John 3-ett
AN ABRIDGMENT
HYGIENIC PHYSIOLOGY,
WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE T
ALCOHOLIC DRINKS AND NARCOTICS.
FOR THE USE OF JUNIOR CLASSES AND COMMON SCHOOLS.
BY
JOEL DORMAN STEELE PH.D.
A. S. BARNES & COMPANY,
NEW YORK AND CHICAGO.
(Copyright, 1873, 188k.)
tiVCftl I*":
. . ',* . "PME* FbORTEEN-WEEKS SERIES
IN
NATURAL SCIENCE
BY
J. DORMAN STEELE, PH.D., F.G.S.
New Physics. Human Physiology.
New Chemistry. Zoology.
Popular Geology. Botany.
New Descriptive Astronomy.
Hygienic Physiology.
Hygienic Physiology, Abridged.
The Publishers can supply (to Teachers only) a Key containing Answers
to the Questions and Problems in Steele's entire Series.
__:_^
BARNES' HISTORICAL SERIES,
ON THE PLAN OF
STEELE'S FOURTEEN-WEEKS IN THE SCIENCES.
A Brief History of the United States.
A Brief History of France.
A Brief History of Ancient Peoples.
A Brief History of Mediaeval and Modern Peoples.
A Brief General History.
A Brief History of Greece.
A Brief History of Rome. (Nearly Ready.)
A Popular History of the United States.
SUGGESTIONS TO TEACHERS.
OEEING is believing, more than that, it is often
O knowing and remembering. The mere reading
of a statement is of little value compared with the
observation of a fact. Every opportunity should
therefore be taken of exhibiting to the pupil the
phenomena described, and thus making them real.
It is hoped that the simple Experiments scattered
through the text will be performed. The skilful
teacher will be able to draw from them much valu-
able instruction. A microscope is indispensable to
the proper understanding of Physiology. A suitable
instrument and carefully prepared specimens show-
ing the structure of the bones, the skin, and the
blood of various animals, the pigment cells of the
eye, etc., may be obtained at a small cost from the
Publishers of this book.
On naming the subject of a paragraph, the pupil
should be prepared to tell all he knows about it. No
failure should discourage the teacher in establishing
this mode of study and recitation. A little practice
will produce the most satisfactory results. The un-
expected question and the apt reply develop a certain
5 43510
6 SUGGESTIONS TO TEACHERS.
sharpness and readiness which are worthy of cultiva-
tion. The Practical Questions, the Questions for
Review, or any other that the wit of the teacher may
suggest, can be effectively used to break the mono-
tony of a topical recitation, thereby securing the
benefits of both systems. Many additional Practical
Questions, and interesting Notes will be found in the
Hygienic Physiology.
The pupil should expect to \>e questioned each day
upon any subject passed over during the term, and
thus the entire knowledge gained will be within his
grasp for instant use. While some are reciting to the
teacher, let others write on slates or on the black-
board. At the close of the recitation let all criticise
the ideas, the spelling, the use of capitals, the pronun-
ciation, the grammar, and the mode of expression.
Greater accuracy and much collateral drill may thus
be secured at little expense of valuable school-time.
The Introduction is designed merely to furnish
suggestive material for the first lesson, preparatory
to beginning the study. Other topics may be found
in the questions given in the Appendix.
To the description of each organ is appended an
account of its most common diseases, accidents, etc. ,
and, when practicable, their mode of treatment. A
pupil may thus learn, for example, the cause and cure
of a cold, the management of a wound, or the nature
of an inflammation.
In the Appendix will be found Questions for Re-
view, Hints about the sick-room, Suggestions as to
"what to do till the doctor comes," Antidotes for
poisons, a Glossary, and an Index.
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
PAGE
INTRODUCTION 9
I.
THE SKEL ETON 11
I I.
THE MUSCLES 25
III.
THE SKIN 35
I V .
RESPIRATION AND THE VOICE 49
V.
THE CIRCULATION ^7
VI.
DIGESTION AND FOOD 91
VII.
THE NER VOUS SYSTEM. . 115
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
VIII.
PAGE
THE SPECIAL SENSES 139
1. TOUCH 139
2. TASTE 141
3. SMELL 142
4. HEARING 143
5. SIGHT 145
IX.
CONCLUSION 155
X.
APPENDIX 159
1. HINTS ABOUT THE SICK-ROOM 159
2. DISINFECTANTS l6o
3. WHA T TO DO " TILL THE DOCTOR COMES 1 ' 160
4. ANTIDOTES TO POISONS 166
5. QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW 168
6. GLOSSARY 183
7. INDEX 189
INTRODUCTION.
PHYSIOLOGICAL STUDY in youth is of in-
estimable value. Precious lives are frequently
lost through ignorance. Thousands squander
in early years the strength which should have been kept
for the work of real life. Habits are often formed in
youth which entail weakness and poverty upon manhood,
and are a cause of life-long regret. The use of a strained
limb may permanently damage it. Some silly feat of
strength may produce an irreparable injury. A thought-
less hour of reading by twilight may impair the sight for
life. A terrible accident may happen, and a dear friend
perish before our eyes, while we stand by powerless to
render the assistance we could so easily give did we " only
know what to do." The thousand little hints which may
save or lengthen life, may repel or abate disease, and the
simple laws which regulate our bodily vigor, should be so
familiar that we may be quick to apply them in an emer-
gency. The preservation of health is easier than the cure
of disease. Childhood cannot afford to wait for the les-
son of experience which is learned only when the penalty
of violated law has been already incurred, and health
irrevocably lost.
Nature's Laws Inviolable. In infancy, we learn
how terribly Nature punishes a violation of certain laws,
and how promptly she applies the penalty. We soon find
out the peril of fire, falls, edged-tools, and the like. We
fail, however, to notice the equally sharp and certain
10 INTRODUCTION.
punishments which bad habits entail. We are quick to
feel the need of food, but not so ready to perceive the
danger of an excess. A lack of air drives us at once to
secure a supply ; but foul air is as fatal, yet gives us no
warning.
Nature provides a little training for us at the outset of
life, but leaves the most for us to learn by bitter expe-
rience. So in youth we throw away our strength as if it
were a burden of which we desired to be rid. We eat
anything, and at any time ; do anything we please, and
sit up any number of nights with little or no sleep. Be-
cause we feel only a momentary discomfort from these
physical sins, we fondly imagine when that is gone we are
all right again. Our drafts upon our constitution are
promptly paid, and we expect this will always be the case;
but some day they will come back to us protested; Nature
will refuse to meet our demands, and we shall find our-
selves physical bankrupts.
We are furnished in the beginning with a certain vital
force upon which we may draw. We can be spendthrifts
and waste it in youth, or be wise and so husband it to
manhood. Our shortcomings are all charged against this
stock. Nature's memory never fails : she keeps her ac-
count with perfect exactness. Every physical sin sub-
tracts from the sum and strength of our years. We may
cure a disease, but it never leaves us as it found us. We
may heal a wound, but the scar still shows. We reap as
we sow, and we may either gather in the thorns, one by
one, to torment and destroy, or rejoice in the happy har-
vest of a hale old age.
THE SKELETON.
THE Skeleton, or framework of the " House we
live in," is composed of about 200 bones. The
number varies in different periods of life, several
which are separated in youth becoming united in old
The Uses of the Bones are chiefly : First, to pro-
tect the delicate organs within us ; Second, to aid the
muscles in producing motion ; and Third, to keep
the body in shape.
The Forms of the Bones are adapted to their
various uses.
Experiment. Cut a sheet of foolscap into two pieces. Make of one
a firm, hollow roll, and of the other a close, flat strip. Support the ends
of each, and hang weights in the middle. The roll will bear a much heavier
weight than the strip.
Now, in our limbs, we need size, strength, and
lightness, in order to carry burdens, to bear the body
in walking, and to furnish a support for the muscles ;
hence, we here find long, round, hollow bones. Over
cavities we have flat bones, and where we require
strength in a small space we have short, thick ones.
The Bones are Composed of animal and mineral
matter, the proportion varying with the age.
Experiments. 1. Take two bones. Soak one in weak muriatic acid,
and burn the other in the fire. The shape of both will remain unchanged,
THE SKELETON.
HuV^S? oTiB'beco t me;s.'i tqugh, gristly substance (cartilage), while the other
can be crumbled into powder. The acid has destroyed the mineral, the fire
has consumed the animal, matter. 2. Mix a wineglass of muriatic acid
with a pint of water, and place in it a sheep's rib. In a day or two, the
bone will be so soft that it can be tied into a knot. 3. In the same way,
an egg may be made so pliable that it can be crowded into a narrow-necked
bottle, within which it will expand, and become an object of great curiosity
to the uninitiated. 4. Compare the breast-bone of a young and an old fowl.
We thus see that a bone receives hardness and
Fig. 2. rigidity from its mineral, and tenacity
and elasticity from its animal, matter.
All b(jnes are at first either simple
tissue or cartilage, which gradually os-
sifies (turns to bone). Certain portions
near the joints ossify very slowly, and
so, meantime, keep tough and elastic.
Hence the bones of children are not
readily fractured, and when broken
easily heal again ; while those of elderly
people are liable to fracture, and do not
quickly unite.
The Structure of the Bones may be
easily illustrated.
Experiments. 1. Saw a bone lengthwise. You
will find it filled with a spongy substance. At the ends,
where size is required to make a strong joint, this filling
is abundant and porous ; while, near the middle, where
strength alone is needed, the bone itself is thicker.
Each fiber of this filling eases the shock of a sudden
blow. 2. Examine a freshly-cut bone. It is not the
The thigh-bone^or dry, lifeless thing you may have supposed, but a moist,
Ur^ihwlse. pinkish structure, covered with a ^ough membrane, and
containing a rich fat marrow, full of blood-vessels.
GROWTH OF THE BONES. 3'
3. Put a thin slice under the microscope. You will 'see* MacV spbtS, ^fath ''
lines running in all directions, and looking very like minute insects. The
spots are little cavities, and the lines are tiny tubes.
Growth of the Bones. The blood circulates freely
through the bones, and the whole bone-structure is
constantly but slowly changing, old material being
taken out and new put in. A curious illustration is
seen in the fact that if madder be mixed with the
food of pigs, it will tinge their bones red.
Repair of the Bones. If you break a bone, the
blood at once oozes out of the fractured ends. After-
ward comes a watery fluid, which in a fortnight
thickens to a gristly substance strong enough to hold
them together. Bone-matter is then slowly depos-
ited, which in five or six weeks will unite the broken
parts.
A broken limb should always be held in place by
splints ; a sudden jar might rupture the partially-
mended break. As, for a long time, the new portion
consists largely of animal matter, and so is tender
and pliable, great care is necessary to prevent a mis-
shape of the bone.
The Joints are packed with a soft, smooth carti-
lage, or gristle. In addition, the ends of the bones
are covered with a thin membrane that secretes a
fluid, not unlike the white of an egg, which prevents
the noise and wear of friction. The body is the only
v "
niachine that oils itself.
The bones which form the joint are tied with stout
ligaments, or bands, of a smooth, silvery-white tis-
sue, so strong that the bones are sometimes broken
without injuring the fastenings.
THE SKELETON.
Fiq. 3.
The 8fcuZl.l, frontal bone ; 2, parietal bone ; 5, temporal bone ; A, the sphenoid
bone ; 5, ethmoid bone ; 6, superior maxillary (upper jaw) bone ; 7, malar bone
8, lachrymal bone ; 9, nasal bone ; 10, inferior maxillary (lower jaw) bone
Classification of the Bones. For convenience, the
bones of the skeleton are considered in three divi-
sions : the head, the trunk, and the limbs.
1. The Head. THE BONES OF THE SKULL AND FACE
form a cavity for the brain. None moves except the
lower jaw, which is hinged at the back.
Experiment. Try in how many different directions you can move
your jaw, and find what muscles you use.
THE SKULL-BONES are composed of two compact
plates, with a spongy layer between. These are in
several pieces, the outer ones being joined by notched
edges (sutures, sut'yurs) in a way carpenters term
dove-tailing.
THE TRUNK.
15
Fig. U.
The skull is, in fact, a strong bone-box which shel-
ters the brain an organ so delicate that, if unpro-
tected, an ordinary blow would destroy it. Its egg
shape adapts it to resist pressure.
The smaller and stronger end is in
front, where the danger is greatest.
Projections before and behind shield
the less protected parts. The hard
plates resist, and the spongy packing
deadens, every blow. The dove-tailed
joinings disperse jars and prevent
fractures from spreading, while the
frequent openings afford safe pas-
sage for nerves and blood-vessels to
the other parts of the body.
2. The Trunk. THE TRUNK has two
important cavities. The upper part,
or chest, contains the heart and the
lungs, and the lower part, or abdomen,
holds the stomach, liver, kidneys, and
other organs (Fig. 27). The principal
bones are those of the spine, the ribs,
and the hips.
THE SPINE consists of twenty-four
les (vertebra), between which are
placed pads of cartilage. Within the
column is a canal for the spinal cord.
Strong projections at the back and
on either side are abundant for the
attachment of the muscles. The
packing acts as a cushion to prevent the jar from
reaching the brain when we jump or run while the
double curve disperses the force of a fall.
16 THE SKELETON.
THE PERFECTION OF THE SPINE surpasses all human
contrivances. A chain of twenty-four bones is at
once so stiff that it will bear a heavy burden, and so
flexible that it will bend like rubber. Resting upon it,
the brain is borne without a tremor ; clinging to it, the
vital organs are carried without fear of harm ; and,
snugly hidden within it, lies a delicate nerve that
would thrill with the slightest touch.
A
B, the first cervical vertebra, the atlas ; A, the atlas, and the second cervical vertebra
the axis ; e, the odontoid process ; c, the foramen.
THE JOINT BETWEEN THE SKULL AND THE SPINE is
A VERY PECULIAR ONE. On the top of the upper
vertebra (atlas) are two little hollows (a, b, Fig. 5),
into which fit the corresponding projections on the
lower part of the skull, and thus the head can rock
to and fro. The second vertebra (axis) has a peg, e,
which projects through a hole, c, in the first. Thus,
when we move the head side wise, the atlas turns
round the peg of the axis.
THE BIBS, also twenty-four in number, are ar-
ranged in pairs on each side of the chest. At the
back, they are all attached to the spine. In front,
the upper seven pairs are tied by cartilages to the
breast-bone ; three are fastened to each other and
THE TRUNK. 17
the cartilage above, and two, the floating ribs, are
loose.
If the chest-wall were a single, thick bone, it
would be heavy, and unwieldy. As it is, the long,
The Thorax, or Chest: a, the sternum, or breast-bone; b to c, the true ribs: d
to h, the false ribs ; g, h, the floating ribs ; i k, the dorsal vertebrae..
slender ribs, the arched form, and the connecting
cartilages furnish lightness, strength, and elasticity,
just what we need to breathe easily, and, at the
same time, to protect the delicate organs within.
The natural chest is smaller at the top than at the
bottom, but our tight clothing often reverses this
shape.
THE HIP-BONES form a kind of basin (pelvis). In
the upper part, is the foot of the spinal column a
wedge-shaped bone firmly planted between the solid
18
THE SKELETON.
bones of the hip, like the keystone to an arch, a
steady support to the heavy burden above.
Fig. 7.
The Pelvis (a basin) ; a, the sacrum (sacred) ; b, b, the right and left innominata, cr
Fig. 8.
3. The Limbs. Two SETS OF LIMBS branch from
the trunk, viz. : the upper, and
the lower. They closely resem-
ble each other. The arm cor-
responds to the thigh ; the
fore-arm, to the leg ; the wrist,
to the ankle ; the fingers, to the
toes.
1. THE UPPER LIMBS. The
Shoulder. The bones of the
shoulder are the collar-bone
(clavicle), and the shoulder-
blade (scapula).
The clavicle is a long, slen-
der bone, shaped like the Italic
The Shoulder-joint : a, the clav- / T j. .< j. ' j j. -ij.
icie ; b, the scapula. / J-t is fastened, at one end to
THE LIMBS.
19
Fig. 9.
the breast-bone and the first rib, and, at the other,
to the shoulder-blade. It thus holds the shoulder-
joint out from the chest, and gives the arm greater
play.
The Shoulder-blade is a thin, flat, triangular bone,
fitted to the top and back of the chest, making a
foundation for the muscles of the shoulder.
The Shoulder-joint. The arm-bone, or humerus,
is attached to the shoulder-blade by a ball-and-socket
joint. This consists of a cup-like cavity in the latter
bone, and a rounded head in the former to fit it,
thus allowing a free rotary motion. The shallow
socket causes a frequent dis-
location of this joint, but a
deep one would spoil the easy
swing of the arm.
The Elbow. At the elbow,
the humerus is attached to
the ulna a slender bone on
the inner side of the fore-arm
by a hinge- joint which ad-
mits of motion only backward
and forward. The head of the
radius, or large bone of the
fore-arm, is convex at the
elbow, and fits into a shallow
cavity in the ulna, while at
the wrist the ulna plays in a
similar socket in the radius.
Thus the radius may roll over
the ulna. Bones of right Fwe-arm; B.,tM
rm, Trr - j. 4. humenis ; R, the radius; U, Ot*
The Wrist consists of two u ina.
THE SKELETON.
Fig. 10.
rows of irregular bones, one of which is attached to
the fore-arm; the other, to the hand. They are
placed side to side and so firmly fastened as to admit
of only a gliding motion. This gives little play, but
great strength, elasticity, and power of resisting
shocks.
The Hand. The bones of the palm support each a
thumb or finger. Each finger has three bones, but
the thumb has only two.
The first bone of the thumb,
standing apart from the
rest, enjoys a special free-
dom of motion, and adds
greatly to the usefulness of
the hand.
The first bone of each
finger is so attached to the
corresponding bone of the
palm as to move in several
directions upon it, but the
others have simple hinge -
joints.
The fingers are named in
order : the thumb, the in-
dex, the middle, the ring,
and the little finger. Their different lengths cause
them to fit the hollow of the hand when it is closed,
and probably enable us more easily to grasp objects
of varying size.
Bones of the Hand and the Wrist.
Experiment. If you clasp a ball with your hand, the tips of your
fingers will form a straight line.
The Hip-joint.
2. THE LOWER LIMBS. The Hip. The thigh-bone,
or femur, which, at every step, has to bear our
weight, is the largest and strongest in the skeleton.
It is attached to the hip-bone by a ball-and-socket
joint. Unlike the shoulder- joint, the cup here is
deep, thus affording less play, but greater strength.
The Knee is strengthened by the knee-pan (patella,
little dish), a chestnut-shaped bone firmly fastened
over the joint.
The shin-bone (tibia), the large, triangular bone
on the inner side of the leg, is attached to both the
femur and the foot by a hinge- joint. The knee-joint
admits of a slight rotary motion when the limb is
not extended.
The fibula (fibula, a clasp), the small, outside bone
of the leg, is strongly bound at both ends to the tibia
22 THE SKELETON.
(Fig. 1). It is immovable, and, as the tibia bears the
principal weight of the body, the chief use of this
second bone seems to be to give more surface to
which the muscles may be attached.
The Foot. The graceful arch of the foot, and the
numerous bones joined by cartilages (Fig. 1), give an
elasticity to the step that could never be attained by
a single, flat bone. The toes naturally lie straight
forward in the line of the foot. Few persons in civ-
ilized nations, however, have naturally-formed feet.
The big toe is crowded upon the others, while crossed
toes, in-growing nails, corns, and bunions abound.
The cause of these deformities is found in the shape
and size of fashionable boots and shoes. Narrow
points pinch our toes, and compel them to override
one another ; narrow soles compress the arch ; while
high heels, by throwing all the weight forward on
the toes, strain and enlarge the ankle.
When we are measured for boots or shoes, we
should stand on a sheet of paper, and have the shoe-
maker mark with a pencil the exact outline of our
feet as they bear our whole weight. When the shoe
is made, the sole should exactly cover this outline,
while the heels should be low, flat, and broad.
Diseases. 1. THE RICKETS are caused by a lack of mineral matter
in the bones, rendering them soft and pliable, so that they bend under the
weight of the body. The disease is cured by a more nutritious diet, or by
taking phosphate of lime to supply the lack.
2. BOWLEGS are produced by children standing on their feet before the
bones of the lower limbs are strong enough to bear their weight. A young
child should never be urged to stand. Nature will set him on his feet
when the proper time comes.
PRACTICAL QUESTIONS. 23
3. CURVATURE OF THE SPINE. When the spine is bent, the packing
between the vertebrae becomes compressed on one side into a wedge-like shape.
After a time, it will lose its elasticity, and the spine become distorted. This
occurs in the case of students who bend forward to bring their eyes nearer
their books, instead of lifting their books nearer their eyes, or who raise
their right shoulder above their left when writing at a desk which is too
high. Round shoulders, small, weak lungs, and, oftentimes, diseases of
the spine are the consequences. An erect posture in reading or writing
conduces not alone to beauty of form, but also to health of body.
4. SPRAINS are produced when the ligaments which bind the bones of
a joint are strained, twisted, or torn from their attachments. They are
quite as harmful as a broken bone, and require careful attention, lest they
lead to a crippling for life. The use of a sprained limb may permanently
impair its strength.
5. A DISLOCATION is produced by the rupture of the tissues of the joint
so that the head of the bone is driven out of its socket and into some other
place both by the force of the blow which caused the injury and by the
contraction of the muscles.
PRACTICAL QUESTIONS.
1. Why does not a fall hurt a child as much as it does a grown person ?
2. Should a young child ever be urged to stand or walk ?
3. What is meant by "breaking one's neck " ?
4. Should chairs or benches have straight backs ?
5. Should a child's feet be allowed to dangle from a high seat ?
6. Why can we tell whether a fowl is young by pressing on the point oi
the breast-bone ?
7. What is the use of the marrow in the bones ?
8. Why is the shoulder so often put out of joint ?
9. How can you tie a knot in a bone ?
10. Why are high pillows injurious ?
11. Why should we not wear narrow-toed shoes ?
12. Should a boot have a heel-piece ?
THE SKELETON.
13. Why should one always sit and walk erect ?
14. Why does a young child creep rather than walk ?
15. What is the natural direction of the big toe ?
OF THE
Frontal Bone (forehead).
Two Parietal bones.
1 CRANIUM ' Two Tem P oral (temple) bones.
1. URANIUM -, Sphenoid bone.
I Ethmoid (sieve-like bone at root of nose).
(_ Occipital bone (back and base of skull).
( Two Superior Maxillary (upper jaw) bones.
O I Inferior Maxillary (lower jaw) bone.
^ ^ Two Malar (cheek) bones.
H I | Two Lachrymal bones.
J ' ii FACE < Two Turbinated (scroll-like) bones, each side
(Ik bones). of nose.
5 *, Two Nasal bones (bridge of nose).
1 Vomer (the bone between the nostrils).
Two Palate bones.
: f Hammer.
3. EARS - Anvil.
I (6 bones). ( Stirrup.
( Cervical Vertebrae (seven vertebrae of the neck).
1. SPINAL COLUMN. < Dorsal Vertebrae (twelve vertebrae of the back).
( Lumbar Vertebrae (five vertebrae of the loins).
P ^ 9 -R,, <i True Eibs.
g g 2 ' RIBS I False Ribs.
i-l 2 -i & STERNUM (breast-bone).
4. Os HYOIDES (bone at the root of tongue).
03
( Two Innominata.
5. PELVIS < Sacrum.
( Coccyx.
E-i
{Arm -! l?i UmerU H--P
) Ulna and Radius.
( Eight Wrist or Carpal bones.
Hand < Five Metacarpal bones.
( Phalanges (14 bones).
S( Femur.
(Leg -{Patella.
( Tibia and Fibula.
H 2. LOWER LIMBS ...-<
(60 bones.) ( Seven Tareal bones.
V, Foot < Five Metatarsal bones.
( Phalanges (14 bones.)
THE MUSCLES.
rpHE Use of the Muscles. The skeleton is the
-L image of death. Its unsightly appearance in-
stinctively repels us. We have seen, however, what
uses it subserves in the body, and how the ugly-
looking bones abound in nice contrivances and inge-
nious workmanship. In life, the framework is hidden
by the flesh. This covering is a mass of muscles,
which not only give form and symmetry to the body,
but also produce its varied movements.
Contractility. The peculiar property of the muscles
is their power of contraction. It does not cease at
death, but, in certain cold-blooded animals, is often
noticed long after the head has been cut off.
Arrangement of the Muscles. The muscles are
nearly all arranged in pairs, each with its antag-
onist, so that, as they contract and expand alter-
nately, the bone to which they are attached is moved
to and fro.
Experiments. Grasp your arm tightly with your hand just above
the elbow-joint, and bend the fore-arm. You will feel the inside muscle
(biceps) swell and become hard and prominent, while the outside muscle
(triceps) will relax. Now straighten the arm, and the swelling and hard-
ness of the inside muscle will vanish, while the outside one will become
rigid. 2. Clasp the arm just below the elbow, and then open and shut the
fingers. You will feel the alternate expanding and relaxing of the muscles
26 THE MUSCLES.
on opposite sides of the arms. 3. Place your hand on your temple, and
chew. You will feel the contraction of one of the muscles that work the
lower jaw.
Kinds of Muscles. There are two kinds of mus-
cles, the voluntary, which are under the control of
our will, and the involuntary, which are not. Thus
our limbs stiffen or relax as we please, but the heart
beats on by day and by night. The eyelid, however,
is both voluntary and involuntary, so that while we
wink unconsciously, we can also control the motion.
Structure of the Muscles. Each muscle is com-
posed of a multitude of tiny fibers.
Experiments. 1. Wash out the red color from a piece of lean beef.
You can easily detect the fine fibers of which the meat is composed. In
boiling corned beef, the fibers often separate, owing to the dissolving of the
delicate tissue which bound them together. 2. Place a fiber under a micro-
scope. You will find it made up of minute filaments (fibrils], each fibril
composed of a row of tiny cells arranged like a string of beads.
Fig. 18.
Microscopic view of a Muscle, showing, at one end, thefibrillce ; and, at the other,
the disks, or cells, of the fiber.
The binding of so many threads into one bundle
confers great strength. We see this illustrated in
suspension bridges, where the weight is sustained by
small wires twisted into massive ropes.
The Tendons. The ends of the muscles are gen-
THE TENDONS.
27
erally attached to the bone by strong, flexible, but
inelastic tendons.
Experiment. Compare the muscles and tendons in the roasted leg
of a fowl.
The muscular fibers spring from the sides of the
tendon, so that more of them
can act upon the bone than if
they went directly to it. Be-
sides, the small, insensible ten-
don can better bear the expos-
ure of passing over a joint, and
be more easily lodged in some
protecting groove, than the
broad, sensitive muscle. This
mode of attachment gives to
the limbs strength, and ele-
gance of form. Thus, for ex-
ample, if the large muscles of
the arm extended to the hand,
they would make it bulky and
clumsy. Even the tendons, at
the wrist, become fine cords
that pass to the fingers.
Here we notice two other
admirable arrangements. 1.
If the long tendons at the
wrist on contracting should
rise, projections would be made
and thus the beauty of the
joint be marred. To prevent this, a stout band or
bracelet of ligament holds them down to their place.
Tendons of the Hand.
28 THE MUSCLES.
2. In order to allow the tendon which moves the
last joint of the finger to pass through, the tendon
which moves the second joint divides at its attach-
ment to the bone. This is the most economical mode
of packing the muscles so as not to increase the size
of the slender finger.
Fig. 15.
The Muscles of the Right Eye. A, superior straight : B, superior oblique passing
through a pulley, D ; G, inferior oblique ; H, external straight , and, back of it, the
internal straight muscle.
Since the tendon cannot always pull in the direc-
tion of the desired motion, some contrivance is
necessary to meet the want. The tendon (B) belong-
ing to one of the muscles of the eye, for example,
passes through a ring of cartilage (D), and thus a
rotary motion is secured.
The Enlargement of the Bones at the Joints not
only gives more surface for the attachment of the
HOW WE STAND ERECT.
Fig. 16.
muscles, but it enables them to work to
better advantage. Thus, in Fig. 16, a
muscle acting in the line fb would not
bend the lower limb so easily as if acting
in the line fh, since in the one case its
force would be about all spent in draw-
ing the bones more closely together,
while in the other it would pull more
nearly at a right angle. Thus the ten-
The Knee-joint
h, the patella ,'
f, the tendon.
don /, by passing over the
patella, which is itself pushed
out by the protuberance b of the thigh-
bone, pulls at a larger angle, and so the
leg is thrown forward with ease in walk-
ing and with great force in kicking.
How We Stand Erect. It requires the
action of many muscles to hold our
bodies upright. The head so rests upon
the spine as to tend to fall in front, but
the muscles of the neck steady it in its
place. The hips incline forward, but
are held erect by the strong muscles of
the back. The trunk is nicely balanced
on the head of the thigh-bones. The
great muscles of the thigh acting over
the knee-pan tend to bend the body for-
ward, but the muscles of the calf oppose
this action. The ankle, the knee, and
the hip lie in nearly the same line, and
thus the weight of the body rests directly
on the key-stone of the arch of the foot.
So perfectly do these muscles act that we
Fig. 17.
Action of the
Muscles which
keep the body
erect.
30 THE MUSCLES.
never notice them, and yet to learn how to use them
in our infancy needed patient lessons, much time,
and many hard knocks.
How We Walk. Walking is really a perilous act,
which has become safe only because of constant
practice. Standing on one foot, we let the body fall
forward, and swing the other leg ahead like a pen-
dulum. Planting that foot on the ground, to save
the body from failing further, we swing the first foot
forward again to repeat the same operation. In
walking, therefore, we have always one foot, and
sometimes both feet on the ground. In running, we
incline the body more, and so, as it were, fall faster,
and there is an instant in each step when both feet
are off the ground. We are shorter when walking
or running than when standing still, because of this
falling forward to take a step in advance.
Experiment. Stand a boy erect against a wall. Mark his height
with a stick. Now have him step off a part of a pace, and then several
whole paces. Next, let him close his eyes, and walk to the wall again. He
will be perceptibly lower than the stick, until he straightens up once more
from a walking position.
The Muscular Sense. When we lift an object, we
feel a sensation of weight, which we can compare
by lifting another object. We can cultivate this
sense till we can estimate the weight of a body by
simply balancing it on the palm of the right hand,
that being generally more accurate than the left.
Some parts of the body are more sensitive than
others to differences in weight.
Experiment. Roll a small ivory ball down your cheek toward your
lips, and it will appear to increase in weight.
EXERCISE. 31
We gratify the muscular sense when we walk erect
and with an elastic step, and by dancing, jumping,
skating, and gymnastic exercises.
Necessity of Exercise. By use, the muscles grow
larger, and become hard, compact, and darker-
colored ; by disuse, they decrease in size, and become
soft, flabby, and pale. Exercise also sets every
organ in the body at work. The lungs, skin, and
kidneys the scavengers of the body hasten to re-
move waste matter, and a healthful glow succeeds.
Violent Exercise, however, is injurious, since we
then tear down faster than nature can build up.
Feats of strength are not only hurtful, but dangerous.
Often the muscles are strained or ruptured, and
blood-vessels burst in the effort to outdo one's com-
panions. Even so simple an amusement as jumping
the rope, carried to excess, has been known to cause
sudden death.
Time for Exercise. Do not exercise when very
hungry, nor immediately after a full meal. Only
the strong and healthy should exercise before break-
fast, as in early morning the pulse is low, the skin
relaxed, and the system susceptible to cold. Weak
and delicate persons, therefore, need to be braced
with food before they brave the out-door air.
Kind of Exercise. For children, the out-door
games are unequaled. Walking in the open air and
sunlight is always healthful. Running is better,
since it employs more muscles, but it must not be
pushed to excess, as it taxes the heart. Rowing
develops the whole system. Swimming, also, em-
ploys all the muscles, and is a valuable acquirement,
32 THE MUSCLES.
as it may be the means of saving life. Horseback
riding is a fine accomplishment, and refreshes mind
and body alike. Gymnastic or calisthenic movements,
judiciously used, furnish the best in-door exercise.
The Law of Health is to take daily, moderate out-
door exercise, avoiding extreme fatigue. It is bad
policy to stimulate the brain at the expense of the
muscles, and recesses should be as sacred to play as
study-hours are to work.
