here we find two assistant cooks. -The name of one is Pan-cre-at´ic Juice, and the other is called Bile. -Each one has a room of his own. Pan-cre-at´ic Juice has his home in a -room back of the kitchen, which is called the pancreas. Bile lives in -the largest room in the body-house, which is called the liver. - -The liver might be called a factory; for it has hundreds of little -rooms in which Bile is made. It has a waiting room, called the gall, -where Bile stays when he is not wanted. This tiny room is close to the -liver, and from that Bile goes to the serving room. On the way he meets -Pan-cre-at´ic Juice, and they go on to their work together. - -Bile, like some other servants, is hard to please, and he will do only -one kind of work. It is the duty of these cooks to finish up the work -that Gastric Juice has begun. Bile will work with hardly anything but -fats, and it is his work to make them into such tiny drops that they -can be used in the body. He must also furnish part of the fuel to keep -the body warm. He sometimes gets lazy or angry if the master of the -house gives him too much work, or if he sends too much fat or sugar -into the serving room. The master of the house tells his friends he is -“bilious,” which means that Bile is out of temper and wants less hard -work and more rest. - -PERCY: Is Pan-cre-at´ic Juice so particular as Bile? - -MOTHER: No; he is much more obliging, and is willing to do anything -that needs to be done. Together these helpers work over the food after -it comes from the kitchen till it is very fine and creamy. - -AMY: Does this room look like the kitchen? - -MOTHER: The walls are very much the same, and they keep eating or -sucking up the food that is wholly digested, much as a sponge sucks up -water. A part is taken up this way and goes into the blood-vessels at -once, but part is sent on to the eating room, where hundreds of little -people are waiting for their breakfasts and dinners. - -HELEN: How does the eating room look? - -MOTHER: This room is very narrow and about twenty feet long. You must -not think it is a straight room twenty feet long, for it is not. At one -side it is fastened to a thin band, and the band is gathered like a -frill or ruffle, so the room, though it is folded over and over, never -gets tangled. Perhaps I might say it is like a tube more than a room. - -The little folks who eat here do not sit at tables as you do. They are -fastened to the walls, so they are always in the same places. Another -name for this room is the “small intestine.” - -ELMER: I would like to see some of the little folks who eat there. How -large are they? - -MOTHER: They are so very, _very_ small you could not see them unless -you had a strong glass to help you. They stand up straight, like the -soft, silky part of velvet or plush. They are called Villi. - -As the food comes in from the serving room, another helper, called -In-tes´ti-nal Juice, takes any part which the other servants have -not finished as it passed through their rooms, and thus digestion is -complete. The Villi soak the food up as it passes them, as a plant -draws water and food from the ground. - -HELEN: But how does it all get into the blood? - -MOTHER: I was just about to tell you that part of the story. You have -seen little creeks, and you know they flow into larger ones, which form -small rivers, and they, in turn, flow in some broad river toward the -sea. So this creamy fluid which is sucked up by the Villi goes into -tiny veins; these open into larger ones, till all flow in one stream -about as big as a slate-pencil up to a large vein near the neck, and -from there to the heart, where the stream is changed to blood, and is -ready for use in the body. Part of the food takes another way to get to -the heart. It goes first to the liver, which takes the part it needs, -and the rest goes on to the heart. - -HELEN: Then all we eat finally gets into the blood. - -MOTHER: No; there is always some part that can not be used. Passing -through the eating room the waste is carried into a garbage box, called -the colon, which should be emptied every day. - -Now let us see if we can give the names of the different rooms a slice -of bread passes through before it reaches the heart and becomes blood. - -ELMER: First, the passage, which is the mouth, down the steep stairs -or gullet, through the stomach kitchen, through the serving room, the -eating room, or small intestine, and from there straight to the heart, -or else by another road through the liver to the same place. - -MOTHER: Very good. Now what juices make the bread ready to become blood. - -PERCY: First, the saliva in the mouth. - -AMY: And gastric juice in the stomach. - -HELEN: Then bile from the liver, and pan-cre-at´ic juice from the -pancreas. - -ELMER: The last was the in-tes´tin-al juice. - -MOTHER: That is right, and let me tell you that in our bodies about -twenty pounds of juices are made every day. Now I think we can remember -that the food passes through five rooms, and it takes five juices to -make it into blood. Two of the juice family, which have the long names, -in-tes´tin-al and pan-cre-at´ic, are willing to work on all parts of -the food. The others work chiefly on one part only. Saliva digests -starch. Bile works on fats. Gastric juice takes the part which is -called al-bu´men. - - “Behind the bread, the snowy flour; - Behind the flour, the mill; - Behind the mill, the growing wheat - Nods on the breezy hill; - Over the wheat is the glowing sun, - Ripening the heart of the grain; - Above the sun is the gracious God, - Sending the sunlight and the rain.” - - - - - FOOD AND FUEL - - -MOTHER: See that engine. Can you tell me what gives it the power or -strength to draw its heavy load? - -HELEN: Steam gives it power. - -MOTHER: And what makes the steam? - -ELMER: The fire in the furnace makes the water boil, and steam comes -from the boiling water. - -MOTHER: Then the engine can do nothing unless it has fuel to burn and -water to boil. It might be the best ever made, and yet do no work and -have no power even to move itself. Do you suppose the engineer is -careful to take plenty of the best fuel he can get, and to have a good -supply of water, when he has a long journey and a heavy train? - -PERCY: I am sure he would be. I have read that it is counted one of the -worst things an engineer can do to let his boiler get dry. - -MOTHER: Well, in some ways our bodies are like the engine. Can you -guess what the fuel is we must have? - -AMY: Oh, I know! It is the food we eat. - -ELMER: And we must have water to drink, too. - -MOTHER: Yes; but what would you think of an engine driver who would -fill the furnace of his engine with stones or sand, and fill the boiler -with beer or whisky? - -PERCY: I think he wouldn’t have much steam, and his engine would soon -be ruined. - -MOTHER: Then what shall we say about food and drink for the body, which -is a hundred times more perfect in all its parts than the best engine -men ever built, and so is much more apt to be injured? - -HELEN: We ought to give it the very best food and drink we can get. - -MOTHER: I think so, too. You know an engine works several hours, and is -then sent to an engine house to be made ready for another trip, and, -while it is running, the driver steps out at every station, almost, -with his oil-can in one hand and something to clean with in the other, -and he keeps cleaning it, oiling it, feeding it, and letting it drink -till he comes to the end of his journey. Can you think how the body is -different from this? - -[Illustration: “_The engine takes water without stopping._”] - -ELMER: When the body-machine starts running in the journey of life, it -never stops to rest till it is worn out and can work no more. - -MOTHER: Yes, and we must remember that some parts work night and day, -summer and winter, as long as we live. Yet they are wearing out all -the time, and must be fed and cleaned and cared for while they are -working. There are some railroads made with tanks or ditches between -the rails, and the engine takes water without stopping. So our bodies -must take food, drink, and all they need without stopping the living -machinery. It is true some parts must rest every day; but others never -stop working till we die. We should study, then, to know what we ought -to eat and drink to make up the waste and keep the body well. Some -kinds of birds and animals live on flesh. Others eat only grass and -grains. The squirrel and the monkey eat nuts and fruits. Can you tell -me some of the different things that men use as food? - -[Illustration: A squirrel] - -AMY: They eat flesh, grains, and fruits. - -ELMER: And we eat other things, such as salt, sugar, and milk. - -MOTHER: Yes, while people _can_ eat all these things, yet _all_ of them -are not the very best food, and, like the careful engineer, we should -learn just what is good for the human machine, and give it only the -best of what it can use. What do you think was given to men to eat at -first? - -AMY: Where can we find out, mother? - -MOTHER: In the first chapter of the Bible. Perhaps Helen will read it -for us. - -HELEN: “And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing -seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the -which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for -meat.” - -MOTHER: The word “meat” means food. This was spoken before God had -cursed the earth on account of sin, and so everything that grew was -“good,” as He had said. We see from this that all kinds of plants -bearing seed, and all kinds of fruit, were good for food. No doubt if -God had thought meat was good for man, He would have had a butcher shop -somewhere in the garden of Eden, and some beef or mutton hanging from -the limb of a tree. - -PERCY: But what made the people begin to eat flesh, mother? - -MOTHER: After a time the flood came and destroyed everything on the -earth except what Noah had in the ark with him, and when he came out of -the ark, God told him that people might eat the flesh of animals, and -they have kept on eating it ’til the present time. - -ELMER: But is it the best food, mother? - -MOTHER: No, we can not say it is the very best; for, as time has -passed, the animals have become sickly, and many wise doctors say it is -unsafe to eat their flesh. Cattle which have been killed to eat have -been found with diseased lungs, livers and kidneys. People sometimes -become very ill and many have died from eating their flesh. - -HELEN: I should think if they choose such food it would be like the -engine driver filling his furnace with poor coal when he could get -plenty that was better. - -MOTHER: Perhaps so. When we can get good vegetables, grains, and -fruits, it is much safer to use them for fuel in the body than to run -the risk of giving it anything which might put the delicate machine out -of order. - -I saw a poem not long ago, written by Dr. J. H. Kellogg, which you -might like to have read to you. It is called - -[Illustration: Various fruits] - - A VEGETARIAN SONG. - - “You may talk of mutton-chop, - You may say it is tip-top - For a man who wants to live both well and long; - But you’re much behind the time, - As I’ll show you in this rhyme; - For there’s better food than flesh to make one well and strong. - - ”CHORUS—— - - “On the glorious trees! on the glorious trees! - There the fruits and nuts, the fruits and nuts do ever grow. - This is heaven’s own food, - God pronounced it very good; - Yes, upon the trees, kissed by the breeze, the best foods grow. - - “There are pippins rich and rare, - There are plums and peaches fair, - There are huckleberries, raspberries, and pears so sweet; - There are grapes upon the vine, - Never made for use as wine, - All of which with one accord invite us, ‘Come and eat.’ - - “There’s the orange and the lime, - Lemons, too, for summer-time, - Which so often do refresh us in the toil and heat; - There are nectarines so bright, - There are cherries, red and white, - All of which with one accord invite us, ‘Come and eat.’ - - “There are English walnuts rich, - And delicious almonds, which - All alone supply us cream and milk, how rich a treat! - There are coconuts and pine, - Pecans, hickory-nuts so fine, - All of which with one accord invite us, ‘Come and eat.’ - - “There’s the ox, an honest beast, - See him served up at a feast, - Notwithstanding he has been a faithful, true helpmeet - To the farmer in his task; - Yet he never once has asked - More than humblest fare, and now his blood cries, ‘Do not eat.’ - - “There’s that scavenger, the pig, - Grown to be so fat and big - That he scarce can stand or walk upon his clumsy feet; - Though he lives a life of ease, - He is full of dire disease, - And he surely is of all things most unfit to eat. - - “There’s the sheep with fleece so warm, - Never did a bit of harm, - But for cruel man provides good clothing, warm and neat; - Ere you raise the sharpened knife, - Cut his throat, and take his life, - Listen to his sad though mute appeal, ‘Don’t slay to eat.’ - - “There’s the oyster in his bed, - Eating everything that’s dead; - He’s the scavenger that cleans the bottom of the sea; - He lives in the mud and slime, - Catching microbes all the time, - And his occupation surely says, ‘Oh, don’t eat me!’ - - “There are turkeys, daily fed - On the best of household bread, - So that they’ll be fat and toothsome for Thanksgiving day; - What a sin it is and shame, - Crime without a proper name, - For a man these gentle creatures first to feed, then slay! - - “There are birds that sing a lay - Full of joy at break of day, - That will silent be forever at the set of sun. - Some will slay the songsters sweet - On pretense that they would eat, - While a thousand more admit they kill them just for fun. - - “List and hear these creatures all, - Mighty beasts as well as small, - With a thousand, thousand voices, loud and long repeat, - We beseech you, let us live; - Take not life you can not give; - Only kill ferocious creatures; never slay to eat. - - “It was God’s appointed plan, - Given long ago to man, - That no creature of another creature’s flesh should eat, - But that all alike should dine - On the fruit of tree and vine - And the toothsome grains, which heaven has given man for meat. - - “Better far it is to be - A vegetarian, don’t you see? - As thus we take our daily food direct from heaven’s own hand. - When we eat another’s flesh, - We’re not taking food that’s fresh, - But are living on a diet that is second hand. - - “Oh, then, let us all resolve - That, while earth and years revolve, - We will never more pollute our mouths with bloody meat, - But will choose a diet pure, - From disease and germs secure, - And of fruits and nuts and grains so wholesome ever eat!” - -HELEN: I’m glad you read it to us, mother. It _does_ seem, when the -cattle eat the grass and grain, and then we eat _them_, as though we -were eating second-hand food. - -PERCY: I don’t propose to do that way any longer. I think I should have -what I eat first-hand, as well as the sheep and ox. - -MOTHER: I am sure if you carry out your resolve you will have pure -blood and a more healthy body. I saw some pictures of children not -long ago who had never tasted meat in their lives, and they were as -happy and hearty as you could wish to see. I want you each to act for -yourselves in this matter, and do what you think will be the best for -your health. - -ELMER: Is salt a food, mother? - -MOTHER: No; salt is a mineral, yet it is found in all parts of the -body. It is also found in nearly all our foods. We add it to some -things when cooking to give them flavor, but it is hurtful to eat much -of it. - -AMY: Are mustard, pepper, spices, ginger, and hot sauces good to eat? - -MOTHER: No; some people think they _taste_ good, but they are bad for -the body. If you put some mustard on your skin, it makes it red, and -may cause a blister. You know a very little pepper in your eye makes it -smart. These hot things in the kitchen of our body-house make the walls -red, and the cooks get very cross. When people eat such things, they -become thirsty, and sometimes, instead of drinking water to cool the -heated walls and put out the fire these hot things have made, they pour -down beer, whisky, and other drinks, which makes the mischief worse. -When once the habit is formed of using such things, they keep wanting -them hotter and stronger, till nothing tastes good unless it is highly -seasoned. Many become ill, and this is one way drunkards are made. - -HELEN: But how do they make drunkards, mother? - -MOTHER: These hot things which people sometimes put in the stomach make -them thirsty, as I have said, and so they think they must have beer or -something stronger. Such drinks do not quench thirst, and so they keep -on drinking more and more. If you want the walls of your body-kitchen -to be a pretty pale pink color, you will keep the doors shut tight -against mustard, spices, pepper, and all hot sauces. You can teach your -taste to like the fine flavors which are in our foods already, and -which do no harm to the body. - -AMY: But sugar is a good food, isn’t it, mother? - -MOTHER: I thought my little girl who is so fond of sweet things would -ask this question. It is true sugar is a food, but to use much of the -kind we buy is hurtful to the body. Nearly all the foods we eat, such -as flour, oatmeal, pease, beets, and milk, have sugar in them. Some -fruits, such as figs and grapes, have a large amount. It is not well -to eat food made very sweet with sugar, such as rich cakes, jams, and -preserves. It is also harmful to eat candies and lollies, for many are -made from a poor kind of sugar, and the coloring matter used to make -them look pretty is hurtful. Besides, as the body-house has a sugar -factory of its own, you see it gets too much sugar when we eat many -sweet things. - -HELEN: But where is the sugar factory, mother? - -MOTHER: The liver, the largest worker in the house we live in, makes -a kind of sugar, as well as the bitter bile. How it is done I can not -tell, but it is true that in the hundreds of little rooms of which the -liver is made, all the sweet things we eat are changed to liver sugar -before they can be used in the body. The liver, also, makes starch into -sugar, I mean the starch found in bread, potatoes, and other foods. Now -if the fireman on an engine should shovel so much coal into his furnace -that it was filled full, what would happen? - -ELMER: The furnace would be choked up so the fire would go out, or else -it would burn very slowly. - -MOTHER: That is just what takes place in this wonderful sugar factory. -Since the liver makes sugar out of starch which is found in our foods, -if we swallow a big piece of cake, a lot of jam, some syrup, and some -candy, such treatment makes the liver cross. When all those little, -living kettles are full of sugar already, how can they hold any more? - -PERCY: How does the liver show it is cross, mother? - -[Illustration: “_He has a sorry time._”] - -MOTHER: It goes to work to punish the master of the house. It gives -him a nasty taste in his mouth, and he feels so sick that he thinks he -wants nothing to eat. Perhaps the liver sends word to the stomach that -it has “struck work,” and it will have nothing to do with such messes -as are sent it to work over. Then the stomach, not knowing what else to -do, sends all there is in it back upstairs out through the passage, and -the master of the house tells his friends who come to visit him, that -he is “bilious,” or that he has a “bilious attack,” and you may be sure -he has a sorry time. There may be a dreadful aching up in the cupola; -perhaps there is pain all over the house, all because the right kind of -food and the right amount were not sent in to build up the body. The -same thing is likely to happen if the master of the house sends a lot -of pastry, fat meat, and fried or greasy foods into the kitchen. Bile -is the one to care for them all, and he will bear such treatment awhile -without complaining; but when once his temper is up, he will not be -kind to anything the master may send him. Like other good servants, he -makes a bad master. Perhaps he will try to do some work in a lazy sort -of way; but he keeps grumbling all the time, till he makes the other -servants as cross as himself. - -PERCY: I think I will try to keep Bile good-natured, and send the right -things and the right amount down to the sugar factory. - -MOTHER: You may be sure you will not be happy unless you do; for, -though strange, yet ’tis true that when things go wrong in the stomach -and liver, it makes the master of the house very cross and unhappy. - -Not long ago I visited a lady who has a pleasant home and all she could -wish to make her comfortable. I found her face gloomy, and she was -crying. She said she was not well; that a skin disease was troubling -her; that her children did not do right; and that she was very -miserable. - -“I think it is my liver,” she added; “for when my blood is right and my -liver works well I am not troubled this way.” - -Poor woman! She thought she was not a Christian, and she made herself -and her friends unhappy by her fault-finding. Her liver was to blame, -or rather she was to blame for giving it so much work to do that it -made her life hard, when it ought to have been most pleasant. - -HELEN: But, mother, you make us feel as though we hardly ought to eat -at all, for fear of making somebody sour down-stairs. - -MOTHER: Oh, no; I don’t want you to feel that way, but I wish you -to use these servants in your body-house so well that it will be a -pleasure to them to serve you! We should eat plenty of