The Wonders of the Muscles. The grace, ease,
and rapidity with which the muscles contract are
astonishing. The voice may utter 1,500 letters in a
minute, yet each requires a distinct position of the
vocal organs. We train the muscles of the fingers
till they glide over the keys of the piano, executing
the most exquisite and difficult harmony. In writing,
each letter is formed by its peculiar motions, yet we
make them so unconsciously that a skilful penman
will describe beautiful curves while thinking only of
the idea that the sentence is to express. The mind
of the violinist is upon the music which his right
hand is executing, while his left determines the
length of the string and the character of each note
so carefully that not a false sound is heard, although
the variation of a hair's breadth would cause a dis-
cord. In the arm of a blacksmith, the biceps muscle
may grow into the solidity almost of a club ; the
hand of a prize-fighter will strike a blow like a
sledge-hammer : while the engraver traces lines
invisible to the naked eye, and the fingers of the
blind acquire a delicacy that almost supplies the
place of the missing sense.
DISEASES. 33
Diseases. 1. ST. Virus's DANCE is a disease of the voluntary
muscles, whereby they are in frequent, irregular, and spasmodic motion
beyond the control of the will. It is closely connected with a derange-
ment of the nervous system, and hence the patient should be kept from ex-
citement, and his general health invigorated.
2. LOCKED-JAW is marked by spasms and a contraction of the muscles,
usually beginning in the lower jaw. It is serious, often fatal, yet may be
caused by as trivial an injury as the stroke of a whip-lash, the lodgment
of a bone in the throat, a fish-hook in the finger, or a prick in the foot by
a tack.
3. GOUT is an acute pain located chiefly in the small joints of the foot,
especially those of the great toe, which swell and become extremely sensi-
tive. It is generally brought on by high living.
4. RHEUMATISM affects mainly the connective, white, fibrous tissue of the
larger joints. There are two common forms the inflammatory or acute,
and the chronic. The acute form is probably a disease of the blood, which
carries with it some poisonous matter that is deposited where the fibrous
tissue is most abundant. The pain is extreme, the disease flies from one
joint to another, and there is always danger that it may go to the heart.
All violent remedies, therefore, are to be avoided. Repeated acute attacks
lead to the chronic form, and make the patient a life-long sufferer.
PRACTICAL QUESTIONS.
1. Describe the motions of the bones when we are using a gimlet.
2. Why do we tire when we stand erect ?
3. Why does it rest us to change our work ?
4. Why and when is dancing a beneficial exercise ?
5. Why do we lean forward when we wish to rise from a chair ?
6. Why does the projection of the heel-bone make walking easier ?
7. Does a horse travel with less fatigue over a flat than a hilly country?
8. Can you move your upper jaw?
9. Are people naturally right or left handed ?
10. Why can so few persons move their ears by the muscles ?
11. Is the blacksmith's right arm healthier than the left ?
34 THE MUSCLES.
12. Boys often, though foolishly, thrust a pin into the flesh just above
the knee. Why is it not painful ?
13. Will ten-minutes practice in a gymnasium answer for a day's
exercise ?
14. Why would an elastic tendon be unfitted to transmit the motion of
a muscle ?
15. When one is struck violently on the head, why does he instantly
fall?
16. What is the cause of the difference between light and dark meat in
a fowl ?
BLA.CK BO AR, L> ANALYSIS.
f 1. The use of the muscles.
I 2. Contractility of the muscles.
13. Arrangement of the muscles.
4. The two kinds of muscles.
5. The structure of the muscles.
MUSCLES. I 6. The tendons for fastening muscles.
7. The effect of big joints.
8. Action of the muscles in standing.
9. Action of the muscles in walking.
2. THE MUSCULAR SENSE.
1. Necessity of Exercise.
2. Violent Exercise
3. HYGIENE OF THE I 3 Time for Exerc i se .
I 4. Kinds of Exercise.
5. Law of Health.
4. WONDERS OF THE MUSCLES.
5. DISEASES.
1. St. Vitus's Dance.
2. Locked-jaw.
3. Gout.
4. Rheumatism.
THE SKIN.
rTlHE Skin is a tough, thin, close-fitting, elastic
-A- garment which protects the tender flesh. It is,
also, an active organ, doing its part to keep in order
the house in which we live. It oils itself to preserve
its smoothness and delicacy, replaces itself as fast
as it wears out, and is at once the perfection of use
and beauty.
Cutis and Cuticle. What we commonly call the
skin viz., the part raised by a blister is only the
cuticle, which covers the cutis or true skin. The
A represents a vertical section of the cuticle; B, lateral tie w of the cells ; C,Jlat
side of scales like d, magnified 250 diameters, showing the nucleated cells transformed
into broad scales.
cutis is full of nerves and blood-vessels, but the
cuticle neither bleeds nor causes pain, neither suffers
from heat nor feels the cold.
36 THE SKIN.
Experiment. Run a needle through the thick cuticle at the root of
your finger-nail, and note its insensibility.
The cuticle is composed of small, flat cells or
scales. These are constantly shed from the surface
in the form of scurf, dandruff, etc., but are as con-
stantly renewed from the cutis below.
Value of the Cuticle. In the palm of the hand,
the sole of the foot, and other parts especially liable
to injury, the cuticle is very thick. This is an ad-
mirable provision for their protection. By use, it
becomes callous and horny. The boy who goes out
barefoot for the first time, "treading as if on eggs,"
can soon run where he pleases among thistles and
over stones. So the blacksmith handles hot iron,
and the mason works in lime, without burning or
corroding their flesh.
The Complexion. In the freshly-made cells on
the lower side of the cuticle, is a pigment composed
of tiny grains. In its varying tint lies the difference
of hue between the blonde and the brunette, the
European and the African. The sun has a powerful
effect upon the coloring-matter, and so we " tan " on
exposure to its rays. If the color gathers in spots, it
forms freckles.
HAIR AND NAILS.
The Hair and the Nails are modified forms of the
cuticle.
The Hair protects from heat and cold, and shields
the head from blows.
THE HAIR.
hair marjmjied 600
diameters. S, the sac (fol-
P, the papula,
the cells and the
blood-vessels (V).
Experiment. Place a hair on the slide of
a microscope, cover it with a thin glass, and let a
few drops of alcohol flow between the cover and
the slide. (This causes the air, which tills the
hair and prevents our seeing its structure, to
escape. ) You will see that the outside of the hair
is hard and compact, and consists of a layer of
colorless scales, which overlie one another like the
shingles of a house. The interior is porous, and
probably conveys the liquids by which it is nour-
ished.
Each hair grows from a tiny
bulb (papilla), at the bottom of a
little hollow in the skin, being pro-
duced, like the cuticle, by the con-
stant formation of new cells at its base. The hair
itself is insensible, and the pain felt when one is
pulled out comes from nerves in the hollow wherein
it is rooted. If the bulb has been uninjured in the
pulling, it will produce a new hair; but, the bulb
destroyed, the hair will never grow again. Gray
hair cannot be restored to its original color. Hair-
dyes and so-called " hair-restorers" are usually in-
jurious substances, containing lead or lunar caustic.
Wherever hair exists, are found tiny muscles,
which contract when exposed to cold, pucker up the
skin, and so cause the hair to stand on end. This
muscular tissue is still more fully developed in
horses and other animals, which we see shaking the
whole skin, in order to drive away flies.
The Nails protect the ends of the tender finger,
and toe, and give us more power to grasp and pick
up objects. By their aid, we perform a hundred
THE SKIN.
little mechanical acts which
else were impossible. Their
delicate color and beautiful
outline give a finish of orna-
ment to the hand. The nail is
set in a groove in the cuticle,
c and grows at the root in
length, and from beneath in
D thickness.
Experiment. Make a little mark
T^
near the root of a nail. You can see, week
by week, how the process of growth goes on,
and form some idea of what a multitude
of cells must be transformed into horny
matter.
THE MUCOUS MEMBRANE.
Structure. At the edges of
the openings into the body, the
skin seems to stop, giving place
to a ^dder, more sensitive
tissue, moistened by a fluid
(mucus). Really, however, the
skin does not cease, but passes into a more delicate
covering of the same general composition, viz., an
outer, hard, bloodless, insensible layer, and an inner,
soft, nervous one.
Connective Tissue. The cutis and the correspond-
ing layer of the mucous membrane consist chiefly
of a fibrous substance, called connective tissue be-
cause it connects all the differenl parts of the body.
In the mucous membrane it is soft and tender, but
USES OF MEMBRANE. 39
in the ligaments and tendons it is strong and dense.
It yields gelatine on boiling, and is the part which
tans when hides are manufactured into leather.
Experiment. Note in a piece of veal this delicate substance between
the layers of muscle, binding together their numerous fibers. If you blow
air into the veal, it will fill the tiny cells of the tissue and make the meat
look plump a trick not unknown, it is said, to butchers.
Uses of Membrane. Our bodies are wrapped in
membrane. On the outside, the skin protects from
exterior injury, and, on the inside, the mucous
membrane reaches from the lips to the innermost
air-cell of the lungs. Every organ is enveloped.
Every bone has its sheath. Every socket is lined.
Even the separate fibers of muscles are covered with
tissue. The brain and the spinal cord are triply
wrapped, while the eye is only a membranous globe
filled with fluid. These membranes not only protect
and support the organs they enfold, but they also
perform an important function. " They are the fil-
ters of the body." Through their pores pass alike the
elements of growth, and the returning products of
waste. Bathed on one side by the blood, they choose
from it suitable food for the organ they envelop,
and, in their tiny, mysterious cells, even form new
products, just suited to the needs of the body.
Fat is deposited as an oil in the cells of this tissue,
just beneath the skin, giving plumpness to the body,
and acting as a non-conductor to retain the heat.
It collects as pads in the hollows of the bones, around
the joints, and between the muscles, causing them
to glide more easily upon each other. As marrow,
40 THE SKIN.
it nourishes the skeleton, and also distributes the
shock of a sudden jar. It does not, however, gather
within the lungs, or the eyelids, where it would clog
the organs.
THE TEETH.
The Teeth are thirty-two in all, there being eight
in each half -jaw, similarly shaped and arranged.
In each set of eight, the two nearest the middle of
the jaw have wide, sharp, chisel-like edges, fit for
cutting, and hence are called incisors. The next
corresponds to the great tearing or holding tooth
of the dog, and is styled the canine, or eye-tooth.
The next two have broader crowns, with two points,
or cusps, and are hence termed the bicuspids. The
remaining three are much broader, and, as they are
ue?,d to crush the food, are called the grinders, or
molars. The incisors and eye-teeth have one fang,
or root,the others have two or three each.
The Milk-teeth. We are given two sets of teeth.
Fig. tl.
The teeth a the age of six and one-half years. I, the incisors ; Q,the canine ; M,
the molars : the last molar is the first of the permanent teeth ; F, sacs of the permanent
incisors ; C, of the canine ; B, of the bicuspids ; N, of the 2d molar ; the sac of the 3d
molar is empty. MARSHALL.
Fig.
41
The first, ^r iMlK-teeth, are small and only twenty
in number. Each half -jaw has two incisors, one
canine, and two molars. The middle incisors are
usually cut about the age of seven months, the
others at nine months, the first molars at twelve
months, the canines at eighteen months, and the
remaining molars at two or three years of age. The
lower teeth precede the corresponding upper ones.
The time often varies, but the order seldom.
The Permanent Teeth. At six years, when the
first set is usually still perfect, the jaws contain the
crowns of all the second, except the wisdom-teeth.
About this age, to meet the wants of the growing
body, the crowns of the perma-
nent set begin to press against
the roots of the milk-teeth, which,
becoming absorbed, leave the
loosened teeth to drop out, while
the new ones rise to occupy their
places.
The central incisors appear at
about seven years of age ; the
others at eight ; the first bicus-
pids at nine, the second at
ten ; the canines at eleven
or twelve ; the second molars
at twelve or thirteen, and
the last, or wisdom - teeth,
are sometimes delayed until the
twenty-second year or even later.
Structure of the Teeth. A tooth consists of (1)
the crown protected by a hard, white enamel; (2)
Vertical Kecfiori ofa Molar
&SS?<$$1
c ' c
42 THE SKIN.
dentine a dense, bone-like substance ; and (3), at
its center, a soft, reddish- white pulp, full of nerves
and blood-vessels. The fang is covered by a thin
layer of bone (cement). The seat of toothache is
in the sensitive pulp.
The Decay of the Teeth is commonly caused by
bits of food which get between them and decom-
pose ; and (2) by the saliva which deposits a sedi-
ment called tartar.
Preservation of the Teeth. The teeth should be
brushed at least every morning with tepid water,
and twice a week with soap and powdered orris-root.
After each meal, every particle of food should be
removed from between them, using a quill or wooden
tooth-pick. The enamel once injured, it is never
restored, and the tooth will soon decay. We should
not, therefore, crack nuts, bite thread, or use metal
tooth-picks, gritty tooth-powder, or any acid which
"sets the teeth on edge," i. e., that acts upon the
enamel. It is well to have the teeth examined
yearly by a dentist.
THE GLANDS OF THE SKIN.
I. The Oil Glands are clusters of tiny sacs which
secrete an oil that flows to the root of the hair,
thence oozing out on the cuticle (Fig. 20). This is
nature's hair-dressing, and it also keeps the skin soft
and flexible. These glands are of considerable size
on the face, especially about the nose. When ob-
structed, their contents become hard and dark-
colored, and are vulgarly called " worms."
HINTS ABOUT WASHING AND BATHING. 43
II. The Perspiratory Glands are fine tubes about
yj~o of an inch in diameter, and a quarter of an inch
in length, which run through the cutis, and then
coil up in little balls (Fig. 20). In the palm of the
hand, there are about 2,800 in a single square inch.
The total number on the body of an adult is esti-
mated at about two and a half million. If they
were laid end to end, they would extend nearly ten
miles.
Experiment. Examine with a pocket lens the fine ridges on the
palm of your hand, and you will see the mouths (pores) of these glands.
The Perspiration. From these openings, there
constantly passes a vapor, forming what we call the
insensible perspiration. Under exercise or heat it
flows more freely, and condenses on the surface in
drops. It consists of about ninety-nine parts water,
and one part solid matter. The amount thrown off
by an adult is, on the average, about two pounds per
day. This constant drainage is essential to life. A
small animal, as the rabbit, if coated with varnish,
would die within twelve hours.
HYGIENE.
About Washing and Bathing. The cast-off cu-
ticle, dried perspiration, and dust form a crust upon
the skin, stopping the pores, checking the insensible
perspiration, and retaining in the body the waste
matter it ought to throw off. Hence arises the need
of frequent bathing. Nothing is so good for improv-
ing the complexion, preventing colds, keeping up
strength, and lengthening life.
44 REACTION.
The moment of rising from bed is the proper time
for the full wash or bath with which one should
commence the day. The body is then warm, and
can endure cool water better than at any other time ;
it is relaxed, and needs bracing ; and the nerves,
deadened by sleep, require a gentle stimulus. If the
system be strong enough to resist the shock, cold
water is the best ; if not, use tepid.
After the bath, the whole body should be thoroughly
rubbed with a coarse towel or flesh-brush. At first,
the friction may be unpleasant, but this sensitive-
ness will soon pass away, and the keenest pleasure
be felt in the lively glow which follows. A bath
should not be taken just before nor immediately after
a meal, lest it check digestion.
Reaction. After taking a cold bath, there should
be a prompt reaction. When the surface is chilled
by cold water, the blood sets to the heart, exciting it
to more vigorous action ; then, being thrown back to
the surface, it reddens, warms, and stimulates the
skin. This is called the reaction, and in it lies the
chief virtue of a cold bath. In a hot bath, on the
contrary, the blood is drawn to the surface, less blood
goes to the heart, the circulation decreases, and
languor ensues. It should be followed by a dash of
cold water.
If, after a cold bath, we are chilly instead of warm,
it proves either that proper means were not taken to
bring on reaction, or that the circulation is not
vigorous enough to warrant such a bath. In general,
the effect of a cool bath is to exhilarate ; of a warm
one, to depress. Hence the latter should not ordi-
CLOTHING. 45
narily be taken oftener than once a week, while the
former may be enjoyed daily.
Sea-Bathing is exceedingly stimulating, on account
of the action of the salt and the exciting sur-
roundings. Twenty minutes is the utmost limit for
bathing or swimming either in salt or fresh water.
A chilly sensation should be the signal for instant
removal. Gentle exercise after a bath is beneficial.
Clothing in winter, to keep us warm, should repel
the external cold and retain the heat of the body.
In summer, to keep us cool, it should not absorb the
rays of the sun, and should permit the passage of
the heat of the body. At all seasons, it should be
porous, to give ready escape to the perspiration, and
a free admission of air to the skin. We can readily
apply these essential conditions to the different kinds
of clothing.
Linen is soft to the touch, and is a good conductor
of heat. Hence it is pleasant for summer wear, but,
being apt to chill the surface too rapidly, it should
not be worn next the skin.
Cotton is a poorer conductor of heat and absorber
of moisture, and is therefore warmer than linen. It
is sufficiently cool for summer wear, and affords bet-
ter protection against sudden changes.
Woolen absorbs moisture slowly, and contains
much air in its pores. It is therefore a poor conduc-
tor of heat, and guards the wearer against changes in
weather. Hence, flannel or merino should be worn
next the skin at all times, except in the heat of sum-
mer, when cotton flannel or gauze may be substi-
tuted.
46 INGROWING-NAILS.
Light-colored clothing is cooler in summer, and
warmer in winter. As the warmth of clothing de-
pends greatly on the amount of air contained in its
fibers, fine, porous cloth with a plenty of nap is best
for winter wear. Furs are the perfection of winter
clothing, since they combine warmth with lightness.
All the body except the head should be equally
protected by clothing. No part covered to-day can
be uncovered to-night or to-morrow, except at the
peril of health. It is a cruel fashion that leaves the
limbs of a little child unprotected. Nor are children
made more hardy by going thinly clad. The system
is made vigorous by exercise and food ; not by ex-
posure. Above all, the feet need heavy shoes with
thick soles, and rubbers when it is damp. At night,
and after exercise, we require extra clothing.
Diseases. 1. CORNS are a thickening of the cuticle, caused by pres-
sure or friction. They most frequently occur on the feet ; but are pro-
duced on the shoemaker's knee by constant hammering, and on the
soldier's shoulder by the rubbing of his musket. This hard portion irri-
tates the sensitive cutis beneath, and so causes pain. By soaking the feet
in hot water, the corn will be softened, when it may be paired with a sharp
knife.
2. IN-GROWING NAILS are caused by pressure, which forces the edge of
the toe-nail into the flesh. To cure them, carefully cut away the mal-
grown part, and then make a wedge-shaped incision in the top of the nail.
The two portions, uniting, will draw away the nail from the flesh at the
edge. To prevent them, wear broad shoes.
3. WARTS are overgrown papillse (Fig. 19). They may generally be
removed by applying glacial acetic acid, or a drop of nitric acid, repeated
until the entire wart is softened. Care must be taken to keep the acid from
touching the neighboring skin. The capricious character of warts has
given rise to the popular delusion concerning the influence of charms upcn
them.
PRACTICAL QUESTIONS. 47
4. CHILBLAIN is a local inflammation affecting generally the feet.
Liability to it usually passes away with manhood. It is not caused by
"freezing the feet," as many suppose, though attacks are brought on, or
aggravated, by exposure to cold and by sudden warming. It is subject to
daily congestion (see Congestion), manifested by soreness, itching, etc.,
commonly occurring at night. The best preventive is a uniform tempera-
ture, and careful protection against the cold by warm, loose, and plentiful
clothing, especially for the feet.
PRACTICAL QUESTIONS.
1. If a hair be plucked out, will it grow again ?
2. What causes the hair to "stand on end " when we are frightened ?
3. Why is the skin roughened by riding in the cold ?
4. Why is the back of a washer- woman's hand less water-soaked than
the palm ?
5. What would be the length of the perspiratory tubes in a single square
inch of the palm, if placed end to end ?
6. What colored clothing is best adapted to all seasons ?
7. What is the effect of paint and powder on the skin ?
8. Is water- proof clothing healthful for constant wear ?
9. Why are rubbers cold to the feet ?
10. Why does the heat seem oppressive when the air is moist ?
11. Why is friction of the skin invigorating after a cold bath ?
12. Why does the hair of domestic animals become roughened in winter ?
13. Why do fowls shake out their feathers erect before they perch for the
night ?
14. W T hy do we perspire so profusely after drinking cold water?
15. What are the best means of preventing skin-diseases, colds, and
rheumatism ?
16. What causes the difference between the hard hand of a blacksmith
and the soft hand of a woman ?
17. Why should a painter avoid getting paint on the palm of his hand ?
18. Why should we not use the soap or the soiled towel at a hotel ?
19. Which teeth cut like a pair of scissors ?
20. Which teeth cut like a chisel ?
48
THE SKIN.
21. Which should be clothed the warmer, a merchant or a farmer ?
22. Why should we not crack nuts with our teeth ?
23. Do the edges of the upper and the lower teeth meet ?
24. When fatigued, would you take a cold bath ?
25. Why is the outer surface of a kid glove finer than the inner ?
26. Why will a brunette endure the sun's rays better than a blonde ?
27. Does patent-leather form a healthful covering for the feet ?
BLACKBOARD ANALYSIS.
1. The Hair
2.
THE HAIR AND THE
NAILS.
2. The Nails
3.
THE Mucous MEM- .
BRANE.
' 1. The Structure.
2. Connective Tissue.
3. Uses of Membrane.
L 4. Fat.
THE STRUCTURE
THE SKIN.
4. THE TEETH
5. THE GLANDS
1. TheCutis; its composition and character.
2. The Cuticle ; its composition and character.
3. The value of the Cuticle.
4. The Complexion.
f a. Description
| h. Method of Growth.
\ c, Hair-dyes, and Cos-
metics.
[ d. Muscular tissue,
j a. Uses.
( b. Method of growth.
1. Number and kinds of Teeth.
9 The. twr, cftc j * Tne Milk Teeth.
2. The tw o sets -j 2 The p ermanent Teeth
3. Structure of the Tieih.
4. The Decay of the Teeth.
5. The Preservation of the Teeth.
1. The two kinds
2 The Perspiration.
J 1. Oil Glands.
I 2. Perspiratory Glands,
f 1. About Washing and Bathing.
2. The Reaction.
C. HYGIENE.
3. Sea-Bathing.
4. Clothing.
a. General Principles.
b. Linen.
c. Cotton
d. Woolen.
e. Flannel.
f. Color of Clothing.
g. Structure of doming
.h. .Insufficient Clothing.
1. Corns.
2. In -growing Nails,
3. Warts.
4. Chilblains.
RESPIRATION
AND
THE VOICE.
THE ORGANS of Bespiration and the Voice are the
larynx, the trachea, and the lungs.
Description of the Organs of the Voice. 1. THE
LARYNX. In the neck, is a lump sometimes called
Adam's apple. It is the front of the larynx. This is
a small, gristly box, placed at the top of the wind-
pipe, just below the tongue. The opening into it
from the throat is called the glottis ; and the cover,
the epiglottis. The latter is a spoon-shaped lid,
which opens when we breathe, but shuts when we
swallow, and so lets our food slip over it into the
tube (oesophagus, e-sof ' -a-gus] leading to the stom-
ach (Fig. 23).
If we laugh or talk when we swallow, our food is
apt to "go the wrong way," i. e., little particles
pass into the larynx, and the tickling sensation they
produce forces us to cough, to expel the intruders.
2. THE VOCAL CORDS. On each side of the glottis
are the so-called vocal cords. They are not really
cords, but elastic membranes projecting from the
3
50 RESPIRATION AND THE VOICE.
Fig. 23.
Passage to the (Esophagus and Windpipe ; c, the tongue ; d, the soft palate, ending
in g, the uvula ; h, the epiglottis ; i, the glottis ; I, the oesophagus ; f, the pharynx.
sides of the box across the open-
ing. When not in use, they
spread apart and leave a V-
shaped orifice (Fig. 24), through
which the air passes to and from
the lungs. If the cords are
tightened, the edges approach
each other, and, being thrown
into vibration, cause correspond-
ing vibrations in the current of
s produced in
DIFFERENT TONES OF THE VOICE. 1
the same manner as by the vibrations of the strings
of a violin, only in this case the strings are scarcely
an inch long.
Experiment. Ask your butcher for a sheep's larynx; trim off the
flesh, and dry the cartilages. You can then examine at leisure the struc-
ture of the cords.
Different Tones of the Voice. The higher tones
of the voice are produced when the cords are short,
The Lungs, showing the Larynx. A, the windpipe ; H, the bronchial tubes.
tight, and closely in contact ; the lower in the oppo-
site way. When boys are about fourteen years of
62 RESPIRATION AND THE VOICE.
age, the larynx enlarges, and the cords grow propor-
tionately longer and coarser; hence, the voice be-
comes deeper, or, as we say, "changes."
Formation of Vocal Sounds. A vocal sound re-
quires the action of the larynx. Speech is voice
modified by the lips, tongue, palate, and teeth.
Experiments. Open your mouth and make the pure vowel sounds
a, e, i, etc. , noting how the form of the aperture is changed for each vowel
by the tongue and the lips. Then try the consonants. You will discover
that m and n can be made only by blocking the air in the mouth and send-
ing it through the nose ; I lets the air escape at the sides of the tongue ; r
needs a vibratory movement of the tongue ; b and p stop the breath at the
lips, and d and t, at the back of the palate. Now place your hand on your
throat, and note the absence of vibrations when you whisper, and their
presence when you speak aloud. Continuing your experiments, you will
find that a sigh is only a vocalized groan ; that a laugh is a convulsive
repeating of the vowels a, e, or o ; and that a whistle is not a vocal but a
pure mouth sound.
Fig. 3
Bronchial Tubes, with clusters of cells.
Consonants made by the
lips are termed labials;
those by pressing the
tongue against the teeth,
dentals ; those by the
tongue, linguals. A child
first learns to pronounce the
vowel a, then the conso-
nants 6, m, and p, and
afterward their unions ba,
ma, pa.
Description of the Organs
of Respiration. Beneath
the larynx is the windpipe,
HOW WE BREATHE. 6
or trachea (Fig. 25). It is strengthened by C- shaped
cartilages with the openings behind, where they are
attached to the oesophagus. At the lower end, the
trachea divides into two branches, called the right
and left bronchi. These subdivide in the small bron-
chial tubes, which ramify through the lungs like the
branches of a tree, the tiny twigs of which at last
end in clusters of cells so small that there are
000,000,000 in all. Along the air-passages are tiny
thread-like projections (cilia). These are constantly
waving to and fro, and serve as a screen to catch the
dust swept in with the breath.
Experiment. Procure the lungs (vulgarly called "lights ") of some
slaughtered animal. Insert a quill in the windpipe, and inflate them.
Notice how soft and sponge-like is the structure. See how they will float
on water. Then squeeze a bit between your fingers and note the creaking
sound.
Wrappings of the Lungs. The lungs are wrapped
in a double membrane (the pleura) one layer being
attached to the lungs and the other to the walls of
the chest. This secretes a lubricating fluid, making
the layers glide upon each other with ease.
How we Breathe. Respiration consists of two
acts taking in the air, or inspiration, and expelling
the air, or expiration.
1. INSPIRATION. When we draw in a full breath,
we straighten the spine and throw the head and
shoulders back, so as to give the greatest advantage
to the muscles. At the same time, the diaphragm
the muscular partition between the chest and the
abdomen (C, Fig. 27) descends and presses the walls
RESPIRATION AND THE VOICE.
Fig. 27.
A, the heart ; B, the lungs drawn aside to show the internal organs ; C, the dia~
phragm ; D, the liver ; E, the gall cyst ; F, the stomach , G, the small intestine ; H,
the transverse colon.
of the abdomen outward. Both these processes
increase the size of the chest. Thereupon, the elas-
tic lungs expand "to occupy the extra space, while
the air, rushing in through the windpipe, pours
along the bronchial tubes, and crowds into every
cell.
2. EXPIRATION. When we forcibly expel the air
from our lungs, the operation is reversed. We bend
forward, draw in the walls of the abdomen, and
press the diaphragm upward, while the ribs are
THE NEED OF AIR. 55
pulled downward, all together diminishing the size
of the chest, and forcing the air outward.
Ordinary, quiet breathing is performed mainly by
the diaphragm, one breath to every four beats of
the heart, or eighteen per minute.
Modifications of the Breath. Coughing is a vio-
lent expiration in which the^ air is driven through
the mouth. Sneezing differs from coughing, the air
being forced through the nose. Snoring occurs
when the air passes through both nose and mouth,
while the palate flaps in the divided air-current, and
so throws it into vibration. Laughing and crying
are very much alike. The expression of the face is
necessary to distinguish between them. The sounds
are produced by short, rapid contractions of the
diaphragm. Hiccough is confined to inspiration.
It is caused by a contraction of the diaphragm and
a sudden closing of the glottis ; the entering current
of air strikes the closed glottis and gives rise to the
well-known sound.
The Capacity of the Lungs. If we take a deep
inspiration, and then forcibly exhale all the air we
can expel from the lungs, this amount, termed the
breathing capacity, will be, for a man of average
height, about 230 cubic inches, or one gallon. In
addition, it is found that the lungs contain about 100
cubic inches which cannot be expelled, thus making
their entire contents about 330 cubic inches, or
eleven pints. In ordinary breathing, only about
twenty or thirty cubic inches (less than a pint) of air
pass in and out.
The Need of Air The body needs food, clothing,
56 &ESPIKATION AND THE VOICE.
sunshine, bathing, and drink ; but above all these
is the need for air. The other wants may be met
by occasional supplies, but air must be furnished
every moment or we die.
Air consists of one-fifth oxygen, and four-fifths
nitrogen. The active and vital element is oxygen.
Taken alone, this would be too stimulating, but the
passive nitrogen restrains it. No tonic is so refresh-
ing as a few full, deep breaths of cold pure air,
which sets every organ aglow with the energy of
the fiery oxygen gas.
Action of the Air in the Lungs. In the delicate
cells of the lungs, the air gives up its oxygen to the
blood, and receives in turn carbonic-acid gas and
water, foul with waste matter which the blood has
picked up in its circulation through the body. The
blood, thus purified and laden with the inspiring
oxygen, goes bounding through the system, while
the air we exhale carries off the impurities. In this
process, the blood changes from purple to red.
Experiments. 1. Breathe into a jar, and lower into it a lighted
candle. The flame will be instantly extinguished, thus indicating the
presence of carbonic-acid gas. 2. Breathe upon a mirror, and a film of
moisture will show the vapor. 3. Confine a breath in a bottle. The ani-
mal matter will soon decompose and give off an offensive odor.
Analysis of the Expired Air shows that it has lost
about one-fourth of its oxygen, and gained an equal
amount of carbonic-acid gas, besides moisture, and
organic impurities. Our breath, then, is air robbed
of its vitality, and containing in its place a gas as
fatal to life as it is to a flame, and effete matter
CONCERNING THE NEED OF VENTILATION. 5?
which is disagreeable to the smell, injurious to the
health, and may contain the germs of disease.
The Evil Effect of Rebreathing the air cannot be
over-estimated. We take back into our bodies that
which has just been rejected, and the blood leaves
the lungs, bearing, not invigorating oxygen, but
refuse matter to obstruct the whole system. We
soon feel the effect. The muscles become inactive ;
the blood stagnates ; the heart acts slowly ;. the
food is undigested ; the brain is clogged ; and the
head aches.
The constant breathing of even the slightly-impure
air of our houses tends to undermine health. The
unpurified blood is ready to receive the seeds of dis-
ease. The system, deprived of the inspiring oxygen,
is sensitive to cold. Pale cheeks, lusterless eyes,
languid steps, speak but too plainly of oxygen star-
vation. In such a soil, catarrh, scrofula, and con-
sumption run riot.
oncerning the Need of Ventilation. The impuri-
ties which pass off from the lungs and through the
pores of the skin do not fall to the floor, but diffuse
themselves through the surrounding atmosphere. A
single bad breath will taint the air of a whole room.
A light will vitiate as much air as a dozen persons.
Many breaths and lights, therefore, rapidly unfit the
air for our use.
The perfection of ventilation is reached when the
air of a room is as pure as that out of doors. To
accomplish this result, we must allow for each person
600 cubic feet of space, besides providing thorough
ventilation.
58 RESPIRATION AND THE VOICE.
In spite of these well-known facts, scarcely any
pains are taken to supply fresh air, while the doors
and windows where the life-giving oxygen might
creep in are carefully stopped.
THE SICK ROOM is often kept carefully closed. Yet
here the danger of bad air is intensified. The expired
breath of the patient is dangerous to himself as
well as to others. Nature is seeking to throw off
the poison of the disease. The scavengers of the
body are all at work, and the breath and the insen-
sible perspiration are loaded with impurities.
Experiment. When the sun is shining through a crack in the blinds
of a darkened room, watch the line of floating dust. This shows how
poisonous germs are frequently conveyed to our lungs. When a scarlet-
fever patient is uncovered, a cloud of such fine dust will rise from his
body, and will keep its contagious properties for days.
OUR SITTING-ROOMS, heated by furnaces or red-hot
stoves, frequently have no means of ventilation, or,
if provided, they are seldom used. A window is
occasionally dropped to give a little relief, as if pure
air were a rarity, and must be doled out to the suffer-
ing lungs in morsels, instead of full and constant
draughts. The inmates are starved by scanty lung-
food, and stupefied by foul air. The process goes on
year by year. The weakened and poisoned body at
last yields to disease. Death is often simply the pen-
alty for violating nature's laws. Bad air begets dis-
ease ; disease begets death.
IN OUR CHURCHES, the foul air left by the congrega-
tion on Sunday is shut up during the week, and
heated for the next Lord's day, when the people
assemble to re-breathe the polluted atmosphere.
VENTILATION. 59
They are thus forced, with every breath they take,
to violate the physical laws of Him whom they meet
to worship, laws written not 3000 years ago upon
Mount Sinai on tables of stone, but to-day engraved
in the constitution of their own living, breathing
bodies. On brains benumbed and starving for oxy-
gen, the purest truth and the highest eloquence fall
with little force.
BED-ROOM VENTILATION. We sleep in a small bed-
room from which every breath of fresh air is ex-
cluded, because we fancy that all night-air is un-
healthy, and so we breathe its dozen hogsheads of
air over and over again, and then wonder why we
awaken in the morning so dull and unrefreshed !
Return to our room after inhaling the fresh, morning
air, and the fetid odor we meet on opening the door,
is convincing proof how we have poisoned our lungs
during the night. There is a singular prejudice
against the night-air. Yet, as Florence Nightingale
aptly says, what other air can we breathe at night ?
In large cities, night-air is often more wholesome
than that of the day-time.
Every room needs 2000 feet of fresh air per houl
for every person it contains. Our ingenuity ought
to find some way of supplying this want. A part of
the care we devote to delicate articles of food, drink,
and dress would abundantly meet this prime neces-
sity of our bodies.
Open the windows both at the top and the bottom.
You need never fear the fresh night-air, except, per-
haps, in extreme damp weather, or in places where
malaria is known to exist. Put on plenty of clothing
60 RESPIRATION AND THE VOICE.
to keep warm by day and by night, and then let the
inspiring oxygen come in as freely as God has given
it. Pure air is the cheapest necessity and luxury of
life. Let it not be the rarest !
SCHOOL-ROOM VENTILATION. Who, 'ongoing from
the open air of a clear, bracing winter's day, into a
crowded school-room, late in the session, has not
noticed the disagreeable odor, and been for a mo-
ment nauseated and half-stifled by the oppressive
atmosphere ? It is not strange. See how many
causes here combine to pollute the air. If the room
is heated by a stove, quantities of carbonic-acid gas,
driven by downward drafts in the flue, escape
through seams, and cracks, and the occasionally-
opened door of the stove. In the case of a furnace,
the same effect is too often experienced, and the
odor of coal-gas is a common one, especially when
the fire is replenished. The insensible perspiration
is more active in children than in adults ; they,
moreover, rush in with their clothing saturated with
the perspiration induced by their sports ; so that,
on the average, each pupil, during school hours,
loads the air with about half -a-pint of aqueous vapor.
Some of the children come from homes that are
close, ill-ventilated, and uncleanly ; some from sick-
rooms, whence they bring in their clothing the
germs of disease ; and some may themselves bear
traces of illness, or have unsound organs, and so
their breath and exhalations be poisonous.
In addition, the air is filled with dust brought in
and kept astir by many busy feet ; by ashes from
the stove or furnace ; and especially by chalk-dust.
VENTILATION. 61
The modern method of teaching requires a large
amount of black-board work, and the air of the
school-room is thus loaded with chalk-particles.
These collect in the nasal passages and the upper
part of the larynx, and irritate the membrane, per-
haps laying the foundation of catarrh.
The usual school-room atmosphere bears the natu-
ral fruit of frequent headaches, inattention, weari-
ness, and stupor. Instead of six hundred feet of
space being allowed for each pupil, as perfect ven-
tilation demands the lowest estimate being 250 feet
often not over one hundred feet are afforded. In-
stead of 2000 cubic feet of fresh air for each pupil
being supplied and as much foul air removed every
hour, the amount needed for perfect health per-
haps no means of ventilation at all are provided, and
an occasionally opened door, and the benevolent
cracks and chinks in the building, furnish the sole
relief for the suffering lungs.
How Shall We Ventilate ? The usual method of
ventilation depends upon the fact that hot air, being
lighter than cold air, tends to rise, and the cold air
sinks to take its place.
Experiments. 1. Open the door of a heated room, and hold a lighted
candle first at the top, and then at the bottom. You can see, by the bend-
ing of the flame, that there is a current of air setting outward at the top,
and another setting inward at the bottom of the opening. 2. Hold a hand-
kerchief loosely in front of a fire-place, and it will be drawn strongly toward
the opening ; or, if you hold there a smoldering paper, the smoke will
ascend the flue, both being caused by the difference of temperature
between the air in the room and the outside atmosphere. Upon this differ-
ence of temperature all ordinary ventilation is based.
62 RESPIRATION AND THE VOICE.
A proper treatment of this subject and its practical applications would
require a book by itself. There ie room here for only a few general state-
ments and suggestions.
1. Two openings are always necessary to produce a thorough change
of the air.
Experiments. (1. ) Put a lighted candle in a bottle. The flame will
soon be extinguished. The oxygen of the little air in the bottle is burned
out, and carbonic acid has taken its place. (2. ) Now place over the mouth
of the bottle a lamp-chimney, and insert in the chimney a strip of card-
board, thus dividing the passage. On relighting the candle, it will burn
freely. The smoke of a bit of smoldering paper will show that two opposite
currents of air are established, one setting into the bottle, the other out-
ward.
2. In the winter, when our school-rooms, churches, etc., are heated
artificially, the required difference of temperature is kept up with little
difficulty. The fresh air admitted to the room should then be heated
either by a furnace, or by passing over a stove, or through a coil of steam-
pipes. This cold air should always be taken directly from out-doors, and not
from a cellar, or under a piazza, where contamination is possible. In order
to remove the impure air, there should be ventilators provided at or near
the floor, opening into air-shafts or pipes leading upward through the
roof, having proper orifices at the top. These ventilating-pipes should be
heated artificially so as to produce a draft.
3. In the summer, ventilation may be commonly provided for by opening
windows at the top and the bottom, on the sheltered side of the building, so
as to avoid drafts of air injurious to the occupants. On a dull, still, hot
day, when there is little difference of temperature between the inner and
the outer air, ventilation can be secured only by having a fire provided in
the ventilating shaft ; this, by exhausting the air from the room, will cause
a fresh current to pour in through the open windows. At recess, if the
weather permit, all the children should be sent out-doors, to allow the
clothing to be exposed to the purifying influence of the open air, and the
windows should be thrown wide open, to ventilate the room thoroughly.
In bad weather, rapid marching or calisthenic exercises will furnish exer-
cise, and also permit the airing of the room.
4. The school and the church are the centers for spreading contagious
diseases. The former is especially dangerous, and therefore great pains
shoujd be taken to exclude pupils attacked by or recovering from diph-
VENTILATION. 63
theria, scarlet-fever, whooping-cough, etc., and even those who live in
houses where such sickness exists.
5. In our houses, the air is often contaminated by decaying vegetables
and other filth in the cellar ; by bad air drawn up into the cellar from the
soil, in consequence of the powerful draughts that our fires create ; by de-
fective gas and waste-pipes that let the foul air from cesspool or sewer-
spread through the house ; and by piles of refuse, or puddles of slops emp-
tied at the back-door. At the same time, the water in our wells, or in
streams that supply our towns and cities, receives too often the drainage
from out-houses and barn-yards, and so aids in introducing the most dan-
gerous poisons into our systems.
Open fire-places should be common, since they are efficient ventilators ;
they should never be closed for any cause. Fresh air admitted by a
hot-air register and impure air passed out by a chimney, form a simple and
thorough system. Our sleeping- apartments demand especial care. As soon
as the occupants leave the room, the bed-clothes should be removed, and
laid on the backs of chairs to air ; the bed be shaken up ; and the windows
thrown wide open. In the summer, the windows may be closed before the
sun is high ; the house is then left filled with the cool morning air. In
clamp and cold weather, a fire should be lighted in sleeping- apartments,
particularly if used by children or delicate persons, in order to dry the
bed-clothing, and also to prevent a chill on the part of the occupants.
Wonders of Respiration. The perfection of the
organs of respiration challenges our admiration.
So delicate are they that the least pressure would
cause exquisite pain, yet tons of air surge to and fro
through their intricate passages, and bathe their
innermost cells. We yearly perform at least 7,000,000
acts of breathing, inhaling 100,000 cubic feet of air,
and purifying over 3,500 tons of blood. This gigantic
process goes on constantly, never wearies or worries
us, and we wonder at it only when science reveals
to us its magnitude. In addition, by a wise econ-
omy, the process of respiration is made to subserve
64
RESPIRATION AND THE VOICE.
a second use no less important, and the air we
exhale, passing through the organs of voice, is
transformed into prayers of faith, songs of hope,
and words of social cheer.
Diseases. 1. CONSTRICTION OF THE LUNGS is produced by tight
clothing. The ribs are thus forced inward, the size of the chest is dimin-
Fig. 28.
A. B.
A, the natural position of the Internal organs. B, when deformed by tight lacing.
MARSHALL says that the liver and the stomach have, in this way, been forced down-
ward almost as low as the pelvis.
ished, and the amount of inhaled air decreased. Stiff clothing, and
especially a garment that will not admit of a full breath without inconve-
nience, will prevent that free movement of the ribs so essential to health.
Any violation of the laws of respiration, even though it be fashionable, will
surely result in diminished vitality and vigor.
PRACTICAL QUESTIONS. 65
2. PNEUMONIA (pneuma, breath) is an inflammation of the lungs, affect-
ing chiefly the air-cells.
3. CONSUMPTION is a disease which destroys the substance of the lungs.
Like other lung difficulties, it is caused largely by a want of pure air, a
liberal supply of which is the best treatment that can be prescribed for it.
4. DIPHTHERIA (dipMhera, a membrane) is a kind of sore-throat, in
which matter exudes from the mucous membrane. This stiffens into a
peculiar white substance, which appears in patches. Fever and debility
accompany this disease, which is so rapid and insidious in its advances as
to be exceedingly dreaded.
5. CROUP is an inflammation of the mucous membrane of the larynx
and trachea. The attack frequently comes on suddenly, and usually in
the night. It is accompanied by a peculiar "brassy,"' ringing cough,
which, once heard, can never be mistaken. It may prove fatal within a
few hours. (See Appendix. )
6. STAMMERING depends, not on defects of the muscles, but on a want
of due control of the mind. When a stammerer is not too conscious of his
lack, and tries to form his words slow'ly, he speaks plainly, and may sing
well, for then his words must come in time. The stammerer should find
out his peculiar difficulty, and overcome it by exercise, and especially by
speaking only after a full inspiration.
PRACTICAL QUESTIONS.
1. What is the philosophy of " the change of voice " in a boy ?
2. Why can we see our breath on a frosty moining ?
3. When a law of health and a law of fashion conflict, which should we
obey ?
4. If we use a "bunk" bed, should we pack away the clothes when we
first rise in the morning ?
5. Why should a clothes-press be well ventilated ?
6. Should the weight of our clothing hang from the waist* or the
shoulder ?
7. Describe the effects of living in an overheated room.
8. What habits impair the power of the lungs ?
9. For full, easy breathing in singing, should we use the diaphragm
and lower ribs, or the upper ribs alone
66
RESPIRATION AND THE VOICE.
10. Why is it better to breathe through the nose than the mouth ?
11. Why should not a speaker talk while returning home on a cold night
after a lecture ?
12. What part of the body needs the loosest clothing ?
13. What part needs the warmest ?
14. Why is a "spare bed " generally unhealthful ?
15. Is there any good in sighing ?
16. Should a hat be thoroughly ventilated ? How ?
BLACKBOARD ANALYSIS.
1. ORGANS op VOICE
2. ORGANS op RESPIRA-
TION.
1. The Larynx.
2. The Vocal Cords.
3. Different Tones of Voice.
4. Formation of Vocal Sounds.
f 1. The Trachea.
I 2. The Bronchial Tubes
I 3. The Cells.
,4. The Lung- wrapping.
MODIFICATIONS OP THE
BREATH.
'1. Coughing.
2. Sneezing.
3. Snoring.
I 4. Laughing, and Crying.
\5,
5. CAPACITY or THIS LUNGS.
6. HYGIENE.
Hiccough.
The Need of Air.
Composition of the Air.
Action of Air in the Lungs.
Tests of the Breath.
Analysis of expired Air.
Effect of re-breathed Air.
a. The Sources of Im-
purity.
b The Sick-room.
c. The Sitting-room.
d. The Church.
e. The Bed- room.
f. The School-room.
1 g. How we shoulc;
ventilate.
7. THE WONDERS OP RESPIRATION.
Constriction of the Lungs.
Pneumonia.
/ t,. Consumption.
8. DISEASES < 4 Diphtheria.
1 5. Croup.
\6. Stammering.
THE CIRCULATION.
THE Organs of the Circulation are the heart, the
arteries, the veins, and the capillaries.
The Blood is the liquid by means of which the
circulation is effected. It permeates every part of
the body, except the cuticle, nails, hair, etc. The
average quantity in each person is about eighteen
pounds. It is composed of a thin, colorless liquid
Fig. 29.
A, corpuscles of human blood, highly magnified ; B, corpuscles in the blood
of an animal (a non-mammal).
(plasma), filled with red disks, or cells, so small that
3,500 placed side by side would measure only about
an inch. They have a tendency to collect in piles
like rolls of coin. The size and shape vary in the
blood of different animals. Disks are continually
68 THE CIRCULATION.
forming in the blood, and as constantly dying
20,000,003 at every breath. (Draper).
Experiment. Get a drop of blood by pricking the end of your finger
with a needle. Place it on the slide, cover with a glass, and put it at
once under the microscope. You will see that the red disks group them-
selves in rows, while the white disks of which there is only one to every
three or four hundred red ones will seem to draw apart, and to change
their form continually.
The plasma also contains fibrin, albumen which
is found nearly pure in the white of an egg and
also various mineral substances, as iron, lime, mag-
nesia, phosphorus, potash, etc.
Uses of the Blood. The blood has been called
"liquid flesh"; but it is more than that, since it
contains the materials for making every organ. The
plasma is rich in mineral matter for the bones, and
in albumen for the muscles. The red disks are the
air-cells of the blood. They contain the oxygen so
essential to every operation of life. Wherever there
is work to be done or repairs to be made, there the
oxygen is needed. It stimulates to action, and tears
down all that is worn out. In this process, it com-
bines with and actually burns out parts of the
muscles and other tissues, as wood is burned in the
stove. The blood, now foul with the burned matter,
the ashes of this fire, is caught up by the circulation,
and whirled back to the lungs, where it is purified,
and again sent bounding on its way.
Coagulation. When blood is exposed to the air, it
coagulates. This is caused by the solidifying of the
fibrin, which, entangling the disks, forms the "clot."
The remaining clear, yellow liquid is the serum.
THE HEAKT.
69
The coagulation soon checks all ordinary cases of
bleeding. When a wound is made, and bleeding
commences, the fibrin forms a temporary plug, as it
were, which is absorbed when the healing process is
finished. Thus we see how a Divine foresight has
provided not only for the ordinary wants of the
body, but also for the accidents to which it is liable.
The Heart. A, the right ventricle ; B, the left ventricle ; C, the right auricle ;
D, the left auricle ; M, the Aorta.
The Heart is the engine which propels the blood.
It is a hollow, pear-shaped muscle, about the size of
the fist. It hangs, point downward, just to the left
of the center of the chest (Fig. 27). It is enclosed in
70 THE CIRCULATION.
a loose sac of membrane (the pericardium), that is
smooth as satin.
The Movements of the Heart consist of an alter-
nate contraction and expansion. These constitute
the beating of the heart which we hear so distinctly
between the fifth and sixth ribs.
Experiment. Place your ear over another person's heart. You can
detect two sounds ; the first, as the blood is leaving the heart ; the second,
as it falls into the pockets of the arteries, and the valves strike together.
During the first, the two ventricles contract ; during the second, the two
auricles.
Fig. 31.
Chambers of the Heart. A, right ventricle ; B, left ventricle ; C, right auricle
D, left auricle ; E, tricuspid valve ; F, bicuspid valve ; G, semi-lunar valves ; H,
valve of the aorta ; I, inferior vena cava ; K, superior vena cava ; L, L, pulmonary
veins.
The Auricles and Ventricles. The heart is divided
into four chambers. In an adult, each holds about
a wine-glassful. The upper ones, from appendages
NEED OF TALVES IN THE HEART. 71
on the outside resembling the ears of a dog, are
called auricles (aures, ears) ; the lower ones are
termed ventricles. The auricle and ventricle on each
side communicate with each other, but the right and
left halves of the heart are entirely distinct, and per-
form different kinds of work. The left side propels
the red blood ; and the right, the dark.
The auricles are merely reservoirs to receive the
blood, and to furnish it to the ventricles as they
need. Their work being light, their walls are thin
and weak. On the other hand, the ventricles force
the blood, and are, therefore, made very strong. As
the left ventricle drives the blood so much further
than the right, it is thicker and stronger.
Need of Valves in the Heart. As the auricles do
not need to contract with
Fig.
much force simply to empty
their contents into the ven-
tricles below them, there is
no demand for any special
contrivance to prevent the
blood from setting back the
_ . Valves of the Veins.
wrong way. But, when the
strong ventricles contract, some arrangement is
necessary to prevent its escaping into the auricle
again. Besides, when they expand, the "suction
power" would tend to draw back again from the
arteries all the blood just forced out. This difficulty
is obviated by little doors, or valves, which will not
let the blood go the wrong way.
Experiment. The heart of an ox or a sheep may be used to show the
chambers and valves. The aorta (see Fig. 30 and p. 75) should be cut as
72 THE CIRCULATION.
far as possible from the heart, and then, by pumping in water, the perfec-
tion of the valves will be finely exhibited. The ingenious pupil will devise
a method of illustrating the circulation of the blood as represented in Fig.
34, and thus obtain a clear idea of the action of this complex muscular
organ the heart.
The Tricuspid and Bicuspid Valves. At the
opening into the right ventricle, is a valve consisting
of three folds or flaps of membrane, whence it is
called the tri-cuspid valve (tri, three ; and cuspides,
points), and in the left ventricle, one containing two
flaps, and named the bi-cuspid valve. These hang
so loosely as to oppose no resistance to the passage
of the blood into the ventricles ; but, if any attempts
to go the other way, it gets between the flaps and
the walls of the heart, and, driving them outward,
closes the orifice.
The Semi-lunar Valves. In the passages outward
from the ventricles, are the semi-lunar valves, so
called from their half -moon shape. Each consists of
three little pocket-shaped folds of membrane, with
their openings in the direction which the blood is to
take. When it sets back, they fill, and, swelling
out, close the passage (Fig. 32).
The Arteries are the tube-like canals which convey
the blood from the heart. They are composed of an
elastic tissue, which yields at every throb of the
heart, and then slowly contracts again, keeping the
blood in motion during the expansion of the heart.
The elasticity of the arteries acts like the air-cham-
ber of a fire-engine, which converts the intermittent
jerks of the brakes or pump into the steady stream
of the hose-nozzle.
"<$> 1
HE CAPILLARIES. 73
The Pulse. At the wrist (radial artery) and on
the temple (temporal artery) we can feel the expan-
sion of the artery by each little wave of blood set in
motion by the contraction of the heart. In health,
there are about seventy-two pulsations per minute.
They increase with excitement or inflammation,
weaken with loss of vigor, and are modified by
nearly every disease. The physician, therefore, finds
the pulse a good index of the state of the system and
the character of the disorder.
The Veins are the tube-like canals which convey
the blood to the heart. As they do not receive the
direct impulse of the heart, their walls are much
thinner and less elastic than those of the arteries.
At first small, they increase in size and diminish in
number as they gradually pour into one another, like
tiny rills collecting to form two rivers, the vena cava
ascending and the vena cava descending (Fig. 34),
which empty into the right auricle.
Valves similar in construction to those already
described are placed at convenient intervals, to guide
the blood in its course and prevent its setting back-
ward.
Experiment. Press your finger on the upper part of one of the blue
veins running along your arm toward your hand, and then pass it down-
ward so as to drive the blood backward. Swellings like little knots will
appear. Each of these marks the location of a valve, closed by the blood
you push before your finger. Remove the pressure, and the valve will
open, the blood set forward, and the vein collapse to its former size.
The Capillaries (capillus, a hair) form a fine net-
work of tubes, connecting the ends of the arteries
with the veins. So closely are they placed, that we
u
THE CIRCULATION.
cannot prick the flesh with a needle without injur-
ing, perhaps, hundreds of them. The air-cells of the
blood deposit there their oxygen, and receive car-
bonic acid, while in the delicate capillaries of the
lungs they give up their load of carbonic acid in ex-
change for oxygen.
Experiment. Stretch, by means of twine and small splints, the
transparent web of a living frog's foot, and place it under the microscope.
You will see the blood disks winding in single file through the intricate
meshes of the capillaries, darting hither and thither, now pausing, swaying
to and fro with an uncertain motion, and anon dashing ahead again.
Fig. 33.
Circulation of the Blood in the Web of a Frog's Foot, highly magnified. A, an
artery ; B, capillaries crowded with disks, owiiig to a rupture just above, where the
disks are jammed into an adjacent mesh ; C, a deeper vetn ; the black spots are pig-
ment cells.-
The Circulation consists of two parts the lesser,
and the greater.
2. THE LESSER CIRCULATION. The dark blood
from the veins collects in the right auricle, and,
going through the tricuspid valve, empties into the
right ventricle. Thence it is driven past the semi-
lunar valves, through the pulmonary artery, to the
lungs. After circulating through the fine capil-
THE GREATER CIRCULATION.
75
Fig 3k.
Diagram illustrating the Circulation of the blood. A, vena cava descending (su-
perior) ; Z, vena cava ascending (inferior) ; C, right auricle ; D, right ventricle ;
E, pulmonary artery ; F P, lungs and pulmonary veins ; G, left auricle ; H, left
ventricle ; I, K, aorta. MARSHALL.
laries of the air-cells, it is returned, bright and
red, through the four pulmonary veins, to the left
auricle.
2. THE GREATER CIRCULATION. From the left
auricle, the blood is forced past the bicuspid valve to
the left ventricle ; thence it is driven through the
semi-lunar valves into the great aorta, the main
trunk of the arterial system. Passing through the
arteries, capillaries, and veins, it returns through
76 THE CIRCULATION.
the vense cavse, ascending and descending (Fig. 34),
and gathers again in the right auricle.
Velocity of the Blood. It has been estimated that
a portion of the blood will make the tour of the body
in about twenty-three seconds, and that the entire
mass passes through the heart in from one to two
minutes.
Distribution and Regulation of the Heat of the
Body. 1. DISTRIBUTION. The natural temperature
is about 98. This is kept up by the action of the
oxygen within us. Each capillary tube is a tiny
stove, where oxygen is combining with the tissues
of the body. Every contraction of a muscle de-
velops heat. The warmth so produced is distributed
by the circulation of the blood. Thus the arteries,
veins, and capillaries form a series of hot-water
pipes, through which the heated liquid is forced by
a pump the heart while the heat is maintained by
a multitude of little fires placed here and there along
its course.
2. REGULATION. The temperature of the body is
regulated by means of the pores of the skin and
those of the mucous membrane in the air-passages.
When the system becomes too warm, the blood-
vessels on the surface expand, the blood fills them,
the fluid leaks into the perspiratory glands, pours out
upon the exterior, and by evaporation cools the body.
When the temperature of the body is too low, the
vessels contract, less blood goes to the surface, the
perspiration decreases, and the loss of heat by evapo-
ration diminishes.
Life by Death. The body is being incessantly cor-
WONDERS OF THE HEART. 77
roded by the tireless oxygen. The scales of the
cuticle are constantly falling off and being replaced
from the cutis. The disks of the blood die, and new
ones spring into being. Every act is a destructive-
one. Not a bend of the finger, not a wink of the
eye, not a thought of the brain but is at some ex-
pense of the machine itself. Every process of life is
thus a process of death. The more rapidly this
change goes on, and fresh, vigorous tissue takes the
place of the old, the healthier and stronger we are.
Change of our Bodies. There is a belief that our
bodies change once in seven years. From the nature
of the case, the rate must vary with the labor we
perform ; the organs most used altering oftenest.
Probably the parts of the body in incessant employ-
ment are reorganized many times in a single year.
Wonders of the Heart. This marvelous little
engine throbs on continually at the rate of 100,000
beats per day, 40,000,000 per year, often 3,000,000,000
without a stop. Its vitality is amazing. Lay upon
a table the heart from a freshly-caught sturgeon, all
palpitating with life, and it will beat for days as if
itself a living creature. The most tireless of organs
while life exists, the heart is one of the last to yield
when life expire*. So long as a flutter lingers there,
we know the spark of being is not quite extin-
guished, and there is hope of restoration. During a
long life it will propel half a million tons of blood,
yet, with unfaltering labor, repair itself as fast as it
wastes, patiently keeping up the play of its valves
and the rhythm of its throb till "the wheels of life
stand still."
78 THE CIRCULATION.
The Lymphatic Circulation. In nearly every part
of the body, mingled with the blood - capillaries,
is a second series of capillaries, termed the Lym-
phatics. Most of them converge into the thoracic
duct a small tube, about the size of a goose-quill,
emptying into the great veins of the neck (Fig. 35).
Fig. S5.
Lymphatics of the head and neck, showing the glands and, B, the thoracic duct, as
it empties into the left innominate vein at the junction of the left jugular and sub-
daman veins.
Along their course, the lymphatics pass through
glands, hard, pinkish bodies of all sizes, from that
of a hemp-seed to an almond. These glands are often
enlarged by disease, and are then easily felt.
THE LYMPH, which circulates through the lym-
phatics like blood through the veins, is a thin, color-
less liquid, very like the serum. This fluid, probably
in part an overflow from the blood-vessels, is gathered
up by the lymphatics, undergoes in the glands some
X3X
DISEASES. 79
process of preparation not well understood, and is
then returned to the circulation.
ILLUSTRATIONS. The poisonous ingredients of most
cosmetics and hair-dyes are absorbed by the lym-
phatics, and so carried into the system. The same
result occurs when persons poison their hands with
the common wood-ivy. Animals that hibernate are
supported during the winter by the fat which their
absorbents carry into the circulation from the extra
supply they have laid up during the summer. In
famine or in sickness, a man unconsciously con-
sumes his own flesh.
Diseases. 1. CONGESTION is an unnatural accumulation of blood in
any part of the body. The excess is indicated by the redness. Thus,
when we put our feet in hot water, the capillaries expand by the heat, and
the blood sets that way to fill them. Blushing is a temporary congestion.
The capillaries, being expanded only for an instant by the nervous excite-
ment, contract again and expel the blood.
2. INFLAMMATION means simply a burning. When there is irritation
or an injury at any spot, the blood sets thither and reddens it. This extra
supply, both by its presence and the friction of the swiftly-moving cur-
rents, causes heat. The pressure of the distended vessels upon the nerves
frets them, and produces pain. The swelling stretches the walls of the
blood-vessels, and the serum or lymph oozes through. The four charac-
teristics of an inflammation are redness, heat, pain, and swelling.
3. BLEEDING, if from an artery, will be of red blood, and will come in
jets ; if from the veins, it will be of dark blood, and will flow in a steady
stream. If only a small vessel be severed, it may be checked by a piece of
cloth held or bound firmly upon the wound. If a large trunk be cut, es-
pecially in a limb, make a knot in a handkerchief and tie it loosely about
the limb ; then, placing the knot on the wound, with a short stick twist
the handkerchief tightly enough to stop the flow. If you have a piece of
cloth to use as a pad, the knot will be unnecessary. If it be an artery that
is cut, the pressure should be applied between the wound and the heart ;
if a vein, beyond the wound. If you are alone, and are severely wounded,
80 THE CIRCULATION.
or in an emergency, like a railroad accident, use the remedy which has
saved many a life upon the battle-field, bind or hold a handful of dry
earth upon the wound, elevate the part, and await surgical assistance.
4. SCROFULA is generally inherited. It affects the lymphatic glands,
commonly those of the neck, forming "kernels," as they are called. Per-
sons inheriting this disease can ward off its insidious approaches only by
the utmost care in diet and exercise ; by the use of pure air, and warm
clothing ; and by avoiding late hours, and all excitants. Insufficient or
improper food, and lack of ventilation, rapidly develop the latent seeds of
this disease.
5. A COLD. "We change to a thinner dress, or, when heated, sit in a cool
place. The skin is chilled, and the perspiration checked. The blood, no longer
cleansed and reduced in volume by the drainage through the pores, sets to the
lungs for purification. That organ is oppressed, breathing becomes difficult,
and the extra mucus secreted by the irritated surface of the membrane is
thrown off by coughing. The mucous membrane of the nasal chamber sym-
pathizes with the difficulty, and we have " a cold in the head," or a catarrh.
In general, the excess of blood seeks the weakest point, and develops there
any latent disease. Thus, a party go out to walk and are caught in a rain ;
or, coming home from a heated assembly, throw off their coats to enjoy the
cool breeze. The next day, one has a fever, another a slight headache,
another pleurisy, another pneumonia, another rheumatism, while some
escape without injury. The last had enough vital force to withstand the
disturbance, but the others had weak points, to which the excess of blood
has gone, producing congestion. The first necessity is to restore a regular
circulation of the blood. Put the feet in hot water and let them become
gorged with the blood thus called from the congested organs. Or, go im-
mediately to bed, and with hot drinks and extra clothing open the pores,
and induce free perspiration. This calls the blood to the surface, and, by
equalizing the circulation, affords relief.
The rule for the prevention and cure of a cold is to keep the blood upon
the surface.
ALCOHOLIC DRINKS AND NARCOTICS. 81
ALCOHOLIC DRINKS AND NARCOTICS.
I. ALCOHOL.
How Alcohol is Formed by Fermentation. When
any substance containing sugar, as fruit- juice, is
caused to ferment, the elements of hydrogen, carbon,
and oxygen, of which the sugar is composed, re-
arrange themselves so as to form carbonic acid, alco-
hol, and certain volatile oils and ethers. The carbonic
acid partly evaporates, and partly remains to give
life and sparkle to the liquor ; the alcohol is the
intoxicating principle ; while the oils and ethers im-
part the peculiar flavor. Thus wine is fermented
grape-juice, and cider is fermented apple-juice, each
having its distinctive fragrance. (For an account of
the subject of Fermentation, read Steele's New Chem->
istry, page 192.)
Manufacture of Beer. The barley used for making
beer is first malted, i.e., sprouted, to turn a part of
its starch into sugar. When this process has gone
far enough, it is checked by heating the grain in a
kiln until the germ is destroyed. The malt is then
crushed, steeped, and fermented with hops and
yeast. The sugar gradually disappears, alcohol is
formed, and carbonic acid escapes into the air. The
beer is then put into casks, where it undergoes a
second, slower fermentation, the flavor ripens, and
the carbonic acid gathers ; when the liquor is drawn,
this gas bubbles to the surface, giving to the beer its
sparkling, foamy look.
Spirits. Alcohol is so volatile that, by the appli-
cation of heat, it can be driven off as a vapor from
THE CIRCULATION.
Fig. 56.
Process Qf Distillation,
the fermented liquid in which it has been produced.
Steam and various fragrant substances will pass
over with it, and, if they are collected and condensed
in a cool receiver, a new and stronger liquid will be
formed, having a distinctive odor.
In this way, the alcohol of commerce is distilled
from whisky ; brandy, from wine ; rum, from fer-
mented molasses ; whisky, from fermented conr
barley or potatoes ; and gin, from fermented barley
and rye, afterward distilled with juniper berries. In
all liquors, the base is alcohol. It comprises from
3 to 8 per cent, of ale and porter, 7 to 17 per cent, of
wine, and 40 to 50 per cent, of brandy and whisky.
They may therefore be considered as alcohol more
or less diluted with water, and flavored with various
THE PROPERTIES OF ALCOHOL. 83
aromatics. In taste, the different liquors as brandy,
gin, beer, cider, etc., vary greatly, but they all pro-
duce certain physiological effects due to their com-
mon ingredient alcohol.