good, plain food -at proper times. We are made so we will get hungry and _want_ to eat; -and it is well that we do, or we might forget that fuel is needed in -the body. Not only should we eat proper kinds of food, but we should be -careful not to eat too much. You remember that Di-ges´tion must have -plenty of room in which to do her work, or she gets peevish and does -her task poorly. - -AMY: How much should we eat in order not to eat too much? - -MOTHER: Some persons need more food than others, and no one can tell -another just how much he should eat; but it is safe to say that we -should not put into the stomach all it will hold, nor eat just for the -pleasure of eating. In very cold countries people can eat more without -harm to themselves than they can in warmer climates. I once read of a -traveler in the frozen north who saw an Esquimau eat thirty-five pounds -of meat and several tallow candles in one day; but such a story seems -almost too big to be true, and we would certainly hardly feel able to -take such an amount of food in the same time. Children should have -plenty of good, simple food while they are growing. - -ELMER: I think I will take a little food at a time, and take it often. -That’s the way the fireman feeds his engine. - -MOTHER: That may do for an engine, but not for a stomach. It must have -rest as well as food. We should eat what we need, give the stomach time -to digest it, let it rest after it has finished its work, and then give -it more to do. One great cause of illness among people now is that they -eat too often and too much. Three meals a day at regular times are -enough, and the last should be a light one and taken early, to allow -the cooks time to do their work before the master goes to bed. Then all -will be quiet in the body-house, and the servants can rest after their -toil. If treated in this way, the morning will find them fresh and -ready for their duties. - -HELEN: Should our food be cooked or eaten raw? - -[Illustration: “_Lay the table in a neat, pleasing way._”] - -MOTHER: I am glad you asked that question. Most kinds of foods are -better cooked, but many things are made unfit for food at all by being -badly cooked. To be able to prepare healthful food in a neat, tasteful -way is the best and most useful knowledge a girl can obtain. Every one -should know how to make good, light bread, how to prepare vegetables, -cook grains and fruits, and lay the table in a neat, pleasing way. - -[Illustration: Quart pots of ale] - -AMY: Will you teach us how, mother? - -MOTHER: Certainly; we will begin this very day. I think we will form a -class of four; for the boys will wish to learn too. I am sure you will -soon be able to prepare food very nicely. - -ELMER: Then we shall not always need to have a cook when we go out -camping, but we can do our own cooking and care for ourselves. - -MOTHER: There is still one other thing that I wish you never to forget, -and that is that many men become drunkards because they do not have the -right kind of food. It may be it is made so hot with pepper, mustard, -and spices that it creates thirst, or it may be but half cooked, so -they feel poorly fed. Such men are much more apt to go to the bar-room -than the man who sits at a neatly-spread table furnished with plain, -healthful food. - -PERCY: But isn’t alcohol a kind of food, mother? I have seen drinking -men who looked so fat and strong it seems as if it must build up the -body. - -MOTHER: No, my son, it is a great mistake to think there is any food -in alcohol or in any drink that contains it. A noted doctor in England -says this about it: “There is more nourishment in the flour that can -be put on the point of a table knife than in eight quarts of the best -beer.” - -ELMER: But why do people who drink beer look so fat, then? - -MOTHER: It is true many who drink it increase in flesh, and so they -think the beer makes them large and strong. Fat men are not always -strong men. The alcohol in the beer changes the muscles of the body -into fat. It pushes the skin out and makes the face look round and -plump. - -AMY: And red, too. - -MOTHER: Yes; and all the time the man is growing weaker instead of -stronger. His liver changes into a mass of fat, and it crowds other -rooms of the body-house so they can not properly carry on their work. -The fleshy body of the beer-drinker is a diseased body, and you will -find that it does not have firm muscles, a strong heart, or a healthy -liver. - -[Illustration: “_People who drink beer look fat._”] - -PERCY: But you have not told us what we _should_ drink, mother. - -Mother: Water, pure water, is the best drink for every one. Sometimes -people become very ill from drinking bad water, so care should be taken -to have it clean and pure. Bad water may be made harmless by boiling -it, and this should always be done if it is not known that it is -harmless. It may _look_ all right, and yet cause sickness and death. - -The well should never be near a pig-sty, barn-yard, or other filthy -place. The seeds of sickness, which the doctors call “germs,” may -travel through the ground a long distance and so get into the water in -the well. This is more likely to be the case if the ground is sandy or -slopes toward the well. - -ELMER: Wouldn’t it be better to drink tea or coffee than bad water? - -MOTHER: Tea and coffee are not foods, and both contain poisons which -are hurtful to the body. It does not make bad water better to put -poison into it. Besides, these drinks are often taken with food, and -we have found that the cook down-stairs can do nothing while a lot of -liquid is pouring down over her. It is also true that hot drinks weaken -the walls of the stomach. It is better to drink pure water, and to take -it before eating or some time after, and then we shall not be tempted -to swallow our food without properly chewing it. Alcohol, tea, and -coffee are stimulants. - -[Illustration: “_Water, pure water, is the best drink for every one._”] - -HELEN: And I think you said once, mother, that a stimulant is like a -whip to a tired horse. - -MOTHER: Yes; to stimulate means to prick, or goad, to excite, or rouse -to action. When a horse is very tired from climbing a steep hill his -driver strikes him with a whip. That _stimulates_ but it does not -strengthen him. At first it takes but one blow to make him go faster, -then two or three, and he finally becomes so weak that he does not -respond to the whip at all. - -That is just what happens when a person uses tea, coffee, tobacco, -beer, or whisky. At first only a little will make him feel rested and -as though he were stronger. But soon he wants more, and does not feel -as strong as before he took the stimulant the first time. These drinks -stimulate, but do not give strength. When a horse is tired he does not -need a whip, but food and rest. The same is true of a man or woman when -tired. Instead of putting poison in the stomach they need good food and -rest, and these will make them really stronger. - -[Illustration: _Giving him a stimulant._] - -PERCY: I am glad that I know why all those things are called stimulants. - -MOTHER: And I must tell you one more thing about the liver which will -help you understand what a wonderful part of the body-house it is, and -why we should treat it kindly. As you already know, it is the largest -room in the body. We might call it the store-room; for after the fuel -is ready to use, it is stored up in the liver, where it is kept till -needed, just as the tender carries a supply of coal for the engine. - -We can not always be eating, and the body needs fuel when we are asleep -as well as when we are awake, so the liver stores it away and sends it -out when needed. Now if the master of the house sends a lot of alcohol -to his liver, at first the little rooms fill up with fat, so they can -not do their work or store up food for the body. If he keeps sending -more and more whisky to his liver, it finally becomes small and hard, -and when he goes to the doctor to find out what disease he has, the -wise man tells him he has “the drunkard’s liver.” - -HELEN: What a pity it is that men should abuse the liver so! - -MOTHER: Yes, it is a pity, but some women are as bad, though not as -many of them as of the men take alcohol. Some of them who would never -think of doing _that_, think that their liver is too big, and that it -makes the waist too large, so they gird it up with tight clothing and -do not give it room to work. One doctor found a woman who had squeezed -her waist so long that the liver was cut in two; and she died for her -folly. - -When Liver finds his room growing smaller, he gets cross, and says, -“We’ll see about this;” and he gives the young lady a pain in her side. -Her skin begins to look yellow and dirty, and the silly girl goes to -the doctor for some medicine to make her well, when all she needs is -to give Liver room to do his work, and give her body the right kind of -fuel. Perhaps she is so foolish that she would rather be ill than let -her waist grow as large as God made it; and, if so, she and her friends -have a sorry time. - -AMY: My liver shall never scold because it can’t have room enough in -which to work. - -MOTHER: That’s like my sensible girl, and I wish every other in the -land would say the same. - -HELEN: But, mother, I have heard girls say that their dresses were not -a bit tight, when I am almost sure they were. - -MOTHER: The only safe way is not to wear corsets or tight bands at all, -and the clothing should be so loose that it will not compress the body -when one draws a deep, full breath. - -PERCY: I should think there was enough sickness in the world without -people eating, drinking, and dressing to make themselves ill. - -MOTHER: Many people do not know that it is what they do that makes -them ill. They think people _must_ be sick sometimes, and they do not -study to know how to care for themselves in such a way that they may -keep well. For this reason I wish you to learn how to care for the holy -temple of your body while you are children, and we must also do all we -can to help others by living right ourselves. - - - - - A PUMPING ENGINE - - -MOTHER: When we visited the water-works what did you admire most of all -the things you saw, Elmer? - -ELMER: The great engines that kept pumping all the time and never -stopped to rest. How strange it seemed to think that they pump enough -water for all the people in this great city! The houses on the -hillsides as well as those on low ground have all they need. - -MOTHER: But you would hardly think the house we live in has the most -wondrous little pumping engine you ever saw, would you? Day and night -it pumps “the river of life,” as the blood has been called, to every -part of the body. If it should once stop, we would die, and the -body-house could never be used again. - -HELEN: Do you mean the heart, mother? - -MOTHER: Yes. Can you tell me where your heart is? - -AMY: I can. It is on my left side. - -MOTHER: Not quite right, little girl. The lower point is felt on the -left side, it is true; but most of the heart is higher up and nearer -the center of your body. Who can tell how large it is? - -PERCY: About the size of the fist of the person in whom it is found. - -AMY: Then the baby’s heart is about as big as his dear little hand. - -MOTHER: Can you describe its shape? - -HELEN: I think it is something like that of a pear or a strawberry, -with the small end down. - -[Illustration: _The heart._] - -MOTHER: Here is a picture that will help us in learning its shape. I -think I have not yet told you that the trunk of the body is divided -into two large rooms. There is a partition running crosswise, called -the di´a-phragm (di´a-fram). This gives us a large upper room, where -we find the engine and bath room. The kitchen, eating room, store -room, and waste rooms are in the lower part of the trunk, below the -di´a-phragm. But we want to talk about the heart now. We have found -about how large it is and what it is shaped like; let us next take a -peep inside and learn, if we can, how it does its work. - -ELMER: Didn’t you tell us once that the heart was made of muscles? - -MOTHER: Yes; the outside walls are made of little strong muscles, and -the inside is hollow. It is divided into four rooms. Each has its own -name, but we will not try to learn them now. There is a wall reaching -from top to bottom, and as it has no door, nothing can pass through -from one side to the other. Then there are cross walls, or partitions, -with folding doors in them, so there is an up-stairs and down-stairs -room on each side. There are big pipes, or tubes, leading in or out -from each room. They are called veins, or ar´ter-ies. The veins carry -the blood _to_ the heart, while the arteries carry it _away_. - -HELEN: But, mother, what makes the heart beat? - -MOTHER: I thought that would be about the first thing you would wish to -know, and I will explain the best I can. When the muscles which make up -the heart draw together, the rooms inside become small, and the blood -in them is squeezed out. When the muscles slacken, the rooms become -larger, and the blood rushes in and fills them again. So the blood -keeps coming in and going out of the heart all the time, and it causes -it to make the movement which we call beating. - -AMY: How fast does it beat? - -MOTHER: In very little children it beats from one hundred and twenty to -one hundred and forty times a minute. In grown people it beats sixty -or seventy times, and when the body-house has grown old and feeble, it -beats slower still. Percy, you may run up and down stairs and then tell -us if you see any difference in your heart-beats. - -PERCY: I believe they are twice as many as they were when I was sitting -still. - -MOTHER: Hardly as many as that, but the heart beats much more quickly. -Can you think of anything else that makes the action of the heart -faster? - -HELEN: When I was frightened this morning I could hear my heart go -thump, thump, and I am sure it seemed to be in a hurry. - -MOTHER: Yes; moving quickly, fright, anger, or joy makes this busy pump -work more quickly. Sadness and grief cause it to work slowly. It beats -faster when we are standing than when we sit still, and the motion is -slower when we lie down than when we are sitting. - -ELMER: Why did the doctor put his finger on my wrist when I was sick, -mother? - -MOTHER: He wanted to know how your heart was working, so he felt your -pulse. Sometimes when people are ill it beats very, very fast, and -sometimes it moves more slowly than it should. - -AMY: What is the pulse? - -MOTHER: If I use any words that you do not understand you must ask what -they mean. The pulse is the beating or throbbing of the arteries caused -by the blood flowing through them from the heart. Have you noticed how -the water sometimes goes in jerks as it is pumped through the hose pipe -in the garden? It is that way with the heart. Each beat sends the blood -through the arteries in jerks, and when we place our fingers on them, -we can tell how fast the heart is beating. That is called the pulse. - -AMY: Sometimes I think that I can hear my heart beating. - -MOTHER: Each time it beats it makes two sounds, and they can be heard -if the ear is placed over the heart. The doctor can tell by these -sounds whether the heart is working all right. - -PERCY: But I should think it would get tired out if it keeps at work -all the time. - -MOTHER: So it would if it had no rest. Every part of the body must -rest. Between the heart-beats there is just a little rest, and, though -the time is very short, yet if it were all put together it would amount -to six or eight hours a day. - -HELEN: If the heart beats sixty or seventy times a minute, I wonder how -many times it beats in a day. - -MOTHER: You may do a little figuring to find out. Seventy beats a -minute, sixty minutes an hour, and twenty-four hours a day. - -ELMER: I have it. It would be more than one hundred thousand. - - ┌─────────┐ - │ 70 │ - │ 60 │ - │ ———- │ - │ 4,200 │ - │ 24 │ - │ ———- │ - │ 16800 │ - │ 8400 │ - │ ———- │ - │ 100,800 │ - └─────────┘ - -MOTHER: And this means hard work, too; for if all it does in -twenty-four hours were done at once, it would be equal to lifting one -hundred and twenty tons of stone one foot from the ground. - -PERCY: Whew! I should think this was a powerful little force-pump, sure. - -MOTHER: But what would you think of a man who made his heart beat six -thousand times more in twenty-four hours, which means that it must lift -seven tons more than it should? - -Amy: But I thought the heart kept working of itself. Then how _could_ -any one make it do more? - -MOTHER: By taking only two ounces of alcohol in a day the heart would -be overworked as I have said. It would not only have its regular work -to do, but it would do that amount extra to throw out the poison it -finds in the blood; for it knows it is an enemy. See, I have taken the -pendulum off the clock for a minute. Now what has happened? - -ELMER: It ticks much faster, and will soon run down. - -MOTHER: It is much the same way with the heart of a person who takes -drink with alcohol in it. His heart beats faster; his face gets red, -and he can think and talk fast. It is like an engineer putting on steam -and sending his train at lightning speed down a steep grade. If nothing -worse happens, he will find when he comes where the track is up-grade -that his power is gone and he has wasted his steam. The clock runs fast -with the pendulum off, but it soon “runs down,” we say, and it is the -same with the boy or the man who drinks. There are nerves which act on -the heart as brakes do on the train. They keep it steadily at work and -do not let it beat too fast. There is another way that alcohol hurts -the heart. - -HELEN: Please tell us how. - -MOTHER: It changes the strong muscle walls into fat. The heart grows -larger than it should be, and becomes so weak that it can not send the -blood over the body as it should. The man has hard work to breathe. He -gets the dropsy and other ailments, and perhaps dies of “heart failure.” - -PERCY: Does tobacco affect the heart, mother? - -MOTHER: Yes; it makes its beat unsteady, and sometimes causes an -illness which doctors call “tobacco heart.” It also makes it work -harder than it ought. - -AMY: What can we do to keep the heart well and strong? - -[Illustration: _YOU “CAN RUN, JUMP, AND SWING.”_] - -MOTHER: Be sure to give it good blood to send over the body. You need -not keep still for fear that you will break this curious little pump; -for, like the engines in ships, it is made to be tumbled about. Boys -and girls can run, jump, and swing, yet the little engine keeps on with -its steady hub tub against the walls of the house, and we would hardly -know it was there. Good, honest labor makes the heart work better, -and sends the blood running swiftly to every part of the body. We say -when we are cold that a brisk walk will “start the blood;” that is, -the heart beats more quickly, and soon the whole body becomes warm. We -might say that the heart is like a clock, as well as an engine. If I do -not wind the clock, what happens? - -PERCY: It runs down. - -MOTHER: Does some one need to wind up your heart each day to keep it -beating? - -HELEN: Oh, no; it just keeps going itself! - -MOTHER: God keeps it beating, sometimes for a hundred years, without -our help. I read a little poem not long ago about the heart, which I -will repeat for you:— - - - THE CLOCK OF LIFE. - - “Oh, did you ever think, my child, - That in your body dwells - A tiny clock, that verily - All other clocks excels? - - “It needs no key to wind it up, - No oiling of the wheels, - No jeweler to make repairs; - With such it never deals. - - “Near seventy ticks a minute is - Its normal race to go; - Just place your thumb against your wrist, - And you will find it so. - - “This little clock was made to be - A faithful sentinel, - To give alarm of any change - Within its prison cell. - - “If you are healthy, then its ticks - Are even, full, and strong; - By this you know that, in its cell, - Nothing is going wrong. - - “When sickness comes, it works so hard, - And is so feeble, too, - It can not keep the perfect time - Its Maker meant it to. - - “Now, would you help this little clock - The best of time to keep? - Then always mind the rules of health, - And thus their blessings reap.” - - —_Mrs. Julia Loomis._ - -[Illustration: A clock] - - - - - THE CARETAKER - - -AMY: Just see, mother! I have cut my finger. See how fast the blood -runs out! Oh-h! - -MOTHER: Suppose we let a drop fall on this glass and then try to -find out what it is made of, what it does in the body, and about the -different rooms it visits. You may ask questions and I will try to -answer them; but first we will bind up the cut finger in this bit of -soft cloth. We have already learned how blood is made, but we want to -learn what it does for us. - -Blood is made from the food you eat and the water you drink. If you eat -good food it makes good blood. Bad food and drink make bad blood. It -might be called the caretaker, or the housekeeper of the body. Without -it your body-house would go to ruin; for the Bible says, “The life of -all flesh is the blood.” After passing through the kitchen, serving -room, and dining room, the blood enters a dark tunnel and comes to your -heart. - -HELEN: But what makes it such a bright red color? - -MOTHER: Because it has millions of little red bodies called -cor´pus-cles. Really it is a pale yellow, but there are so many of -these tiny folk floating around that they make it look red, just as -a river would if it were packed full of tiny red fishes, or