The Properties of Alcohol may be illustrated in
the following very simple manner :
Experiments. 1. Pour a little alcohol into a saucer and apply an
ignited match. The liquid will suddenly take fire, burning with intense
heat, but feeble light. In this process, alcohol takes up oxygen from the
air, forming carbonic-acid gas, and water. 2. Hold a red-hot coil of plati-
num wire in a goblet containing a few drops of alcohol, and a peculiar odor
will be noticed. It denotes the formation of aldehyde a substance pro-
duced in the slow oxidation of alcohol. Still further oxidized, the alcohol
would be changed into acetic acid the sour principle of vinegar.
One of the most noticeable properties of alcohol is
its affinity for water. When strong alcohol is ex-
posed to the air, it absorbs moisture and becomes
diluted ; at the same time, the spirit itself evapo-
rates. The commercial or proof -spirit is about one-
half water ; the strongest holds ten per cent. ; and, to
obtain absolute or waterless alcohol, requires careful
distillation in connection with some substance, as
lime, that has a still greater affinity for water, and
so can despoil the alcohol.
Experiment. Put the white of an egg nearly pure albumen into
a cup, and pour upon it some alcohol, or even strong brandy ; the fluid
albumen will coagulate, becoming hard and solid.
Effect of Alcohol on the Circulation. During
the experiment described on page 74, the influence
of alcohol upon the blood may be very easily tested.
Place on the web of the frog's foot a drop of dilute
spirit. The blood-vessels immediately expand.
84 THE CIRCULATION.
Channels before unseen open, and the blood-disks fly
along at a brisker rate. Next, touch the membrane
with a drop of strong spirit. The blood channels
quickly contract ; the cells slacken their speed ; and,
finally, all motion ceases. The flesh shrivels up and
dies. The circulation thus stopped is stopped for-
ever. The part affected will in time slough off.
Alcohol has killed it.
The influence of alcohol upon the human system
is similar. Diluted, as in wine or whisky, it dilates
the blood-vessels, quickens the circulation, hastens
the heart-throbs, and accelerates the respiration.
When strong, it acts as a poison. Persons have
drunk a quantity of liquor on a wager, and have
paid for their folly with their life. The whole of the
blood in the heart being turned into a clot, the circu-
lation ceased, and death was instantaneous.
Effect of Alcohol upon the Heart. What means
this rapid flow of the blood ? It shows that the
heart is overworking. The nerves that lead to the
minute capillaries and regulate the passage of the
vital current through the extreme parts of the body,
are paralyzed by this active narcotic. The tiny
blood-vessels at once expand. This enlargement re-
moves the resistance to the passage of the blood,
and hence to the beat of the heart, and the heart flies
like the main spring of a clock when the wheels are
taken out.
Careful experiments show that two ounces of alco-
hol an amount contained in the daily potations of
a very moderate ale or whisky drinker increase the
heart-beats GOOO in twenty-four hours ; a degree of
EFFECT OF ALCOHOL UPON THE HEART. 85
work represented by that of lifting a weight of
seven tons to a height of one foot. Reducing this
sum to ounces and dividing, we find that the heart
is driven to do extra work equivalent to lifting seven
ounces one foot high 1493 times each hour !
No wonder that the drinker feels a reaction, a
physical languor, after the earliest effects of his
indulgence have passed away. The heart flags, the
brain and the muscles are exhausted, and rest and
sleep are imperatively demanded. During this time
of excitement, the machinery of life has really been
" running down." " It is hard work to fight against
alcohol ; harder than rowing, walking, wrestling,
coal-heaving, or the tread-mill itself."
The pupil should be careful to note here that alcohol does not act upon
the heart directly, and cause it to contract with more force. The idea that
alcohol gives energy and activity to the muscles is entirely false. It really,
as we shall see hereafter, weakens muscular contraction. The enfeeble-
ment begins in the first stage, and continues in the other stages with in-
creased effect. The heart beats quickly merely because the resistance of
the minute controlling vessels is taken off, and it works without being
under proper regulation. What is called a stimulation or excitement is,
in absolute fact, a relaxation, a partial paralysis of one of the most im-
portant mechanisms in the animal body. Alcohol should be ranked among
the narcotics. (Richardson}.
Long-continued use of alcohol causes a ' ' degenera-
tion " of the muscular fiber of the heart, so that this
organ loses its old power to drive the blood, and,
after a time, fails to respond even to the spur that
has urged it to ruin.
THIS "DEGENERATION " of the various tissues of the body, we shall find,
as we proceed, is a marked effect of alcoholized blood. The change con-
.86 THE CIRCULATION.
sists in an excess of liquid, or, more commonly, in a deposit of fat. This
fatty matter is not an increase of the organ, but it takes the place of a part
of its fiber, thus weakening the structure, and reducing the power of the
tissue to perform its regular work. Almost everywhere in the body we
thus find cells muscle-cells, liver-cells, nerve-cells, as the case may be
changing, one by one, under the influence of this potent disorganizer, into
unhealthy fat-cells. Alcohol has well been termed, "The Genius of De-
generation."
The cause of this degeneration can be easily explained. The increased
activity of the circulation compels a correspondingly-increased activity of
the cell-changes : but the essential condition of healthful change the
presence of additional oxygen is wanting, and the operation is imperfectly
performed.
Influence upon the Membranes. The flush of the
face and the blood-shot eye, that are such noticeable
effects of even a small quantity of liquor, indicate
the condition of all the internal organs. The deli-
cate linings of the stomach, heart, brain, liver, and
lungs, are reddened, and every tiny vein is inflamed,
like the blushing nose itself. When the use of
liquor is habitual, the congestion, which at first
passes slowly away after each indulgence, becomes
permanent, and the discolored blotched skin reveals
the state of the entire mucous membrane.
We learned on page 39 what a peculiar office the
membrane fills in nourishing the organs it enwraps.
Anything that disturbs its delicate structure must
mar its efficiency. Alcohol has a wonderful affinity
for water. To satisfy this greed, it will absorb
moisture from the tissues with which it comes in
contact, as well as from their lubricating juices.
The enlargement and permanent congestion of the
blood-vessels must interfere with the filtering action
EFFECT UPON THE BLOOD. 8?
of the membrane. In time, all the membranes
become dry, thickened, and hardened ; they then
shrink upon the sensitive nerve, or stiffen the joint,
or enfeeble the muscle. The function of these mem-
branes being deranged, they will not furnish the
organs with perfected material, and the clogged
pores will no longer filter their natural fluids.
Every organ in the body will feel this change.
Effect upon the Blood. From the stomach, alco-
hol passes directly into the circulation, and so, in a
few minutes, is swept through the entire system.
If it be present in sufficient amount and strength,
its eager desire for water will lead it to absorb
moisture from the red disks, causing them to shrink,
change their form, harden, and lose some of their
ability to carry oxygen ; it may even make them
adhere in masses, and so hinder their passage
through the tiny capillaries. (Richardson).
The avidity of alcohol for water causes a burning
thirst, familiar to all drinkers, and hence the use of
enormous quantities of liquor, generally beer. This
dilutes the blood, which then easily flows from a
wound, and, as it does not coagulate like healthy
blood, renders an accident or surgical operation
dangerous. ?
Sometimes, on the contrary, when spirits are used
in excess, the blood tends to coagulate in the capil-
laries. There is then the liability of an obstruction
to the flow of the vital current through the heart,
liver, lungs, etc., that may cause disease, and in the
brain may lay the foundation of paralysis or apo-
plexy.
88 THE CIRCULATION.
Wherever the alcoholized blood goes through the
body, it bathes the delicate cells with an irritating,
narcotic poison, instead of a bland, nutritious sub-
stance.
Effect upon the Lungs. Here we can see how
certainly the presence of alcohol interferes with the
red disks in their task of carrying oxygen. "Even
so small a quantity as one part of alcohol to 500 of
the blood will materially check the absorption of
oxygen in the lungs."
The cells, unable to take up oxygen, retain their
carbonic-acid gas, and so return from the lungs,
carrying back, to poison the system, the refuse mat-
ter the body has sought to throw off. Thus the
lungs no longer furnish properly-oxygenized blood.
The rapid stroke of the heart, already spoken of,
is followed by a corresponding quickening of the
respiration. The flush of the cheek is repeated in
the reddened mucous membrane lining the lungs.
When this enlargement of the capillaries becomes
permanent, and the highly-albuminous membrane
of the air-cells is hardened and thickened as well
as congested, the passage of the gases to and fro
through its pores can no longer be prompt and free
as before. Even when the effect passes off in a
few days after the occasional indulgence, there is,
during that time, a diminished supply of the life-
giving oxygen furnished to the system ; weakness
follows, and, in the case of hard drinkers, there is a
marked liability to epidemics.
A volume of statistics could be filled with quotations like the following :
"Mr. Huber, who saw in one town in Russia two thousand one hundred
PRACTICAL QUESTIONS. 89
and sixty persons perish with the cholera in twenty days, said : ' It is a
most remarkable circumstance that persons given to drink have been
swept away like flies. In Tiflis, with twenty thousand inhabitants, every
drunkard has fallen, all are dead, not one remaining.' "
Physicians tell us, also, that there is a peculiar
form of consumption caused by long-continued and
excessive use of liquor. It generally attacks those
whose splendid constitution has enabled them to
" drink deep " with apparent impunity. This type
of consumption appears late in life and is considered
incurable.
PRACTICAL QUESTIONS.
1. Why does a dry, cold atmosphere favorably affect catarrh ?
2. Why should we put on extra covering when we lie down to sleep ?
3. Is it well to throw off our coats or shawls when we come in heated
from a long walk ?
4. Why are close-fitting collars or neck-ties injurious ?
5. Which side of the heart is the more liable to inflammation ?
6. When a fowl is angry, why does its comb redden ?
7. Why does a fat man endure cold better than a lean one ?
8. Why does one become thin during a long sickness ?
9. What would you do if you should come home "wet to the skin " ?
10. When the cold air strikes the face, why does it first blanch and then
flush ?
11. By what process is alcohol always formed ? Does it exist in nature ?
12. What per-centage of alcohol is contained in the different kinds of
liquor ?
13. What is the common intoxicating principle of whisky and brandy,
as of beer and cider ?
14. Describe the general properties of alcohol.
15. Show that alcohol is a narcotic poison.
16. If alcohol is not a stimulant, how does it cause the heart to over-
work ?
90
THE CIRCULATION.
17. Why is the skin of a drunkard always red, and blotched ?
18. What must be the effect of tight lacing upon the circulation ?
19. Why does a hot foot-bath relieve the headache ?
BLACKBOARD ANALYSIS.
1. THE BLOOD
1. Its Composition.
' Its Uses.
Coagulation.
2. ORGANS OP THE CIR-
CULATION.
1. The
Heart.
1. Description.
2. Movements.
3. Auricles and Ventricles.
(a. Need of.
4. The Valves. 1 b '
c. Semi-lunar Valves.
3. THE CIRCULATION.,
4. THE HEAT OF THE
BODY.
2. The j 1. Description.
Arteries "I 2. The Pulse.
8. The j 1. General Description.
Veins. ( 2. Valves.
4. The ( 1. Description.
Capilla--<2. Use.
ries. ( 3. Under the Microscope.
1. The Lesser.
2. The Greater.
3. The Velocity of the Blood.
1. Distribution.
2. Regulation.
5. LIFE BY DEATH.
6. CHANGE OF OUR BODIES.
7. WONDERS or THE HEART.
(I. Description.
8. THE LYMPHATIC Cm- J 2. The Glands.
13. rf _ r _ -
Illustrations.
) 3. The Lymph.
(4. Illustrations
(\. Congestion.
| 2. Inflammation.
9. DISEASES ............ { 3. Bleeding.
i 4. Scrofula.
\J5. A Cold.
. How Alcohol is formed.
. Manufacture of Beer.
. Spirits.
. Properties of Alcohol.
10 ALCOHOLIC DRINKS \ 5. Effect of Alcohol upon the Circulation
AND NARCOTICS.
Heart.
to cause fatty degeneration,
upon the Membrane.
Blood.
11 Lungs.
EFFECTS OF ALCOHOL UPON THE STOMACH.
Healthful
Ulcerous.
After a long Debauch
Death byDeliriumTremens
The Cancerous Stomach.
DIGESTION AND FOOD.
"TTTHY we need Food. We have learned that
VV our bodies are constantly giving off waste
matter the products of the fire, or oxidation, as the
chemist terms it, going on within us. A man with-
out food will starve to death in a few days, i. e., the
oxygen will consume his available flesh. To replace
the daily outgo, we need about two and a quarter
pounds of food, and three pints of drink.
Including the eight hundred pounds of oxygen
taken from the air, a man uses in a year about a ton
and a half of material. Yet during this entire time
his weight may be nearly uniform.
Our bodies, says Huxley, may be likened to an
eddy in the river, which retains its shape for a
while, though every instant each particle of water
is changing.
What Food Does. We make no force ourselves.
We can use only what nature provides. All our
strength comes from the food we eat. Food is force
that is, it contains a power which it gives up to us when
it becomes our flesh. Oxygen is the magic key
which unlocks for our use this hidden store. Put-
ting food into our bodies is like placing a wound-up
spring in a watch ; every motion of the body is
92 DIGESTION AND FOOD.
dependent upon the food-force just as every move-
ment of the hand on the watch-dial represents the
power of the spring.
Every cell in the tissues is full of matter ready to set free at call its stored-
up energy derived from the meat, bread, and vegetables we have eaten.
This energy will pass off quietly when the organs are in comparative rest,
but violently when the muscles contract with force. When we send an
order through a nerve to any part of the body, a series of tiny explosions
run the entire length of the nerve, just as fire runs through a train of gun-
powder. The muscle receives the stimulus, and, contracting, liberates its
energy. The cells of nerve or muscle, whose contents have thus exploded,
as it were, are useless, and must be carried off by the blood, just as ashes
must be swept from the hearth, and new fuel be supplied to keep up a fire.
Kinds of Food Needed. In order to produce heat
and force, we need something that will burn, i. e.,
with which oxygen can combine. To keep the body
in the best condition, we require three kinds of food.
1. FOOD CONTAINING NITROGEN. This is needed for
the growth and repair of the muscles, which so
readily oxidize and provide us with force. Cheese,
lean meat, and the whites of eggs are examples of
nitrogenous, or, as it is generally called, albuminous
food.
' 2. FOOD CONTAINING CARBON. This comprises the
sugars and the fats. In digestion, starch (which is
abundant in potatoes, corn, etc.) is changed to sugar,
and hence is ranked with this class of food.
Experiment. Take a slice of raw potato, and let fall on it a few
drops of very weak tincture of iodine found at any drug-store. Iodine
turns starch blue. Note the effect on the potato, which shows the starch
it contains.
OBJECT OF DIGESTION. 93
3. FOOD CONTAINING MINERAL MATTER. -- Our
bodies need water, iron, sulphur, magnesia, phospho-
rus, salt, potash, etc.
About three pints of water are required daily to
dissolve our food and carry it through the circula-
tion, to float off waste matter, to lubricate the
tissues, and to cool the system. Water also com-
poses a large share of the body. A man weighing
154 pounds contains 100 pounds of water, about 12
gallons, enough, if rightly arranged, to drown him.
Iron goes to the blood disks ; lime helps to give
solidity to the bones and teeth ; phosphorus is essen-
tial to the activity of the brain. Salt assists in di-
gestion, and also aids in working off waste products
from the system.
One Kind of Food is Insufficient. A person fed only
on sugar, for example, would die. It would be a clear
case of nitrogen starvation. He might live some time
on nitrogenous food alone, as that contains carbon, the
elements of water, and some mineral matter. But
it would take such an enormous quantity of food
-lean meat, for instance to supply the carbon,
that his poor stomach would at last be sure to give
up in despair.
The need of a mixed diet is shown in the fact that
instinct everywhere suggests it. Butter is used
with bread ; oil is relished with salad ; milk is
boiled with rice ; cheese is eaten with maccaroni,
and pork is baked with beans.
Object of Digestion. If food were cast directly
into the blood, it could not be used. For example,
although the chemist cannot see wherein the albu-
94
DIGESTION AND FOOD.
Fig. 37.
men of the egg differs from the albumen of the
blood, yet if it be injected into the veins it will not
serve the purposes required, and is thrown out again.
Digestion fits the food for use in the body.
General Plan of Digestion. Nature has provided
for this purpose an entire laboratory, furnished with
a chemist's outfit of knives,
mortars, baths, chemicals,
filters, etc. The food is (1)
chewed, mixed with the
saliva in the mouth, and
swallowed ; (2) acted upon
by the gastric juice in the
stomach ; (3) passed into the
intestines, where it receives
the bile, pancreatic juice,
and other liquids which dis-
solve it ; (4) the nourishing
part is absorbed in the
stomach and intestines, and
thence thrown into the
blood-vessels, whence it is
whirled through the body
by the circulation. These
processes take place within
tne ctl'i'iYi6 r YitciT'y ccfucti^ a nar-
row, winding tube which
begins at the mouth,
and is about thirty feet
long.
I. Mastication.!. THE SALIVA. The food while
being cut and ground by the teeth is mixed with
The Stomach and Intestines. 1,
stomach; 2, duodenum 3, small in-
7, ascending colon ; 8, transverse
colon; 9, descending colon; 10, sig-
moid flexure of the colon ; 11, rec-
tum ; 12, spleen a gland whose
action is not understood.
Yw
9 J
MASTICATION.
95
'. 38.
The Parotid one of the three salivary glands
that open into the month by ducts.
the saliva. This is
a colorless, frothy,
alkaline liquid, secre-
ted (i. e., separated
from the blood), by
the mucous mem-
brane lining the
mouth, and by the
salivary glands. The
amount, on the aver-
age, is about three
pounds per day, and
in health is sufficient to keep the mouth moist. The
saliva changes the starch of our food into sugar,
and, by softening and dissolving what we eat, en-
ables us to get the different flavors.
2. THE PROCESS OF SWALLOWING. The food, thus
pulverized, softened, and lubricated by the saliva, is
conveyed by the tongue and cheek to the back of the
mouth. The soft palate lifts to close the nasal open-
ing ; the epiglottis shuts down, and along this bridge
the food is borne, without danger of falling into the
windpipe or escaping into the nose. The muscular
bands of the throat now seize it and take it beyond
our control. The fibers of the oesophagus contract
above, while they are lax below, and convey the food
by a worm-like motion into the stomach.
Experiment. Observe the peculiar motion of the oesophagus by
watching a horse's neck when he is drinking.
II. Gastric Digestion. 1. THE STOMACH is shaped
very like a Scotch bag-pipe, and holds about three
96 DIGESTION AND FOOD.
pints. It is composed of three coats, or layers : (1),
an inner, soft, mucous membrane, which secretes
the digestive fluids ; (2), an outer, strong, smooth
coat which prevents friction and gives support ; and
(3), between them, a stout muscular layer composed
of fibers, some lying lengthwise, some obliquely,
and some passing round the stomach. When these
fibers contract, they produce a peculiar churning
motion which thoroughly mixes the contents of the
stomach. At the further end, the muscular fibers
form a gateway (pylorus, a gate), which carefully
guards the exit, to prevent food from passing out of
the stomach until properly prepared.
2. THE GASTRIC JUICE. The inner lining of the
stomach is soft, velvety, and of a pinkish hue ; but,
as soon as food is admitted, the blood-vessels fill, and
the surface becomes a bright red. Soon there exudes
a thin, colorless, acid fluid the gastric juice. About
twelve pounds of this are daily secreted. Its flow is
checked by cold water, and may be stopped by anger,
fatigue, or anxiety.
The chief value of the gastric juice consists in a
peculiar substance called pepsin, which causes the
albuminous food to dissolve, but has no effect on the
fats or the sugars.
The food, reduced by the gastric juice to a grayish,
soupy mass, called chyme (klme), escapes through
that jealously-guarded door, the pylorus.
III. Intestinal Digestion. The structure of the
intestines is like that of the stomach. There is the
same outer, smooth membrane to prevent friction,
the lining of mucous membrane to secrete the diges-
DIGESTIVE TRACT.
Fig. S9.
97
Diagram of the Digestion of the Fcod. Notice how the food is submitted to the action
of alkaline, acid, and then alkaline fluids.
98 DIGESTION AND FOOD.
tive fluids, and the muscular coating to push the
food forward.
The intestines are divided into the small, and the
large. The first part
of the former opens out
of the stomach, and is
called the du-o-de'-num,
as its length is equal to
the breadth of twelve
fingers. Here the chyme
A vertical Section of the Duodenum, highly is acted Upon by the
cuucie f -f!fri.n^ 8 oj tf& bile, and the pancreatic
.
gland* ; 5, orifice of duodenal glands ,-7, . .
more highly magnified sections of the cells of JUlCe.
a duodenal gland.
1. THE BILE is secre-
ted by the liver, which is the largest gland in the
body, and weighs about four pounds. It is located
on the right side, below the diaphragm. The bile
is of a dark, golden color, and bitter taste. About
three pounds are daily secreted. When not needed
for digestion, it is stored in the gall cyst.
In the tiny liver-cells (each one smaller than a fine pin's head), sugar is
changed into a kind of insoluble starch called glycogen. This is stored up
in the liver and muscles until 'needt??! elsewhere, when it is once more con-
verted into soluble sugar and taken up by the circulation. The liver also
changes the waste and surplus albuminous matter into bile, and into
urea and uric acid the forms in which nitrogenized waste is excreted by
the kidneys.
2. THE PANCREATIC JUICE is a secretion of the
pancreas, or sweet-bread a gland nearly as large as
the hand, lying behind the stomach. This alkaline
juice, which has also the power of changing starch
to sugar, breaks the globules of fat into minute par-
THE SMALL INTESTINES.
99
tides, that mix freely with water, and remain sus-
pended in it like butter in milk. The whole mass
now has a milky look, whence it is termed chyle
(kile), and passes on to the small intestine.
3. THE SMALL INTESTINE is an intricately-folded
tube, about twenty feet long, and from an inch to
an inch and one-half in diameter. As the chyle
The Mucous Membrane of the Ilium, highly magnified. 1, cellular structure of the
epithelium, or outer layer ; 2, a vein ; 3, fibrous layer ; 4, villi covered with epithelium ;
5, a villus in section, showing its lining of epithelium, with its blood-vessels and lym-
phatics ; 6, a villus partially uncovered ; 7, a villus stripped of its epithelium ; 8,
lymphatics, or lacteals ; 9, orifices of the glands opening between the vuli ; 10, 11, 12,
glands ; 13, capillaries surrounding the orifices of the gland.
passes through this winding channel, it receives
secretions which combine the action of all the pre-
vious ones, and affect equally the starch, fat, and
albumen.
IV. Absorption is performed by the veins, and the
100 DIGESTION AND FOOD.
lacteals. (1.) The Veins in the stomach immediately
begin to take up the water, salt, and other sub-
stances that need no special preparation. In the
small intestine, there is a multitude of tiny projec-
tions (villi) from the folds of the mucous membrane,
more than 7000 to the square inch, giving it a soft,
velvety look. These little rootlets, reaching out into
the milky fluid, drink into their minute blood-vessels
the nutritious part of every sort of food.
(2.) The Lacteals, a set of vessels starting in the
villi side by side with the veins, absorb the principal
part of the fat. They convey the chyle through
the lymphatics and the thoracic duct (Fig. 35) to
the veins, and so within the sweep of the circula-
tion.
The Portal Vein carries to the liver the food ab-
sorbed by the veins of the stomach and the villi of
the intestines. In the cells of the liver, it undergoes
as mysterious a process as that performed by the
lymphatic glands, and is then cast into the circula-
tion.
The Length of Time Required for digesting a full
meal is from two to four hours. It varies with the
kind of food, state of the system, thoroughness of
mastication, etc.
In 1822, Alexis St. Martin, a Canadian in the employ of the American
Fur Company, was accidentally shot in the left side. Two years after, the
wound was entirely healed, leaving, however, an opening about two and a
half inches in circumference into the stomach. Through this the mucous
membrane protruded, forming a kind of valve which prevented the dis-
charge of food, but could be readily depressed by the finger, thus exposing
the interior. For several years he was under the care of Dr. Beaumont, a
V,
VALUE OF DFF ERENT KINDS' OF FOOD. 01
skillful physician, who exij^spjented upon him by giving him various kinds
of food, and watching their digestion through this opening. His stomach
was found empty in two and a half hours after a meal of roast turkey,
potatoes, and bread. Pigs' feet and boiled rice were disposed of in an hour.
Fresh, sweet apples took one and a half hours ; boiled milk, two hours ;
and unboiled, a quarter of an hour longer. In eggs, which occupied the
same time, the case was reversed, raw ones being digested sooner than
cooked Roast beef and mutton required three, and three and a quarter
hours respectively ; veal, salt beef, and broiled chicken remained for four
hours ; and roast pork enjoyed the bad pre-eminence of needing five and a
quarter hours.
Value of Different Kinds of Food. BEEF and MUT-
TON possess the greatest nutritive value of any meats.
LAMB is less strengthening, but more delicate. PORK
has much carbon. It sometimes contains a parasite
called trichina, which passes into the human system,
producing disease and often death ; the only safety
is in thorough cooking. FISH is more watery than
flesh, and many find it difficult of digestion. Like
meat, it loses its mineral properties and natural
juices when salted, and becomes less nourishing.
Oysters are highly nutritious, but are more easily
digested raw than cooked. MILK is a model food, as
it contains albumen, starch, fat, and mineral matter.
No single substance can sustain life for so long a
time. CHEESE is very nourishing one pound being
equal in value to two of meat, but it is not adapted
to a weak stomach. EGGS are most easily digested
when the white is barely coagulated, and the yolk is
unchanged. BREAD should be made of unbolted
flour. The bran of wheat furnishes the mineral
matter we need in our bones and teeth, gives the
bulk so essential to the proper distension of the
1C# DIGESTION AND FOOD.
digestive organs, and by its roughness gently stimu-
lates them to action. Very fresh bread, warm bis-
cuit, etc., are condensed by mastication into a pasty
mass that is not easily penetrated by the gastric
juice, and hence they are unwholesome. CORN is
rich in fat. It contains, however, more indigestible
matter than any other grain, except oats, and is less
nutritious than wheat. The POTATO is two-thirds
water, the rest being mainly starch. RIPE FRUITS,
and those vegetables usually eaten raw, dilute the
food, and supply the blood with cooling acids.
The Stimulants. COFFEE is about half nitrogen,
and the rest fatty, sadcharme, and mineral sub-
stances. It is, therefore, of much nutritive value,
especially when taken with milk and sugar. Its
stimulating property is due to a substance called
cdff&faie. Its aroma is developed by browning, but
destroyed by burning.
No other drink so soon relieves fatigue. Taken in
moderation, it clears the intellect, tranquillizes the
nerves, and usually leaves no unpleasant reaction.
In some cases, however, it produces a rush of blood
to the head, and should be at once discarded. At the
close of a full meal it hinders digestion, and at night
produces wakefulness.
TEA possesses an active principle called theine, and
also contains tannin, which, if the tea is strong,
coagulates the albumen of the food tans it and
thus delays digestion.
Experiment. Let a drop of strong tea fall on a steel knife-blade.
The black spot produced is a tannate of iron, a compound of the tannic
acid in the tea and the metal.
/ /*\ '
<& //o (
THE COOKING OF FOOD. 103
When used moderately, the effect of tea resembles
that of coffee ; in excess, it causes nervous tremor,
disturbed sleep, palpitation of the heart, and indiges-
tion. In youth, when the vital powers are strong
and nature promptly rallies from fatigue, these
stimulants are needless, and often positively inju-
rious.
The Cooking of Food breaks the little cells and
softens the fibers of which it is composed. In broil-
ing or roasting, meat should be exposed to a strong
heat at once, in order to coagulate the albumen
upon the outside, and thus prevent the escape of the
nutritious juices. The cooking may then be finished
at a lower temperature. The same principle applies
to boiling meat. In making soups, on the contrary,
the heat should be applied slowly, and should reach
the boiling point only for a few moments at the close.
This prevents the coagulation of the albumen. Fry-
ing is an unwholesome mode of cooking food, as it
disorganizes the fat.
Rapid Eating produces many evil results. 1. There
is not enough saliva mixed with the food ; 2. The
coarse pieces resist the action of the digestive fluids ;
3. The food is washed down with drinks that dilute
the gastric juice, and hinder its work ; 4. We do not
realize how much we eat until the stomach is over-
loaded ; 5. Failing to get the taste of our food, we
think it insipid, and hence use condiments that fret
the digestive organs. In these various ways, the
stomach is over-worked, and the foundation of dys-
pepsia laid.
The Quantity and Quality of Food required vary
104 DIGESTION AND FOOD.
with age and habits. The diet of a child should be
largely vegetable, and more abundant than that of
an aged person. An inactive life calls for less food
than an active one. When a boy accustomed to
out-door work enters school, he should practice self-
denial until his system becomes fitted to the new
order of things. He should not, however, fall into
the opposite error, and starve himself.
The season, also, should modify the diet. In win-
ter, we need highly carbonaceous food plenty of
fat meat, etc. ; but in summer we should temper the
heat in our corporeal stoves with fruits and vege-
tables.
The climate, too, has its necessities. The inhabi-
tants of the frigid north have an almost insatiable
longing for fat. Thus, in 1812, when the Allies
entered Paris, the Cossacks drank all the oil from
the lamps, and left the streets in darkness. In trop-
ical regions, Nature furnishes the proper diet of
fruits.
"SVhen Food should be Taken. On taking food,
the blood sets at once to the alimentary canal, and
the energies become fixed upon digestion. We
should not, therefore, undertake hard study, labor,
or exercise, directly after a hearty meal. He who
toils with brain or muscle, and thus centers the
blood in any particular organ, before eating should
allow time for the circulation to become equalized.
There should be an interval of four to five hours be-
tween our regular meals, and there should be no
lunching between times. With young children,
where the vital processes are more rapid, less time
THE WONDERS OF DIGESTION. 105
may intervene. Nothing should be eaten within two
or three hours of retiring.
How Food should be Taken. A good laugh is
the best of sauces. The meal-time should be the
happiest hour of the day. Care and grief are the
bitterest foes of digestion. A cheerful face and a
light heart are friends to long life, and nowhere do
they serve us better than at the table.
Need of a Variety. Experiments show that no
one article of food, however nutritious, will keep up
the highest working-power of the body. Nature
demands change, and she furnishes the means to
gratify it. We should avoid, however, the other
extreme, and not, by too great variety, over-tempt
the appetite.
The Wonders of Digestion. We can understand
much of the process of digestion. We can look into
the stomach and trace its various steps. Indeed, the
chemist can reproduce in his laboratory many of the
operations; "a step further," as Fontenelle has
said, "and he would surprise nature in the very
act." Just here, when he seems so successful, he is
compelled to pause. The secret of the cell Nature's
tiny laboratory eludes his search.
How strange is this change of food to flesh ! We
make a meal of meat, vegetables, and drink.
Ground by the teeth, mixed by the stomach, and
dissolved by the digestive fluids, it is swept through
the body. Each organ, as it passes, snatches its
particular food, which, within the cells of its tissues,
it transforms into the soft, sensitive brain, or the
hard, callous bone ; into briny tears, or bland saliva,
106 DIGESTION AND FOOD.
or acrid perspiration ; into bile for digestion, oil for
the hair, nails for the fingers, or flesh for the cheek.
Diseases. 1. DYSPEPSIA, or indigestion of food, is generally caused
by over-taxing the digestive organs. We tempt ourselves with luscious
flavors and a great variety of dishes, till we overload the stomach and
burden the entire system. We take meals at irregular hours, when the
fluids are not ready. We force a hearty supper upon the body when,
wearied with the day's labor, it demands repose. We devote the shortest
possible time to meals, and thrust upon our stomachs unrnasticated lumps
of food, washing them down with floods of ice-cold water or scalding tea.
Nature having taken away our appetite in order to rest our weak diges-
tion, we forthwith excite it by stimulants and narcotics, and still further
oppress the suffering organs. Strong tea, alcoholic drinks, hot bread,
rich pastry, biscuit and cake yellow with soda or saleratus, meat fried till
the fat is disorganized and the fiber hardened, all these derange the action
of the alimentary canal. The patient, abused stomach struggles on, per-
haps for years, through discomfort, pain, and the accumulating agonies of
indigestion, till finally the last penalty of violated law is paid, and the
confirmed dyspeptic finds relief in death.
2. THE MTJMPS are a swelling of the parotid gland (one of the salivary
glands, Fig.' 37). The disease is generally epidemic, and the patient
should be carefully secluded for the sake of others as well as himself. The
swelling may be allowed to take its course. Relief from pain is often
obtained by applying flannels wrung out of hot water. Great care should
be used not to check the inflammation, and, on first going out after
recovery, not to take cold.
ALCOHOLIC DRINKS AND NARCOTICS.
i. ALCOHOL (Continued from p. 89).
Relation of Alcohol to the Digestive Organs.
Is Alcohol a Food 9 To answer this question, let us.
make a comparison. If you receive into your
ALCOHOLIC DRINKS, ETC. 107
stomach a piece of bread or beef, Nature welcomes
its presence. The juices of the system at once take
hold of it, dissolve it, and transform it for the uses
of your body. A million tiny fingers (lacteals and
veins) reach out to grasp it, work it over, and carry it
into the circulation. The blood bears it onward
wherever it is needed to mend or to build "The
house you live in." Soon, it is no longer bread or
beef ; it is flesh on your arm ; its chemical energy
has become your strength.
If, on the other hand, you take alcohol into your
stomach, it receives no such welcome. Nature treats
it as a poison, and seeks to rid herself of the intruder
as soon as possible. The juices of the system flow
from every pore to dilute and weaken it, and to pre-
vent its shriveling up the delicate membranes with
which it comes in contact. The veins take it up
and bear it rapidly through the system. All the
scavengers of the body the lungs, the kidneys, the
perspiration-glands at once set to work to throw off
the enemy. So surely is this the case, that the
breath of a person who has drunk only a single glass
of the lightest beer will betray the fact.
So far as known, the alcohol thus rejected is en-
tirely unchanged. Nature seems to have no use for
it, so it courses everywhere through the circulation
and into the great organs, with all its properties un-
altered.
Alcohol, then, is not, like bread or beef, broken up
by the mysterious process of digestion, for the benefit
of the body, " It cannot therefore be regarded as a
food." (Flint.) " That alcohol is incapable of form-
108
DIGESTION AND FOOD.
ing any part of the body, is admitted by all physiolo-
gists. It cannot be converted into brain, nerve,
muscle, or blood." (Cameron.)
Effect upon the Digestion. Alcohol precipitates
(causes to settle) the pepsin of the gastric juice, and
so hinders its work ; it also coagulates the albumen
of the food, and thus still further obstructs diges-
tion. Anything that interferes with Nature's plan
of getting our food ready for our use must be inju-
rious. The experiments of Dr. Munroe, published in
the London Medical Journal, and here summarized,
show that the tendency to retard digestion is com-
mon to alcoholic drinks.
Minced Beef
put into
2d Hour.
4th Hour.
6th Hour.
8th Hour.
10th Hour.
I.
Gastric juice
and water.
Beef
opaque.
Digesting and
separating.
Beef much
lessened.
Broken up
into shreds.
Dissolved
like soup.
n.
Gastric juice
and alcohol.
No alteration
perceptible.
Slightly
opaque, but
beef
unchanged.
Slight coating
ou beef.
No visible
change.
Solid on
cooling.
Pepsin
precipi-
tated.
m.
Gastric juice
and pale ale.
No
change.
Cloudy,
with fur on
beef.
Beef partly
loosened.
No further
change.
No diges-
tion. Pep-
sin pre-
cipitated
The greed of alcohol for water causes it to imbibe
moisture from the tissues and juices, and to inflame
the delicate mucous membrane. It shows how pa-
tiently nature adapts herself to circumstances, that
the soft, velvety lining of the throat and stomach
should come at length to endure the presence of a
fiery liquid which, undiluted, would soon shrivel and
EFFECT UPON THE LIVER. 109
destroy it. In self-defence, the juices pour in to
weaken the alcohol, and it is soon hurried into the
circulation. Before this can be done, "it must ab-
sorb about three times its bulk of water ; " hence,
very strong liquor may be retained in the stomach
long enough to interfere seriously with the diges-
tion, and to injure the lining coat. Habitual use of
alcohol permanently dilates the blood-vessels ; thick-
ens and hardens the membranes ; in some cases,
ulcerates the surface ; and, finally, so weakens the
digestion that the proper supply of food cannot be
appropriated. (Flint. )
Effect upon the Liver. Alcohol is carried by the
portal vein directly to the liver. This organ, after
the brain, holds the largest share. The influence of
the poison is here easily traced. " The color of the
bile is soon changed from yellow to green, and even
black." The connective tissue between the cells
becomes inflamed, and matter is sometimes depos-
ited, causing "fatty degeneration," so that the liver
is increased to twice its natural size. In the con-
firmed drunkard, the fibrous tissue shrinks, the cells
are closed, the organ becomes smaller, and the sur-
face assumes a peculiar appearance known as the
" hob-nailed liver."
Effect upon the Kidneys. The kidneys, like the
liver, are liable to undergo, through the influence of
alcohol, a " fatty degeneration," in which the cells,
becoming filled with fat, are unable to separate the
waste material that comes to them to be thrown off.
This poisonous matter, therefore, is returned to the
circulation. Worst of all, the membranes may be
110 DIGESTION AND FOOD.
so affected as to allow the albuminous part of the
blood to filter through them, and thus rob the body of
one of its most valuable constituents.
Does Alcohol Impart Heat ? Directly after drink-
ing liquor, a flush is felt. This is caused by the tides
of warm blood that are being sent to the surface of
the body, in consequence of the enlargement of the
capillaries, and the rapid pumping of the heart. No
fresh heat is developed. On the contrary, the bring-
ing the blood to the surface causes it to cool faster,
and a reaction follows. The inebriate becomes chilly
as he sobers, and a delicate thermometer placed
under his tongue may show a fall of even two de-
grees below the standard temperature of the body.
Several hours are required to restore the usual heat.
Dr. N. S. Davis, of Chicago, instituted an extensive series of experi-
ments to determine the effect of the different articles of food and drink on
the temperature of the system. He proved that, during the digestion of
all kinds of food, the temperature of the body is increased, but when alcohol
is taken, the temperature begins to fall within a half-hour, and continues
to decrease for two or three hours ; and that the reduction of temperature,
in extent as well as in duration, is in exact proportion to the amount of
alcohol.
We see, therefore, that liquor does not fortify
against cold. Dr. Hayes, the Arctic explorer, says :
" While fat is absolutely essential to life in Arctic
countries, alcohol is positively injurious. I have
known strong, able-bodied men to become utterly
incapable of resisting cold in consequence of the
long-continued use of alcoholic drink. %>
Does Alcohol Impart Strength ? Experience shows
DOES ALCOHOL IMPART STRENGTH ? Ill
that alcohol unfits one for severe bodily exertion.
Men who are in training for running, rowing, and
other contests where great strength is required, deny
themselves all liquors, even when ordinarily accus-
tomed to their use.
Dr. Richardson made some interesting experiments to show the influence
of alcohol upon muscular contraction. He carefully weighted the hind leg
of a frog, and, by means of electricity, stimulating the muscle to its utmost
power of contraction, he found out how much the frog could lift. Then
administering alcohol, he discovered that the response of the muscles to
the electrical current became feebler and feebler, as the narcotic began to
take effect, until, at last, the animal could raise less than half the amount
it lifted by the natural contraction when uninfluenced by alcohol.
Effect upon the Waste of the Body. The ten-
dency of alcohol is to check the ordinary waste of
the system, so that " the amount of carbonic acid
exhaled from the lungs may be reduced as much as
30 to 50 per cent.'' (Hinton.) We have seen that
when the functions are. in full play, each organ is
being constantly torn down, and as constantly re-
built with materials furnished from our food. Any-
thing that checks this oxidation of the tissues, or
hinders the deposition of new matter, diminishes the
vital force. Both these results are the certain
effects of alcohol, for, since the blood contains less
oxygen and more carbonic acid, and since the power
of digesting food is decreased, it follows that every
process of waste and repair must be weakened. The
person using liquor therefore needs less bread and
beef, and so he wrongfully imagines that alcohol is
a food.
112 DIGESTION AND FOOD.
Alcohol Creates a Progressive Appetite for itself.
When liquor is habitually taken, even in the most
moderate quantity, it soon becomes necessary ; and
then arises a craving demand for an increased
amount to produce the original effect. No food
creates this constantly-augmenting want. A cup of
milk drunk at dinner does not lead one to go on, day
by day, drinking more and more milk, until to get
milk becomes the one great longing of the whole
being. Yet this is the almost universal effect of
alcohol. Hunger is satisfied by any nutritious food :
the dram-drinker's thirst demands alcohol. Com-
mon observation teaches the peril that attends the
formation of such a progressive poison-habit. A
single glass taken as a simple tonic may lead to the
drunkard's grave.
Worse than this, the alcoholic craving may be
transmitted from father to son. Young persons
often find themselves cursed with a terrible disease
known as alcoholism (dipsomania) a keen, morbid,
overwhelming appetite for liquor stamped upon their
very being through the reckless indulgences of some
ancestor.
The Law Of Heredity is, in this connection, well worth notice.
"The world is beginning to perceive," says Francis Galton, "that the life
of each individual is, in some real sense, a continuation of the lives of his
ancestors.'' " Each of us is the footing up of a double column of figures
that goes back to the first pair." " We are omnibuses," remarks Holmes,
"in which all our ancestors ride." We inherit from our parents our
features, our physical vigor, our mental faculties, and even much of our moral
character. Often, when one generation is skipped, the qualities will reappear
in the following one. The virtues, as well as the vices, of our forefathers,
have added to, or subtracted from, the strength of our brain and muscle.
PRACTICAL QUESTIONS. 113
The evil tendencies of our natures, which it is the struggle of our lives to
resist, constitute a part of our heir-looms from the past. Our descend-
ants, in turn, will have reason to bless us only if we hand down to them
a pure and healthy physical, mental, and moral being.
"There is a marked tendency in nature to transmit all diseased condi-
tions. Thus, the children of consumptive parents are apt to be con-
sumptives. But of all agents, alcohol is the most potent in establishing
a heredity that exhibits itself in the destruction of mind and body. Its
malign influence was observed by the ancients long before the production
of whisky, or brandy, or other distilled liquors, and when fermented
liquors or wines only were known. Aristotle says, ' Drunken women
have children like unto themselves,' and Plutarch remarks, 'One drunk-
ard is the father of another.' The drunkard by inheritance is a more
helpless slave than his progenitor, and his children are more helpless still,
unless on the mother's side there is an untainted blood. For there is not
only a propensity transmitted, but an actual disease of the nervous system. "
(Dr. Willard Parker. )
PRACTICAL QUESTIONS.
1. How do clothing and shelter economize food ?
2. Is it well to take a long walk before breakfast ?
3. Why is warm food easier to digest than cold ?
4. Why is salt beef less nutritious than fresh ?
5. What should be the food of a man recovering from a fever?
6. Is a cup of black coffee a healthful close to a hearty dinner ?
7. Should ice-water be used at a meal ?
8. Why is strong tea or coffee injurious ?
9. Should food or drink be taken hot ?
10. Are fruit-cakes, rich pastry, and puddings wholesome ?
11. Why are warm biscuit and bread hard of digestion?
12. Should any stimulants be used in youth ?
13. Why should bread be made spongy ?
14. Which should remain longer in the mouth, bread or meat ?
15. Why should cold water be used in making soup, and hot water in
boiling meat ?
16. Name the injurious effects of over-eating.
17. Why do not buckwheat cakes, with syrup and butter, taste as well
in July as in January ?
114
DIGESTION AND FOOD.
18. Why is a late supper injurious ?
19. What makes a man " bilious " ?
20. What is the best remedy ? Ans. Diet to give the organs rest, and
active exercise to arouse the secretions and the circulation.
BLACKBOARD ANALYSIS.
1. WHY WE NEED FOOD.
2. WHAT FOOD DOES.
3. KINDS OF FOOD
4. ONE KIND is INSUFFICIENT
( 1.
....... { 2.
\ 3.
Nitrogenous.
Carbonaceous
Minerals
5. OBJECT OF DIGESTION.
6. PROCESS or DIGESTION
General Plan.
1. Mastication. . . .
2. Gastric Digestion . .
3. Intestinal Digestion
4 Absorption
a The Sugars.
b. The Fats.
j a. The Saliva.
\ b. Process of Swallowing.
a. The Stomach
b. The Gastric Juice,
c The Chyme.
Description.
a. The Bile.
b. The Pancreatic Juice.
c. The Small Intestine.
7. HYGIENE.
f 1. Length of Time required
2. Value of different kinds of Food.
3. The Stimulants. \ * Coffee.
1 D. iea.
4. Cooking of Food.
5. Rapid Eating.
6. Quantity and Quality of Food.
7. When Food should be taken.
8. How " " " "
9. Need of a Variety.
8. THE WONDERS OF DIGESTION.
9. DISEASES. . .
10. ALCOHOLIC DRINKS o
AND NARCOTICS. ~ "*
1. Dyspepsia.
2. The Mumps.
1. Is Alcohol a Food ?
2. Effect upon the Digestion.
4. " " " Kidney^.
5. Does Alcohol impart Heat ?
6. " " " Strength?
7. The Effect upon the Waste of the Itody.
8. Alcohol creates a progressive appetite for itself.
9. The Law of Heredity.
THE NERVOUS SYSTEM
STRUCTURE. The nervous system includes the
brain, the spinal cord, and the nerves. It is
composed of two kinds of matter the white, and the
gray. The former consists of milk-white, glistening
fibers, sometimes as small as ^T^TF of an inch in
diameter ; the latter is a jelly-like substance, made
up of small, ash-colored cells. This often gathers in
little masses, termed ganglions (ganglion, a knot),
because when a nerve passes through a group of the
cells, they give it the appearance of a knot. The
gray cells produce the nervous force, and the nerve
fibers conduct it. The ganglia answer to the stations
along a telegraphic line, where messages are received
and forwarded ; the fibers correspond to the wires.
The Brain is the seat of the mind. Its average
weight is about fifty ounces. fegg-shaped and yield-
ing, it fills closely the cavity of the skull. It rests
on a water-bed, being surrounded by a double mem-
brane, delicate as a spider's web, which forms a sac
filled with a liquid resembling water. Within this,
closely wrapping the brain, is a fine tissue (pia
mater), with a mesh of blood-vessels which dips
down into the hollows, and bathes them so copiously
116
THE NERVOUS SYSTEM.
Fig. It's.
The Nervous Syste -n. A, cer^rum ; B, ctt , bMuin .
THE CEREBRUM.
117
that it uses one-fifth of all the blood in the body.
Around the whole is wrapped a tough membrane
(dura mater), which lines the" bony box of the skull,
and separates the various parts of the organ by
strong partitions. The brain consists of two parts
the cerebrum, and the cerebellum.
The Cerebrum fills the front and upper part of the
skull, and comprises about seven-eighths of the en-
tire weight of the brain. It is divided into two
Fig. It3.
Surface of the Cerebrum.
hemispheres, connected beneath by fibers of white
matter. Thus we have two brains, as well as two
hands and two eyes. As animals rise in the scale of
life, this higher part makes its appearance. It is a
mass of white fibers, with cells of gray matter
118
THE NERVOUS SYSTEM.
sprinkled on the outside, or lodged here and there
in ganglia. It is curiously wrinkled and folded, much
like the meat of an English walnut. This structure
gives a large surface for the gray matter. The
wrinkles, which are very slight in infancy, increase
in size and number according to the mental growth
and ability of each individual.
The cerebrum is the center of intelligence and
Fin.
Pigeon from which the Cerebrum has been removed.
thought. Pigeons from which it is removed fall into
a profound stupor, occasionally opening their eyes
with a vacant stare, and then relapsing into apathy.
The Cerebellum lies below the cerebrum, and in
the back part of the head (Fig. 42). It is about the
size of a small fist. Its structure resembles that of
the brain proper, but instead of wrinkles it has par-
allel ridges, which, letting the gray matter down
deeply into the white matter within, give it a peculiar
appearance, called the arbor-vitce, or tree of life
THE SPINAL COED. 119
(Fig. 47). This part of the brain controls the volun-
tary muscles. Pigeons from which it is removed
Fig.
Pigeon from which the Cerebellum has been remoced.
are excited, nervous, and try to escape with uncer-
tain, sprawling movements.
The Spinal Cord occupies the cavity of the back-
bone. It is protected by the same membranes as the
brain, but, unlike it, the white matter is on the
outside, and the gray matter is within. Deep fis-
sures separate it into halves (Fig. 42), joined by a
bridge of the same substance. Just as it starts from
the brain, there is an expansion called the medulla
oblongata (Fig. 47).
The Nerves are glistening, silvery threads, com-
posed, like the spinal cord, of white matter without
and gray within. They go to all parts of the body,
and though often very near each other, yet are per-
fectly distinct, each conveying its own impression.
120 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM.
Experiment. Press two fingers together, and, closing the eyes, let
some one pass the point of a pin lightly from one to the other ; you will be
able to tell which is touched, yet if the nerves came in contact with each
other anywhere in their long route to the brain, you could not thus distin-
guish.
Those nerves which carry the orders of the mind
to the different organs are called the motory nerves ;
those which bring back information are styled sen-
sory nerves. If the sensory nerve leading to any part
be cut, all sensation in that spot will be lost, while
motion will remain ; if the motory nerve be cut, all
motion will be destroyed, while sensation will exist.
Transfer of Pain. Strictly speaking, pain is not in
any organ, but in the mind, since only that can feel.
When any nerve brings to the brain news of an in-
jury, the mind locates the pain at the end of the
nerve. A familiar illustration is seen in the "funny
bone" behind the elbow. Here the nerve (ulnar)
gives sensation to the third and fourth fingers, in
which, if this bone be struck, the pain will seem to be.
Long after a limb has been amputated, it will still
seem to give pain, any injury in the stump being
referred to the point to which the nerve formerly led.
The nerves are divided into three general classes
the spinal, the cranial, and the sympathetic.
The Spinal Nerves, of which there are thirty-one
pairs, issue from the spinal cord through openings
provided for them in the backbone. Each nerve
arises by two roots the motory, and the sensory.
These roots are soon bound together in one sheath,
though they retain their special functions. When
the sensory root of a spinal nerve is cut, the animal
THE SPINAL NERVES. 121
loses the power of feeling, and when the motory root
is cut, that of motion.
Fig. W.
A, posterior (sensory) root of a spinal nerve ; E, gang/.ioii ; B, anterior (motory
root ; D, spinal nerve. The white portions of the figure represent the white fibers ; and
the dark, the gray.
The Cranial Nerves, twelve pairs in number,
spring from the lower part of the brain and the
medulla oblongata. (See Fig. 47.)
1. The olfactory, or first pair of nerves, ramify through the nostrils,
and are the nerves of smell.
2. The optic, or second pair of nerves, pass to the eyeballs, and are
the nerves of vision.
3. 4, 6. The motores oculi (eye-movers) are three pairs of nerves used
to move the eyes.
5. The tri-f octal, or fifth pair of nerves, divide each into three branches
hence the name : the first to the upper part of the face, eyes, and nose ;
the second to the upper jaw and teeth ; the third to the lower jaw and the
mouth, where it forms the nerve of taste. These nerves are implicated
when we have the toothache or neuralgia.
7. The facial, or seventh pair of nerves, are distributed over the face,
and give it expression.
8. The auditory, or eighth pair of nerves, go to the ears, and are the
nerves of hearing.
9. The glos-so-pha-ryn 1 -ge-al, or ninth pair of nerves, are distributed
over the mucous membrane of the pharynx, tonsils, etc.
10. The pncu-mo-gas' -trie, or tenth pair of nerves, preside over the
larynx, lungs, and stomach, one branch extending to the heart. This is
the only nerve that goes so far from the head.
11. The accessory, or eleventh pair of nerves, regulate the vocal move-
ments of the larynx.
12. The hyp-o-glos' -sal, or twelfth pair of nerves, give motion to the
tongue.
The Sympathetic System contains the nerves of
organic life. It consists of a double chain of ganglia
122
THE NERVOUS SYSTEM.
on either side of the backbone, extending into the
chest and abdomen. From these, delicate nerves
Fin 1,7.
The Brain and the origin of the twelve pairs of Cranial Nerves. F, E, the Cere-
brum ; D, the cerebellum, showing the arbor-vitce ; G, the eye ; H, the medulla ob-
longata; A, the spinal cord ; C and B, the first two pairs of spinal nerves.
run to the organs on which life depends the heart,
lungs, stomach, etc., to the blood-vessels, and to the
spinal and cranial nerves over the body. Thus the
entire system is bound together by cords of sym-
pathy, so that, " if one member suffers, all the mem-
bers suffer with it."
Crossing of Cords. Each half of the body is pre-
sided over, not by its own half of the brain, but that
of the opposite side. (1) The motory nerves, as they
descend from the brain, in the medulla oblongata
cross each other and pass to the opposite side of the
spinal cord. So the motor-nerves of the right side
REFLEX ACTION.
123
of the body are connected with t-he left side of the
brain, and vice versa. Thus a derangement in one
Spinal Nerves, Sympathetic Cord, and the Net-work of Sympathetic Nerves around
the Internal Organs. K, aorta ; A, cesophagus ; B, diaphragm : C, stomach.
half of the brain paralyzes the opposite half of the
body. (2) Each of the sensory fibers of the spinal
nerves crosses over to the opposite side of the spinal
cord, and so ascends to the brain.
An injury to the spinal cord may, therefore, cause
a loss of motion in one leg and of feeling in tho
other.
Reflex Action. We have seen that nervous
force arises in the gray matter. A ganglion, there-
fore, can not only receive an impression, but can
124 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM.
also send it back, i. e., reflect it, so as to excite the
muscles to action. This is done without reference to
the mind. We wink involuntarily at a flash of light
or a threatened blow ; we start at a sudden sound ;
we jump back from a precipice before the mind has
time to reason upon the danger. Thus, the spinal
cord conducts certain impressions to the brain, but
responds to others without troubling that organ.
Uses of Reflex Action. We breathe eighteen
times every minute; we stand, walk, eat, digest,
and, at the same time, carry on a train of thought,
all without a consciousness of effort. Our brain is
thus freed from the petty detail of life. If we were
obliged to attend to every breath, every pulsation of
the heart, every wink of the eye, our time would be
wasted in keeping alive. Besides, an act which at
first is difficult, soon grows easy, and, at last, be-
comes mechanical, i. e., reflex. All the possibilities
of education and the power of forming habits are
based upon this principle. No act we perform ends
with itself. It leaves behind it in the nervous cen-
ters a tendency to do the same thing again. Our
physical being thus fixes upon us the habits of a
good or an evil life. Our very thoughts, even, are
written in our muscles, so that not only the expres-
sion of our face, but our features themselves betray
our hidden life. Nature is intent upon hanging out
sign-boards to show what kind of a person ; we are. '
Brain Exercise. The nervous system demands
activity. The mind grows by what it feeds on.
Hence, the girl who lolls on the sofa, reading roman-
tic novels, or who devotes her life to fashionable
SLEEP. 125
follies, will physically and mentally weaken ; while
the boy who idles about the streets, smoking cigar-
ettes, and who reads only tales of crime and adven-
ture, may be equally sure of mental poverty and
bodily weakness. On the other hand, excessive
study exhausts the vital force, and the weakened
body, reacting on the brain, produces gradual decay
and serious disease.
Sleep is as essential as food. During the day, the
process of tearing-down goes on ; during the night,
the work of building-up should make good the loss.
In youth more sleep is needed than in old age. The
number of hours required must be decided by each
person ; Napoleon took only five hours, but most
people need from six to eight hours, brain-workers
even more. In general, one should sleep until he
naturally wakes.
Sleep produced by medicine is rarely as beneficial as natural sleep, for the
disturbance to the nervous system often counterbalances the good results
of slumber. The habit of acquiring sleep in this way, without the advice
of a physician, is extremely dangerous, as the dose must be constantly in-
creased to cause the effect ; where laudanum or morphine is used, the
person often falls, unawares, into a terrible and fatal bondage. Infants,
especially, should never be dosed with cordials. Frightful injury is heaped
on helpless childhood by the reckless use of soothing- syrups. All ordinary
sleeping-draughts have life-destroying properties, as is proved by the fatal
effects of an overdose. At the best, they paralyze the nerve centers, dis-
order the digestion, and poison the blood.
Sunlight has a marked effect upon the nervous
system. All vigor and activity come from the sun.
Vegetables grown in subdued light have a bleached
and faded look. An infant kept in absolute dark-
126 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM.
ness would grow into a shapeless idiot. That room
is the healthiest to which the sun has the freest
access. Epidemics frequently attack the inhabitants
of the shady side of a street, and totally exempt
those on the sunny side. If, on a slight indisposi-
tion, we should go out into the open air and bright
sunlight, instead of shutting ourselves up in a close,
dark chamber, we might often avoid a serious ill-
ness. The sun-bath is an efficient remedy for many
diseases. Our window blinds and curtains should be
thrown open, and we should let the blessed air and
sun stream in to invigorate and cheer. No house
buried in shade, and no room with darkened win-
dows, is fit for human habitation. In damp and
darkness, lies in wait almost every disease to which
flesh is heir. The sun is their only successful foe.
Wonders of the Brain. After having seen the
beautiful contrivances and the exquisite delicacy of
the lower organs, it is natural to suppose that when
we come to the brain we should find the most elabo-
rate machinery. How surprising, then, it is to have
revealed to us only cells and fibers ! The brain is
the least solid and most unsubstantial looking organ
in the body. Eighty per cent, of water, seven of
albumen, some fat, and a few minor substances
make up the instrument which rules the world.
Strangest of all, the brain, which is the seat of
sensation, is itself without sensation. Every nerve,
every part of the spinal cord, is keenly alive to the
slightest touch, yet "the brain may be cut, burned,
or electrified without producing pain."
ALCOHOLIC DRINKS AND NARCOTICS. 12?
ALCOHOLIC DRINKS AND NARCOTICS.
ALCOHOL (Continued from p. 113).
Effect upon the Nervous System. When a person
takes alcohol into his stomach, its influence upon the
nervous system is marked by four successive stages.
1. THE STAGE OF EXCITEMENT. The first effect, as
we have already seen, is to paralyze the nerves that
regulate the passage of the blood through the capil-
laries. The vital force, thus drawn into the nervous
centers, drives the machinery of life with tremendous
energy. The blood surges through the body with
increased violence. Every capillary tube in the sys-
tem is swollen and flushed, like the reddened nose
and cheek.
In all this there is excitement, but no nourishment,
no permanent power conferred on brain or muscle.
Alcohol may cheer for the moment. It may set the
sluggish blood in motion, start the flow of thought,
and excite a temporary gayety. " It may enable a
wearied or feeble organ to do brisk work for a
short time. It may make the brain briefly brilliant.
It may excite muscle to quick action, but it does
nothing at its own cost, fills up nothing it has de-
stroyed, and itself leads to destruction." Even the
mental activity it excites is an unsafe state of mind,
for that even balance of the faculties so essential to
good judgment is disturbed by the presence of the
intruder. Johnson well remarked, "Wine improves
conversation by taking the edge off the understand-
ing."
128 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM.
2. THE STAGE OF MUSCULAR WEAKNESS. If the ac-
tion of the alcohol be still continued, the spinal cord
is next affected by this powerful narcotic. The con-
trol of some of the muscles is lost. Those of the
lower lip usually fail first, then those of the lower
limbs, and the staggering, uncertain steps betray the
result. The muscles themselves, also, become feebler
as the power of contraction diminishes. The tem-
perature, which, for a time, was slightly increased,
soon begins to fall as the heat is radiated ; the body
is cooled, and the well-known "alcoholic chill" is
felt.
3. THE STAGE OF MENTAL WEAKNESS. The cere-
brum is now affected. The ideal and emotional fac-
ulties are quickened, while the will is weakened.
The center of thought being overpowered, the mind
is a chaos. Ideas flock in thick and fast. The tongue
is loosened. The judgment loses its hold on the acts.
The reason giving way, the animal instincts gener-
ally assume the mastery of the man. The hidden
nature comes to the surface. All the gloss of educa-
tion and social restraint falls off, and the lower
nature stands revealed. The coward shows himself
more craven, the braggart more boastful, the bold
more daring, and the cruel more brutal. The inebri-
ate is liable to commit any outrage that the slightest
provocation may suggest.
4. THE STAGE OF UNCONSCIOUSNESS. At last,
prostration ensues, and the wild, mad revel of the
drunkard ends with utter senselessness. In common
speech, the man is " dead drunk." Brain and spinal
cord are both benumbed. Fortunately, the two nerv-
EFFECT UPON THE BRAIN. 129
ous centers which supply the heart and the dia-
phragm are the slowest to be influenced. So, even
in this final stage, the breathing and the circulation
still go on, though the other organs have stopped.
Were it not for this, every person thoroughly intoxi-
cated would die. (Richardson.)
Effect upon the Brain. Alcohol seems to have a
special affinity for the brain. This organ absorbs
more than any other, and its delicate structure is
correspondingly affected. The congestion here
reaches its height. The tiny vessels become clogged
with blood that is loaded with carbonic acid, and
scantily supplied with the life-giving oxygen. (Hin-
ton.) The mind slowly rallies from the stupor of the
fourth stage, and a lingering sense of dullness and
depression shows with what difficulty the fatigued
brain recovers its usual condition. So marked is
the effect of the narcotic poison that some authorities
hold that " a once thoroughly-intoxicated brain
never fully becomes what it was before."
The deadening of the nerves, which occurs even
in the first stage, is full of peril. Pain is said to be
" the cry of the body for healthy blood." Whenever
anything goes amiss in any part of the system, a
despatch is sent at once to the brain, and we feel
uneasy, often miserable, till the cause is removed.
Alcohol deadens this " physical conscience," and its
unfortunate victim goes on ruining his health with-
out knowing it.
In time, the free use of liquor hardens and thickens
the membranes which envelop the nervous matter ;
the nerve-cells undergo a " fatty degeneration" ; the
130 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM.
blood-vessels, from long congestion, lose their elastici-
ty; and the vital fluid, flowing less freely through the
obstructed channels, fails to afford the old-time nour-
ishment. The consequent decay of the nervous sub-
stance shows itself in the weakened mind we so
often notice in a person accustomed to drink, and at
last results in various nervous disorders epilepsy,
paralysis, and insanity. The law of heredity here
asserts itself again, and the inebriate's children often
inherit the disease which he has escaped.
Chief among the consequences of this imperfect
nutrition of the brain is that state between intoxica-
tion and insanity, known as Delirium Tremens.
" It is marked by a restless activity of the cerebrum,
manifesting itself in muttering delirium, with occa-
sional violent paroxysms. The victim apprehends
some direful calamity ; he imagines his bed to be
covered with loathsome reptiles ; he sees the walls
of his apartment crowded with foul specters ; and
he imagines his friends and attendants to be fiends
come to drag him down to a fiery abyss beneath. "-
(Carpenter.)
Influence upon the Mental and Moral Powers.
The effect of alcoholized blood is to weaken the will.
The one habitually under its influence often shocks
us by his indecision and broken promises of reform.
The truth is, he has lost, in a measure, his power of
self-control. At last, he becomes physically unable
to resist the craving demand of his morbid appetite.
Other faculties share in this mental wreck. The
intellectual vision becomes less penetrating, the
grasp of thought is less vigorous, and the decisions
ALCOHOL. 131
of the mind are less reliable. A thriftless, reckless
feeling is developed, and all self-respect is lost.
Along with this mental degradation comes also a
failure of the moral sense. The fine fiber of charac-
ter undergoes a "degeneration" as certain as that
of the muscles themselves. The broken promises
tell of a lowered standard of truth and a dulled sense
of honor, quite as much as of an impaired will.
Conscience is lulled to rest. Reason is enfeebled.
Customary restraints are thrown off. The sensibili-
ties are blunted. There is less ability to appreciate
nice shades of right and wrong. Great moral prin-
ciples and motives lose their power to influence. The
better nature has been dethroned.
The wretched victim of appetite will now gratify
his passion for drink at any expense of deceit or
crime. He becomes the blind instrument of his
insane impulses, and commits acts from which he
would once have shrunk with horror. Sometimes he
even takes a malignant pleasure in injuring those
whom Nature has ordained he should protect.
Summary. Richardson sums up the various diseases caused by alcohol
as follows : ' ' (a). Diseases of the brain and nervous system, indicated
by such names as apoplexy, epilepsy, paralysis, vertigo, softening of the
brain, delirium tremens, dipsomania or inordinate craving for drink, loss
of memory, and that general failure of the mental power, called dementia.