as water -would if you should fill a bottle with very small red beads and then -cover them with water. - -PERCY: But are all the cor´pus-cles red? - -MOTHER: No; some are white, but there are many more red than white. - -AMY: What do they look like? - -MOTHER: You can not see them at all unless you should look through a -mi´cro-scope. The red cor´pus-cles are shaped like a little biscuit -with a dimple in the middle. The white ones keep changing their shape -in a very wonderful way. First they are round, then square, then -three-cornered, and they take on ever so many other shapes. There are -several millions of these little red and white fellows in a single drop -of blood. - -[Illustration: _Corpuscles._] - -ELMER: But you said it went through a dark tunnel to get to the heart. -Please tell us about that. - -MOTHER: The tunnel is round, like a tube, and I must tell you that -these tubes are in every part of your body. Some are quite large, some -are small, and some are so tiny that you could not see them if you -should try. They are like a tree with its trunk dividing into large -branches, and these into smaller ones, till at last they become little -twigs. The largest tubes for carrying blood through the body are called -arteries. The smaller ones are called veins. The arteries carry fresh, -bright, clean blood to every part of your body-house. It bounds along -with a hop, skip, and jump, as though it were in a hurry to get to -work. The arteries have very strong walls, and, as I told you, the -blood soon finds itself in the heart. - -HELEN: Which room did it go into first? - -MOTHER: When the blood is fresh and clean it goes into the top room on -the left side. It keeps coming in until the room is filled full. Then -the little folding doors open, and the blood is crowded into the lower -left room, the doors fly back, and-- - -AMY: But please tell us about the doors. - -MOTHER: They are made so that the blood could not get back into the top -room if it wished; for they never swing but one way, and some small -cords hold them in place. These doors are called valves. When the lower -room is filled, the walls press together, and the blood is forced into -the largest blood tube in the body, the walls of which are so very -smooth, that the blood passes along with a merry bound. The tube keeps -growing smaller the farther we go from the heart, and branches into -many smaller tubes. - -PERCY: And how far does the blood go? - -MOTHER: Perhaps it first takes a trip through the trunk of your body, -down through your right leg, and on to the end of your big toe. The -tubes at last become very small, and there are so many of them that -they are like a network of the finest lace. A hair would seem like -a big rope beside them. They are so very tiny that you can not see -them. Their walls are thinner than tissue paper, and they are so close -together that you can not touch your skin with the point of a needle -without touching some of them. When the blood comes to these tiny -tubes, it does not travel so fast as at first, and as it passes along, -the muscles pick it to pieces, take the part they want as food, and -load the blood down with waste which they can not use. When they are so -hungry, the blood is glad to feed them and give them the oxygen, which -makes them warm. - -AMY: Did it stay long in those little tubes? - -MOTHER: No; it went through as quickly as it could, and on its way back -found itself in bigger tubes, which keep growing larger; for it is now -on its way back to the heart. This picture will help you to see the -road it travels. It is now a dark red color, and unfit to work longer -till it is washed. Back it goes to the heart, the tubes through which -it travels growing larger all the way until it tumbles into the right -top room of the heart, which, as you have learned, always has dirty, -worn-out blood in it. But it is not allowed to stay there; for between -this room and the lower right room there are three folding doors kept -in place like the two on the left side, and through them it passes. -The walls of the rooms on the right side of the heart are not as thick -as those on the left side. I think that must be because the left side -sends the blood farther than the right. - -[Illustration: Vein, artery and capillary] - -HELEN: Does the blood stop to rest in the lower right room? - -MOTHER: Oh, no; it never rests as long as there is any life in it! The -heart squeezes it out into another big tube, and it soon finds itself -in the bath room, where it is washed through and through, and its color -becomes as bright red as when new. - -AMY: And where does the blood then go? - -MOTHER: Straight back to the left side of the heart, where it is pumped -out the same as before; and this time we will say it goes to the -kitchen of the house you live in, and helps the cook get the dinner you -have eaten ready to be made into more blood. The old blood eats some of -the good things, and again it is sent to the right side of the heart -and back through the bath room. - -PERCY: And what then? - -MOTHER: Its next trip may be taken to the brain, to help a little girl -learn her lessons in school. The brain takes what it can use, and back -the blood goes to the right heart, around through the bath room again, -and the next time it may be sent to the liver, where it finds sugar and -bile-making going on, as usual. - -ELMER: But how can the blood be of any use there? - -MOTHER: I think you would not ask such a question if you could go there -to see. It “takes all the starch out of it,” as you sometimes say, and -some other things besides, to make into sugar. It also uses part of it -to make into bitter bile, so you may well believe that when it goes -back to the heart there is not much left that is of value. But after a -good wash in the bath room the blood goes back to the heart, and this -time may be sent to the bones in your fingers, and they take what lime -it has. This drop was just making its way back to the heart again when -Amy cut her finger and let it out. - -PERCY: But I should have thought the blood would have been worn out -making so many trips. - -MOTHER: So it would if it was not made new by the food you eat. It -keeps taking as well as giving as it goes round and round through the -body. You would not expect a housekeeper to keep everything tidy and -clean in a house, and not give her what she needed to make her strong -and able to work; and so the master of the house gives the blood plenty -to eat; and it makes no complaint as long as it can do its work well. -It is a very busy person, we might say, and, as there is no end of -things to do in the house in which you live, the blood works night and -day. - -ELMER: But I don’t see how the blood can take with it all that is -needed to mend the different parts of the house. - -MOTHER: It is supposed to carry with it a supply of everything that is -needed to keep the house in order as it goes, so that when a bone says, -“I want some lime,” or a muscle says, “Please give me some al-bu´men,” -each part gets what it calls for if it is in the blood. Whether it has -what every part needs depends on what the master of the house sends -into the kitchen to make blood. Have I told you about the filters in -the body? - -AMY: I’m sure you have not. Please tell us now. - -MOTHER: There are two of them in the lower part of the trunk close -to the back, one on each side. They are the shape of a bean, and are -called the kidneys. The blood passes through them, and some of the -poisons it has picked up are strained out and sent to a storeroom, -called the bladder, where they are kept till the brain gives an order -to send them away. - -HELEN: But there is one thing I would like to know. I can see how blood -can run down-hill into our fingers and toes, but I can’t see how it can -climb back up to the heart again. Will you please tell me? - -[Illustration: _A kidney._] - -MOTHER: The heart is the power that sends it through the arteries to -every part of the body, whether it is up-hill or down. Now when the -blood has come to the end of its journey, and has reached the tiny -hair-like veins of which I told you, more blood keeps coming down and -pushes it on till it starts back through the larger veins. The blood -keeps crowding behind, and the veins are made in such a way as to help -it climb up. - -PERCY: But how are they different from the arteries? - -MOTHER: Did you ever see little watch-pockets hung in bedrooms in which -to put watches? Well, the veins have tiny pockets in them, as you see -in the picture. - -[Illustration: “_Veins have tiny pockets in them._”] - -AMY: But I don’t see how that helps the blood in climbing. - -MOTHER: It is this way: If you had a tube with little pockets and -should hold it so the top of the pockets was _down_, you could pour -anything through it and they would not stop it from passing. But turn -the tube the other way, with the pockets _up_, as you see in the -picture, and they would catch and hold anything you tried to pour -through the tube. It is the same way with the veins and the blood. If -the blood should try to go back, the pockets would fill full and hold -it, but when it is passing up toward the heart, they let it slip by -without holding it back. - -ELMER: Then the blood keeps going round and round in the body, and -never stops. - -MOTHER: Yes; and this “going round and round,” as you say, is called -the cir-cu-la´tion. This drop of blood would have kept going until it -was used up in mending your body and helping keep it alive, if it had -not slipped out through the cut in Amy’s finger into the world in which -you live and move. - -I know you have all enjoyed hearing how the blood travels through -the body. Let me tell you a little story I read of what a boy said -in school. His teacher asked him to tell the class how the blood -cir´cu-lates, or goes round and round. - -“Please, sir,” said the lad, “the blood goes down one leg and up the -other.” - -“Very clever of it, I am sure,” said the teacher. “_How does it get -across?_” - -Perhaps that was something the boy had not thought of, and I am sure -you would never give such an answer as that since you have heard the -story of a drop of blood. Let us see the cut finger where it came out. - -AMY: It doesn’t bleed at all now, mother. - -MOTHER: No; and that makes me think to tell you something else about -this wonderful caretaker. If we had a quart of blood and should let it -stand awhile, it would become thick like jelly. But if you should take -a bundle of twigs and keep stirring it round and round, it would not -get thick at all. If you looked at your bundle of twigs after stirring -the blood with it, you would find the twigs covered with a sticky -substance. If you should wash them, you would wash away the red color, -and would have left a soft, stringy mass all matted together. - -HELEN: But what is it good for? - -MOTHER: It is called fibrin, and if it were not in the blood, you -would bleed to death if you cut yourself. So long as the blood stays -in the body, the fibrin goes quietly with it wherever it goes; but if -it begins to run away, as it did from Amy’s finger, the fibrin goes to -work at once to cork up the place so it can not get out. - -PERCY: How long does it take the blood to go from the heart through the -body and back again, mother? - -MOTHER: I am sure you will be surprised when I tell you that the heart -sends it with such force that it will go to the farthest part and get -back in from three to eight minutes, and some say it takes even less -time than that. - -ELMER: What! so quickly as that! It does not seem possible. - -MOTHER: And though one-eighth of the body is blood, yet it will _all_ -pass through the heart in about the same time. - -HELEN: How wonderful! But I don’t see how all these little things in -the blood, called cor´pus-cles, can get through the tiny, hair-like -veins, which are so small. - -MOTHER: We can learn a useful lesson from them, and you would be -pleased, I know, to watch them, if they were only large enough so you -could. They seem to know just what they want to do, and where they -ought to go. When the little veins are too small for more than one to -go in at a time, they do not push or crowd one another. One row waits -as politely as can be till the others have passed in, and then they -follow. How wonderful it is to think of this river of life flowing -round and round, and we feel nothing of it but the gentle tap, tap -of the heart as it sends it bounding through every part of the body! -Should it stop, we would die; for “the blood is the life.” - -PERCY: But how did people find out that the blood goes around as it -does? - -MOTHER: A doctor in England, named Harvey, first discovered it. Before -his time people thought air went around through the body in the -arteries. Men have studied the subject since Dr. Harvey lived, and they -keep learning more about it all the time. - -AMY: Does water go into the blood, mother? - -MOTHER: Yes; it very quickly finds its way there, and it is the same -with strong drinks, such as beer and whisky. It only takes a very few -minutes for anything we drink to get into the blood stream. - -The walls of the veins and arteries are governed by the nerves of our -telephone system. They let just the right amount of blood flow through -them all the time. When alcohol gets into the blood, it puts the -nerves to sleep, and so too much blood goes into the little veins. You -know a man who drinks has a red face. If he drinks a long time, his -nose gets so red that it is called a “rum blossom.” This is because so -much blood goes to his nose that it becomes large and red. Alcohol also -makes the walls of the arteries weak, so they sometimes burst open and -the person dies. - -Now that we have learned a few things about the blood, we must be -careful what we give this care-taker of the body to eat. We have -learned very little of what there is to know, and as you grow older I -hope you will study and learn more. - - - - - THE BATHROOM - - -HELEN: I have been thinking of what you said about the blood being -washed every time it made a trip to any part of the body. Where is the -bath room in the body-house, mother? - -MOTHER: It is a large double room, and it is found in the top part of -the trunk, each side of the heart. - -PERCY: Why, I thought that was where the lungs are. - -MOTHER: So it is; and it is in them that the blood is made clean after -every journey it takes through the body. - -AMY: But is there water in the lungs in which to wash the blood? - -MOTHER: No; and the blood could not be washed in water if there was. -It takes air to wash blood. Let us try to learn how it is done; but -first we will take a peep into the bath room. There are two ways to -get in. One is through the folding doors, the way that our food goes -to the kitchen; for you remember there are four or five doors back of -the pink curtain. In this place the air finds a door standing wide -open, and it passes through a passage, called the windpipe, which is -about three-fourths of an inch wide, and about four and one-half inches -long in grown people. After going through the windpipe it comes to two -passages, leading to the two parts of the bath room. While we might -call it a double bath room, yet it is really two rooms. - -ELMER: That must be the right and left lungs. - -[Illustration: _The lungs._] - -MOTHER: That is right. But I must not forget to tell you that there is -another way to reach the lungs, and that is through two little doors, -always standing open, just above the folding doors which lead to the -kitchen. The air finds a long, curved passage to go through, and this -is much the better way to go, because if it goes in cold, it passes -some places where it gets warm before reaching the bath room. You know -it would be rather hard to wash clothes in cold water, and so it is -much better to have warm than cold air in which to cleanse the blood. - -HELEN: You mean it passes through the nostrils in the nose. - -MOTHER: Yes; and another reason why this is the best way for it to go -is because the air is filtered or strained through some little hairs, -which do their best to keep any dirt or dust which may be in the air -from going further. These passages open back of the pink curtain, and -it goes down through the windpipe the same as though it had passed -through the mouth. - -PERCY: But I should think our food would go into the bath room instead -of the kitchen. - -MOTHER: It would, only that, as soon as it starts for the kitchen, -there is a little trap-door which feels it coming, and it shuts down -quickly over the air passage, so nothing can get through. Suppose the -trap-door does not do its duty quickly enough, and food “goes the wrong -way,” as we sometimes say, the person chokes and has a bad time till -the food is out of the way. I once saw a fowl eating corn, and in some -way a kernel got into her windpipe. She began hopping about in great -distress, and died as quickly as though her head had been cut off. It -sometimes happens that people are choked to death in the same way. - -HELEN: But how does the bath room look? - -MOTHER: It is a pretty pink color and seems much like a very fine -sponge. If we could go inside we should find the passages divided again -and again, till there are thousands and thousands of tiny air tubes, -each ending in a little pouch quite like a bunch of grapes, only you -should think of the grapes as being as small as a grain of sand. When -the lungs are full of air, they grow larger, and when we breathe it -out, they grow small. - -ELMER: That is like a pair of bellows. - -[Illustration: _A pair of bellows._] - -MOTHER: Very much the same, and the bellows will help us understand -how we breathe. Try to think of a little tree with its trunk, limbs, -and leaves all hollow. If air were blown through the trunk, it would -make every leaf puff out, and when no air was blown in, they would fall -together again. It is the same with our lungs. They keep swelling out -and falling together about eighteen times every minute. - -AMY: But how is the blood washed in air, mother? - -MOTHER: Perhaps it would be better to say it is aired, the same as we -hang a garment in the sunshine and wind to make it fresh and sweet. You -will remember that the blood takes oxygen, which is a part of the air, -to every part of the body-house, and this makes it warm. In exchange -the muscles give the blood a poison called carbonic acid gas. This -gives the blood a dark, purplish color, and it must carry away the gas -and get more oxygen before it can do any more work in mending the body. - -PERCY: But I would like to know how it gets into the bath room. - -MOTHER: The right side of the heart, which has nothing but soiled blood -in it all the time, sends it to the lungs in a hurry, and it fills the -thousands of hair-like veins which are in every part of the lungs. -The walls of the veins are so thin that the oxygen in the lungs soaks -through into the blood, and the poison in the blood goes through into -the air, and is breathed out of the body. Do you understand it now? - -PERCY: I think so. - -MOTHER: If I should tie a piece of bladder over a glass of milk and -place the glass in a bucket of water, the milk would come through into -the water, and the water would pass into the milk, even though they -were in separate dishes. Another way to show how the blood is cleansed -would be to say that blood and air keep running near together, each in -its own room, and as they pass they say, “Good-day;” air washes blood -so it becomes bright and clean, and blood makes air very dirty with its -poison gas; and, after trading in this way, both hurry along as fast as -they came in. - -ELMER: It must be that good air is needed more than good food. - -MOTHER: Why, yes; for while we need to eat only two or three times a -day, we must take in air more than twenty-five thousand times. If we -could not breathe for six or seven minutes, we would die, while we -could live without food quite a number of days. How thankful we ought -to be for pure, fresh air! And there is so much of it that we can have -it without money and without price. - -HELEN: Which is best, to breathe through the nose or the mouth? - -MOTHER: Through the nose; for that was made for the air to pass -through. Serious sickness of the throat and lungs is sometimes caused -by breathing through the mouth. When the air goes this way, the person -makes a very strange noise when asleep. The air seems to be trying to -wake somebody up to shut the folding doors so it can go the right way. -We call it snoring. - -PERCY: I should think when there are so many people and animals, and -all must have air to breathe, that it would soon become unfit to use. - -MOTHER: We live in an ocean of air, as fishes live in the sea. The -winds sweep it round and round, and everything that grows helps to make -it pure. - -[Illustration: “_As fishes live in the sea._”] - -AMY: How can that be? - -MOTHER: It may be said that plants breathe, as well as people, only -they need the poison gas we breathe out, and they give out the oxygen -we need to breathe in. There is no danger but we can get all the air we -need if we will let it into our rooms. - -ELMER: But isn’t night air bad to breathe, mother? - -MOTHER: No; for when it is night we can get nothing but night air. -It is true that if air is shut up in a room it soon becomes unfit to -breathe, whether it is night or day. - -PERCY: On frosty mornings my breath looks like steam as it comes out. -Is that the poison gas, mother? - -MOTHER: No; we can not see the gas, but what you see is the water we -breathe out. We take in about a pint of air at every breath, and it is -said that every time we breathe out we spoil half a barrelful of air, -making it unfit to breathe. I will let you find out how many barrelfuls -of fresh air we would need in an hour. - -PERCY: Why, that would be over five hundred barrels! Who ever thought -that we needed such a lot of fresh air in just one hour! - -MOTHER: And who, then, would think of using only one roomful in a whole -night! It is no wonder that many people have a headache when they wake -in the morning. - -HELEN: But, mother, we can’t get clean air always, even when we are not -in the house. This very day a man puffed tobacco smoke into my face as -I was passing him. - -AMY: But do you think it is _right_, mother, for any one to poison the -pure, fresh air God has given us, with tobacco smoke, and make it unfit -to use? - -MOTHER: No; I do not; and a true gentleman will not do it. It is both -rude and wrong. He not only wrongs others but harms himself. You know -how it feels to get smoke into your eyes, and it is just as bad for -the throat and lungs. Bad smells of any kind poison the air, making -it unfit to breathe, so we should be careful to keep our rooms and -everything about the house sweet and clean. - -PERCY: I met a man in the street, and I could smell the whisky he had -drunk. Did that come from his lungs? - -MOTHER: Yes; just as soon as strong drink is swallowed, every part of -the body tries to get rid of it. The alcohol in such drinks makes the -thin walls of the lungs hard, so they can not make the blood clean, and -they try to throw out the poison. Sometimes it causes that dreadful -disease, consumption, which can not be cured. - -HELEN: Don’t a great many people die of consumption? - -MOTHER: Yes; it kills more people than any other disease; so every one -should take good care of their lungs, and give them plenty of room to -grow. They should also breathe pure, fresh air at all times. - -ELMER: But you can’t squeeze the lungs. We must have room to breathe. - -MOTHER: But we can squeeze the stomach and liver so that the lungs do -not have room, and by stooping over when sitting or walking, we get -round shoulders and narrow chests, and this causes the lungs to become -small and diseased. - -AMY: I once read how some people on a ship suffered for fresh air. - -MOTHER: Please tell us about it. - -AMY: One night when there was a storm the captain told the sailors to -send the people down into a large room below deck so they would not be -in the way. After they had gone, the doors were fastened, so they could -not get out. When the storm was over, the sailors took a candle and -opened the door, but when they went in, the candle went out. At last -enough fresh air got in so the candle would burn. They found the poor -people lying on the floor, and quite a number of them were dead. - -MOTHER: I suppose they had no air to breathe only that which had been -used over and over again, and as that was not fresh, it poisoned them -so they died. We should learn from this sad story to keep the lungs -well filled with good air; for the blood can not be well cleansed if it -is impure. - - - - - HOW THE HOUSE IS HEATED - - -MOTHER: If you touch a stone, Amy, how does it feel? - -AMY: It is cold. - -MOTHER: Yes, wood, iron, glass, and all the things around us which do -not have life, are cold. If you touch your head, how does it feel? - -PERCY: It is warm. - -MOTHER: We sometimes see a little glass tube called a thermometer, with -figures telling us how warm or how cold the air is. Here is a smaller -one that you may hold in your mouth under your tongue, Elmer, and we -will see if it will tell us how warm the house you live in is inside. -That will do. The glass says it is about ninety-eight degrees. How many -degrees will the larger glass record on a hot summer day? - -ELMER: It is very warm when it is over eighty or ninety in the shade. - -MOTHER: Yet you see that inside the body-house it is nearly one hundred -degrees, yet you do not feel too warm. Are all animals warm? - -HELEN: If they are alive, they are. If their bodies are cold, we say -they are dead. - -MOTHER: Some birds and animals have more heat in their bodies than we -do. The horse has one hundred degrees, the ox one hundred and one, the -dog one hundred and two, the sheep one hundred and four, and the duck -and pigeon have one hundred and eight. The bodies of some creatures, -such as fishes and frogs, are much cooler than our own, and we call -them cold-blooded. The frog has only seventy degrees of heat. - -[Illustration: _Fever thermometer._] - -HELEN: But what makes us warm, mother? - -MOTHER: Do you remember that we talked a good deal about our food as -fuel not long ago? - -PERCY: But, mother, fuel is something to _burn_, and there is no fire -inside of us. - -MOTHER: That is true in one way; but let us see if we can find out -where the heat in our bodies comes from. It may be a little hard to -understand, but we will try. Here is a candle. If lighted, it burns -brightly. Now I will fasten a wire around it and lower it into this -glass jar and cover it tightly. Now watch it. What is the matter? - -[Illustration: “_Now watch it._”] - -AMY: It is going out. Now it just flickers and hardly burns at all. Why -does it go out, mother? - -MOTHER: Because all fire must have a part of the air called oxygen -to make it burn. When the candle can have plenty of air, it burns -brightly, but when shut up closely, where it soon uses all the oxygen, -it will not burn at all. Now our bodies are much like the candle. We -eat food, and when it is made into blood, it mixes with the oxygen we -breathe, and as it goes round and round in the body, it makes heat. The -difference between us and the candle is that the burning does not go on -as fast in our bodies as in the candle, so there is no flame, and it -would take much longer to make the same amount of heat. If you throw a -piece of fat into the fire, it will burn. If you eat the fat, it will -make just as much heat in your body, but it will last a long time. - -PERCY: How queer to think we are burning, bit by bit, just like a -candle! - -MOTHER: Yes; just as long as we live, the fire is kept going. - -AMY: But I shouldn’t think that blood going around with oxygen in it -would keep us warm. - -MOTHER: If that was the only way to heat the body, it would not. Where -it is very cold, some houses have a grate; there may also be a furnace, -and perhaps a stove besides. So there are three ways of heating the -house we live in. The first, as I have told you, is by the blood -carrying oxygen to every part of the body. That is like the grate. We -will call the liver the furnace. We have found that all the starch and -sweet things we eat are changed into liver sugar, and it is supposed -this is used in the lungs to keep the body warm. - -HELEN: In what other way is the house heated? - -ELMER: I think I know. It is by exercise. When I run or play ball I -become very warm. - -[Illustration: Frogs] - -MOTHER: Yes, when we move quickly, we breathe faster, and the blood -goes bounding through every part of the body, so the fire inside burns -brightly. Sawing wood is a good way to warm a cold boy, and a broom is -a fine helper to warm a cold girl. - -AMY: When it is frosty, we can see our breath. Is that the _smoke_ -coming from the fire inside, mother? - -MOTHER: You may call it that if you like. When a candle burns, it gives -off what we call carbonic acid gas, and we breathe out some of the same -kind of gas. Water also comes out in the breath like steam from an -engine, half a pint or a pint each day. - -ELMER: Do some kinds of food make more heat than others? - -[Illustration: “_A good way to warm a cold boy._”] - -[Illustration: “_A fine helper to warm a cold girl._”] - -MOTHER: Yes; all kinds of fatty foods make heat. In very cold countries -people can eat more fat and keep well than in warm climates. Esquimaux -eat a great deal of fat. A little Esquimau child would eat a tallow -candle and enjoy it as much as you would an orange. I once read of -some sailors who made a Christmas tree for some of those children in -the frozen north. The tree was made of walrus bones tied together, -and, instead of popcorn, fruit, and sweetmeats, they hung balls of fat -on the tree. The children thought it a great treat, and ate them as -quickly as you would eat peaches. - -AMY: How funny! But, mother, are not our bodies warmer in summer than -in winter? - -MOTHER: You _feel_ warmer, it is true; but, no matter how hot or cold -the weather may be, the body has always about the same warmth. I said -_always_, but I mean when we are well. Sometimes we put the wrong kind -of fuel into the furnace, and it makes a big fire, the house gets very -hot, and we say we have a “fever.” If we get two or three degrees -cooler than we should be, that shows that something is wrong, too. - -HELEN: But what keeps us the same whether it is hot or cold? - -[Illustration: “_We have a ‘fever.’_”] - -MOTHER: You know some stoves have dampers to govern the heat. When the -body is in danger of becoming too warm, that is, when the body is well, -all the little waste-pipes in the covering of our house pour out water -so the skin is damp or moist, and if very warm it is wet. We might say -we have thousands of little “dampers” to keep the heat just right. -As the sweat dries, the body becomes cool; so in summer and in hot -climates the people sweat much. In winter and in cold countries they -perspire but little, and the tiny waste-pipes close as tightly as they -can to keep the cold out and the heat inside. - -PERCY: But when I had a cold my skin was hot and dry. Why did not the -little dampers make me cool, then? - -MOTHER: Because they were clogged so they could not. After a warm -foot-bath and a hot lemon drink, you began to sweat and soon became -well. If nothing had been done to open the waste-pipes, you might have -had a serious illness. - -ELMER: Does alcohol make the body warm? I once heard a man say it was -so cold that he must take something to keep him from freezing, as he -had a long journey before him. - -MOTHER: I am sure he did not know the effect of wine or alcohol or he -would not have said that. When first taken, these stimulants drive the -blood to the skin, and we _feel_ warmer; but soon the blood goes back, -after being chilled, and the whole body becomes colder. No, alcohol -in any of its forms will not “keep out the cold,” as people sometimes -think. Men in frozen countries endure the cold much better when they -take no strong drink of any kind. - -HELEN: I once read of a party of twenty-six men who lost their way as -night came on. It was very, very cold, and they had no way of making a -fire. Each man had two blankets and plenty of food and whisky. Their -leader told them to let the whisky alone; to eat supper, and then wrap -up in their blankets and lie closely together. But only two besides -himself did as he said, and, though they were cold, they did not suffer -or freeze. The others thought the whisky would keep them warm. Three -drank a very little, and they did not freeze. Seven others, who drank -more, had their toes and fingers frozen. Six, who drank still more, -were so badly frozen that they never got over it. Four, who became -drunk, were frozen so that they soon died; and three, who drank so -much that they became “dead drunk,” were dead in the morning. - -MOTHER: That was surely a good test, showing how much alcohol can do -toward keeping the body warm. - -PERCY: Why do we need clothes to keep us warm? The birds and animals -don’t wear any? - -[Illustration: “_Birds have a cloak of feathers._”] - -MOTHER: I think they do. The birds have a cloak of feathers, which -they puff out to keep them warm when it is cold. The horse and cow -have coats of hair. The sheep has a thick woolen dress. Animals living -where it is very cold have warm suits of fur. Our skin is not covered -as theirs is, and our bodies would lose much heat if exposed to the -air. Food makes heat, and our clothes keep us from losing it. We need -clothing to keep us warm. - -HELEN: But people do not need clothing in warm countries. - -MOTHER: And they do not wear much; but we would need it if there, to -keep the hot sun from scorching the skin. We should never wear heavy -clothing, and it should be made so loose that it will not hinder the -growth or movements of the body. The shoulders should carry its -weight. When the warm days of spring come, it is not best to be in a -hurry to leave off our warm under-clothing. Many persons have died -because of doing so. - -AMY: Should our clothes be changed often? - -MOTHER: At least those worn next the skin should be, in order that we -may keep neat and clean. Clothes worn in the daytime should not be worn -at night, and nightclothes and bedclothes should be kept fresh and well -aired. If the clothing we are wearing gets wet, it should be changed at -once. Never wear wet shoes or stockings or wet clothing of any kind. -Which part of the body do you think should have the warmest clothing? - -AMY: The part farthest from the heart; for that would get colder than -any other. - -MOTHER: Yes, the limbs should be warmly clad; for the blood often gets -chilled before it reaches the fingers and toes, and that is why they -get cold sooner than do other parts of the body. Yet I have seen many -little boys and girls with warm coats and furs around the chest, where -there is the most heat, and a part of the tender limbs had no clothing. -That is like trying to keep the furnace warm, and letting the rooms -farther away have no heat at all. - -PERCY: I should think children dressed in that way would be ill. - -MOTHER: Many of them are. They often have bad colds, and sometimes the -lungs get so much blood, because it is chilled away from the parts -to which it should go, that they can not do their work properly; the -throat becomes sore, and the poor child may lose its life because the -mother did not know how to dress it. Your father, though he is a strong -man, would suffer if clothed in that way. Let us see if we can not make -some good rules for clothing the body. - -ELMER: I will make the first, which is, Wear loose, light clothing. - -AMY: Then don’t be in a hurry in the spring to change warm clothes for -those that are cooler. - -HELEN: We should keep all our clothing neat and clean. - -PERCY: That which is worn in the daytime should not be worn at night. - -AMY: That makes me think of another: Nightclothes and bedclothes should -be fresh and well aired. - -ELMER: And we should change our wet clothes for dry ones. - -PERCY: The limbs should be as warmly dressed as any part of the body. - -MOTHER: Well done. I think these are all good rules. Let us see how -well we can keep them. - - - - - THE MUSIC ROOM - - -MOTHER: Do you think of any musical instruments which need air when -they make a sound? - -PERCY: The cornet, flute, and horn. - -AMY: And the organ, too. - -MOTHER: Yes; all of these and others as well must have air to make -sound. But I wanted to tell you that in the wonderful house we live -in there is the most perfect organ you can imagine. I am sure there -is none like it, none that can make such sweet music, and I have seen -many, and heard the largest pipe-organ in the world. - -HELEN: Where can it be? - -MOTHER: And it not only makes the finest, sweetest music, but it can -laugh and talk. Sometimes its tone is soft and sweet, but it can be -made loud and harsh if the master wishes. This curious little organ has -a room all to itself, and-- - -ELMER: Do you mean the voice? - -MOTHER: There! you guessed it the first time. - -AMY: Where is the organ, mother? - -MOTHER: In the top of the windpipe, in the throat. It is really a part -of the windpipe itself, and this curious little room has walls at the -sides, but no floor. The little trap-door which keeps food from going -to the bath room forms the top of the music room. - -PERCY: How large is it? - -[Illustration: _Cornet._] - -MOTHER: It is larger in men than in women, and you can see the front -part in a boy’s throat. Sometimes it is called “Adam’s apple.” I once -read that perhaps the reason it has this name is because when Adam was -eating his apple he was in such a hurry to blame Eve for giving it to -him that a quarter stuck in his throat. We know that he laid the blame -on Eve for his eating the forbidden fruit, but whether it was apples or -some other kind of fruit I do not know, so you need not believe this -story. - -ELMER: But I would like to know what causes all the different sounds -which are made by the voice. - -MOTHER: I will try to make it as plain as I can. Near the top of this -room two cords are stretched across from front to back. These cords -stretch like India-rubber, so they can be made tight or loose. There -is an open space between them, where the air can pass through, but the -other space is filled up. Did you ever see the little piece of brass in -an organ called a “reed”? - -[Illustration: _Flute._] - -HELEN: I saw one when our organ was cleaned. - -MOTHER: Here is a picture of one. You see it has a little tongue, and -when air is blown through the opening in the reed, the tongue vibrates, -that is, it goes up and down so fast that you can hardly see it, and -this makes the sound. The smaller the tongue, the faster it will -vibrate, and the tone will be higher. - -AMY: But how is it that we can speak and sing low or high? - -MOTHER: Our lungs are like the bellows of the organ, and the voice -cords are like the reeds. When the master of the body wants to speak -low, he sends an order to some muscles in the throat to let the cords -hang loose. If he wishes a high tone, he tells them to stretch the -cords tight. If he would make no sound, the cords hang loosely, and the -air passes between them without making any sound. - -[Illustration: _Organ reed._] - -[Illustration: _Organ._] - -ELMER: How strange that, with only two cords, we can make nearly all -tones made by the piano, which has so many! - -MOTHER: That shows how much better God can make anything than men -can. Perhaps the violin is more like the voice; for it can make more -tones on fewer cords; but, though it can be made to produce very sweet -sounds, it can not be compared to a trained voice, which can speak -words and make music at the same time. - -HELEN: I’m glad I can talk and sing. - -MOTHER: The voice is a gift of God. How we pity a person who is dumb! -Every one should learn to speak in a clear, gentle voice. A harsh -word wounds the one to whom it is spoken; and the tone often strikes -deeper than the words. We have all felt soothed and comforted by kind, -pleasant words. All who can should learn to sing. - - “If you have a pleasant thought, - Sing it, sing it; - Like the birdies in their sport, - Sing it from the heart.” - - “It is not so much what you say, - As the manner in which you say it; - It is not so much the language you use, - As the _tones_ in which you convey it. - - “‘Come here,’ I sharply said, - And the baby cowered and wept; - ‘Come here,’ I cooed, and he looked and smiled, - And straight to my lap he crept. - - “The words may be mild and fair, - And the tones may pierce like a dart; - The words may be soft as the summer air, - And the tones may break the heart. - - “For words but come from the mind, - And grow by study and art; - But the tones leap forth from the inner self, - And reveal the state of the heart. - - “Whether you know it or not, - Whether you mean or care-- - Gentleness, kindness, love, and hate, - Envy, and anger are there. - - “Then, would you quarrels avoid, - And in peace and love rejoice, - Keep anger not only out of your words, - But keep it out of your voice.” - - - - - THE HEARING PASSAGE - - -MOTHER: While we have but one voice room, we have two hearing rooms or -passages, and they are the most wonderful of any you ever did see. One -is placed on each side of the head. - -ELMER: Those are the ears, I know. Please let us send a sound through -them, mother, and you tell us what it finds. - -MOTHER: Very well; and we will suppose this sound has eyes as well as a -tongue, and it will tell us what it sees. Now listen:— - -All sounds are made of such tiny waves, so very, very small, that you -can never see them, yet they are something like those you see when you -throw a stone into the pond. The first thing a sound finds when it -wishes to visit the master of the body-house, is a pretty porch just -outside of the passage made for it to enter. - -AMY: What does it look like? - -[Illustration: “_Something like a shell._”] - -MOTHER: Something like a shell, and it is a pretty, pale pink color. I -suppose it was made this shape so it can catch and hold sound; for I -have seen some people living in old houses put up their hand to make -the porch larger so they could hear better. - -PERCY: I have often seen grandfather do that, but I never knew why -before. - -MOTHER: Each sound finds a little door, which always stands open, and, -though it is very small, the sound finds no trouble to get inside. This -part of the passage is covered with sticky yellow wax, which is there -to keep out anything which should try to go in except different kinds -of sounds. - -ELMER: How long is the passage? - -MOTHER: Only about an inch, and it seems quite like a tunnel dug in a -rock, only this is made in bone instead of stone. At the end there is a -round curtain, which is drawn close and tight, like the head of a drum, -so nothing but sound can get through. - -PERCY: But what I would like to know is how the sound can get inside. - -MOTHER: Oh, there is nothing hard about that! It may seem quite like a -fairy story, but all it has to do is to knock, and then it is on the -other side. - -HELEN: How strange! And what does it find there? - -[Illustration: Ear bones] - -MOTHER: Things you would never expect to see, I am sure: First, a -hammer, that strikes with its handle end on the curtain, or ear-drum, -as soon as sound gives a knock, and with the other end it strikes a -little anvil, and the anvil kicks against a tiny stirrup. Here is a -picture of them. They are all made of bone. - -ELMER: Well, this beats anything we have heard yet. - -MOTHER: I don’t wonder you say so; for the wisest men, who have -studied the body-house for years, say the ear is one of the most -wonderful parts of the body. When boys or girls have two drums, two -hammers, two anvils, and two stirrups in their heads, it is no wonder -that it takes plenty of noise to make them happy. - -It makes me think of two little fellows I saw playing with a toy -engine a few days ago. They had their mother’s knitting-needles in the -smoke-stack, and as they dragged the toy over the floor, it made a -fine jingle. The mother, however, wished to talk with a lady friend, -and asked them to take out the needles, so they would not disturb her. -“But it won’t make any n-o-i-s-e then,” said the older boy in a whining -tone. I suppose the noise was a delight to all the tiny hammers and -anvils in his ears; and it is much the same with every boy. - -But I forgot to tell you that there is a way to reach the inside of the -ear without going through the ear-drum. - -AMY: Please tell us how. - -MOTHER: By going the same way that air takes to go to the lungs; you -will find a little door just before you come to the music room, which -leads to the ear. - -PERCY: But why should there be _two_ passages to get to the inside? - -MOTHER: For the very good reason that air is so heavy; if it should -press against the ear-drum, it would break it, unless there was -something to press just as much against the other side. So some nice, -warm air goes up from the throat, and as it is just as heavy as the air -outside, it makes the weight alike on both sides. - -I once heard of a girl who was asked how air could get inside of the -drum of the ear, and she said, “Through the _other_ ear.” Her mates -in school all laughed at such a thoughtless answer. You will now know -better than to make such a statement if the question were asked you. - -PERCY: But I would like to know what else a sound finds in the ear -besides hammers, anvils, and stirrups. - -MOTHER: I think you can understand what I say better if you look -closely at this picture. This is very much larger than the ear inside -your own head. You will see that there are tiny tunnels running every -way, some shaped like loops, and one of them very much like the inside -of a shell which winds round and round. - -[Illustration: Inner ear] - -HELEN: And are all these little tunnels empty? - -MOTHER: No; they are filled with clear water. If you had a very strong -mi´cro-scope you would see some things in the ear which would fill you -with wonder. First of all we find a little bag floating in the water, -made of fine skin, that just fits into all the loops and tunnels. What -do you suppose is in this tiny bag? - -AMY: I’m sure I don’t know. Please tell us. - -MOTHER: It is full of water, too, but it takes only a drop to fill it. -Though this dainty bag is so small, yet there is room for some little -stones in it, which we will call ear-stones. The picture shows the road -sound travels, only this is much larger than the ear really is. - -PERCY: I should think it would get lost before it finds the end of all -these winding passages. - -MOTHER: It has no trouble in finding its way, and finding it quickly, -too. Suppose we start now from the outside porch again, so you will -not forget the road. First, it goes through the ear passage and knocks -against the ear-drum. This makes the handle inside strike the drum, and -the other end hits the anvil; the anvil makes the stirrup tremble; and -as sound passes along, that makes the water with the little ear-stones -in it tremble also. - -ELMER: But what I want to know is how the sound gets into the brain so -the master knows what it has to tell him. I don’t see any use of its -going through all those tunnels and staying there. - -MOTHER: You may be sure it does not stay there unless there is -something wrong with the ear. One of the wires from your telephone -system, which you call nerves, passes through a little hole in the -skull, and it spreads out on the inside of the tunnels, and all sounds -are carried by these nerves into the brain. As soon as one goes in, the -master knows what kind of sound it is. - -AMY: I don’t see why it should go through so many tunnels. - -MOTHER: I suppose He that formed the ear knows why, but I don’t. A -very high sound goes through the shell tube. A very loud sound travels -through the loops. - -HELEN: I suppose sweet sounds please the master of the house most, such -as good music. - -MOTHER: Yes; he does not often like loud, harsh sounds. Pleasant tones -please him so much that he will sometimes sit for hours listening to -them. People talk much about the in´stru-ments of music they have made; -but they are nothing when compared with the in´stru-ment God made for -hearing them. - -This shows us that we should be very careful of our ears, that they may -not be injured and we lose our hearing. We should never strike a child -on the head or ears; for it may make him deaf. I know a young man whose -grandfather “boxed his ears” when he was a little child, and from that -time he began to lose his hearing. When we think what the world would -be to us if we were not able to hear the songs of the birds, the voices -of those we love, and all the other sounds which give us pleasure, it -should cause us to guard our ears from the slightest injury. - - - - - SOME WONDERFUL WINDOWS - - -MOTHER: I told you some time ago that the body-house has two windows -through which the master looks at what is going on around him; for he -never goes outside as long as he lives. - -HELEN: Oh, I remember! Those are the eyes. - -MOTHER: Yes; and you may be sure that the One who made the house did -not forget to make it to enjoy the light. The Bible says, “The light -of the body is the eye.” Most dwelling-houses have quite a number of -windows, but though ours has but two, they are so made and placed in -such a way that the master can see in every direction. Of what shape is -the eye? - -AMY: It is nearly round, like a ball. - -[Illustration: An eye] - -MOTHER: Now see how many ways you can look without moving your head. - -ELMER: Up and down, to either side, and in a circle. - -MOTHER: And by turning the body we can look any way we please. There is -a fly which is said to have twenty-five thousand eyes, but even with -so many it can not see more than we can with two, if we turn the head. -Another thing which shows the wisdom of our heavenly Father is the -position of our eyes. How strange it would seem if they were in the -palms of our hands, or in the side or back of the head, or any other -place in the body than just where they are! - -[Illustration: _It would not be well to have eyes shaped like these._] - -PERCY: Just think of it! Why, they would get hurt, and how strange we -would look! - -MOTHER: But we can see only the front part of the eye. Why would it not -be as well to have eyes shaped like these? - -PERCY: We could not roll them every way, as we can now, and they would -not look well. - -MOTHER: Then you think they have the very best shape they could have. I -think so, too. Now you may each feel around your eyes and tell what you -find. - -AMY: There is hard bone all around them. - -HELEN: They seem to be in a hollow place in the skull. - -MOTHER: Yes; and this hollow place is called a socket. They are placed -this way to protect them from harm, as we would place precious jewels -in a strong casket. The eye, like a round ball, fills the socket or -cave in which it lives and moves, and behind and around it is a soft -cushion of fat. - -ELMER: A ball hit my eye to-day, and it just seemed to go in, so it -didn’t hurt much. This must be because it was resting on such a soft -cushion. - -MOTHER: And we see how the eyes are kept from in´ju-ry, too, by the -little porches, or eyebrows, above. The stiff hairs, like a hairy arch, -keep the sweat from running into them, and they also add beauty to the -face. Then there is a pair of curtains for each one. - -AMY: I know what they are,--the eyelids. - -MOTHER: And like a double curtain, or shutter, they close to keep the -eyes from harm whenever danger is near. Quick as thought they shut -tightly together; and each one has a hairy fringe to keep out dust or -other objects hurtful to the eyes. Each of these curtains, or awnings, -is placed in charge of two servant muscles, one to raise, the other to -lower it, and they play up and down without noise or a hitch anywhere. - -HELEN: And when we go to sleep, they softly close the window until we -wake again. - -[Illustration: An eye] - -MOTHER: These windows in our house also wash and keep themselves clean. -There is a tiny factory above the eye, where tears are made. Perhaps -you have often wondered where tears came from, and now you know. As the -eyelids move up and down, the tears keep running over the eye, which -makes it move so easily in the socket that it does not ache or wear -out, and they keep it clean and bright. There is a little drain-pipe -opening on the inner side of each lower eyelid, which carries away the -tears into the nose after they are used. If we are sad or unhappy, -sometimes so many tears are made that they can not pass through these -drains, and then they run over the eyelids down the cheeks. There are -also some little factories in the eyelids which make an oil for the -edges of the lids, so they will not stick together, and to keep the -tears from running over the face. - -[Illustration: _This little boy’s tears have “come unfastened.”_] - -PERCY: I never knew before where the tears came from, and that they -were being made and used all the time. - -HELEN: Nor I. Not long ago I read about a little girl named Margie -who never cried when any small mishap came to her. But one day her -best-loved dolly fell and got a dreadful bruise on her nose. Margie -winked hard a few minutes, and then buried her face in her mother’s -lap, sobbing, “O mama, I don’t _want_ to cry, but _all my tears have -come unfastened!_” - -MOTHER: Poor child! she was nearer the truth than she thought; and no -doubt many folks, big and little, would be glad sometimes if they could -keep their tears fastened up better. Have you ever thought why your -eyes do not fall out when you bend over? - -AMY: They must be fastened in tight. - -[Illustration: _Muscles of the eye._] - -MOTHER: That is true; for they are held by six little muscles, whose -work it is to keep them in place and move them about. - -ELMER: But what is inside of the eye, mother? - -MOTHER: Let us look at the outside a little longer before we talk of -the inside. Because the colored part of the eye is round, it is called -the eyeball. It is with this part we see. The white part of the eye is -filled with a clear substance, quite like jelly, and it has several -strong coats or coverings outside. What part of the eye do you think we -see through? - -HELEN: The black spot in the center. - -MOTHER: What is it called? - -PERCY: The pupil. - -MOTHER: Now look into each other’s eyes. What do you see around the -pupil? - -ELMER: There is a blue ring in Amy’s eyes. - -MOTHER: This is called the iris, which means a rainbow. You know we all -like to see pretty curtains hung before windows, and such beautiful -curtains you never saw as these in the eye. They are only half an inch -wide, but they open or draw together around the pupil so the eye has -just the right amount of light. When you are where it is very light, -this wee round curtain draws up very small. If you are in a dark room, -it opens wide, so the eye can have all the light there is. Sometimes -these curtains are brown, gray, or blue, just the color which will -match the outside of the house best. - -AMY: But won’t you please tell us, mother, how we see with our eyes. - -[Illustration: Section through eye] - -MOTHER: I will try, and perhaps we can find out some things about it. -Here is a picture which may help us. You see the front of the eye -bulges out like a watch crystal, and it has a strong, glassy covering, -called the cornea, which lets the light through. Passing through the -pupil we come to the lens, which is shaped as you see in the picture. -You have seen old persons wear spec´ta-cles to help them see. The -glasses in the frames are lenses; but you must not think from this that -the lens in your eye is made of glass. It is because of the shape that -it is called a lens. A picture of people, houses, trees, or anything -else you look at, is made by the lens on the inner part of the eye, -which is called the ret´i-na. It is almost wholly made up of the little -branches of the nerve of sight. - -HELEN: And is that the way we see? - -MOTHER: Partly. The picture passes through the clear, jelly-like -substance of the eye to the back, where it is spread out, and the -nerves of sight carry it into the brain, for the master to see. We may -have perfect eyes, but if anything is wrong with the eye nerve, we can -not see; so we really see and hear with our brain instead of our eyes -and ears. - -ELMER: Isn’t the eye something like the camera used to take photographs? - -MOTHER: Yes, in some ways. One curious thing about it is that it turns -its pictures upside down before they strike the nerves of sight, and in -this it is like the camera. - -[Illustration: _Pictures upside down._] - -HELEN: I am so glad that we all have good eyes. - -MOTHER: And well you may be. We should always take the very best care -of our eyes. Alcohol makes them red and bloodshot; for it makes too -much blood go into them, just as it does all over the surface of the -body. Tobacco injures them by making the nerves weak. It is a dreadful -thing to be blind or have weak sight, and while we prize our eyes we -will never take such poisons to injure them. - -PERCY: I wish I could get a peep at the master when he looks through -the windows. - -MOTHER: You may at any time. We know just how he feels by the “look” -of his eyes. When he is displeased and angry, they look so hard that -it almost seems as though sparks flew from them. When he is pleased, -they light up with kindness and pleasure, and you wish to be near him, -he seems so happy, and it makes you glad, too. When he is loving and -kind, there is such a tender feeling shines through that it seems like -a warm, comforting fire, and you love him better than ever before. So -the eyes “speak,” though they never say a word. - - - MY TWO WINDOWS. - - “Two wonderful windows - The Lord gave me; - And through these windows - His wonders I see. - - “The beautiful flowers, - The grass and the trees, - The hills and the valleys, - The birds and the bees, - - “The faces of parents - So dear to me, - The stars in the sky, - The fish in the sea,— - - “All these through my windows - Most gladly I see, - And praise my Creator - For giving them me.” - - —_C. M. Snow._ - - - - - A GOOD SERVANT - - -MOTHER: A little boy was once asked to repeat his Bible verse, and he -said, “I don’t remember just what the words are, but it is the one -where Paul said he _kept his soul on top_.” - -ELMER: I think this must have been the one he meant, “But I keep under -my body, and bring it into sub-jec´tion.” - -MOTHER: Yes, and the child no doubt thought if his body was “_under_,” -his soul must be “_on top_.” I think it means that the mind should be -the master of the body, doing only that which will be for its good. The -master, when he knows what is best, will not let one of his servants -be master instead of himself. - -HELEN: I should think every one would want to do what is best to keep -the body well. - -MOTHER: We would all think so, but there is one of the servants who -often gets control of the master and coaxes him till he gets his own -way. But, though he may be a good servant, he is a very bad master, and -the body has a sorry time when this servant has his own way. - -AMY: What is the servant’s name? - -[Illustration: _The tongue._] - -MOTHER: He is called Taste. His room is the passage where we found so -many servants dressed in white. He wears a pink dress, and stays in the -house most of the time, but once in a while he peeps out between the -folding doors. - -AMY: That is the tongue, I know. - -MOTHER: Yes, that is where we find Taste at home. Sometimes when he has -his own way, his dress becomes a dirty yellow or brown color, and if -the master finds himself quite ill, he sends for a doctor, who comes, -and about the first thing he does is to ask the tongue to step outside -a moment, and as soon as the wise man looks at its dress, he knows -whether Taste has been doing his duty or not. - -PERCY: But what is his duty? - -MOTHER: To tell the master what is good to build and mend the body, and -to help him enjoy his food. If some good whole-wheat bread, oatmeal, -or some fresh fruit passes the guards, Taste rolls it over and over -and sends word to the master through some of the little telephone -wires: “This is very good. I think we will have more of this.” Then the -servants in the kitchen are pleased, and all goes well. You have heard -that - - “Little Jack Horner sat in a corner, - Eating a Christmas pie,” - -but I have read of another boy, who bore the same name, and this is -what is said of him:— - - “Little Jack Horner - Sat in a corner, - Eating a morsel of nice brown-bread. - ‘Have some pie or some cake?’ - ‘Nay, not I,’ with a shake - And a toss of his wise little head; - ‘For this bread will make bone, - And teeth white as a stone, - That neither grow soft nor decay; - But rich cake and rich pie - Sure will break by and by - My good health, and that never will pay.’” - -HELEN: But does Taste not ask for more than the body needs sometimes? - -MOTHER: Yes, very often; and that is one of the times when he needs a -firm master. At other times he gets in such a hurry that he lets the -food go down to the kitchen before it is half ready. - -[Illustration: WHETHER THEREFORE YE EAT OR DRINK OR WHATSOEVER YE -DO, DO ALL TO THE GLORY OF GOD. 1 COR. 10:31] - -ELMER: But does Taste ever want things which are not good for the body? - -MOTHER: Yes, many, many times. He coaxes so hard that I have seen some -boys and girls even cry for that which would make them ill. If given -a good piece of bread, they wanted pie or cake or some other hurtful -thing. One thing I must tell you about Taste: If he has nothing at all -given him when he gets the sulks, after a while he is very well pleased -to get even plain food, and as he rolls it over and over, he says by -his actions, “It tastes much better than I thought it did.” - -AMY: A lady once asked me if I had a sugar tooth, mother. What did she -mean? - -MOTHER: When one’s taste calls for a great many sweet things, people -sometimes say of such a person that they have a “sugar tooth,” but it -is Taste, and not the teeth, who wants to be pleased that way. Candies, -lollies, and sweet foods are bad for the teeth as well as the stomach; -but Taste often begs for them, even though they do harm in the body. He -sometimes learns to like what he dislikes very much at first, so you -see it is the master’s duty to give him only that which he knows is -best. - -He often does great harm by asking the master for things to taste when -the kitchen is full and the cook does not wish to be disturbed in her -work. Really I think you will agree with me that he is a very selfish -fellow, and cares more for his own pleasure than for the comfort of -others or the welfare of his master. If he has his own way, it makes -the master cross, and everything seems to go wrong. - -[Illustration: BLESSED ART THOU, O LAND, WHEN THY KING IS THE SON OF -NOBLES, AND THY PRINCES EAT IN DUE SEASON, FOR STRENGTH, AND NOT FOR -DRUNKENNESS. ECC. 10:17.] - -HELEN: I shall try to teach my Taste to call for only those things that -will make my body well. - -MOTHER: If you do, you will sometimes have a quarrel with him, but -all the other servants will be glad that you do not let him master -you. That is one way the Bible means we should keep our bodies under. -Sometimes we have to take Taste by the throat, as it were, and when we -have him down, let him know that we are his master, and that we intend -to rule our own house. - -PERCY: Isn’t that the way people do when they leave off drinking wine -and beer, and stop using tobacco? - -MOTHER: Yes; and sometimes they have a terrible fight with Taste -before they convince him that they intend to be master. Sometimes he -gets them down, and again they put him under; many have fought the -battle for weeks, it may be for months, night and day, and at last -Taste gives up and the master wins. - -HELEN: Wouldn’t it be better if they did not let him have his own way -at first? - -MOTHER: Surely it would. That is why I wish you, while children, to -train your Taste, or appetite, so he will only call for the things -which are best for your bodies, and so you will form no bad habits of -eating and drinking. Then you will not have the battles of which we -have been speaking; for, as I have said, Taste is a good servant. All -he needs is to be taught that he must keep his proper place, and that -he is not to rule the house. If boys and girls begin to eat between -meals; if their Taste