(b). Diseases of the lungs : one form of consumption, congestion, and sub-
sequent bronchitis. (c). Diseases of the heart : irregular beat, feeble-
ness of the muscular walls, dilatation, disease of the valves, (d). Diseases
of the blood : scurvy, excess of water or dropsy, separation of fibrin, (e).
Diseases of the stomach : feebleness of the stomach, indigestion, flatulency,
irritation, and sometimes inflammation. (/ ). Diseases of the bowels :
relaxation or purging, irritation. (g). Diseases of the liver : congestion,
132 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM.
hardening and shrinking, cirrhosis, (h}. Diseases of the kidneys : change
of structure into fatty or waxy-like condition and other results leading to
dropsy, or sometimes to fatal sleep. (i). Diseases of the muscles ; fatty
change in the muscles, by which they lose their power for proper active
contraction, (j}. Diseases of the membranes of the body : thickening and
loss of elasticity, by which the parts wrapped up in the membiane are im-
paired for use, and premature decay is induced."
II. TOBACCO.
The Chief Constituents of Tobacco are car-
bonic acid, carbonic oxide, and ammonia gases ;
carbon, or soot ; and nicotine. Carbonic acid tends
to produce sleepiness and headache. Carbonic oxide,
in addition, causes a tremulous movement of the
muscles, and so of the heart. Ammonia bites the
tongue of the smoker, excites the salivary glands,
and causes dryness of the mouth and throat. Nico-
tine is a powerful poison. The amount contained in
one or two strong cigars, if thrown directly into the
blood, would cause death.
Physiological Effects. The poison of tobacco, set
free by the process either of chewing or smoking,
when for the first time swept through the system by
the blood, powerfully affects the body. Nausea is
felt, and the stomach seeks to throw off the offending
substance. The brain is inflamed, and headache
follows. The motor-nerves becoming irritated, gid-
diness ensues. Thus Nature earnestly protests
against the formation of this habit. But, after
repeated trials, the system adjusts itself to the new
conditions. Such powerful substances cannot, how-
ever, be constantly inhaled without producing
marked changes. The three great eliminating
ALCOHOL. 133
organs the lungs, the skin, and the kidneys throw
off a large part of the products, but much remains in
the system. When the presence of the poison is
constant, and especially when smoking or chewing
is excessive, the temporary disturbance leads to
chronic derangement.
In this, as in the case of other injurious articles of
diet, the strong and healthy sometimes seem to es-
cape entirely, while the weak and those predisposed
to disease suffer according to the extent of the in-
dulgence. Those who lead an active, outdoor life
often show no sign of nicotine poisoning, but the
man of sedentary habits will sooner or later be the
victim of dyspepsia, sleeplessness, nervousness, paral-
ysis, or some other organic difficulty. Here, again,
the law of heredity asserts itself, and though the
tobacco-user himself escapes, his innocent offspring
only too often inherit an impaired constitution, and
a tendency to nervous disease.
The Various Disturbances produced in different individuals and
constitutions by smoking have been summed up by Dr. Richardson as fol-
lows : " (a) In the blood, it causes undue fluidity, and change in the red
corpuscles ; (6) in the stomach, it gives rise to debility, nausea, and vom-
iting ; (c) in the mucous membrane of the mouth, it produces enlargement
and soreness of the tonsils smoker's sore-throat redness, dryness, and
occasional peeling of the membrane, and either unnatural firmness and con-
traction, or sponginess of the gums ; and, where the pipe rests on the lips,
oftentimes ' epithelial cancer ; ' (d) in the heart, it causes debility of the
organ, and irregular action ; (e) in the bronchial surface of the lungs, when
that is already irritable, it sustains irritation, and increases the cough ; (/)
in the organs of sense, it produces dilation of the pupils of the eye, con-
fusion of vision, bright lines, luminous or cobweb specks, and long reten-
tion of images on the retina, with analogous symptoms affecting the ear,
134 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM.
viz. : inability to define sounds clearly, and the occurrence of a sharp, ring-
ing noise like a whistle ; (g) in the brain, it impairs the activity of the
organ, oppressing it if it be nourished, but soothing it if it be exhausted ;
(h) it leads to paralysis in the motor and sympathetic nerves, and to over-
secretion from the glands which the sympathetic nerves control."
CIGARETTES are especially injurious from the irritating smoke of the paper
covering, and also because the poison-fumes of the tobacco are more directly
inhaled. In the cheap cigarettes often smoked by boys, the ingredients are
harmful, while every youth would revolt if he knew what filthy materials,
refuse cigar-stumps, &c. , are used in their manufacture.
Is Tobacco a Food? Tobacco cannot impart to
the blood an atom of nutritive matter for building up
the body. It does not add to, but rather subtracts
from, the total vital force. It confers no power upon'
muscle or brain. It stimulates by cutting off the
nervous supply from the extremities and concentra-
ting it upon the centers. But stimulation is not
nourishment ; it is only a rapid spending of the cap-
ital stock. There is no greater error than to mistake
the exciting of an organ for its strengthening.
The Influence upon Youth. Here, too, science and
experience assert only one conviction. Tobacco re-
tards the development of mind and body. The law
of nature is that of steady growth. It cannot admit
of a daily disturbance that weakens the digestion,
that causes the heart to labor excessively, that pre-
vents the perfect oxidation of the blood, that inter-
feres with the digestion, and that deranges the ner-
vous system. No one has a right thus to check and
disturb his physical and mental progress. Hence, the
young man (especially if he be of a nervous, sensitive
organization) who uses tobacco diminishes the pos-
sible energy with which he might commence the
OPIUM. 135
work of life ; while he comes under the bondage of a
habit that may become stronger than his will, and
under the influence of a narcotic that may beguile
his faculties and palsy his strength at the very mo-
ment when every power should be awake.
Another peril lies in the wake of this masterful
poison-habit. Tobacco causes a thirst and depression
that only too often lead to the use of liquor.
III. OPIUM.
Opium is the dried juice of the poppy. In Eastern
countries, this flower is cultivated in immense fields.
When a cut is made in the poppy-head, a tiny tear of
milky juice exudes, and hardens. These little drops
are gathered and prepared for the market. Through-
out the East, opium is generally smoked; but in
Western countries, it is taken usually in the form of
laudanum, paregoric, and morphine. The drug itself
is also eaten.
Physiological Effect. Opium, in its various forms,
acts directly upon the nerves, a small dose quieting
pain, and a larger one soothing to sleep. It arouses
the brain, and fires the imagination to a wonderful
pitch. The reaction from this unnatural excitant
is correspondingly depressing ; and the " overwhelm-
ing horror " that ensues, calls for a renewal of the
stimulus. The dose must be gradually increased to
produce the original effect, and must be taken at the
habitual hour, no matter what the circumstances,
under the penalty of almost unendurable agony.
The seductive nature of this drug leads on its un-
fortunate victim step by step, until he finds himself
136 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM.
fast bound in the fetters of the most tyrannical habit
known to man. To continue, is to wreck all one's
powers physical and mental ; to stop, requires a
strength of will that few possess. Even when the
habit is broken, the system is long in recovering from
the shock. Opium seems to be the foe of every
organ. The digestion is weakened, the appetite is
lost, the muscles waste, the skin shrivels, the ner-
vous centers are paralyzed, and a premature^ old age
comes on apace.
No person can be too careful in the use of laudanum,
paregoric, and morphine. They should never be
taken except on a physician's prescription. If fol-
lowed up for any length of time, the habit may be
formed ere one is aware. Then comes the opium-
eater's grave, or the opium-eater's struggle for life !
Many persons learn to inject morphine beneath the skin by means of a
"hypodermic syringe." The operation is painless, and seems innocent
enough. It throws the narcotic directly into the circulation, and relief
from pain almost instantly follows. But the danger of forming the opium
habit is not lessened, and the effect of using the drug in this form for a long
time is just as injurious as opium-smoking itself.
IV. CHLORAL HYDRATE.
Chloral Hydrate is a drug frequently used to cause
sleep. It leaves behind no headache or lassitude, as
is often the case with morphine. It is, however, a
treacherous remedy. Even a small and harmless
dose, persisted in for a long period, may produce a
gradual accumulation of evil results that in the end
will prove fatal.
The Physiological Effect is very marked. The
CHLOROFORM. 137
appetite becomes capricious. The secretions are un-
natural. Nausea often ensues. Then the nervous
system is involved. The heart is affected. Sleep is
broken. Finally the blood becomes unduly fluid, as
it does in the case of persons deprived of fresh food.
A disease resembling scurvy follows, and the skin
breaks out in unsightly blotches.
V. CHLOROFORM.
Chloroform is a powerful anaesthetic. It is some-
times prescribed by a physician, and afterward (as in
the case of laudanum, morphine, and chloral) the
sufferer, charmed with the release from pain and the
peaceful slumber secured, buys the dangerous drug
for himself. Its use soon becomes an apparent neces-
sity. As with opium, the craving for the narcotic
at a stated time is almost irresistible. If it be with-
held, the half -frantic patient will demand, entreat,
pray for another dose, in a manner never to be for-
gotten. Paleness and debility, the earliest symp-
toms, are followed by mental prostration. Famili-
arity with the dangerous drug begets carelessness.
Its victims are frequently found dead in their beds,
with the handkerchief from which they inhaled the
volatile poison clutched in their lifeless hands.
PRACTICAL QUESTIONS.
1. Why is the pain of incipient hip-disease frequently felt in the knee ?
2. Why does a child require more sleep than an aged person ?
3. When you put your finger in the palm of a sleeping child, why will
he grasp it ?
4. How may we strengthen the brain ?
138
THE NERVOUS SYSTEM.
5. What is the object of pain ?
6. Why will a blow on the stomach sometimes stop the heart ?
7. Why can an idle scholar read his lesson and at the same time count
the marbles in his pocket ?
8. How can we grow beautiful ?
9. Why do intestinal worms ever affect a child's sight ?
10. Is there any indication of character in physiognomy ?
11. When one's finger is burned, where is the ache ?
12. Why can we walk and talk at the same time ?
BLACKBOARD ANALYSIS.
1. THE STRUCTURE.
THE NERVOUS SYSTEM.
2. ORGANS OF THE NER-
vous SYSTEM.
3. HYGIEKE . -<
( (1. Description.
1. The brain < 2. The Cerebrum.
( 3. The Cerebellum.
9 Tho <Jr,ina1 rW/1 j * ItS Composition.
2. The Spinal Cord... -j 2 Medulla oblongata.
( 1. Description.
2. Motor* and Sensory.
| 3. Transfer of Pain.
1 4. The Spinal Nerves.
3. The Nerves .... -i. 5 The Cranial Nerves
1 6. Sympathetic System.
7. Crossing of Cords.
1 8. Reflex Action.
^ 9. Uses of Reflex Action.
'1. Brain Exercise.
2. Brain-growth and Body-growth.
3. Sleep.
4. Effect of Sleeping-draughts.
V 5. Sunlight.
or.
o--.- r
g? | 1. Effect upon the Nervous System.
o "g -^ 2. Effect upon the Brain.
<S g | 3. Efl'ect upon Mental and Moral Powers.
c f 1. Constituents of Tobacco.
g 2. Physiological Effects.
^ J 3. Influence upon the Nervous System.
c ""j 4. Disturbances produced by smoking
^ j 5. Is Tobacco a Food ?
d ^ 6. Influence of Tobacco upon Youth.
3. Opium.
4. Chloral Hydrate.
5. Chloroform.
4. WONDERS OF THE BRA
5. ALCOHOLIC DRINKS,
AND NARCOTICS. -\
i
THE SPECIAL SENSES.
1. TO UGH.
DESCRIPTION. Touch is sometimes called the
" common sense," since its nerves are spread
over the whole body. It is most delicate, however,
in the point of the tongue and the tips of the fingers.
The surface of the cutis is covered with minute pro-
jections called papillce (Fig. 20). Each of these con-
tains its tiny nerve-twigs, that receive the impression
and send it to the brain.
Experiment. With a pocket-lens, examine the palm of the hand,
where there are at least 12,000 papillae in a square inch, and note the fine
ridges along which they are arranged.
Uses. Touch is the first of the senses used by a
child. By it we obtain our idea of solidity, and also
correct the impressions made upon us by the other
senses. Thus, when we see anything curious, our
first desire is to handle it. The sensation of touch is
generally relied upon, yet it is easily deceived.
Experiments. 1. Hold a marble in the manner shown in Fig. 49.
It will seem like two marbles. 2. Touch the fingers thus crossed to your
tongue. You will feel two tongues. 3. Close your eyes and let another
140 THE SPECIAL SENSES.
person move one of your fingers over a plane surface, first lightly, then
with greater pressure, and then lightly again. You will think the surface
This sense is capable of wonderful cultivation, and
the delicacy of touch possessed by the blind almost
compensates the loss of their eyes. The sympathy
Fig.
between all the different organs shows how they
combine to make a home for the mind. When one
sense fails, the others try to remedy the defect. It
is touching to see how the blind man gets along
without eyes, and the deaf without ears. Cuthbert,
though blind, was the best polisher of telescopic
mirrors in London. There is an instance recorded
of a blind man who could recognize colors. The
author knew one who said he could tell when he was
approaching a tree, " by the different feeling of the
air."
2. TASTE.
Description. This sense is located in the papillae
of the tongue and palate.
Experiment. Put a drop of vinegar on another person's tongue, or
on your own before a mirror, and notice how the papillae rise.
TASTE.
141
The velvety look of the tongue is given by hair-
like projections of the cuticle upon some of the
papillae. They absorb the liquid to be tasted, and
convey it to the nerves. A substance that will not
dissolve is tasteless.
The back of the tongue is most sensitive to salt
Fig. 50.
The Tongue, showing the three kinds of Papilla the conical (D), the whip-like (K
I), the circumvallate or entrenched (H, L) ; E, F, G, nerves ; C, glottis. Lankester.
and bitter tastes, and, as this part is supplied by the
ninth pair of nerves (Fig. 47), which is in sympathy
142 THE SPECIAL SENSES.
with the stomach, such flavors often produce vomit-
ing. The edges of the tongue are most sensitive to
sweet and sour substances, and, as this part is sup-
plied by the fifth pair of nerves, which also goes to
the face, an acid distorts the countenance.
The Use of the Taste was originally to guide in
the selection of food ; but it has become so depraved
by condiments and habit that it would be difficult to
tell what are one's natural tastes.
Fin. 51.
A, b, c, d, interior or the nose, which ii lined by a mucous membrane ; n, tne nose ;
e the wing of the nose : q, the nose bones; o, the upper lip; g, section of the vpptr
jaw-bone; h, the upper part of the mouth, or hard palate ; m, frontal bone of the
skull ; k, the ganglion or bulb of the olfactory nerve in the skull, from uhich are seen
the branches of the nerve passing in all directions.
3. SMELL.
Description. The olfactory nerves (first pair, Fig.
47) enter through a sieve-like, bony plate at the roof
HEARING.
143
of the nose, and are distributed over the inner sur-
face of the two olfactory chambers. The object to
be smelled need not touch the nose, but tiny particles
borne on the air enter the nasal passages.
The Uses of the sense of smell are to guide us in
the choice of our food, and to warn us against bad
air, and unhealthy localities.
4. HEARING.
Fig. 52.
The Ear.
Description. The ear is divided into the external,
middle, and internal ear.
1. THE EXTERNAL EAR is a sheet of cartilage
curiously folded for catching sound. The auditory
canal, B, or tube of this ear-trumpet, is about an
inch long. Across the lower end is stretched the
membrane of the tympanum or drum, which is kept
soft by a fluid wax.
144 THE SPECIAL SENSES.
2. THE MIDDLE EAR is a cavity, at the bottom of
which is the Eustachian tube, Gr, leading to the
mouth. Across this chamber hangs a chain of three
singular little bones, C, named from their shape the
hammer, the anvil, and the stirrup. Though these
tiny bones weigh all together only a few grains, yet
they have two perfect joints, a ball-and-socket, and
a hinge.
3. THE INTERNAL EAR, or labyrinth, is hollowed
out of the solid bone. In front, is the vestibule, A,
about as large as a grain of wheat ; from it open
three semi-circular canals, D, and the winding stair
of the cochlea, or snail shell, E. Here expand the
delicate fibrils of the auditory nerve.
Floating in the liquid which fills the labyrinth is
a little bag containing hair-like bristles, fine sand,
and two ear-stones. In the cochlea are minute ten-
drils, named the fibers of Corti, from their discov-
erer. These are regularly arranged, the longest at
the bottom, and the shortest at the top. Could this
spiral plate, which coils two and a half times around,
be unrolled and made to stand upright, it would form
a beautiful microscopic harp of three thousand
strings.
How We Hear. Whenever one body strikes an-
other in the air, waves are produced, just as when
we throw a stone into the water a series of circles
surrounds the spot where it sinks. These waves of
air strike upon the membrane. This vibrates, and
sends the motion along the chain of bones in the
middle ear to the fluids of the labyrinth. Here
bristles, sand, and stones pound away, and the won-
SIGHT. 145
drous harp of the cochlea, catching up the pulsa-
tions, carries them to the fibers of the auditory
nerve, which conveys them to the brain, and gives
the mind the idea of sound. During this process, the
original pulsations are mysteriously modified by the
bristles, ear-stones, &c., so that they can affect the
nerve.
Care of the Ear. The delicacy of the ear is such
that it needs the greatest care. Cold water should
not be allowed to enter the auditory canal. If the
wax accumulate, never remove it with a hard instru-
ment, lest the delicate membrane be injured, but
with a little warm water, after which turn the head
to let the water run out, and wipe the ear dry.
The hair around the ears should never be left wet,
as it may chill this sensitive organ. If an insect
get in the external ear, pour in a little oil to kill it,
and then remove with tepid water. The object of
the Eustachian tube is to admit air into the ear, and
thus equalize the pressure on the membrane.
3. SIGHT.
Description. The eye is lodged in a bony cavity,
protected by the overhanging brow. It is a globe,
about an inch in diameter. The ball is covered by
three coats (1) the sclerotic, d, a tough, horny casing,
which gives shape to the eye, the convex, trans-
parent part in front forming a window, the cornea, c ;
(2) the choroid, e, a black lining, to absorb the super-
fluous light ; and (3) the retina, 6, a membrane in
which expand fibers of the optic nerve, o. The crys-
146
THE SPECIAL SENSES,
0-'
The Eye.
talline lens, a, brings th.3 rays of light to a focus on
the retina. Between the cornea and the crystalline
lens is a limpid fluid termed the aqueous humor ;
while the vitreous humor a transparent, jelly-like
liquid fills the space (h) back of the crystalline lens.
The pupil, k, is a hole in the colored, muscular cur-
tain, i, the iris (rainbow).
Experiment. Take the eye of a freshly slaughtered ox or sheep, and,
with a pair of scissors, clip the sclerotic half-way between the cornea and
the optic nerve. You can then see the choroid with its black lining, and
inside it the vitreous jelly with the retina spread out around it. By a
little force the vitreous humor and the lens set in it will come out, and you
will see the retina collapse into a whitish mass attached to the point where
the optic nerve comes in. In an ox's eye, you will see that a part of the
choroid resembles a mirror ; it is the same with the cat, which causes the
shining of her eye in the dark.
THE SPECIAL SENSES. 147
The front half of the eye will show you the iris which is always black
at the back, whatever color the front may be, and the transparent cornea.
If you stick a pin into the cornea, the aqueous humor will spirt out.
Eyelids and Tears. The eyelids are close-fitting
shutters to screen the eye. The inner side is lined
with a mucous membrane that is exceedingly sensi-
tive, and thus aids in protecting the eye from any
irritating substance. The eyelashes serve as a sieve
to exclude the dust, and, with the lids, shield against
a blinding light. Just within the lashes are oil
glands, which lubricate the edges of the lids, and
Fig. 5k.
T-B
The Eyelashes and
prevent them from adhering to each other. The tear
(lachrymal) gland, 6r, is an oblong body lodged in the
bony wall of the orbit. It empties by several ducts
upon the inner surface, at the outer edge of the
upper eyelid. Thence the tears, washing the eye,
run into the lachrymal lake, D, a little basin with a
rounded border fitted for their reception. On each
side of this lake, two canals, (7, C, drain off the over-
plus through the duct, B, into the nose.
148
THE SPECIAL SENSES.
Fig, 65.
Structure cf the Retina. In Fig.
55, is shown a section of the retina,
greatly magnified. The layer of
rods and cones (a, 6,) is to the eye
what the bristles, ear-stones, etc.,
are to the ear, changing the vibra-
tions of light in somo mysterious
way so that they can affect the
nerve. The optic nerve itself is
insensible to light. At the point
where it enters the eye, there are
no rods and cones, and this is called
the blind spot.
Experiment. Hold this book directly be-
fore the face, and, closing the left eye, look
steadily with the right at the left-hand circle in
Fig. 56. Move the book back and forth, and a
point will be found where the right-hand circle
vanishes from sight. At that moment its light
falls upon the spot where the rods and cones are
lacking.
How We See. There is believed
Structure of Vie Retina.
a, the rods ; b, t/te cones ;
c, the nerve-granules ; d,
a mesh ;f, nerve-granules;
g, nerve-fibers: A, gan- , . .
giia : i, fibers of optic to be a kind of atmosphere, termed
ether, filling all space. This is in-
finitely more delicate than the air, and occupies its
THE SPECIAL SENSES. 140
pores, as well as those of all bodies. As sound is
caused by waves in the air, so light is produced by
waves in the ether. A lamp-light, for example, sets
in motion waves of ether, which pass in through the
pupil of the eye to the retina, where the rods and
cones modify and then transmit the vibration through
the optic nerve to the brain, when the mind perceives
the light.
The Use of the Crystalline Lens. A convex lens
bends the rays of light which pass through it, so that
they meet at a point called the focus.
Fig. 57,
Diagram showing how an image of an object is formed upon the retina by the
Crystalline Lens.
Experiments. 1. Hold a common burning-glass or pocket-lens over
a piece of black paper under a bright, noon-day sun, and note how it brings
the rays to a focus. In the same way, the crystalline lens brings the rays
of light that enter the eye to a focus upon the retina. 2. Take a narrow
piece of board two feet long. Stick into it two large pins, about twelve or
fifteen inches apart, and not in a straight line. Look at the pins along the
board somewhat as you would " sight" a gun. If you fix your eye on the
nearer pin, you will see it distinctly, but the further one will become blurred.
If you look fixedly at the further one, that will become distinct, and the
nearer one blurred. By no effort can you make both pins perfectly distinct
at the same time. Now look rapidly from one to the other and see how
160
THE CRYSTALLINE LBN'S.
soon your eye adjusts itself to each. The lens of a healthy eye has this
power of adapting itself, by changing its convexity (see Fig. 58), to near
and to distant objects, so as exactly to bring the rays of light which come
from them to a focus on the retina.
Near and Far Sight. If, however, the lens of the
eye be too convex, it will bring the rays to a focus
before they reach the retina ; if too flat, they will
reach the retina before coming to a focus. In either
Fig. 68.
A B
Adjustment of the Crystalline Lens. A. for far objects, and B,for near.
case, the sight will be indistinct. A more common
defect is in the shape of the globe of the eye, which
may be either flattened or elongated. In the former
case (see G, Fig. 59), objects at a distance can be
Fig. 59.
Diagram illustrating the position of the Retina. ft, in natural sight , G, in far
sight ; and C, in near sight.
seen most distinctly hence that is called far-sighted-
ness (presbyopia). In the latter, objects near by are
clearer, and hence this is termed near-sightedness
CAfcE OF THE EYES. ll
(myopia). Far-sightedness is remedied by convex
glasses ; near-sightedness, by concave. When glasses
will improve the sight they should be worn ; any
delay will be liable to injure the eyes, by straining
their already impaired power. Cataract is a disease
in which the crystalline lens becomes opaque and
obscures the vision. A skilful surgeon can remove
the lens, or cause it to be absorbed, after which con-
vex glasses must be worn.
Color-Blind Persons receive only two of the three
elementary color-sensations (green, red, violet). They
are unable to distinguish between the leaves of a
cherry-tree and its fruit by the color of the two, and
see no difference between blue and yellow cloth.
Whittier, the poet, it is said, cannot tell red from
green unless in direct sunlight. Once he patched
some damaged wall-paper in his library by matching
a green vine in the pattern with one of a bright
autumnal crimson. Persons are often color-blind
without knowing it, and many railway accidents
have doubtless happened through an inability to
detect the color of the signal lights.
Care of the Eyes. The shape of the eye cannot
be changed by rubbing and pressing it, as many sup-
pose, but the sight may thus be fatally injured.
Children troubled by near-sightedness should not
lean forward at their work, as thereby the vessels
of the eye become overcharged with blood. They
should avoid fine print, and try, in every possible
way, to spare their eyes. Most cases of squinting
are caused by long-sightedness, the muscles being
strained in the effort to obtain distinct vision. In
SIGHT.
childhood, it may be cured by a competent surgeon,
who will generally cut the muscle that draws the
eye out of place.
Even healthy eyes should never be used to read
fine print or by a dim light. Serious injury may
thus be caused. Reading upon the cars is also a
fruitful source of harm, as the lens, forced to adapt
itself to the incessantly-varying distance of the
page, soon becomes wearied.
Objects that get into the eye should be removed
before they cause inflammation ; rubbing only irri-
tates and increases the sensitiveness. If the eye be
shut for a few moments, so as to let the tears accu-
mulate, and the upper lid be then lifted by taking
hold of it at the center, the cinder or dust is often
washed away at once. Trifling objects can be re-
moved by simply drawing the upper lid as far as
possible over the lower one ; when the lid flies back
to its place, the friction will detach any light sub-
stance. If it becomes necessary, turn the upper lid
over a pencil, and the intruder may then be wiped
off with a handkerchief. "Eye-stones" are a popu-
lar delusion. When they seem to take out a cinder,
it is only because they raise the eye-lid, and allow
the tears to wash it out. No one should ever use an
eye-wash, except by medical advice. The eye is too
delicate an organ to be trifled with, and when any
disease is suspected, a reliable physician should be
consulted. This is especially necessary, since,
when one eye is injured, the other, by sympathy,
is liable to become inflamed, and perhaps be
destroyed.
PRACTICAL QUESTIONS. 153
When reading or working, the light should be at
one side, and never in front.
The constant increase of defective eyesight among
the pupils in our schools is an alarming fact. Dr.
Agnew remarks that our school-rooms are fast mak-
ing us a spectacle-using people. Near-sightedness
seems to increase from class to class, until, in the
upper departments, there are sometimes as high as
fifty per cent, of the pupils thus afflicted. The
causes are (1), desks so placed as to make the light
from the windows shine directly into the eyes of the
scholars ; (2), cross-lights from opposite windows ;
(3) insufficient light ; (4), small type that strains the
eyes ; and (5), the position of the pupil as he bends
over his desk or slate, causing his blood to settle in
his eyes. All these causes can be remedied ; the
position of the desks can be changed ; windows can
be shaded, or new ones inserted ; books and news-
papers that try the eyes can be rejected ; and every
pupil can be taught how to sit at study.
PR/VCTICAL QUESTIONS.
1. "Why does a laundress test the temperature of her flat iron by holding
it near her cheek ?
2. When we are cold, why do we spread the palms of our hands before
the fire ?
3. What is meant by a " furred tongue " ?
4. Why has sand or sulphur no taste ?
5. What was the origin of the world palatable ?
6. How many rows of hairs are there in the eye-brows ?
7. How often do we wink ?
154 THE SIGHT.
8. What is the object of the hairs in the nostrils ?
9. What use does the nose subserve in the process of respiration ?
10. Why do we sometimes hold the nose when we take unpleasant
medicine ?
11. Why was the nose placed over the mouth ?
1 2. Describe how the hand is adapted to be the instrument of touch.
13. Besides being the organ of taste, what use does the tongue sub-
serve ?
14. Why is not the act of tasting complete until we swallow ?
15. Why do all things have the same flavor when one's tongue is
1 ' furred " by fever ?
16. Which sense is the more useful, hearing or sight ?
17. Which coat is the white of the eye ?
18. What makes the difference in the color of eyes ?
19. Why do we snuff the air when we wish to obtain a distinct smell ?
20. Why can an elderly person drink tea which to a child would be un-
bearably hot ?
21. Why does an old man hold his paper so far from his eyes ?
22. Would you rather be punished on the tips of your fingers than on
the palm of your hand ?
BLACKBOARD
1. THE TOUCH ............ |J; Description of the Orgun.
2. THE TASTE
3. THE
( a. External Ear.
) 1. Description of the Organ ^ b. Middle Ear.
4. THE HEARING < f c. Internal Ear.
| 2. How we hear.
\3. Hygiene of the Ear.
. Description of the Organ.
2. Eyelids and Tears.
3. Structure of the Retina,
e T,,, Q rnTTFI , J 4. How we see.
* "< 5. The Use of the Crystalline Lens.
6. Near, and Far Sight.
7. Color-blindness.
V.8. Hygiene of the Eyei=>,
CONCLUSION.
VALUE of Health. The body is the instrument
which the mind uses. If it be dulled or nicked,
the effect of the best labor will be impaired. The
grandest gifts of mind or fortune are comparatively
valueless unless there be a healthy body to use and
enjoy them. The beggar, sturdy and brave with his
out-door life, is really happier than the rich man in
his palace with the gout to twinge him amid his
pleasures. The day has gone by when delicacy is
considered an element of beauty. Weakness is
timid and irresolute ; strength is full of force and
energy. Weakness walks or creeps ; strength speeds
the race, wins the goal, and rejoices in the victory.
False Ideas of Disease. It was formerly supposed
that diseases were caused by evil spirits, who en-
tered the body and deranged its action. Incanta-
tions, spells, etc. , were resorted to in order to drive
them out. By others, disease was thought to come
arbitrarily, or as a special visitation of an over-ruling
power. Hence, it was to be removed by fasting and
prayer. Modern science teaches us that disease is
not a thing, but a state. When our food is properly
assimilated, the waste matter promptly excreted,
and all the organs work in harmonv, we are well ;
156 CONCLUSION.
when any derangement of these functions occurs,
we are sick. Sickness is discord, as health is con-
cord. If we abuse or misuse any instrument, we
impair its ability to produce a perfect harmony. A
suffering body is simply the penalty of violated
law.
Prevention of Disease. Doubtless a large propor-
tion of the ills which now afflict and rob us of so
much time and pleasure might easily be avoided. A
proper knowledge and observance of hygienic laws
would greatly lessen the number of such diseases as
consumption, catarrh, gout, rheumatism, dyspepsia,
scrofula, etc. There are parts of England where
one-half the children die before they are five years
old. Every physiologist knows that at least nine-
tenths of these lives could be saved by an observance
of the simple laws of health. Professor Bennet, in a
lecture at Edinburgh, estimated that 100,000 persons
die annually in Great Britain from causes easily
preventable.
With the advance of science, the causes of many
diseases have been determined. Vaccination has
been found to prevent or mitigate the ravages of
small-pox. Scurvy, formerly so fatal among sailors
that it was deemed " a mysterious infliction of
Divine Justice against which man strives in vain,"
is now entirely avoided by the use of vegetables or
lime-juice. Cholera, whose approach still strikes
dread, and for which there is no known specific, is
but the penalty for filthy streets, bad drainage, and
over-crowded tenements, and may be controlled, if
not prevented, by suitable sanitary measures. It
was, no doubt, the intention that we should wear out
CURE OF DISEASE. 157
by the general decay of all the organs,* rather than
by the giving out of any single part, and that all
should work together harmoniously until the vital
force is exhausted.
Cure of Disease. The first step in the cure of any
disease is to obey the law of health which has been
violated. If medicine be taken, it is not to destroy
the disease, since that is not a thing to be destroyed,
but to hold the deranged action in check while na-
ture repairs the injury, and again brings the system
into harmonious movement. This tendency of na-
ture is our chief reliance. The best physicians are
coming to have diminished confidence in medicine
itself, and to place greater dependence upon sanitary
and hygienic measures, and the efforts which nature
always makes to repair injuries and soothe dis-
ordered action. They endeavor only to give her a
fair chance, and sometimes to assist her by the in-
telligent employment of proper medicines. The in-
discriminate use of patent nostrums and sovereign
remedies of whose constituents we know nothing,
and by which powerful drugs are imbibed at hap-
hazard, cannot be too greatly deprecated, f When
* " So long as the phenomena of waste and repair are in harmony so long, in
other words, as the builder follows the scavenger so long man exists in integrity
and repair just, indeed, as houses exist. Derange nutrition, and at once degenera-
tion, or rather let us say, alteration begins. Alas ! that we are so ignorant that there
are many things about our house, which, seeing them weaken, we know not how to
strengthen. About the brick and the mortar, the frame and the rafters, we are not
unlearned ; but within are many complexities, many chinks and crannies, full in
themselves of secondary chinks and crannies, and these so small, so deep, so re-
cessed, that it happens every day that the destroyer settles himself, in some place so
obscure, that, while he kills, he laughs at defiance. You or I meet with an accident
in our watch. We consult the watchmaker, and he repairs the injury. If we were
all that watchmakers, like ourselves, should be, a man could be made to keep time
until he died from old age or annihilating accident. This I firmly and fully believe."