calls for rich food and sweetmeats; if they want -spices, pepper, mustard, and hot sauces with their food, they are -letting Taste become their master, and it will be easy for them to -begin to use cigarettes and to drink beer. When they open the gate for -Taste to become master, they know not where they will end. They have -entered the path to death and ruin. - -ELMER: I should think that this servant has more power to do harm than -any of the others. - -MOTHER: He has. Next to the master himself, he holds the most important -position of all. Not only does Taste live in the tongue, but it is -with the tongue that we talk. It is such an unruly fellow that it is -fastened to the floor so that it can not get away; there are strong -walls all around it; a double row of servants stand in front to guard -it; and the double doors are made to shut closely, to keep out anything -that should not go in, and to keep back anything that should not come -out. Yet for all that it is so unruly that it often puts the master to -shame, and wounds his best friends. The Bible says that if any one can -control the tongue, which means, I suppose, their taste and talk, he -can govern his whole body. - -AMY: Who would think that such a little fellow could do so much harm! - -MOTHER: Little things may do much good or evil. A bridle is a small -thing, yet the bits turn the horse any way we wish him to go. I was -once on a great ship at sea. There was a fearful storm. In the ship -there was a little helm, which turned it any way the captain wished it -to go. So it is with the tongue; life and death are in its power. - -[Illustration: “_The bits turn the horse._”] - -[Illustration: _A great ship at sea._] - -PERCY: But isn’t it a good thing to taste and talk, mother? - -MOTHER: Yes, indeed. Animals can taste, but they can not talk, or -laugh. This is one thing that makes us of a higher order of beings -than they. What a blessing kind, gentle words are! How thankful we -should be for a keen Taste, which helps us to enjoy our food! On the -other hand, what pain and sorrow come when angry words are spoken, and -how much sickness and death are the result of letting Taste have his -own way! What we want is that the master of the body-house should keep -this servant as with a bit and bridle; for he will obey if he must. - -HELEN: I shall be more careful of my tongue after this. - -MOTHER: But the Bible says again, “The tongue can no man tame.” We can -never master it in our own strength. We must ask God to help us; for we -can never control our Taste or our talk without His aid. - - - - - A FAITHFUL WATCHMAN - - -AMY: Here are some violets for you, mother. I just gathered them in the -garden. See how fragrant they are. - -MOTHER: They are indeed, and I thank the little girl who was so kind -and thoughtful. Did you ever think of the sense which makes us enjoy -the flowers and all pleasant perfumes? - -AMY: Why, yes; we smell them, do we not? - -MOTHER: Yes; and now let us see if we can learn a few things about this -sense which gives us so much pleasure. You may each take a few of these -violets. How shall we find out where Smell lives? - -PERCY: He must be in the nose. - -MOTHER: I suppose you think so because you do not put the violets to -your ears, eyes, or mouth to enjoy their odor, but hold them near your -nose. Now hold them quite close to it and breathe out. - -ELMER: But we can’t smell anything when we do that way. - -MOTHER: No; then when we enjoy the sweet flowers, we place them near -the nostrils and draw a deep breath, and we say, “Ah, how sweet!” We do -this so that more air will touch the nerves of Smell, which are in the -upper part of the nose. These little nerves form the tiniest branches -you can think of, and all unite in one large nerve, which goes to the -brain. They quickly tell us about things we can neither taste nor see. -They are thickly spread over this room of Smell, which is indeed a -wonderful place. Here is a picture of the nerves of which I have been -telling you. - -PERCY: I think in a dog Smell must have good nerves. - -[Illustration: _Nerves of Smell_] - -MOTHER: Yes; for some dogs will follow the footsteps of their master, -though he has been out of sight for hours, and Smell is so keen that -they use him in tracking game while hunting. Some Indians in South -America can tell if a stranger comes near them, even in a dark night, -by the use of Smell alone. They can also tell if a stranger is black or -white. In some people Smell is much keener than in others. - -ELMER: When I had a cold last week, I couldn’t smell at all. - -MOTHER: Sometimes when one has a very bad cold, the opening into -Smell’s room gets filled up so that odors can not get in. People having -a disease called ca-tarrh´ often can not smell at all. - -HELEN: But of what use is Smell to us? - -MOTHER: First, he helps us to eat proper food. We are not apt to eat -anything which has a bad odor; at least we should not do so. Smell -might be said to be a twin brother to Taste, and part of his duty is to -help Taste in selecting proper food for the body. Sometimes when dinner -is cooking, I hear you say: “Oh, how good it smells! It makes me feel -hungry.” - -[Illustration: “_Dogs will follow the footsteps of their master._”] - -PERCY: I have often felt that way, but I didn’t know it was Smell -giving me an invitation to eat. - -MOTHER: Another way Smell cares for the body is by giving us warning -against bad air. Sometimes a lot of tiny folk called “germs” get into -the air and make it unfit to wash the blood. These germs are “seeds -of sickness,” and should never be allowed to get inside the body. -Sometimes they make the air smell bad, and then Smell sends word to -the brain: “Look out! Don’t come here; for this bad air will make you -ill.” - -AMY: And does that mean that the master should take the body away? - -MOTHER: Yes; or if we go into a room which is close and musty, and the -air is full of germs, it means to open the doors and windows, and let -the clean, pure air come in. Sometimes Smell gets so used to bad odors -that he does not give warning as he should; so we should always heed -his counsel at first. Any place or thing which has bad odors should -never be near the house. - -HELEN: I think Smell must find some sleeping-rooms rather unpleasant -places for him to stay in. - -MOTHER: He cer´tain-ly does. Sometimes he gives the one who sleeps in -such rooms quite a scolding. After he has been out in the fresh air, -and comes back into the room, I im-ag´ine I hear him talking something -like this: “Don’t you know it is a _dreadful_ thing for you to breathe -air like this? How would you like to drink the water your face or your -clothes had been washed in? But you have done worse than that: you -have kept washing your blood in the same air, over and over again, all -night. It is no wonder that you have a headache and feel all tired out -this morning. Now open the windows, and give this room a good airing, -and if you sleep here another night, see that there are places where -the good air can come in and the bad air go out, and I promise you I -will not talk like this again.” - -PERCY: If the master of the house knew no better than that, he ought to -have a lecture. - -MOTHER: I think so, too. When air costs nothing, and comes whistling -around every corner, begging to come in, we should never go without a -good supply. There is one more way in which Smell is useful to us. - -ELMER: How is that? - -MOTHER: It gives us pleasure. When God made us, He desired that we -should be happy; so He gave us eyes to see the beautiful things He has -made, ears to hear the music of the birds, taste to enjoy the fine -flavors He placed in our foods, and smell to breathe in the fragrance -of the violet and the rose. We ought to be very thankful for all these -senses, which make us happy. - - - - - A GENTLE NURSE - - -MOTHER: You remember I told you that the body-house is all the time -wearing out. Every time we think, move, play, or work, some part -becomes worn, and must be mended. Blood, the care-taker, passes swiftly -around every part, first up, then down; and every trip she makes, the -bones take something to mend them; the flesh takes its part; the skin -must have a share; the hair and finger-nails take something to make -them grow; and so, while we study, work, or play, the mending goes on, -and we hardly stop to think that it is done at all. - -HELEN: This seems to me one of the most wonderful things about the body. - -MOTHER: But there is another wonderful thing of which we have not yet -spoken. When we are tired with the work of the day, and the sun goes -down in the west, a gentle nurse steps in and says to the master of the -body-house: “Please give me the care of your house awhile. I will rest -you, and while I have you in charge Blood can do her work better, and -in a few hours you will feel as good as new.” - -AMY: And does the master do as she says? - -MOTHER: Sometimes he is not willing at first, but at last he is glad -to hand everything over to her. Then she quietly draws the curtains -down over the windows, shuts the doors in the hearing passages, and -the muscles of the arms and legs stop their work, the engine slows -down, air goes into the bath room more slowly, all becomes quiet in the -body-house, and the first thing the master knows he knows nothing at -all. - -[Illustration: _Gentle sleep._] - -ELMER: How strange to think that way of going to sleep! - -AMY: Is Sleep the nurse, mother? - -MOTHER: Yes, Amy; and a better one never lived. Sometimes when the -house is all out of order, and the father and mother watch over some -little body moaning with pain and tossing with fever, Sleep comes in -and gives the dear child a long, sweet rest, and the good doctor says: -“I am so glad! She will get better now.” He knows that if he can get -Sleep to nurse his sick people, they will all “do well.” She is so kind -that she comes of herself, takes us in her arms, comforts us, and when -we are quite rested, she leaves us to do as we will till she is needed -again. She never asks pay for her services, and the most skilful nurse -never had such success as she in taking away care and worry, and in -building up the house we live in. - -PERCY: But why must we sleep, mother? - -MOTHER: Because when we are awake, the body wears out faster than Blood -can mend it, but if we go to sleep, she can mend faster than it wears -out. We need sleep as much, and I sometimes think more, than we need -food and drink. When we feel tired and drowsy, that is the call of the -nurse for us to give ourselves into her care. - -AMY: Should we sleep in the daytime? - -MOTHER: Very young children should; for their body-houses are building -fast, and so they need much sleep. Very old people sometimes need sleep -in the daytime, because their houses are wearing out fast; but, as a -rule, we should sleep during the night, and keep awake during the day. - -ELMER: How long should we sleep? - -MOTHER: Some need more than others do. Grown people need seven or eight -hours and children should have still more. When we wake up, we should -get up. The Duke of Wellington once said, “When it’s time to turn over, -it’s time to turn out.” - -HELEN: How can we get to sleep if wakeful when we go to bed? - -[Illustration: _Good-night._] - -MOTHER: Those who can not sleep well should spend much time -out-of-doors during the day. One should not eat for several hours -before going to bed; for if the stomach must work, it often keeps the -rest of the body awake. Every one should have a clean bed, and sleep -where he can have plenty of pure air. To work till one is tired, if not -carried too far, will also help. But, even though a person does all -these things, if he tries to sleep when the mind is worried or excited, -the gentle nurse will not come. One of the best helpers to sound sleep -is a clear conscience, and the knowledge that one has done his best in -everything. - -HELEN: I heard a lady say that she drank a cup of tea and it kept her -awake half the night. - -MOTHER: It often has this effect. If one has not been using it, this -is more apt to be the case, and this shows that tea contains poison, -and that it is not good for the body. When a person can not sleep, he -should know that danger is near. The master of the house we live in -must have rest. Sweet sleep is the best rest for a tired brain; for -while Sleep has charge of the body, she cleans the brain and makes it -bright and ready to do more work. If it does not get rest, it becomes -ill, and sometimes people lose the right use of the mind; then we say -they are insane, or crazy. That means that they do not know what they -are doing. They may try to kill themselves or other people, and they -must be locked up in strong rooms, so they can not get away and do -themselves or others harm. Sometimes they get well, but many live for -years in this sad con-di´tion. It often comes because people injure -their brains with strong drink. - -PERCY: Do not people who sell such drinks often stay up late at night? - -MOTHER: I think they nearly always do. The people who are at the -saloons should be in their beds, letting their brains and bodies rest. -When at last they go to bed, the brain is stupid because of the strong -drink they have taken. They lie in bed long after the sun is up, and -when they rise, they feel worn out instead of rested. The poor brain -bears such treatment for a time, but at last reason is gone, and the -person is ruined for life. - -ELMER: What a shame! I know one lad who will never go where beer and -whisky are sold, and who will have his sleep at night if he can get it. - -PERCY: And I know another. - -MOTHER: I trust that my boys will never do anything to hurt the brain -and drive sleep away. - - “Go to bed early--wake up with joy; - Go to bed late--cross girl or boy. - Go to bed early--ready for play; - Go to bed late--moping all day. - Go to bed early--no pains or ills; - Go to bed late--doctors and pills.” - - —_St. Nicholas._ - - - - - A WICKED THIEF - - -MOTHER: You know all houses are in danger from thieves. When no one is -watching, in the dark night, they come and steal our money and the most -precious things we have. There is also a bold thief who takes delight -in robbing the body-house. - -ELMER: But who can it be? I’m sure no one would want to steal me. - -AMY: Nor me. - -MOTHER: You know thieves always try to find some way to get into a -house when they wish to steal, and this robber is just like the rest. -It is a little over three hundred years old, and it grows more bold and -cunning every year. - -PERCY: Please tell us its name, mother. - -MOTHER: It is called Tobacco. It was first found in America when the -country was discovered, but it did not begin to steal from white men -for nearly one hundred years. Sir Walter Raleigh, of whom you will -learn in your history, took it from America to England. It is said that -Sir Walter one day sent his servant for some beer, and he came back -sooner than was expected. He was greatly frightened to see smoke coming -out of the mouth and nose of his master, and at once threw the beer -into his face to put the fire out, calling loudly for help, and saying -that his master was on fire inside, and would surely burn up. - -[Illustration: _Tobacco._] - -HELEN: It is a pity there are not more such servants now, for they -might cure some people of this filthy habit. - -ELMER: But why do you call tobacco a thief, mother? - -MOTHER: Because it steals. - -PERCY: But what does it steal? I thought people just chewed, smoked, -and snuffed it, and I can not see how that is stealing. - -MOTHER: It steals health. Its first effect is to cause sickness and -vomiting. Every servant in the body-house rises up in arms against it, -and there is a great uproar as they try to defend their master from -the deadly poison. The servants in the kitchen throw all there is in -that room out at the front door. The lungs throw it out headlong in the -breath. All the little waste-pipes in the skin work as hard as ever -they can to push it out that way. The kidneys, bowels, and, in fact, -every servant in the house, shows it the door, and will not let it stay -inside if he can help it. - -ELMER: But can’t the master keep it out? - -MOTHER: Yes, if he _would_. That is the trouble. But tobacco pretends -to be such a good friend, and makes so many good promises, that the -master believes its lies, and lets it in. Boys think they are almost -men if they can only smoke cigarettes. Some men say “a good smoke” -rests them when they feel tired. Others say they must have it “to keep -their food down.” Many smoke or chew because others do. And so tobacco -deceives them all. - -PERCY: But doesn’t tobacco do some good, mother? - -MOTHER: I have never heard of it if it does. The nicotin of tobacco -is such a deadly poison that one drop will kill a cat in about three -minutes. It does not take a large amount to kill a man in five minutes. -If a tea is made from it, it will cause death in three hours. Sometimes -soldiers who do not wish to do their duty will put a leaf of tobacco -under the arm or over the stomach to make them sick. - -AMY: I should think if it is such a poison it would kill people to use -it. - -MOTHER: It would if they took enough of it. You know arsenic is a -deadly poison, yet some people take it in small doses and live a long -time. When the servants of the body-house find that their master _will_ -use it whether it hurts them or not, they give up making so much -trouble as they did at first; but they still keep turning it out as -quietly as they can, and say but little about it. - -PERCY: But I heard an old man say he had used tobacco for fifty years, -and it never did him any harm. - -MOTHER: Perhaps he did not know how much it had harmed him. Alcohol -does not seem to hurt some people, and yet we have learned that it -works mischief in every part of the body; and it is the same with -tobacco. If such men do not suffer themselves, their children often -suffer in their stead. Because a few can use these poisons without -seeming injury, it does not make it safe for others to do so. While we -are learning how to care for the body, we should not ask, “Will this do -me _harm_?” but, “Will this habit do me any _good_?” Let us see what -good tobacco does. - -PERCY: It is good to kill sheep-ticks and plant-lice. - -MOTHER: That shows how deadly it is, and how unfit for any human being -to use in his body. - -HELEN: I do not think there are many persons who would say it does them -good. - -MOTHER: We find that its first effect is to take away the appetite; -and it hurts the stomach. Second, it does harm in the throat, making -the voice coarse and husky, and men sometimes have a disease known -as “smoker’s sore throat.” Third, it hurts the nerves, the wonderful -telephone system; the tobacco-user is nervous, cross, and hard to -please. Fourth, it weakens the eyes, and causes buzzing sounds in the -ears. Fifth, it makes the heart weak, so a doctor can tell by feeling a -man’s pulse whether he uses tobacco or not. His hands become unsteady, -and they tremble, and his heart trembles just as his hands do. - -PERCY: I think that is enough, mother, to show that tobacco does no -good, but a great deal of harm. - -MOTHER: There is one more thing I wish you to know about this poison, -and that is that it makes the master of the house weak. He feels so -happy and rested while he is taking his smoke, that he thinks surely -tobacco does him good and not evil. But the reason he _feels_ rested is -because his nerves have been put to sleep by the poison. Our nerves are -like a faithful watch-dog. The first thing tobacco does is to put the -nerves to sleep, just as a thief would kill a dog that would warn its -master of his coming. You can see, I think, what a foolish thing it is -for a boy or man to do anything which would put the faithful nerves to -sleep so they can not warn him of danger. - -ELMER: But, mother, do not the nerves wake up after a time? - -MOTHER: Indeed they do, and then if the man can not get his tobacco, -you will see how unhappy he can be; all his good nature and rested -feelings have passed away. He soon finds this out if he tries to leave -off the poison. He feels “all gone,” and thinks that he must have -something to brace him up. He becomes thirsty, and so the temptation -comes to use strong drink. A doctor who knows, has said, “Nine out -of ten of the boys and young men who become drunkards, have _first_ -learned to smoke or chew tobacco.” - -Tobacco makes that part of the mind which is called the “will” so weak -that thousands who use it have no strength to resist the temptation -to drink when it comes to them. Besides, the mind is so weakened that -they can not stop using tobacco even when they know it is hurtful to -them, but they say-- - - “For thy sake, tobacco, I - Would do anything but die.” - -And many even die because they have no strength to let it alone. Boys -think it makes them manly to smoke and chew. Manly, indeed! I wish I -could speak to every boy in every land to whom tobacco comes, and tell -them that if they wish to grow up clean, noble, unselfish, manly men, -they will _never_ taste tobacco. It does more to harm boys than men. -One doctor has said, “Boys and young men who use tobacco lose one-fifth -of the enjoyment and value, and at least one-tenth of the length of -their lives.” - -PERCY: But cigarettes are not very bad, are they, mother? I know many -of the boys in school smoke them. - -MOTHER: Bad! Indeed, they are very bad! They are made of the stumps -of old cigars picked up in the streets, and from other vile, filthy -things. Even the paper they are wrapped in, which seems so harmless, is -steeped in deadly drugs, which makes them still worse. They are made -and sold by millions, and thousands of boys are being ruined in mind -and body because of using them. I often read in the papers of the death -of some boy, caused by smoking cigarettes. I have no words to tell you -the mischief they do; and yet thousands of people think them harmless. - -AMY: I wish Uncle John wouldn’t kiss me, for he uses tobacco. - -HELEN: You are like the little girl it tells about in the verses I -learned. I will repeat them for you:— - - “‘What ails papa, mother?’ said a sweet little girl, - Her bright laugh revealing her teeth white as pearl; - ‘I love him and kiss him and sit on his knee, - But the kisses don’t smell good when he kisses me. - But, mama’--her eyes opened wide as she spoke-- - ‘Do _you_ like his nasty kisses of ’bacco and smoke? - They might do for boys, but for ladies and girls - I don’t think them nice,’ and she tossed her bright curls. - ‘Don’t somebody’s papas have moufs nice and clean, - With kisses like yours, mama--that’s what I mean? - I _want_ to kiss papa, I love him so well, - But kisses don’t taste good that have such a smell. - It’s nasty to drink, and smoke ’bacco, and chew; - The kisses ain’t good and ain’t sweet, ma, like you.’ - And her blossom-like face wore a look of disgust, - As she gave out her verdict, so earnest and just. - ‘Yes, yes, little darling, your wisdom has seen - That kisses for daughters and wives should be clean; - For kisses lose something of nectar and bliss - From mouths that are stained and unfit for a kiss.’” - -MOTHER: Yes, I read this poem in the last number of the -_Prohibitionist_, and I think every girl, big and little, should feel -just as this one has expressed it. When Horace Mann was asked where -gentlemen should smoke, he said, “Gentlemen never smoke.” Billy Bray -said, “If God had intended man to smoke, he would have put a chimney at -the top of his head to let the smoke out.” - -By giving up every bad habit we may help others to do the same. I must -tell you a short story about a friend of mine who helped a young man -stop using tobacco. - -AMY: Please tell it now, mother. - -MOTHER: She had often asked him not to use tobacco, but the habit was -so strong that he felt that he could not give it up. At last he said -one day: “I think you are as much a slave to tea as I am to tobacco. If -you will stop drinking tea, I will use no more tobacco.” That put the -matter in a new light, and she told him she would think about it. She -knew that tea contained a poison, and that it did her no real good, but -only harm; so she finally decided to drink it no more. When she next -met her friend, she told him that she would use no more tea, and in a -short time he left off using tobacco. - -ELMER: That must be what the Bible means when it says that we should -“provoke one another to good works.” - -MOTHER: Yes, that is one way. You know I said when we began talking -that tobacco was a thief. I will now tell you of something it steals -from the master of the house besides his health. - -PERCY: I wonder if it is money. I know that is what thieves almost -always try to get. - -MOTHER: You guessed it at once. Let us see how much this robber will -take from a man if he once lets it into the house. One who is a very -moderate smoker will spend about forty dollars a year for cigars. -People in England would call that sum seven or eight pounds. Suppose a -man should smoke thirty years. Here is an example for you, Amy. - -AMY: Twelve hundred dollars. How much would that be in English money? - - ┌────────┐ - │ $40 │ - │ 30 │ - │ ————— │ - │ $1,200 │ - └────────┘ - -MOTHER: About two hundred and forty-six pounds. That would buy him a -nice little home, would it not? Or if he was a lover of books, he could -get a good library for that sum. And you must remember that this is for -a _moderate_ smoker. A merchant said that by saving the money he would -have spent for cigars, he laid up twenty-nine thousand dollars, or -nearly six thousand pounds. If he had spent it for tobacco, what would -he have had for his money? - -PERCY: Smoke. - -AMY: A dirty mouth and bad breath. - -ELMER: A weak heart and weak nerves. - -HELEN: He might not have lived to smoke so long, and he might have been -a drunkard. - -MOTHER: Not very much that is good, for spending such a large sum of -money, I must say. - -PERCY: I once heard grandmother say that when she saw a man with a -lighted cigar, the thought came into her mind, “A fire at one end and -a fool at the other.” It does seem foolish to waste money that way. I -wish I had some of it that goes up in smoke to send me to college when -I am ready to go. - -MOTHER: Here is a picture which I think shows this matter in about the -right light. - -HELEN: Why, what are those people burning in that big fire? - -MOTHER: Money, money--nothing but money. Here is a rich man; he is -throwing in one thousand dollars; and here is another, who is bringing -one hundred pounds. Others are throwing in different sums, some less, -some more. See how many young men there are who need that money for -something else. - -ELMER: And see the workingmen, too. - -[Illustration: A crowd apparently burning money] - -MOTHER: Yes; and many of them have no homes, and they wear poor -clothes, and eat very plain food. They need many things. It may be the -wife at home has not had a new dress for years, and the children have -no shoes. - -AMY: And just see the little boys burning up their money, too! - -MOTHER: How very sad! They are only children, and yet they throw away -their pennies and dimes. What are all these people getting for their -money? - -HELEN: Smoke--nothing but smoke. - -MOTHER: They get smoke, it is true, but they also get pains and aches. -Tobacco laughs as it takes their money, and grows larger and stronger -every day. - -PERCY: But, mother, can nothing be done to stop their burning up money -like that? - -MOTHER: You think some one should call out, “Stop, thief!” do you? -Perhaps that was what King James, of England, thought; for when people -began using it in that country, he wrote a book, in which he said that -smoking was “loathsome to the eye, hateful to the nose, harmful to -the brain, and dangerous to the lungs.” The Russian Government tried -to put a stop to smoking by saying that if a person were caught using -tobacco, his nose should be cut off. Perhaps it was thought that people -who abuse smelling that way had no right to have a nose. The sultan of -Turkey once put to death those who smoked, or used snuff. - -PERCY: I should think such laws would have stopped its use in a little -while. - -MOTHER: They did not; for people can not be made to do right in that -way. They used it more than they had before. I think the best way is -for the master of every body-house to say, “I will never, no, _never_, -touch it; and I will do my best to let others know how hurtful it is, -so they will not use it.” Many, very many, do not know how much harm -tobacco does in the body, nor what a sinful waste of money it causes. -They spend it a few pennies at a time, and do not stop to think how -much it amounts to in a year or a lifetime. More money is spent for -tobacco than for bread. One hundred times as much money goes up in -tobacco smoke as is given to missions. Let us do all that we can to -prevent this waste. No bird or animal would ever be guilty of taking -into its body anything so harmful. - - - MINNIE AND HER CANARY. - - MINNIE’S REBUKE. - - “You were a naughty bird to-day; - It shocked me, do you know, - To see you fly from brother Frank, - And pick at cousin Joe. - - “Now tell me why you acted so; - There, don’t begin to sing, - But tell me why you were so rude, - You saucy little thing!” - - - THE BIRD’S REPLY. - - “I _had_ to leave your brother Frank, - Or else to stay and choke; - He had a nasty cigarette; - I could not stand the smoke. - - “And with your cousin Joe--oh, dear! - He put his mouth to mine, - And, oh! I thought I’d faint away, - For he’d been drinking wine. - - “The little birds don’t do such things; - No crow, or paroquet, - Or other bird, would swallow wine - Or smoke a cigarette.” - - - - - A CRUEL MURDERER - - -MOTHER: Bad as it is to steal, it is worse to kill. Dreadful as it -may seem, yet it is true that a murderer watches to get into the -body-house; and unless it is kept out, sooner or later it will ruin the -house and kill the master. It has different names, but the most common -are Cider, Beer, Wine, Ale, Brandy, and Whisky; but its real name is -Alcohol. I have some here in this bottle. - -ELMER: Why, it looks like clear water! - -MOTHER: So it does. Let us see if we can find out how it is different -from water. I will pour a little into this saucer. Percy, you may light -a match and hold close to it. - -AMY: Oh, it burns! - -MOTHER: Will water burn? - -HELEN: No, water puts out fire. - -MOTHER: Here is a tester. I will pour a little whisky in it and boil it -over this spirit lamp. Now the steam comes out. Percy, you may light a -match and hold it close to the steam. - -PERCY: Oh, see it burn! - -MOTHER: Will steam from the teakettle burn? - -AMY: No, mother. - -MOTHER: So you see the American Indians gave it a very good name when -they called it “fire-water.” Another difference between water and -alcohol is that water will freeze, but alcohol never freezes. I will -show you one thing more. Here is some oil in this bottle. If I should -pour in some water, would it mix with the oil? - -[Illustration Burning alcohol] - -PERCY: No; the oil would stay on top. - -MOTHER: But alcohol will mix with oil. Let us try again. Here is a -fresh egg broken into a glass. If I should pour some water over it and -stir them together, it would not change the looks of the egg. Instead -of water, I will pour in some alcohol. Now watch the mixture as I stir -them together. - -ELMER: Why, the egg looks as though it were cooked! It is getting hard. - -MOTHER: Yes, and if I should put a little piece of lean meat in -alcohol, it also would become hard. Now the reason that the egg or a -piece of meat becomes hard is because alcohol has such a liking for -water that it draws the water out, leaving the egg or meat hard and -dry. Alcohol does the very same thing in our bodies; that is, it takes -up the moisture in the nerves, muscles, and other parts; and I think -that must be why it creates such a terrible thirst, which can not be -satisfied. The poor man who drinks, thinks that he wants more alcohol, -when it is really for water, water, that every part of his body is -calling. I think you already see that alcohol is so different from -water, the drink that God made for man, that it was never intended that -we should drink it. - -PERCY: But how is alcohol made? - -MOTHER: Alcohol comes from death. Something must decay and die to -produce it. We do not find it in wheat or any other grain. Peaches, -plums, pears, apples, and grapes say, “It is not in me,” yet it can be -made from all of them. Do you remember when I was canning fruit how I -put it boiling hot into glass jars, and put the cover on as quickly as -I could, to keep the air out? - -HELEN: But why did you do that? - -[Illustration: “_Ferments._”] - -MOTHER: Because there are little germs, or “ferments,” in the air, and -if they should get into the fruit, it would decay, ferment. I once had -a jar of fruit spoil, and before I noticed it, it had turned to wine. -In wine and cider the ferments are not shut out, and they make it -“work,” ferment, or turn to alcohol. - -AMY: Is beer made in the same way? - -MOTHER: Very much the same. When a brewer makes beer, he takes some -corn, wheat, rye, or barley, puts it in a dark place, and wets it. -Soon it begins to sprout, or grow. The grain is dead. He dries it in -an oven to stop its growing, and the grain is then called malt. After -this he mashes the malt, soaks it in water, and drains off the liquid, -boils it, and puts in some yeast, which you know is made of millions of -little ferments. They are like seed; and millions more grow from them. -A dirty scum rises to the top, and alcohol has come to stay in the -liquid. It is the alcohol that makes it taste good to those who like -beer. - -ELMER: But where does alcohol like this you have shown us come from? - -MOTHER: By dis-til´ling wine or beer. - -AMY: What does “distil” mean? - -MOTHER: To distil means to fall in drops. See the drops of water gather -and fall as I hold this glass of ice-water in the steam coming from the -teakettle. The drops are distilled water. - -HELEN: Is that the way they distil wine and beer? - -[Illustration: _See the drops fall._] - -MOTHER: They could hardly do it in this way, but men found that by -boiling beer or any liquid having alcohol in it, and letting the steam -pass through a long tube called a “worm,” they got stronger alcohol. -You see the alcohol comes out in the steam, and as it passes through -the long tube, or coil, it is cooled, and drops into a cask. The -oftener it is distilled, the stronger it grows, that is, the more pure -alcohol there is in it. - -ELMER: But why do you call alcohol a murderer? - -MOTHER: Because it kills. Strong alcohol will kill any living thing. -Dr. Richardson, of England, has said: “There is no animal that may not -be affected by alcohol. A pigeon will take opium enough to kill several -men, and receive no harm; but alcohol will poison it. A goat can take -enough tobacco to kill several men, but it can not take alcohol.” - -HELEN: I once read of a minister in Wales who was drinking in an -ale-house, and he gave some of the drink to a tame goat. The animal -drank until it became drunk and fell down. The minister, too, became -so drunk that he had to be carried to his home. He was very sick the -next day, but the third day he again went to the ale-house and began -drinking. The goat was there, and he offered it more ale, but it would -not touch it. When the minister saw that a goat was wiser than himself, -he was so ashamed that he gave up drinking. - -[Illustration: _The goat would not touch it._] - -MOTHER: That was a sensible goat surely. There are many stories which -might be told about animals that have drunk alcohol, but, having -learned its effect, would never touch it again. It is a pity men are -not as wise. - -AMY: I do like stories, mother. Won’t you tell us one, please? - -[Illustration: “_This coon is trying to get a drink of beer._”] - -MOTHER: Here is a picture taken from life. This coon is trying to get -a drink of beer. A coon, like a man who gets an appetite for strong -drink, will do almost anything to satisfy his taste. I once read of a -man who had two tame coons. One, I am glad to say, was a temperance -coon, and, though his owner had barrels of beer, he never tried to get -a drink. The other by tasting learned to like beer, and he would do -many strange tricks to get it. One of his tricks was to go to a beer -barrel, and when he had partly unscrewed the tap, he would lie on his -back under it and drink till he was dead drunk. - -ELMER: I should think that was bad enough for a coon; he did not have -as much sense as the goat; but I think it is very much worse when a man -fills himself with beer. - -PERCY: But, mother, how do we know that alcohol is a poison? - -MOTHER: By the results which come from using it. Its first effect is -to make the body feel warm, and the extra blood sent to a man’s brain -makes him sing, talk, and feel very gay. He says things he would be -ashamed to say if sober. He thinks he is rich when he is poor, and that -he is very strong when he is really weaker than before. If he drinks -still more, his feet begin to go wrong; but I need not tell you how a -drunken man walks. - -AMY: He staggers. - -MOTHER: Now let us see _why_ he staggers. The poison in the drink he -has taken has put his small brain and the cord in his spinal column to -sleep. As they control the legs and the feet, he stumbles along, and -wonders why the sidewalk is so narrow and crooked, and why he can not -go where he wishes to. This is the second effect. - -[Illustration: Body on railway track] - -If you should hold a little alcohol in your mouth a few minutes, it -would feel numb. That is because the nerves in the mouth and tongue -are put to sleep so they can not taste or feel. If the man takes still -more drink, _all_ his brain goes to sleep. When men are drunk, the -nerves all over the body are asleep, so they do not know when they are -in danger. A man may fall down on a railroad track, and he will not -hear the train coming which will crush him to death. He may walk off -into a river from a bridge; but he sees no danger in taking the step. -He does terrible things that he would never think of doing if he had -not taken this poison. He will beat his wife, kill his children, or he -may commit other crimes that will cause him to be taken to prison. When -the effect of the poison has passed, sometimes he remembers nothing -that he has done, and knows not when he came or why he is there. - -ELMER: I should think men would know better than to take so much drink. - -MOTHER: There is no safety in even tasting it. When once this murderer -has them in its grasp, they have no power to help themselves. One glass -calls for two; two must be followed by four. The awful craving can not -be satisfied till the man can drink no more. - -HELEN: But proper food and drink do not make us feel that way. If I -eat two potatoes to-day, I don’t want six to-morrow; or if I take two -glasses of milk or water, it does not make me thirsty so I want four -more. - -MOTHER: That is true; and it shows that alcohol is neither food nor -drink. It is only such poisons as alcohol, tobacco, opium, and those -related to them, that create such an appetite. Alcohol finally brings -its victim to the last stage. - -AMY: What is that? - -MOTHER: The man becomes “dead drunk.” He is not quite dead, but he is -next door to it. He can not feel, hear, or see. His body is cold, much -like a corpse. If it were not for his heavy breathing, we would say he -is dead. Every part of the man he himself can control, has been handed -over to the murderer, alcohol. But his faithful heart stands by him -still. It suffers, too, but with painful effort it slowly beats, and -the air comes and goes in gasps. - -AMY: And does he gets well? - -MOTHER: Sometimes, and at other times he really dies. It is an awful -sight when a man by his own act brings himself so near to death. Not -long ago I read of a young man in this town who drank until he became -dead drunk. His friends who were with him put him in an old shed, and -in the morning he was found dead. This murderer alcohol had gained one -more victim. But there are other things this murderer brings to men. A -doctor was talking not long ago to a crowd of school-children, and he -asked them what would finally come to a man if he kept on drinking. - -“He will have the D. T.’s,” shouted one boy. - -PERCY: What did he mean by “D. T.’s,” mother? - -MOTHER: He meant de-lir´i-um tre´mens. - -HELEN: What is that? - -MOTHER: It is a sickness caused by alcohol. You have sometimes had bad -dreams when asleep; but in this disease the man has dreadful dreams -when he is awake. He thinks snakes and other creatures are crawling -over him. I once saw a little boy, not over ten years old, the son -of a drunkard, who had had de-lir´i-um tre´mens. He had his father’s -craving for strong drink; for a boy’s head inside is often like the -father’s, just as his hair, eyes, and features are like his. - -ELMER: What a dreadful thing alcohol must be! - -MOTHER: But it is guilty of other wrongs than these. Nearly all the -people who go to the insane asylums are sent there by it. It fills the -prisons with men and women, because it makes them unsafe to go free. It -sends people to the poor-house, and brings poverty, sickness, distress, -and broken hearts to thousands of people. No tongue can tell the -misery, sorrow, suffering, and agony it brings. - -HELEN: And isn’t more money spent for alcohol than for tobacco? - -MOTHER: Yes; the flames rise higher from the money thrown into this -fire than from the other. Nine hundred million dollars, or about one -hundred and eighty-six million pounds, are spent each year for this -murderer. Twice as much money is spent for alcohol as is used to buy -bread. Just think of it! But we can not even imagine this great waste -in money alone. Then add to that the sickness, tears, broken hearts, -ruined homes, the many deaths caused by it, and we can only wonder that -alcohol has not been banished from the world, never to return. It is -such a monster of evil that we can not understand it. - -PERCY: But, mother, if people only knew how much it costs, and how much -harm it does, would they not let it alone? - -MOTHER: Many would, and we must do all that we can to help and teach -them. Every one who suffers from alcohol should have our pity. You have -learned in our past talks how it does harm to the stomach, the liver, -the muscles, and the lungs, and, most of all, to the brain and nerves. -Just as this alcohol hardened the meat and egg, so alcohol works in -our bodies to hurt and destroy the wonderful living rooms of which the -body-house is made. - -Alcohol is a liar. Listen to what the wisest man who ever lived says -about it: “Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging; and who-so-ev´er -is deceived thereby is not wise.” - -Alcohol says, “I am a food, and will make your body warm.” - -Truth says: “It’s a lie. You do not feed any part of the body. It is -true that you make it feel a little warmer for a time, because all the -servants work so hard to throw you out; but the whole body is colder -afterward than at first.” - -Alcohol says, “I will make your body so plump and fat that you will -look very healthy.” - -Truth says: “It is true that you make the body fat. The liver ought to -weigh about four pounds, and you have made it sometimes weigh as much -as fifty. The fat you give is disease, not strength.” - -Alcohol says, “I will help you digest your food.” - -Truth says, “You hinder di-ges´tion, and make the food unfit to make -good blood.” - -Alcohol says, “Let me come in, and I will make you merry.” - -Truth says: “Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath con-ten´tions? who -hath babbling [foolish talk]? who hath wounds without cause? who hath -redness of eyes? They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek -mixed wine. Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth -his color in the cup, when it moveth itself aright. AT THE LAST IT -BITETH LIKE A SERPENT, AND STINGETH LIKE AN ADDER.” - - “Take a drink? No, not I! - Reason teaches better - Than to bind my very soul - With a galling fetter. - Water, sweet and cool and free, - Has no cruel chains for me. - - “Take a drink? No, not I! - I have seen too many - Foolish men by taking drinks - Stripped of every penny. - Water, sweet and cool and clear, - Costs me nothing all the year. - - “Take a drink? No, never! - By God’s blessing _never_ - Will I touch, or taste, or smell, - Henceforth and forever! - Water, sweet and clear and cool, - Makes no man a slave or fool.” - - —_S. S. Times._ - - - - - CHARACTER OF THE MASTER - - -MOTHER: We have now taken a hasty look at the larger rooms in the -body-house. I hope that the short visit we have made to each will -create in you all a wish to know more about them. Do not think you -have learned it all; for we have only begun to study its beauties and -wonders. - -HELEN: But why do we need to know so much about it? - -MOTHER: That you may be able to care for it properly, and “glorify God -in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.” We are not our own, -and some day we must give account for the way in which we have treated -this holy temple given into our care. “Whether therefore ye eat, or -drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.” - -The house we live in was not made for us simply to look at and admire -its beauty. It was made to be useful, as well as beautiful. We have -brains, to think and plan. We have eyes, to see what needs to be done, -and ears, to hear what we are told to do. We have two hands, with ten -fingers, which makes it easy for us to handle different objects; and -they must be taught to be skilful. We also have two feet, to carry us -wherever work needs to be done. A doll may be pretty, but it is not -very useful, for it can not do anything. - -PERCY: And there seems to be plenty of work to be done everywhere. - -MOTHER: There certainly is! Just think of how many houses must be -built, how many clothes must be made, how many breakfasts and dinners -must be cooked, how many schools there are to teach, how many fields to -plow, sow, and reap, how many books and papers to be made that we may -have something to read, and ever so many other kinds of work to be done -to make ourselves and others comfortable and happy. - -AMY: Can we children help? - -MOTHER: Yes, indeed; there is something for every boy and girl to do in -lifting burdens, and making the world better and brighter because they -have lived in it. - -ELMER: What can boys do? - -MOTHER: One of the best things which can be said of any boy is that -he is a real help at home. Of course he should go to school and learn -many things there; but he should also learn to work. A boy can learn -to drive a team, plow, hoe, plant, rake, and do the different kinds -of work to be done on a farm or in a shop. He should learn how to use -tools, the hammer, saw, plane, and others; for almost every man at some -time in his life needs to have knowledge of this kind. - -PERCY: Should boys ever do housework, mother? - -MOTHER: It is no disgrace to them to know how to wash dishes, make a -bed, sweep a floor, or to set the table. If they can do such things -they will be a help to mother as well as to father. They may bring -in the wood and coal, and so save many steps for mother and sister. -Nothing that a boy can do in the house makes him unmanly. It rather -marks as a true gentleman one who is able and willing to do whatever -needs to be done, no matter what it is. There is one other thing that -he should not fail to learn. - -HELEN: What is that? - -MOTHER: To keep his own room in order. He should hang up his clothes, -and have a place in which to keep his things, and see that they are -kept there. There is no reason why a boy’s sister should hang up his -coat and hat, put away his books, or keep his room in order. He can do -all these things for himself. I once went into a boy’s room after he -had dressed to go for a visit. It looked as though a small cyclone had -passed through it. Soiled clothes were on the table and under the bed. -A muddy boot was on a chair, and his jacket and trousers were thrown -in a heap in a corner. The bed was unmade. Dirty water stood in the -wash-basin. The comb was on the floor. All was confusion and disorder. -A dis-or´der-ly boy makes a dis-or´der-ly man. - -ELMER: But you haven’t told us what the girls should do. - -MOTHER: Some girls seem to think that if they can have a pale face, -white hands, and a slender form, this makes them ladies. But a girl -can be healthy, strong, and useful without being rough, coarse, or -unladylike. Perhaps you have seen girls who thought it was all right -for their mothers to cook, wash, scrub, and do all that must be done in -a home, but who seemed to think that their own hands were too pretty -and were not made to do that kind of work. Some one ought to whisper -to such girls that their hands are no better than their mother’s. Their -hands have ten fingers, just as hers have. They were made to work, just -as hers were; and they should be trained to be so loving and helpful -that those persons for whom they care most will not stop to ask if they -are white or brown. - -[Illustration: _Learning to sew._] - -HELEN: I am not afraid to use my hands, mother. What shall they be -taught to do? - -MOTHER: How to wash, to sweep, scrub, cook, and sew; how to make a bed, -and sweep in the very best way; how to wash and iron well. It may be -that girls who do this kind of work will get tired, and their backs and -arms will ache, but it will not hurt them. A night’s sleep will rest -the muscles and make them ready for another day’s work. It is right for -girls to excel at school; but while studying their books, they should -learn to be useful and lighten the burdens at home. - -AMY: But should girls work out-of-doors, mother? - -MOTHER: If they live where they can, it is well for them to do so, at -least to learn how to do some of the lighter work that comes to father -and brothers. They should be able to milk a cow, harness a horse, make -a garden, and do some of the lighter kinds of farm-work. Miss Frances -Willard was taught this when a girl, and it proved to be a lifelong -blessing. But in this, our last talk, we will take just a peep at the -rooms in which the master of the body-house lives. In these rooms no -one may enter but the master himself. - -PERCY: But where shall we find these rooms? - -MOTHER: They are in the _mind_. I must tell you before we go further -that they are our _thoughts_. I can not tell what you think about, and -you can not tell what is in my mind, only as we put our thoughts into -words. I wish I could help every boy and girl to feel how important it -is to have clean, good thoughts. “As he _thinketh_ in his heart, so -_is_ he;” that is, a person is no better than his thoughts are, and he -is just as good. If the thoughts are wrong, the person is all wrong, no -matter how good he may appear to be. - -HELEN: I found a little poem about our thoughts and put it in my -scrap-book. May I read it, mother? - -MOTHER: Please do; I know we all want to hear it. - -HELEN: Here it is:— - - “There were idle thoughts came in at the door, - And warmed their little toes, - And did more mischief about the house - Than any one living knows. - - “They scratched the tables and broke the chairs, - And soiled the floor and wall; - For a motto was written above the door, - ‘There’s a welcome here for all.’ - - “When the master saw the mischief done, - He closed it with hope and fear, - And he wrote above, ‘Let none - Save good thoughts enter here.’ - - “And the good little thoughts came trooping in, - When he drove the others out; - They cleaned the walls, they swept the floor, - And sang as they moved about. - - “And last of all an angel came, - With a kindly, shining face, - And above the door he wrote, ‘Here - Love has found a dwelling-place.’” - -MOTHER: That is very good. Let us all take for our motto, “Let none -save good thoughts enter here.” Now I think you understand that as we -are talking of passing through different rooms, we mean that we are in -the “chambers of the mind,” and we imagine that we are looking at a -person’s thoughts. We will look inside of just a few rooms, and from -them we can form an idea of the rest. - -ELMER: Where shall we go first? - -MOTHER: I think you will like to look in here, where the master keeps -his pets. He is fond of birds, cats, dogs, and all kinds of animals; -and where this room is large in the mind, you will find the master kind -to them all. He will not give them pain if he can help it, and takes -pleasure in making them happy. - -AMY: I think I should like to visit this room often. - -MOTHER: In this smaller room he keeps his money. Sometimes this room is -so small, and he cares for it so poorly, that he wastes about all that -he gets, and keeps very little. In some houses this room is very large, -and the master lives here nearly all the time. His greatest delight -is to shut himself in and count his money over and over. He becomes -very selfish by doing in this way, and he will not part with what he -has either for his own comfort or that of others. People who have such -large rooms, and use them in this way, are called misers. - -PERCY: I don’t want to be one. - -MOTHER: I am glad you do not. It is best to have only a medium-sized -room of this kind. Here is the room where Taste sends his messages. -If the room is very large, you may be sure that the master enjoys -nothing so much as something good to eat. This is not a good room in -which to spend much of one’s time, though every one should visit it -several times each day. There are quite a number of small rooms not -far from this one. In one the master goes to study his a-rith´me-tic. -In another, he measures things. In another, he has a pair of scales to -weigh them. In another, he keeps samples of all shades of colors. But -we can not stop in these small rooms. - -Ah, here is Memory Hall! Many persons like to spend most of their time -here. See what a great number of pictures are hanging on the wall. - -HELEN: O mother, let us stop and look at some of them! - -MOTHER: Perhaps I should first tell you that the master of every house -is all the time making pictures, whether he is an artist or not. His -acts, good and bad, make pictures in the mind. When they are finished, -he hangs them in this hall. Some are in dark corners, and he hardly -ever looks at them after they are made; he even forgets that he made -them. The masters of some houses spend many happy hours in this hall. -Others do not like to go near it. Their pain or pleasure depends on the -kind of pictures they have made. I have seen some who would weep in -sorrow of heart as they looked over the different pictures that they -had hung there, and some they would not for anything have any one see. -There is only One who can take away these sinful pictures, but He can -make them white as snow. - -ELMER: Then we ought to have all our actions such that pleasant -pictures will be hung in our hall of memory. - -MOTHER: I think so; but we will pass on to some of the higher, more -important rooms. Here we find the place where the master receives the -poor, and where his acts of kindness are done. In some houses this is -the smallest room of the whole. In others, it is large and lofty, and -the master spends much time there. He is so good and kind that people -can not help loving him when this is the case. - -AMY: This next room looks like a church. - -MOTHER: We might call it the chapel; for it is here that the master -goes to pray, and worship God. Some use this room a great deal; others, -very little. It is the highest, best room in the house, and the master -ought to visit it many times each day. - -PERCY: And what is this large room? - -MOTHER: This is where the master thinks things over, and “makes up his -mind,” as we say. This is the “will” room; that is, the person decides -what he will or will not do. This is an important room indeed. It is -a good thing to have a good, strong will if we only _will_ to do the -right thing, for it helps any one in doing right; but if he is doing -wrong, it causes him to do more wrong. - -To show what I mean, we will say that a man who has been drinking -beer or cider learns that the reason he likes these drinks is because -there is alcohol in them, and he sees that they will do him harm, and -that the more he drinks them, the more he will want them. He doesn’t -want weak muscles, a bloated body, a fatty liver, or a weak brain and -nerves. He does not wish to go to the insane asylum, to the jail, to -the poor-house, or into a drunkard’s grave. But he likes the alcohol. -It is hard to give it up, and his friends will call him a “temperance -man,” and will jeer at him, and say that he is a coward. Now what -will he do? He goes into his “will room,” and he says to himself: “I -have been a slave long enough. From now on I will be master of this -body-house. It makes no difference how loudly Taste may call, nor how -badly I want him to have his own way, I WILL NOT give up, God helping -me, and I am going to put my will on the right side of this question.” - -ELMER: Couldn’t he overcome any other bad habit in just the same way? - -MOTHER: Yes; whether he wants food that is not good, or too much of -that which is good; whether he wishes to leave off using tobacco, or -other bad habits of any kind, when he gets his will on the right side, -the battle is more than half over. - -AMY: Then a person can not have too much will. - -MOTHER: Not if he wills to do right; but if he places his will on the -wrong side, it is a sad thing. Sometimes he wills to have his own way, -no matter how it may affect himself or others, and that is bad for him -and for his friends. - -Here is a room where the master measures people. We can imagine that -they stand about like statues, and some he places high in his esteem, -and the others lower down. I think about the worst thing he could do -would be to place himself higher than any one else. Boys and girls are -sometimes in danger of doing this, even thinking that they know more -than their father and mother. It is well to have a fair-sized room of -this kind, but bad to have one which is large. We shall not have time -to visit more of the rooms to be found in the mind, though there are -many others that we might visit. - -HELEN: I wish we might hear about all of them. - -MOTHER: You may, as you grow older. You must be very careful to have -the master of your own house live in the best and highest rooms. -Strange as it may seem, yet it is true that the rooms he stays in most -will grow larger the more they are used. Some live in the lower, poorer -rooms all their lives. The people we love best spend most of their time -in the highest rooms. - -PERCY: Is there any way by which we can tell where the master spends -most of his time? - -MOTHER: Yes; clean, kind thoughts make marks on our faces, and wicked, -cruel thoughts leave their print also. Our thoughts pull up or draw -down the corners of the mouth, and they make little wrinkles under -the eyes and in the forehead. Sometimes they make little holes in the -cheeks, which we call dimples. If our thoughts are kind, pleasant, -happy thoughts, they draw the corners of the mouth upward; the wrinkles -are smoothed out of the forehead, and there are some merry ones which -gather round the eyes and make the face look so pleasant that we want -to get near its owner and become better acquainted. - -AMY: I didn’t know that our thoughts looked out in our faces. - -MOTHER: If either good or bad thoughts come to live in your mind all -the time, they will print themselves on your face and change your -looks. The good thoughts will make your face beautiful, though your -hair may be as straight as an Indian’s, your nose crooked, and your -mouth large. On the other hand, though your hair may curl, your skin be -as fair as a peach blossom, your features be perfect, yet if you let -bad thoughts live in the mind, your face will no longer look lovely to -others. It is only a kind, unselfish heart that can give true beauty. - -HELEN: I have often wished that I might be pretty, like some of the -girls at school, but I know now how to be lovable if I am not beautiful. - -MOTHER: There are a few other things which will help you to have a -good-looking face. First, keep it clean. Then the next thing is to eat -good food, that you may have a clear, healthy skin and bright eyes. -You should also be careful to brush your teeth, that these little -guards may always be dressed in the cleanest of white uniforms. Then -keep your hair in good order. Brush it often, and keep the whole head -sweet and clean. If you do these things, you will always be pleasant to -look at. - -I was reading not long ago about a little girl who was told of the -wrinkles that smiles leave on our faces, and the wrinkles that scowls -leave, as well as those left by pain, thought, and care. The child -listened, and then said brightly, “My grandma has _lots_ of wrinkles, -but they’re all _smile_ wrinkles, _every one of them_.” - -So, my children, as the days pass by, see that your mind is pleasant, -and your body-temple kept clean and pure. Thus you will live useful -lives, and be a blessing to yourselves and others. - - “If I knew the box where the smiles are kept, - No matter how large the key - Or strong the bolt, I would try so hard, - ’Twould open, I know, for me. - Then over the land and the sea, broadcast, - I’d scatter the smiles to play, - That the children’s faces might hold them fast - For many and many a day. - - “If I knew a box that was large enough - To hold all the frowns I meet, - I would like to gather them every one, - From nursery, school, and street; - Then, folding and holding, I’d pack them in, - And, turning the monster key, - I’d hire a giant to drop the box - To the depth of the deep, deep sea.” - - - - - BOOKS FOR THE YOUTH - - _A quarter of a million copies of_ - - The Gospel Primer - - -Have been published. - -This book has found favor in thousands of Christian homes. - -The present edition has been carefully revised, and new and interesting -features have been added. - -By the simplest methods, and by carefully graduated steps, the child -is taught to read, and at the same time the mind is educated in Bible -story and Christian principles. - -Invaluable text book for every parent and teacher. - -Profusely illustrated. - - . . _PRICES_ . . - - _Cloth_ _50 cents_ - _Board_ _25 cents_ - - - - - _The Children’s Favorite_ - - The Gospel Reader - - -A new book for the young. - -Carefully written and beautifully illustrated. - -Contains 35 chapters, 22 engravings, and 192 pages. - -Full of practical lessons and Bible incidents. - -This book is written in such an entertaining manner that it will create -a desire in the mind of the youth for further scriptural reading and -Bible study. - -It should be secured for every home and Sabbath-school library. - - . . _PRICES_ . . - - _Cloth_ _75 cents_ - _Board, cloth back_ _50 cents_ - - - - - _The “Theme of Themes” - The “Old, Old Story of the Cross” - is beautifully presented in the_ - - Story of Redemption - - -From Paradise Lost to Paradise Restored. - -About 250 pages, printed in colors, well illustrated, and attractively -bound. - -New and beautiful truths are brought to light by the author, adding -luster and pathos to the wonderful story of salvation. - -Of intense interest to young and old. - -This is a beautiful presentation or library volume. - -It is highly valued by those who have secured copies. - - . . _PRICES_ . . - - _Cloth, gilt edges_ _$1.25_ - _Cloth, colored edges_ _1.00_ - - - - - BOOKS FOR THE YOUTH - - . . _The_ . . - - Young People’s Library - - -Reduced in Price to 50 cents per volume. - -The following books of this favorite series are attractively bound in -cloth, and nicely illustrated: - - JACK THE CONQUEROR - FIJI AND SAMOA - LIFE ON THE KONGO - MARTIN LUTHER - LEFT WITH A TRUST - AMONG THE NORTHERN ICEBERGS - TONGA ISLANDS - NATIVE LIFE IN INDIA - SAVONAROLA - JOHN OF WYCLIFFE - LETTERS FROM THE HOLY LAND - TWO CANNIBAL ARCHIPELAGOES - -_The paper-covered volumes have been reduced to 25 cents._ - - - Pacific Press Publishing Company, Oakland, California - - _39 Bond Street, New York City_ - _18 West Fifth Street, Kansas City, Mo._ - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN OR THE MAKING -OF THE BODY *** - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the -United States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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