Odd Hours of a Physician.
t A traveler in Africa states that he was surprised and delighted to find in the
158 CONCLUSION.
one needs medicine, he needs also a competent phy-
sician to advise its use.
Death and. Decay. By a mystery we cannot under-
stand, life is linked with death, and out of the decay
of our bodies they, day by day, spring afresh. At
last the vital force which has held death and decay
in bondage, and compelled them to minister to our
growth, and serve the needs of our life, faints and
yields the struggle. These powers which have so
long time been our servants, gather about our dying
couch, and their last offices usher us into the new
life and the grander possibilities of the world to
come. This last birth, we who see the fading, not
the dawning, life, call death.
' O Father! grant Thy love divine,
To make these mystic temples Thine,
When wasting age and wearying strife
Have sapp'd the leaning walls of life ;
When darkness gathers over all,
And the last tottering pillars fall,
Take the poor dust Thy mercy warms,
And mold it into heavenly forms."
Holmes.
possession of the chief medicine man of one of the interior tribes a carefully pre-
served copy of the New York Tribune. On inquiry, he found that it was exceedingly
valuable, as a minute fragment of it either rubbed on the outside or taken inwardly
was a sovereign remedy for as long a list of diseases as ever graced the advertisement
of an American pain-killer. The mania which pome people possess for tippling with
patent medicines is no more sensible than the trust of the poor savage in a New York
daily.
HINTS
ABOUT
THE SICK-ROOM
A SICK-ROOM should be the lightest and cheeriest in the house.
A small, close, dark bedroom or a recess is bad enough for one
in health, but unendurable for a sick person. In a case of fever, and
in many acute diseases, it should be remote from the noise of the
family; but when one is recovering from an accident, and in all
attacks where quiet is not needed, the patient may be where he can
amuse himself by watching the movements of the household, or look-
ing out upon the street.
l^he ventilation mtist be thorough. Bad air will poison the sick and
the well alike. A fireplace is, therefore, desirable. Windows should
open easily. By carefully protecting the patient with extra blankets,
the room may be frequently aired. If there be no direct draught, much
may be done to change the air, by simply swinging an outer door to
and fro many times.
A bare floor, with strips of carpet here and there to deaden noise, is
cleanest, and keeps the air freest from dust. Cane-bottomed chairs
are preferable to upholstered ones. All unnecessary furniture should
be removed out of the way. A straw bed or a mattress is better than
feathers. The bed-hangings, lace curtains, etc., should be taken down.
Creaking hinges should be oiled. Sperm candles are better than
kerosene lamps.
Never whisper in a sick-room. All necessary conversation should be
carried on in the usual tone of voice. Do not call a physician
unnecessarily, but if one be employed obey his directions implicitly.
160 WHAT TO DO
Never give nostrums over-officious friends may suggest. Do not
allow visitors to see the patient, except it be necessary. Never bustle
about the room, nor go on tip-toe, but move in a quiet, ordinary way.
Do not keep the bottles in the continued sight of the sick person.
Never let drinking-water stand in the room.
Do not raise the patient's head to drink, but have a cup with a long
spout, or use a bent tube, or even a straw. Do not tempt the appe-
tite when it craves no food. Bathe frequently, but let the physician
prescribe the method. Give written directions to the watchers. Have
all medicines carefully marked. Remove all soiled clothing, etc., at
once from the room. Change the linen much oftener than in health.
When you wish to change the sheets, and the patient is unable to rise,
roll the under sheet tightly lengthwise to the middle of the bed ; put
on the clean sheet, with half its width folded up, closely to the other
roll ; lift the patient on to the newly-made part, remove the soiled
sheet, and then spread out the clean one.
DISINFECTANTS.
An excellent disinfectant may be made by dissolving in a pail of
water either of the following : (i), a quarter of a pound of sulphate of
zinc and two ounces of common salt, for each gallon of water ; (2), a
pound and a half of copperas, for each gallon of water. Towels, bed-
linen, handkerchiefs, etc., should be soaked at least an hour, in a
solution of the first kind, and then be boiled, before washing. Vaults,
drains, vessels used in the sick-room, etc., should be disinfected by a
solution of the second kind ; chloride of lime may also be used for the
same purpose. Rooms, furniture, and articles that cannot be treated
with the solution of the first kind, should be thoroughly fumigated with
burning sulphur.
WHAT TO DO TILL THE DOCTOR
COMES.
Burns* When a person's clothes catch fire, quickly lay him on the
ground, wrap him in a coat, mat, shawl, carpet, or in his own clothes,
as best you can to extinguish the fire. Pour ^on plenty of water till
the half-burned clothing is cooled. Then carry the sufferer to a warm
TILL THE DOCTOR COMES. 161
room, lay him on a table or a carpeted floor, and with a sharp knife or
scissors remove his clothing.
The treatment of a burn consists in protecting from the air.* An
excellent remedy is to apply soft cloths kept wet with sweet oil, or
cold water -which contains all the " cooking soda " that it -will dissolve.
Afterward dress the wound with carbolic acid salve. Wrap a dry
bandage upon the outside. Then remove the patient to a bed and
warmly cover.f Apply cold water to a small burn till the smart
ceases, and then cover with ointment.. Do not remove the dressings
until they become stiff and irritating ; then take them from a part at a
time ; dress and cover again quickly.
Cuts, Wounds, etc, The method of stopping the bleeding has
been described on page 79. If an artery is severed, a physician
should be called at once. If the bleeding is not profuse, apply cold
water until it ceases, dry the skin, draw the edges of the wound to-
gether, and secure them by strips of adhesive plaster. Protect with
an outer bandage. This dressing should remain for several days. In
the meantime wet it frequently with cold water to subdue inflamma-
tion. When suppuration begins, wash occasionally with tepid water
and Castile soap.
Dr. Woodbridge, of New York, in a recent address, gave the follow-
ing directions as to " What to do in case of a sudden wound when the
surgeon is not at hand." " An experienced person would naturally
close the lips of the wound as quickly as possible, and apply a band-
age. If the wound is bleeding freely, but no artery is spouting blood,
the first thing to be done is to wash it with water at an ordinary tem-
perature. To every pint of water add either five grains of corrosive
sublimate, or two and a half teaspoonfuls of carbolic acid. If the acid
is used, add two table-spoonfuls of glycerine, to prevent its irritating
the wound. If there is neither of these articles in the house, add four
table-spoonfuls of borax to the water. Wash the wound, close it, and
apply a compress of a folded square of cotton or linen. Wet it in the
* It is a great mistake to suppose that salves wfll " draw out the fire " of a bum,
or heal a bruise or cut. The vital force must unite the divided tissue by the deposit
of material, and the formation of new cells.
t If a burn be near a joint or on the face, even if small, let a doctor see it, and do
not be in any hurry about having it healed. Remember that with all the care and
skill which can be used, contractions will sometimes take place. The danger to life
from a burn or scald is not in proportion to its severity, but to its extent that isy a
small part, such as a hand or a foot or a face, may be burned so deeply as to cripple it
for life, and yet not much endanger the general health ; but a slight amount of burn-
ing, a mere scorching, over two-thirds of the body, may prove fatal. Hofc.
102 WHAT TO DO
solution used for washing the wound, and bandage down quickly and
firmly. If the bleeding is profuse, a sponge dipped in very hot water
and wrung out in a dry cloth should be applied as quickly as possible.
If this is not available, use ice, or cloths wrung out in ice water. If a
large vein or artery is spouting, it must be stopped at once by com-
pression. This may be done by a rubber tube wound around the arm
tightly above the elbow or above the knee, where the pulse is felt to
beat; or an improvised 'tourniquet' maybe used. A hard apple or
a stone is placed in a folded handkerchief, and rolled firmly in place.
This bandage is applied so that the hard object rests on the point
where the artery beats, and is then tied loosely around the arm. A
stick is thrust through the loose bandage and turned till the flow of
blood ceases."
Bleeding from the Nose is rarely dangerous, and often beneficial.
When it becomes necessary to stop it, sit upright and compress the
'nostrils between the thumb and forefinger, or with the thumb press
upward upon the upper lip. A piece of ice, a snow-ball, or a com-
press wet with cold water may be applied to the back of the neck.
A Sprain is often more painful and dangerous than a dislocation.
Wrap the injured part in flannels wrung out of hot water, and cover
with a dry bandage, or, better, with oiled silk. Liniments and stimu-
lating applications are injurious in the first stages, but useful when
the inflammation is subdued. Do not let the limb hang down. It must
be kept quiet, even after all pain has ceased. If used too quickly,
dangerous consequences may ensue.
Diarrhea, Cholera Infantum, etc., are often caused by eating
indigestible food or by checking of the perspiration ; but more fre-
quently by peculiar conditions of the atmosphere, especially in large
cities. If the limbs are cold, give a hot bath, and rub thoroughly.
If possible, go to bed and lie quietly on the back. Rest is better than medi-
cine. If there be pain, apply repeatedly to the abdomen flannels
wrung out of hot water. If medicine is needed, take fifteen drops of
peppermint and thirty of paregoric in a wine-glass of warm water ; or
an adult may take twenty drops of spirits of camphor and thirty to
forty drops of laudanum. Laudanum should rarely be given to an
infant, except by a physician's order. Eat no fruit, vegetables, pastry,
or pork. If much thirst exist, give small pieces of ice, or cold tea or
toast-water.
Croup. Send at once for a doctor. Induce vomiting by syrup of
ipecac or mustard and water. Put the feet in a hot bath. Apply hot
fomentations rapidly renewed to the chest and throat.
TILL THE DOCTOR COMES. 163
Sore Throat. Wrap the neck in a wet bandage, and cover with
red flannel or a woolen stocking. Gargle the throat frequently with
a solution of a tea-spoonful of salt in a pint of water, or thirty grains
of chlorate of potash in a wine-glass of water.
Fits, Apoplexy, Epilepsy, etc, Loosen the clothing, and raise
the head and shoulders, but do not bend the head forward on the
neck. Apply cold to the head, and heat to the feet. Follow with an
emetic. In a child, a full hot bath is excellent. When there are con-
vulsions, prevent the patient from injuring himself; especially put
something in his mouth to keep him from biting his tongue.
Toothache and Earache. Insert in the hollow tooth, or in the
ear, cotton wet with laudanum, spirits of camphor, or chloroform.
When the nerve is exposed, wet it with creosote or carbolic acid.
Hot cloths or a hot brick wrapped in cloth and held to the face will
often relieve the toothache. In a similar manner treat the ear, wetting
the cloth in hot water, and letting the vapor pass into the ear.
Choking. Ordinarily a smart blow between the shoulders, causing
a compression of the chest and a sudden expulsion of the air from the
lungs, will throw out the substance. If the person can swallow, and
the object be small, give plenty of bread or potato, and water to wash
it down. Press upon the tongue with a spoon, when, perhaps, you
may see the offending body, and draw it out with a blunt pair of scis-
sors. If neither of these remedies avail, give an emetic of syrup of
ipecac or mustard and warm water.
Frost Bites are frequently so sudden that one is not aware when
they occur. In Canada it is not uncommon for persons meeting in
the street to say, " Mind, sir, your nose looks whitish." The blood
cools and runs slowly, and the blood-vessels become choked and
swollen. Keep from the heat. Rub the part quickly with snow, if
necessary for hours, till the natural color is restored. If one is
benumbed with cold, take him into a cold room, remove the wet
clothes, rub the body dry, cover with blankets, and give a little warm
tea or \\ eak brandy and water. On recovering, let him be brought to
a fire gradually.*
Fevers, and many acute diseases, are often preceded by a loss of
appetite, headache, shivering, "pains in the bones," indisposition to
* If you are caught in a snow-storm, look for a snow-bank in the lee of a hill, or
a wood out of the wind, or a hollow in the plain filled with snow. Scrape out a
hole big enough to creep into, and the drifting snow will keep you warm. Men and
animals have been preserved after days of such imprisonment Remember that if
you give way to sleep in the open field, you will never awake.
164 WHAT TO DO
work, etc. In such cases, sponge with tepid water, and rub the body
till all aglow. Go to bed, place hot bricks to the feet, take nothing
but a little gruel or beef tea, and drink moderately of warm, cream-of-
tartar water. If you do not feel better the next morning, call a phy-
sician. If that be impossible, take a dose of castor-oil or Epsom salt.
Sun-stroke is a sudden prostration caused by intense heat. The
same effect is produced by the burning rays of the sun and the fierce
fire of a furnace. When a person falls under such circumstances,
place your hand on his chest. If the skin be cool and moist, it is not
a sun-stroke ; but if it be dry and " biting hot," there can be no mis-
take. Time is now precious. At once carry the sufferer to the nearest
pump or hydrant, and dash cold water on the head and chest until
consciousness is restored. Dr. H. C. Wood.
To prevent sun-stroke, wear a porous hat, and in the top of it place
a wet handkerchief ; also drink freely of water, not ice cold, to induce
abundant perspiration.
Asphyxia, or apparent death, whether produced by drowning, suf-
focation, bad air, or coal gas, requires very similar treatment. Send
at once for blankets, dry clothing, and a physician. Treat the sufferer
upon the spot, if the weather be not too unfavorable.
1. Loosen the clothing about the neck and chest.
2. Turn the patient on his face, open the mouth, draw out the
tongue, and cleanse the nostrils, so as to clear the air-passages.
3. Place the patient on his back, grasp his arms firmly above the
elbows, and pull them gently upward until they meet over the head, in
order to draw air into the lungs. Then bring the arms back by the side,
to expel the air. Repeat the process about fifteen times per minute.
Alternate pressure upon the chest, and blowing air into the mouth
through a quill or with a pair of bellows, may aid your efforts. Excite
the nostrils with snuff or smelling salts, or by passing hartshorn under
the nose. Do not cease effort while there is hope. Life has been
restored after five hours of suspended animation.
4. When respiration is established, wrap the patient in dry, warm
clothes, and rub the limbs under the blankets or over the dry clothing
energetically toward the heart. Apply heated flannels, bottles of hot
water, etc., to the limbs, and mustard plasters* to the chest.
Foreign Bodies in the Ear- Insects may be killed by dropping
a little sweet oil into the ear. Beans, peas, matches, etc., may gener-
* The best mustard poultice is the paper plaster now sold by every druggist. It
is always ready, and can be carried by a traveler. It has only to be dipped in
water, and applied at once.
TILL THE DOCTOR COMES. 165
ally be removed by cautiously syringing the ear out with tepid water.
Do not use much force lest the tympanum be injured. If this fail, dry
the ear, stick the end of a fittle linen swab into thick glue, let the
patient lie on one side, put this into the ear until it touches the sub-
stance, keep it there three-quarters of an hour while it hardens, and
then draw them all out together. Be careful that the glue does not touch
the skin at any point, and that you are at work upon the right ear
Children often deceive one as to the ear which is affected.
Foreign Bodies in the Nose, such as beans, cherry-pits, etc.,
may be frequently removed by closing the opposite nostril, and then
blowing into the child's mouth forcibly. The air. unable to escape
except through the other nostril, will sweep the obstruction before it.
166 ANTIDOTES TO POISONS.
ANTIDOTES TO POISONS.
Acids : Nitric (aqur. fortis), hydrochloric (muriatic), sulphuric (oil of
vitriol), oxalic, etc. Drink a little water to weaken the acid, or, still
better, take strong soap-suds. Stir some magnesia in water, and
drink freely. If the magnesia be not at hand, use chalk, soda, lime,
whiting, soap, or even knock a piece of plaster from the wall, and
scraping off the white outside coat pound it fine, mix with milk or
water, and drink at once. Follow with warm water, or flax-seed tea.
Alkalies : Potash, soda, ley, ammonia (hartshorn). Drink weak vin-
egar or lemon juice. Follow with castor or linseed oil, or thick
cream.
Antimony ' Antimonial Wine, tartar emetic, etc. Drink strong,
green tea, and in the mean time chew the dry leaves. The direct anti-
dote is a solution of nut-gall or oak-bark.
Arsenic : Cobalt, Scheele's green, fly-powder, ratsbane, etc. Give plenty
of milk, whites of eggs, or induce vomiting by mustard and warm
water, or even soap-suds.
Bite of a Snake or a Mad Dog. Tie a bandage above the
wound, if on a limb. Wash the bite thoroughly, and, if possible, let the
person suck it strongly. Rub some lunar caustic or potash in the
wound, or heat the point of a small poker or a steel-sharpener white
hot, and press it into the bite for a moment. It will scarcely cause
pain, and will be effectual in arresting the absorption of the poison,
unless a vein has been struck.
Copper : Sulphate of copper (blue vitriol), acetate of copper (verdigris).
Take whites of eggs or soda. Use milk freely.
Laudanum Opium, paregoric, soothing cordial, soothing syrup, etc.
Give an emetic at once of syrup of ipecac, or mustard and warm
water, etc. After vomiting, use strong coffee freely. Keep the patient
awake by pinching, pulling the hair, walking about, dashing water in
the face, and any expedient possible.
Lead: White lead, acetate of lead (sugar of lead), red lead. Give an
emetic of syrup of ipecac, or mustard and warm water, or salt and
water. Follow with a dose of Epsom salt.
Matches : Phosphorus. Give magnesia, chalk, whiting, or even
flour in water, and follow with mucilaginous drinks.
Mercury ; Calomel, chloride of mercury (corrosive sublimate, bug
poison), red precipitate. Drink milk copiously. Take the whites of
eggs, or even stir flour in water, and use freely.
ANTIDOTES. 167
Nitrate of Silver (lunar caustic). Give salt and water, and follow
with castor-oil.
Nitrate of Potash (saltpetre, nitre). Give mustard and warm
water, or syrup of ipecac. Follow with flour and water, and cream or
sweet oil.
PrilSSic Acid (oil of bitter almonds), cyanide of potassium. Take a
tea-spoonful of hartshorn in a pint of water. Apply smelling salts to
the nose, and dash cold water in the face.
Sting of an Insect. Apply a little hartshorn or spirits of cam-
phor, or soda moistened with water, or a paste of clean earth and
saliva.
Sulphate of Iron (green vitriol). Give syrup of ipecac, or mus-
tard and warm water, or any convenient emetic ; then magnesia and
water.
QUESTIONS FOR CLASS USE
The questions include the notes. The figures refer to the pages.
INTRODUCTION.
ILLUSTRATE the value of physiological knowledge. Why should
physiology be studied in youth? When are our habits formed? How
do habits help us ? Why should children prize the lessons of expe-
rience. How does Nature punish a violation of her laws? Name
some of Nature's laws. What is the penalty of their violation? Name
some bad habits and their punishments. Some good habits and their
rewards. How do the young ruin their health? Compare one's con-
stitution with a deposit in the bank. Can one in youth lay up health
as he can money for middle or old age ? Is not the preservation of
one's health a moral duty? What is suicide ?
THE SKELETON.
How many bones are there in the body? Is the number fixed?
What is an organ? (See Glossary.) A function? Name the three
uses of the bones. Why do the bones have such different shapes?
Why are certain bones hollow ? Round ? Illustrate. Why are iron
pillars in stores cast hollow? What is the composition of bone? How
does it vary ?
12. How can you remove the mineral matter ? The animal mat-
ter? Why is a burned bone white and porous? What is the use of
each of the constituents of a bone? What food do dogs find in bones?
What is ossification ? Why are not the bones of children as easily
broken as those of aged persons? Why do they unite so much
THE SKELETON. 169
quicker ? Describe the structure of a bone. What is the object of
the filling? Why does the amount vary in different parts of a bone ?
13. What is the appearance of a bone seen through a microscope ?
How do bones grow? Illustrate. How does a broken bone heal?
How rapidly is bone produced? Illustrate. What is the object of
"splints"? Describe how a joint is packed. Lubricated. How are
the bones tied together ? What is a tissue ? (See Glossary.) Illustrate.
14. Name the three general divisions of the bones. What is the
object of the skull ? Which bone is movable ? How is the lower jaw
hinged ? Describe the construction of the skull. What is a suture? \^
15. Tell how the peculiar form and structure of the skull adapt it for
its use. What two cavities are in the trunk ? Name its principal
bones. Describe the spine. What is the object of the projections?
Of the pads? Why is a man shorter at night than in the morning?
16. Describe the perfection of the spine. The articulation (see
Glossary) of the skull with the spine.
17. Describe the ribs. What is the natural form of the chest? Why
is the thorax, or chest, made in separate pieces ? How does the oblique
position of the ribs aid in respiration? (See p. 53.)
18. How do the hipbones give solidity? What two sets of limbs
branch from the trunk? State their mutual resemblance.
19. Name the bones of the shoulder. Describe the collar-bone.
The shoulder-blade. Name the bones of the arm. Describe the
shoulder-joint. The elbow joint. The wrist.
20. Name the bones of the hand (see p. 24). The fingers. Describe
their articulations. What gives the thumb its freedom of motion ? In
what lies the perfection of the hand ?
21. Describe the hip-joint. What gives the upper limbs more free-
dom of motion than the lower? Name the bones of the lower limbs.
Describe the knee-joint. The patella. What is the use of the fibula?
Can you show how the lower extremity of the fibula, below its juncture
with the tibia, is prolonged to form a part of the ankle-joint?
22. Name the bones of the foot. What is the use of the arch of the
foot ? What makes the step elastic ? Describe the action of the foot
as we step. In graceful walking should the toes or the heel touch the
ground first ? What are the causes of deformed feet ? What is the
natural position of the big toe ? Did you ever see a big toe lying in a
170 QUESTIONS FOR CLASS USE.
straight line with the foot, as shown in statuary and paintings ? How
should we have our boots 2.nd shoes made ? What are the effects of
high heels ? Of narrow heels ? Of narrow toes ? Of tight-laced boots?
Of thin soles? What are the rickets? Cause of this disease? Cure?
Cause of bow-legs ? Cure ?
23. What is the correct position in sitting at one's desk? Is there
any necessity for walking and sitting erect ? Describe the bad effects
of a stooping position. What is a sprain? Why does it need special
care? What is a dislocation? (See Glossary.)
THE MUSCLES.
25. WHAT is the use of the skeleton? How is it concealed? Why
is it the image of death? What are the muscles? How many are
there ? What peculiar property have they ? How are they arranged ?
Where is the biceps ? The triceps ? How do the muscles move the
limbs? Illustrate.
26. Name and define the two kinds of muscles. Illustrate each.
What is the structure of a muscle? Of what is a fibril itself com-
posed ?
27-8. Describe the tendons. What is their use? Illustrate the
advantages of this mode of attachment. What two special arrange-
ments of the tendons in the hand ? Their use ? How is the rotary
motion of the eye obtained ?
29. What advantages are gained by the enlargement of the bones at
the joints? Illustrate. How do we stand erect? Is it an involuntary
act? Why cannot a child walk at once, as many young animals do?
Why can we not hold up the head easily when we walk on "all
fours"? Why cannot an animal stand erect as man does?
30. Describe the process of walking. Show that walking is a pro-
cess of falling. Describe the process of running. What causes the
swinging of the hand in walking? Why are we shorter when walk-
ing? Why does a person when lost often go in a circle? In which
direction does one always turn in that case ? WTiat is the muscular
sense? Its value?
THE SKIN. 171
31-2. Value of exercise ? Is there any danger of violent exercise ?
For what purpose should we exercise ? Should exercise be in the
open air? What is the Law of Health in regard to exercise? Is a
young person excusable, who leads a sedentary life, and yet takes
no daily out-door exercise ? What will be nature's penalty for such a
violation of her law? Will a postponement of the penalty show that
we have escaped it? Ought a scholar to study during the time of
recess? Will a promenade in the vitiated air of the school-room fur-
nish suitable exercise ? What is the best time for taking exercise ?
Who can exercise before breakfast ? What are the advantages of the
different kinds of exercise ? Should we not walk more ? What is the
general influence upon the body of vigorous exercise? State some of
the wonders of the muscles.
33. What is the St. Vitus's dance? Cure? What is the locked-jaw?
Causes? The gout? Cause? Cure? The rheumatism? Its two
forms? Peculiarity of the acute? Danger? Is there any particular
mode of treating it ?
THE SKIN.
35. WHAT are the uses of the skin ? Describe its adaptation to its
place. What is its function as an organ ? Describe the structure of
the skin. The sensitiveness of the cutis. The insensitiveness of the
cuticle.
46. Flow is the skin constantly changing? The shape and number
of the cells ? Value of the cuticle ? How is the cuticle formed ? What
is the complexion? Its cause? Why is a scar white? What is the
cause of "tanning "? What are freckles ? Describe the action of the
sun on the skin. Why are hairs and the nails spoken of under the
head of the skin ?
37. Uses of the hair ? Its structure ? What is the hair-bulb? What
is it called ? How does a hair grow ? When can it be restored, if de-
stroyed ? What is the danger of hair-dyes? Are they of any real
value? How can the hair stand on end? How do horses move their
skin? Is there any feeling in a hair? What are the uses of the
nails?
172 QUESTIONS FOR CLASS USE.
38. How do the nails grow? What is the mucous membrane? Its
composition? The connective tissue? Why so called? What use
does it subserve ? What is its character ?
39. Name some of the many uses of the membranes in the body.
How does the fat exist in the body? Its uses? Where is there no
fat? Name and describe the four kinds of teeth. What are the milk
teeth? Describe them.
41. What teeth appear first? When do the permanent teeth appear?
Describe their growth. Which one comes first ? Last ? Describe the
structure of the teeth.
42. Why do the teeth decay? What care should be taken of the
teeth? What caution should be observed? What are the oil glands?
Use of this secretion ?
43. What are the perspiratory glands? State their number. Their
total length. What are the " pores" of the skin? What is the per-
spiration? What is the constitution of the perspiration ? Illustrate
its value. Why do we need to bathe so often?
44. When is the best time for a bath ? Why ? Value of friction ?
Should a bath be taken just before or after a meal ? Is soap beneficial ?
What is the "reaction"? Explain its invigorating influence. How
is it secured? General effect of a cold bath? Of a warm bath? If
we feel chilly and depressed after a bath, what is the teaching?
45. Why is the sea-bath so stimulating? How long should one
remain in any bath? How does clothing keep us warm? Explain
the use of linen as an article of clothing. Cotton. Woolen. Flan-
nel. How can we best protect ourselves against the changes of our
climate ?
46-7. What colored clothing is best adapted for all seasons? Value
of the nap? Furs? Thick vs. thin clothing? Should we wear thick
clothing during the day, and in the evening put on thin clothing?
Can children endure exposure better than grown persons ? What are
corns? What is the cause? Cure? What are in-growing nails?
What is the cure ? Warts ? Cure ? Chilblain ? Cause ? Preventive ?
RESPIRATION AND THE VOICE. 173
RESPIRATION AND THE VOICE
49. NAME the organs of respiration and the voice. Describe the
larynx. The epiglottis. The oesophagus. What is meant by food
"going the wrong way " ?
50. Describe the vocal cords. Their use. How is sound pro-
duced ?
51. How are the higher tones of the voice produced ? The lower?
Upon what does loudness depend ?
52. What is the cause of the voice "charging"? What is speech?
Vocalization? Could a person talk without his tongue? How is a
formed by the voice ? Difference between a sigh and a groan ? What
vowel sounds are made in laughing? Does whistling depend on the
voice ? Tell how the various consonants are formed. What are the
labials? The dentals? The linguals? What vowels does a child
pronounce first?
53. Describe the wind-pipe. The bronchi. The bronchial tubes.
Why is the trachea so called ? Describe the structure of the lungs.
What are the lungs of slaughtered animals called ? Why will a piece
of the lungs float on water? Name the wrappings of the lungs.
Describe the pleura. How is friction prevented ? What are the cilia ?
What is their use? What two acts constitute respiration?
54. In what two ways may the position of the ribs change the capa-
city of the chest ? Describe the process of respiration. Expiration.
55. How often do we breathe? Describe the diaphragm. Its use in
breathing. What is coughing? Sneezing? Snoring? Laughing?
Crying ? Hiccough ? What is meant by the breathing capacity ? How
does it vary? How much, in addition, can the lungs expel forcibly?
Can we expel all the air from our lungs? Value of this constant sup-
ply?
56. How constant is the need of air? What is the vital element of
the air ? Describe the action of the oxygen in our lungs. What does
the blood give up? Gain ? How can this be tested ? What are the
constituents of the air? What are the peculiar properties and uses of
each? What is the condition of the air we exhale? Which is the
most dangerous constituent?
174 QUESTIONS FOR CLASS USE.
57-63. Describe the evil effects of re-breathing the air. Give illus-
trations of the dangers of bad air. What is meant by the germs of dis-
ease floating in the air ? Describe the need of ventilation. Will a
single breath pollute the air ? What is the influence of a fire or a
light? Of a hot stove? When is the ventilation perfect? What dis-
eases are largely owing to bad air? Should the windows and doors
of any room be tightly closed, if we have no other means of ventila-
tion? Is not a draught of air dangerous? How can we prevent this,
and yet secure fresh air ? What is the general principle of ventila-
tion ? Must pure air necessarily be cold air? Are school-rooms
properly ventilated? What is the effect? Are churches? Are our
bed-rooms? Can we, at night, breathe anything but night air? Is
the night air out-of-doors ever injurious?
63-5. Describe some of the wonders of respiration. How is con-
striction of the lungs produced? When may clothing be considered
tight ? What are the dangers of tight-lacing ? Which would i lake
the stronger, more vigorous, and longer-lived person, the form shown
in A or B, Fig. 28? Is it safe to run any risk in this dangerous direc-
tion? What is the bronchitis? Pleurisy? Pneumonia? Consump-
tion ? What is one great cause of this disease ? How may a consti-
tutional tendency to this disease be warded off in youth? What is
asphyxia? Describe the process for restoring such a person. (See
Appendix?) What is the diphtheria? Its peculiarity? Danger?
66. The croup? Its characteristics? Remedy? (See Appendix.}
Cause of stammering ? How cured ?
THE CIRCULATION.
67. NAME the organs of the circulation. Does the blood per-
meate all parts of the body ? What is the average amount in each
person? Its composition?
68. What is the plasma? Describe the red cells (corpuscles). The
white. What is the size of a red cell? Are the shape and size
uniform ? Are the disks permanent? What substances are contained
THE CIRCULATION. 175
in the plasma? What is fibrin ? In what sense is the blood "liquid
flesh" ? What is the use of the red disks? What is the office of the
oxygen in the body ? Where is the blood purified ?
69. What is the cause of coagulation of the blood ? Value of this
property ? What organ propels the blood ?
70. What is the location of the heart ? How large is it ? Put your
hand over it. What is the pericardium ? How many chambers in the
heart ?
71. What is their average size? What is meant by the right and
the left heart ? What are the auricles ? Why so called ? The ventri-
cles? What is the use of the auricles? The ventricles? Which are
made the stronger ? Show the need of valves in the ventricles. Why
are there no valves in the auricles ?
72. Describe the tricuspid valve. The bicuspid. Describe the semi-
lunar valves. What are the arteries ? Why so named ? What is their
use ? Their structure ? How does their elasticity act ? What is the
aorta ? What is the pulse ?
73. On which arteries can we best feel it ? What is the average
number of beats per minute? How and why does this vary? Why
does a physician feel a patient's pulse? What are the veins? What
blood do they carry? Describe the venous system. Describe the
valves of the veins. Which valves of the heart do they resemble?
Where and how can we see the operation of these valves ? What are
the capillaries ?
74. What is the function of the capillaries? What changes take
place in this system ? Describe the circulation of the blood as seen in
the web of a frog's foot. In what two portions is the general circula-
tion divided ?
75. Describe the route of the blood by the diagram, i. The lesser
circulation ; 2. The greater circulation.
76. How long does it require for all the blood to pass through the
heart? How long does it take the blood to make the tour of the
body? What is the average temperature of the body? How and
where is the heat of the body generated ? How is it distributed ? How
is the temperature of the body regulated ? In what way does life exist
through death?
77. Is not this as true in the moral as in the physical world? What
176 QUESTIONS FOR CLASS USE.
does it teach ? How rapidly do our bodies change ? Name some of
the wonders of the heart.
78. What is the lymphatic circulation? What is the thoracic duct?
The lymph? The glands?
79. Give some illustrations of the action of the lymphatics of the
different organs. How do hibernating animals live during the
winter ? What is a congestion ? Its cause ? Blushing ? Why does
terror cause one to grow cold and pale? How is an inflammation
caused? Name its four characteristics. How may severe bleeding be
stopped? How can you tell whether the blood comes from an artery
or a vein ?
80. What is the scrofula ? What are " kernels " ? How may a scro
fulous tendency of the system be counteracted ? What is the cause of
"a cold "? Why does exposure sometimes cause a cold in the head,
sometimes on the lungs, and at others brings on a rheumatic attack ?
What is the theory of treating a cold ?
81-2. How is alcohol always made? Does it exist in nature? De-
scribe the general process of fermentation. What is " malt " ? How
is beer made? What is distillation? How is whisky manufactured ?
83. Illustrate some of the properties of alcohol. Illustrate the
general effect of alcohol upon the circulation.
84-9. Upon the heart. Upon the membrane. Upon the blood.
Upon the lungs. When does it cause consumption ? What is meant
by a " fatty degeneration " of the heart ? How does alcohol check the
regular process of oxidation, or waste and repair of the body ?
DIGESTION AND FOOD.
91. WHY do we need food ? Why will a person starve without
food ? How much food is needed per day by an adult in active
exercise? How much in a year? Describe the body as an eddy.
What does food do for us? What does food contain? How is this
force set free ? Do we then draw all our power from nature ? What
becomes of these forces when we are done with them ? Do we destroy
the force we use ? A us. No matter has been destroyed, so far as we
know, since the creation, and force is equally indestructible.
DIGESTION AND FOOD. 177
92. Compare our food to a tense spring. What three kinds of food
do we need ? What is nitrogenous food ? Name the common forms.
What is the characteristic of nitrogenous food ? Why called albumi-
nous? What is carbonaceous food? Name the two kinds. What are
the constituents of sugar? Where is starch ranked ? Why? Use of
carbonaceous food ?
93. Name the mineral matters which should be contained in our
food. What do you say of the abundance and necessity of water?
Ought we not to exercise great care in selecting the water we drink?*
Will not the character of our food influence the quantity of water we
need? What are the uses of these different minerals? Illustrate from
your own knowledge the importance of salt. Could a person live on
one kind of food alone ? Illustrate. Describe the effect of living on
lean meat. Show the necessity of a mixed diet. Illustrate. Show the
need of digestion. Illustrate.
94. Describe the general plan of digestion. What amount of liquid
is daily secreted by the alimentary canal ? What is the alimentary
canal ? How is it lined ? Define secretion. Describe the saliva.
95. How is it secreted ? What is the amount per day ? Its use ?
What tends to check or increase the flow of saliva? Describe the pro-
cess of swallowing. The stomach. Its size.
96. Its construction. What is the pylorus? For what does this
open? What is the gastric juice? How abundant is it? What prin-
ciple does it contain? How is its flow influenced? What is its use?
Appearance of the food as it passes through the pylorus? What is the
construction of the intestines ?
98. How are the intestines divided? What is the duodenum?
Why so called ? What juices are secreted here? What is the bile?
Describe the liver. What is its weight ? Its construction ? Ans. It
* Water which has passed through lead-pipes is apt to contain salts of that metal,
and is therefore open to suspicion. Metallic-lined ice-pitchers, galvanized iron
reservoirs, and many soda-water fountains, are liable to the same objection. There
are also organic impurities in water equally dangerous. River-water often dissemi-
nates the germs of typhoid fever and other diseases just as the air scatters the seeds
of small-pox and scarlet fever. Thus the great outbreak of cholera in the east of
London, in 1866, was traced to the contamination of the River Lea, which furnished
the supply of water to that part of the city. The surface water frequently flows into
a well carrying organic matter to poison its contents. Wells sometimes receive
underground the drainage from grave-yards, manufactories, cess-pools, swamps,
barn-yards, vaults, etc., all of which render the water unfit for use.
178 QUESTIONS FOR CLASS USE.
consists of a mass of polyhedral cells only T ^ to ^^ of an inch in
diameter, filling a mesh of capillaries. The capillaries carry the blood
to and fro, and the cells secrete the bile. What is the cyst ? What
does the liver secrete from the blood besides the bile? What is its
use? What is the pancreatic juice? Its use?
99. Appearance of the food when it leaves the duodenum ? Describe
the small intestine. W T hat is absorption ?
100. In what two ways is the food absorbed ? Where does the pro-
cess commence? How long does it last? Describe the lacteals. Of
what system do they form a part? What do the veins absorb?
Where do they carry the food ? How is it modified ? What length of
time is usually required for digestion in the stomach? May not food
which requires little time in the stomach need more in the other
organs, and vice versa? Tell the story of Alexis St. Martin.
101. What time did he require to digest apples? Eggs, raw and
cooked? Roast beef ? Pork? Which is the king of the meats ? What
is the nutritive value of mutton? Lamb? How should it be cooked?
Objection to pork ? What is the trichina? Should ham ever be eaten
raw? Value of fish? Oysters? Milk? Cheese? Eggs?
102. Bread ? Brown bread ? Are warm biscuit and bread health-
ful ? Nutritive value of corn ? The potato ? Of ripe fruits ? Of
coffee ? To what is its stimulating property due ? Its influence on
the system ? When should it be discarded ?
103. Effects of tea ? Influence of strong tea? What is the active
principle of tea ? What is the effect of cooking food ? What precau-
tion in boiling meat ? In roasting ? Object of this high temperature ?
What precaution in making soup? Why is frying an unhealthful mode
of cooking ? State the five evil results of rapid eating. What disease
grows out of it? If one is compelled to eat a meal rapidly, as at a
railroad station, what should he take?
104. Why does a child need more food proportionately than an old
person ? State the relation of waste to repair in youth, in middle, and
in old age. What kind and quantity of food does a sedentary occu-
pation require ? What caution should students who have been accus-
tomed to manual labor observe ? Must a student starve himself? Is
there not danger of over-eating ? Would not an occasional abstinence
from a meal be beneficial ? Do not most people eat more than is for
THE NERVOUS SYSTEM. 179
their good ? How should the season regulate our diet ? The climate ?
Illustrate. What is the effect upon the circulation of taking food ?
Should we labor or study just before or after a meal? Why not?
What time should intervene between our meals? Is "lunching" a
healthful practice? Should we eat just before retiring? When we
are very tired ?
105. Why should care be banished from the table ? Will a regular
routine of food be beneficial ? Describe some of the wonders of diges-
tion.
106. What are the principal causes of dyspepsia? How may we
avoid that disease? What are the mumps? What care should be
taken?
107-113. Is alcohol a food ? Illustrate. Compare the action of alco-
hol with that of water. Does all the alcohol taken into the stomach go
off unchanged ? Does alcohol contain any element needed by the
body? What is the effect of alcohol upon the digestion? Upon the
pepsin of the gastric juice? Upon the albuminous food ? What is a
"fatty degeneration of the kidneys "? Will alcohol help one to endure
cold and exposure ? Will liquor strengthen the muscles of a working
man ? Is alcohol digested ? Is liquor a wholesome " tonic " ? Is it a
good plan to take a glass of liquor before dinner ? What is the effect
of alcohol upon the liver ? What is the " Hob nail " liver ? What is
the general effect of alcohol upon the kidneys ? Does alcohol impart
heat to the body? Does it confer strength? What does Dr. Kane
say? Describe Richardson's experiments. How does alcohol act
in creating an appetite for itself? What is alcoholism? What is
heredity?
THE NERVOUS SYSTEM.
115. WHAT are the organs of the nervous system? What is the
general use of this system? What is the gray matter? Its use?
The white matter ? Its use ? Describe the brain. What is its office ?
Its size? How does it vary?
117. Name its two divisions. Describe the cerebrum. The convo-
180 QUESTIONS FOR CLASS USE.
lutions. The membranes which bind the brain together. What do
you say of the quantity of blood which goes to the brain ? What does
it show ? What do the convolutions indicate? What is the use of the
two halves of the brain?
1 1 8. What is the effect of removing the cerebrum? Describe the
cerebellum.
119. What is the arbor vitse? What does this part of the brain con-
trol ? What is the effect of its being injured ? Illustrate. Describe the
spinal cord. What is the medulla oblongata? Describe the nerves.
Is each part of the body supplied with its own nerve?
120-3, Prove it. What are the motory nerves? The sensory?
When will motion be lost and feeling remain, and vice versa? What
is meant by a transfer of pain ? Illustrate. Name the three classes of
nerves, What are the spinal nerves ? Describe the origin of the spinal
nerve. What is the effect of cutting a sensory root? A motory root?
What are the cranial nerves? Name the twelve pairs. Describe
the sympathetic system. What is its use? How does the brain
control all the vital processes? What is meant by the crossing of the
cords? What is the effect ? What is reflex action ?
I2*;. Give illustrations. Give instances of the unconscious action
of the brain. Can there be feeling or motion in the lower limbs when
the spinal cord is destroyed ? What are the uses of reflex action ?
State its value in the formation of habits. How does the brain grow?
125. What laws govern it ? What must be the effect of constant
light-reading? Of over-study or mental labor? State the relation of
sleep to repair and waste. How many hours does each person need?
What kind of work requires most sleep ? What danger is there in
obtaining sleep by medicine ? What is the influence of sunlight on
the body ?
126. Illustrate. Name some of the wonders of the brain.
127-131. What four stages are there in the effect of alcohol on the
nervous system ? Describe each. Does alcohol confer any permanent
strength? What is the physiological effect of alcohol on the brain?
On the mental and moral powers? What is the Delirium Tremens?
Do you think a man should be punished for a crime he commits while
drunk? How does alcohol interfere with the action of the nerves?
What is the general effect of alcohol upon the character ? Does alcohol
THE SPECIAL SENSES. 181
tend to produce clearness and vigor of thought ? What is the cause
of the "alcoholic chill "? Show how alcohol tends to develop man's
lower, rather than his higher, nature. When we wish really to strengthen
the brain, should we use alcohol ? Why is alcohol used to preserve
anatomical specimens? What is meant by an inherited taste for liquor?
To what extent are we responsible for the health of our body ? Why
does alcohol tend to collect in the brain ? Does the use of alcohol
tend to increase crime, and poverty ?
132-4. What are the principal constituents of tobacco ? What are
the physiological effects of tobacco ? Who are most likely to escape
injury? Is tobacco a food ? What is its influence upon youth? Why
are cigarettes specially injurious? Name illustrations of the injurious
effect of tobacco on young men.
135-6. How is opium obtained? What is its physiological effect?
Can one give up the use of opium when he pleases ? What is the
danger in its use?
136-7. What is the harmful influence of chloral hydrate? Of chloro-
form ?
THE SPECIAL SENSES.
139. NAME the five senses. To what organ do all the senses minis-
ter? If the nerve leading to any organ of sense be cut, what would be
the effect? Sometimes persons lose feeling in a limb, but retain mo-
tion ; why is this? What is the sense of touch sometimes called?
Describe the organ of touch. What are the papillae? Where are they
most abundant? What are the uses of this sense? What special
knowledge do we obtain by it ? Why do we always desire to handle
anything curious?
140. Can the sense of touch always be relied upon? Illustrate.
Tell how one sense can take the place of another. Give illustrations
of the delicacy of touch possessed by the blind.
141. Describe the sense of taste. How can you see the papillae
of taste? What causes the velvety look of the tongue? Why do salt
and bitter flavors induce vomiting? Why does an acid "pucker" the
face? What substances are tasteless? Illustrate. Has sulphur any
182 QUESTIONS FOR CLASS USE.
taste? Chalk? Sand? What is the use of this sense? Does it not
also add to the pleasures of life ? Why are the acts of eating, drinking,
etc., thus made sources of happiness?
142. Describe the organ of smell. Must the object to be smelled
touch the nose? What are the uses of this sense? Are agreeable
odors healthful, and disagreeable ones unhealthful ?
143. Describe the organ of hearing. Describe the external ear.
What is the tympanum or drum of the ear? Describe the middle ear.
Name the bones of the ear. Describe their structure. Describe the
internal ear. By what other name is it known ? What substances
float in the liquid which fills the labyrinth? Describe the fibers of
Corti. What do they form ? How are the vibrations of the air modi-
fied before they reach the nerve ? Give the theory of sound. What
advice is given concerning the care of the ear? How can insects be
removed ?
145. Describe the eye. Name the three coats of which it is com-
posed. What is the object of the crystalline lens? Describe the
liquids which fill the eye. What is the pupil ? Describe the eyelids.
Why is the inner side of the eyelid so sensitive ? What is the use of
the eyelashes ? Where are the oil glands located ? What is their use ?
Describe the lachrymal gland. The lachrymal lake. What causes the
overflow in old age ? Explain the use of the rods and cones. What is
the blind spot ? Illustrate. What is the theory of sight ? Illustrate.
State the action of the crystalline lens. Its power of adaptation. Cause
of near-sightedness. How remedied ? Cause of far-sightedness ? How
remedied ? Do children ever need spectacles? What is the cataract?
How cured ? What care should be taken of the eyes? Should one
constantly lean forward over his book or work ? What special care
should near-sighted children take? By what carelessness may we
impair our sight ? Should we ever read or write at twilight ? What is
the danger of reading uoon the cars ? What course should we take
when objects get into the eye? How may they be removed? Are
"eye-stones" useful? Why we should never use eye-washes except
upon the advice of a competent physician ? What care should be taken
with regard to the direction of the light when we are at work ?
GLOSSARY.
AB DO'MEN (abdo, I conceal). The largest cavity in the body, in which
are hidden the intestines, stomach, etc.
AB SORB'ENT (ab, from ; sorbeo, I suck up).
AC'E TAB'U LUM (acetum, vinegar). The socket for holding the head of
the thigh-bone, shaped like an ancient vinegar vessel.
A CET'IC (acetum, vinegar).
AD' i POSE. Fatty.
AL BU'MEN (albus, white). A substance resembling the white of egg.
AL BU'MI NOUS substances contain much albumen.
AL/I MENT'A RY. Pertaining to food.
AI/KA LINE (-1m) substances neutralize acids.
AN'JES THET'IC. A substance that destroys the feeling of pain.
A OR/TA. The largest artery of the body.
AP'O PLEX Y (-plek-se). A disease marked by loss of sensation and vol-
untary motion.
A'QUE ous (a'-kwe-us). Watery.
A RACH'NOID (arachne, a spider ; eidos, form). A membrane like a
spider's web covering the brain.
AR'BOR VI'TLE means "the tree of life."
AR'TER Y (aer, air; tereo, I contain). So named because after death the
arteries contain air only, and hence the ancients supposed them to be air-
tubes leading through the body.
AR TIC'U LATE (articulo, I form a joint). AR TIC'U LA TIOX. A joint.
As PHYX'I A (-fix'-e-a). Literally, no-pulse ; apparent death.
As SIM' i LA'TION is the process of changing food into flesh, etc.
AT' LAS. So called because, as in ancient fable the god Atlas supported
the globe on his shoulders, so in the body this bone bears the head.
AU'DI TO RY NERVE. The nerve of hearing.
AU'RI OLE (auris, ear) of the heart. So named from its shape.
BI'CEPS. A muscle with two heads, or origins.
Bi CUS'PID. Tooth with two points ; also a valve of the heart.
BRON'CHI (-ki). The two branches of the wind-pipe.
BRON'CHI AL TUBES. Subdivisions of bronchi.
BUR SA (a purse). Small sac containing fluid near a joint.
184 GLOSSARY.
CA NINE' (canis, a dog) teeth are like dogs' teeth.
CAP'IL LA RIES (capillus, a hair). A system of tiny blood-vessels.
CAR' BON. Pure charcoal.
CAR BON'IC ACID. A deadly gas given off by the lungs, and by fires.
CA ROT' IDS (karos, lethargy). Arteries of the neck, so named because
the ancients supposed them to be the seat of sleep.
CAR' PUS. The wrist.
CAR'TI LAGE. Gristle.
CELL. A minute sac, usually with soft walls and fluid contents.
CEL'LU LAR (cellula, a little cell). Full of cells.
CER'E BEL'LUM. The little brain.
CER'E BRUM. A Latin word meaning brain.
CER'VI CAL. Relating to the neck.
CHLO'RAL (klo) HY'DRATE. A drug used to induce sleep.
CHO'ROID. The second coat of the eye.
CHYLE (kile). A milky juice formed in digestion.
CHYME (kime). From chumos, juice.
CIR'CU LA'TION. The course of the blood through the body.
CIL'I A (the plural of cilium, an eyelash). Hair-like projections in the air-
CLAV'I CLE (klav-i-kl). From clavis, a key.
Co AG'U LA'TION. A clotting of blood.
COC'CYX (a cuckoo). A bony mass below the sacrum.
COCH'LE A. A Latin word meaning snail shell. See Ear.
COM' POUND. A substance composed of two or more elements.
CON TA'GI ous diseases are those caught by contact, the breath, etc.
CON'TRAC TIL'I TY (con, together ; traho, I draw).
CON'VO LU'TION (con, together ; volvo, I roll).
COR'NE A (cornu, a horn). A transparent, horn-like window in the eye.
COR' PUS CLE (kor'-pus-l). From a Latin word meaning a little body. It
is applied to the disks of the blood.
CRA'NI AL. Relating to the skull.
CRYS'TAL LINE (crystallum, a crystal).
Cu TA'NE ous (cutis, skin). Pertaining to the skin.
CU'TI CLE (ku'ti kl). From a Latin word meaning little skin.
CU'TIS, the true skin.
DEN'TAL (dens, dentis, a tooth).
DI'A PHRAGM (-fram). The muscle dividing the abdomen from the chest
Dr AS'TO LE (diastello, I put asunder). Dilation of the heart.
DIS'LO CA'TION. A putting out of joint.
DOR'SAL (dorsum, the back).
DUCT. A small tube.
Du o DE'NUM (duodeni, twelve each).
GLOSSARY. 185
DU'RA MA'TER (duriis, hard ; mater, mother). The outer membrane of
the brain.
DYS PEP'SI A is a difficulty of digestion.
E LIM'I NATE. To expel.
EP'I DEM'IC. A disease affecting a great number of persons at once.
EP'I DERM'IS. The cuticle.
EP'I GLOT'TIS (epi, upon ; glottis, the tongue). The lid of the wind-pipe.
EP'I THE'LI UM. The outer surface of mucous or serous membranes.
Eu STA'CHI AN (yu-sta'ki-an) TUBE. So named from its discoverer, an
Italian physician.
Ex CRE'TION. Waste particles thrown off by the excretory organs.
FER'MEN TA'TION. The process by which sugar is turned into alcohol.
FI'BRIN (fibra, a fiber).
FIL'A MENT (filum, a thread).
FUNC'TION. See Organ.
GAN'GLI ON (gang'-gli-on). From ganglion, a knot ; plu. ganglia.
GAS'TRIC (gaster, stomach).
GLANDS (glandz). From glans, a Latin word meaning acorn. Their ob-
ject is to secrete in their cells some liquid from the blood.
GLOT'TIS. The opening at the top of the larynx.
HU'ME RUS. The arm-bone.
HU'MOR. A Latin word meaning moisture.
HY'DRO GEN. The lightest gas known, and one of the elements of water.
HY'GI ENE. From a Greek word meaning health.
HYP'O GLOS'SAL. Literally " under the tongue "; a nerve of the tongue.
IN CI'SOR (incido, I cut) teeth are cutting teeth.
IN'SPI RA'TION (in and spiro, I breathe in).
IN TES'TINE (-tin). From intus, within.
LACH'RY MAL (lachryma, a tear). Pertaining to tears.
LAC'TE AL (lac, lactis, milk). So called from the milky look of the chyle
during digestion.
LA CU'NA, plu. lacunae (lakos, a hole). Cavities in the bone-structure.
LAR'YNX (lar-mx). The upper part of the wind-pipe.
LIG'A MENTS (ligo, I bind) tie bones together.
LU'BRI GATE. To oil in order to prevent friction.
LUM'BAR (lumbus, a loin). Pertaining to the loins.
LYMPH (limf ). From lym,pha> pure water.
LYM PHAT'IC (lim-fat'-ik).
MAS'TI CA'TION. The act of che\ving.
ME DUL'LA OB LON GA'TA. The upper part of the spinal cord.
186 GLOSSARY.
MEM'BRANE. A thin skin, or tissue.
MES'EN TER Y. The membrane by which the intestines are fastened to
the spine.
MET 7 A CAR'PAL (meta, after ; karpos, wrist).
MET' A TAR'SAL (meta, after ; tarsos, the instep).
Mr'cRO SCOPE (mikros, small ; skopeo, I see).
MO'LAR (mola, a mill) teeth are the grinders.
MOR'PHINE (Morpheus, the Greek god of sleep).
Mo' TO RY. Giving motion.
Mu'cous (-kus) MEMBRANE. A thin tissue, or skin, covering the open
cavities of the body. See Serous.
Mu'cus. A fluid secreted by a membrane and serving to lubricate it.
MUS'CLE (mils' si). A bundle of fibers covered by a membrane.
MY O'PIA (muo, I contract ; ops, the eye).
NAR COT' ic. A drug producing sleep.
NA'SAL (na'-zle). From nasus, the nose.
NERVE (neuron, a cord).
NI'TRO GEN GAS is the passive element of the air.
Ni TROG'E NOUS. Containing nitrogen.
Nu TRI'TION. The process by which the body is nourished.
(E SOPH'A GUS (e-sof'-a-gus). The gullet ; literally, a " food- carrier. "
OL FAC'TO RY. Pertaining to the smell.
OR'GAN. An organ is a portion of the body designed for a particular use,
which is called its function ; thus the heart circulates the blood.
Os' SE ous (-us). Bone-like.
Os'si FT (ossa, bones ; facio, I make).
Ox i DA'TION. The process of combining with oxygen.
OX'Y GEN. The active element of the air.
PAL' ATE (palatum, the palate). Roof of the mouth.
PAN'CRE AS (pas, all ; kreas, flesh). An organ of digestion.
PA PIL'LA, plu. papillae. Tiny cone-like projections.
PA RAL'Y sis. A disease in which one loses sensation, or the power of
motion, or both.
PA ROT' ID (para, near ; ous, otos, ear). One of the salivary glands.
PA TEL'LA (a little dish). The knee-pan.
PEC' TO RAL. Pertaining to the chest.
PEP'SIN (pepto, I digest). The chief constituent of the gastric juice.
PER'I CAR'DI UM (peri, around ; kardia, the heart). The membrane
wrapping the heart.
PER'I OS'TE UM (peri, around ; osteon, bone). The membrane around the
bone.
GLOSSARY. 187
PER' i STAL'TIC (peri, round ; stallcin, to arrange). Applied to the
worm-like movement of the alimentary canal.
PHAR'YNX (faVinx). From pharugx, the throat.
Pi' A MA'TER (tender mother). See Brain.
PIG'MENT. A paint.
PLAS'MA (plaz'-mah). The nutritious fluid of the blood.
PLEU'RA (plu'-rah). From pleura, a rib. The membrane that lines the
chest and wraps the lungs.
PRES BY O'PI A (presbus, old ; ops, the eye). A defect in the eye com-
mon to old age.
PROG' ESS. A projection. Sometimes it retains its ordinary meaning of
"operation."
PY LO'RUS (a gate). The doorway through which the food passes from
the stomach.
PUI/MO NA RY (pulmo, the lungs). Pertaining to the lungs.
RA'DI us. A Latin word meaning the spoke of a wheel, a ray, etc.
RAM' i FY. To spread like the branches of a tree.
RES'PI RA'TION (re, again ; spiro, I breathe). Act of breathing.
RET' i NA (rete, a net). The expansion of the optic nerve in the eye.
SA'CRUM (sacred). So named, it is said, because this bone of the pelvis
was anciently offered in sacrifice.
SA LI'VA. A Latin word meaning spittle ; the fluid secreted by the sali-
vary glands.
SCAP'U LA. The shoulder-blade.
SCAV'EN GER. A street-sweeper.
SOLE ROT'IC (skle-rot'ic). The outer coat of the eye.
SE CRE'TION (secretum, to separate).
SED'EN TA RY persons are those who sit much.
SEN' so RY NERVES. The nerves of feeling.
SE'ROTJS MEMBRANE. A thin tissue, or skin, covering the cavities of the
body that are not open to the external air.
SE'RUM. The thin part of the blood.
SUB CLA'VI AN. Located under the clavicle.
SUB LIN'GUAL (sub, under ; lingua, the tongue). The salivary gland
located under the tongue.
SUB MAX'IL LA RY (sub, under ; maxilla, jaw-bone). The salivary gland
located under the jaw.
SYN o' vi A (sun, with ; oon, egg). A fluid that lubricates the joints.
SYN o'vi AL MEMBRANE packs the joints.
SYS'TO LE (sustello, I contract). Contraction of the heart.
188 GLOSSARY.
TEM'PO RAL. An artery on the temple (tempus, time), so-called because,
as is said, the hair whitens tirst at that point.
TEN'DONS (tendo, I stretch). The cords conveying motion from the
muscle to the bone.
THO'RAX (a breast-plate). The cavity containing the lungs, etc.
TIB'I A. The shin-bone.
TIS'SUE. A general term applied to the textures of which the different
organs are composed ; osseous tissue forms bones.
TRA'CHE A (tra'-ke-a). Means rough, alluding to the roughened surface
of the windpipe.
TRI'CEPS. A muscle with three heads, or origins.
TRI CUS'PID (tres, three ; ctispis, point). A valve of the heart.
TYM'PA NUM (a drum) of the ear.
VAS'CU LAR (vasculum, little vessel). Full of small blood-vessels
VEN'TRI CLE (-kl). A cavity of the heart.
VER'TE BRA, plu. vertebrae (verto, I turn). A term applied to each one
of the bones of the spine.
VIL/LUS (villus, tuft of hair), plu. villi.
VIT'I ATE. To taint. To spoil.
VIT'RE ous (vitrum, glass). Glassy.
VO'MER (plowshare). A bone of the nose.
INDEX.
PAGE
ABDOMEN 54
Absorbing power of skin 79
Absorption of food 99
Air, The 56
Albumen 92
Alcohol 81, 106, 127
" as a Narcotic 85
" Cause of Degeneration 85
Effect upon Blood 87
" " Brain 129
" " Circulation 83
' " " Digestion 108
" " " Heat of body... no
" " Heart 84
<k " Kidneys 109
" " Liver 109
" " Lungs 88
" " " Membrane 86
*' ' Mental Powers. 130
' " Muscle in
u " Nervous System 127
" Waste HI
Alcoholism 112
Alimentary canal 94
Antidotes for poison Appendix
Aorta '. 75
Apoplexy Appendix
Arteries 72
Asphyxia Appendix
Atlas 16
Auricles of the heart 70
Axis 16
BALL-AND-SOCKET-JOINT 19
Bathing 43
Beef I0 i
Bicuspid valve 72
PAGE
Bile 98
Bleeding, Checking of .. 79
Blood, The 67
Blushing 79
Bones, The n
Bow-legs 22
Brain J... 115
" Exercise 124
Bread 101
Breast-bone 17
Breathing 53
Bronchi 53
Burns Appendix
CANAL, Alimentary 94
Capillaries 73
Carbonic acid 56
Carbonaceous food 92
Cartilage 12
Cataract 151
Cerebellum n3
Cerebrum 117
Change of our bodies 77
Cheese IOE
Chilblain 47
Chloral hydrate 136
Chloroform.... 137
Choking Appendix
Chyle 99
Chyme 96
Cilia, The 53
Circulation 67
Clavicle 18
Clothing 45
Coagulation of Blood 68
Coffee 102
Cold, A 80
190
INDEX.
PAGE
Color Blindness 151
Complexion, The 36
Congestion 79
Connective tissue 38
Consumption 65
Corns 46
Corpuscles (Cells) 67
Cortian fibers 144
Cosmetics 79
Coughing 55
Croup 65
Crying 55
Crystalline lens 146
Curvature of the spine 23
Cuticle, The 35
Cutis, The 35
DEGENERATION, FATTY 85
Delirium Tremens 130
Diaphragm 53
Digestion 91
Diphtheria ... 65
Disinfectants Appendix
Dislocation 23
Drinking- water Appendix
Drowning Appendix
Duodenum 98
Dyspepsia 106
EAR, The 143
Eating, Rapid 102
Eggs ioi
Elbow, The 19
Epiglottis 49
Epilepsy Appendix
Eustachian tube 144
Exercise, Muscular 3 1
" Brain - 124
Expiration 53
Eye, The 146
" Muscles of the 28
FAR-SIGHT 150
Fats, The 39, 92
Femur .. 21
PAGE
Fever Appendix
Fibrin 68
Fibula 21
Fish ioi
Flannel 45
Food, Absorption of 99
" Cooking of 103
" Digestion of 93
Need of . . . 91
Foot, The 22
Frost-bite Appendix
GALL-BLADDER (cyst) 54, 98
Ganglion, A nerve 115
Gastric-juice 96
Glottis 49
Glycogen 98
Gout, The 33
Gristle 12
HAIR, THE 36
Hair-dyes 37, 79
Hand, The 20
Head 14
Hearing 143
Heart 69
Heat of Body 76
Heredity 112
Hiccough 55
Hinge-joints 19
Hip, The 17, 21
Humerus 19
INFLAMMATION 79
Innominata 18
Inspiration 53
Intestines, The 54
Jon
OINTS
KNEE, The .......................... 21
LABYRINTH, The ....... ............ 144
Lachrymal glands ................... 147
Lacteals ........................... 100
Larynx ....... ...................... 49
INDEX.
191
PAGE
Laughing 55
Life by death 76
Ligaments 13
Liver 98
Locked-jaw 33
Lungs, The 53
" Constriction of the 64
Lymphatic system 78
MARROW 12
Mastication 94
Medulla oblongata 122
Membrane, Uses of 39
Metacarpal bones 24
Milk ... ioi
Mucous membrane 38
Mucus 38
Mumps, The 106
Muscles, The 25
Muscular sense 30
Mutton ioi
NAILS, The 36, 37
" In-growing 46
Near-sight 150
Nerves, The 115,119
Nervous system, The 115
Nitrogenous food 92
Nose, The 142
CEsophagus 49
Oil Glands, The 42
Oils, The 92
Opium 135
Ossification , I2
Oxidation 91
Oxygen 5 6
PALATE, The 5 o
Pancreatic juice 98
Papillae 37
Patella, The 21, 29
Pelvis, The , 7
Pepsin 96
PAGE
Pericardium 7o
Perspiration, The 43
Pharynx 50
Pigment 36
Plasma 6 7
Pleura 53
Pneumonia 65
Poisons Appendix
Pork I0 i
Potatoes 102
Pulmonary arteries 7 4
" veins 75
Pulse 73
Pylorus 96
RADIUS 19
Reaction 44
Reflex action 123
Respiration 53
Rheumatism 33
Ribs, The 16
Rickets, The 22
SACRUM, The i3
St. Martin, Alexis 100
St. Virus's Dance 33
Saliva, The 94
Salt 93
Scapula 18
Scrofula 80
Sea-bathing 45
Secretion, Definition of 95
Semi-lunar valves 72
Senses, The 139
Serum 68
Shoulder, The 18
Sick, Care of Appendix
Sight, Sense of 145
Skeleton, The n
Skin, The 35
Skull, The 14
Sleep 125
" by medicine 125
Smell, Sense of 142
192
INDEX.
PAGE
Sneezing 55
Snoring 55
Speech 52
Spinal cord 119
" nerves. 120
Spine, The 15
Spleen 94
Sprain 23
Squinting 151
Stammering 65
Sternum , 17
Stomach 55
Sugars, The 92
Sunlight ... 191
Sunstroke Appendix
Sutures 14
Sweat < 3
Swimming 31
TARTAR 42
Taste, Sense of 141
Tea 102
Tears, The 147
Teeth, The 40
Temperature of the body 75
Tendons 26
Thoracic duct 78
Throat 49
Tibia 21
Tight-lacing 64
PAGE
Tobacco 132
Tongue, The 141
Tooth-ache, The Appendix.
Touch, Sense of 139
Trachea 53
Tricuspid valve 72
Tympanum 143
ULNA, The 19
Urea, Uric Acid 98
VALVES of heart and veins 71, 7 3
Veins, The 73
Velocity of the blood 76
Vena cava (Plu., venae cavx) 75
Ventilation 57
Ventricles. : 70
Vertebrae 15
Villi of intestine 100
Vocal cords 49
Voice, The 51
WALKING 30
Warts 46
Washing 43
Water 93
Windpipe 52
Woolen . , 45
Worms 42
Woundo Appendix
Wrist, The 19
p f
Tb 36! 12
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY