THE-3NI6N-SERIES 
Physiology 
AND 
HeaEth 
TWO 
PHILADELPHIA 
E-H-BUTLER Sc CO. <The Pinion Series 
Physiology and Health 
NUMBER TWO 
FOR INTERMEDIATE CLASSES 
STUDIES OF THE HUMAN BODY AND OF THE EFFECTS 
OF ALCOHOLIC DRINKS AND NARCOTICS 
UPON LIFE AND HEALTH 
PHILADELPHIA 
E. H. BUTLER & CO. ANNOUNCEMENT. 
Messrs. Ivison, Blakeman, and Company having 
published, under our advice and supervision, the 
Union Series of Text-Books on Physiology and Health, 
comprising- 
I.- No. 1-For Primary Classes, 
II.-No. 2-For Intermediate Classes, 
III. - No. 3-For Secondary Classes, 
We take great pleasure in endorsing the same, and in 
recommending their use as School Text-Books. They 
not only teach the important truths demanded by recent 
legislation, but teach them in language adapted to the 
comprehension of the grade of pupils for which each 
book is specified. 
MARY H. HUNT, 
National and International Superintendent Department 
of Scientific Instruction of the Woman's 
Christian Temperance Union. 
ADVISORY BOARD FOR U. S. A. 
Albert H. Plumb, D. D. 
Daniel Dorchester, D. D. 
Hon. William E. Sheldon. 
Rev. Joseph Cook. 
Copyright, 1889, by Ivison, Blakeman & Company. PREFACE. 
Most of our States and Territories now by law 
require that Physiology and Hygiene be taught in 
the Public Schools, with special reference to the 
effects of Alcoholic Drinks and other Narcotics 
on the human system. Many existing books, pre- 
pared to meet the demands of the first enactments 
on this subject, do not fulfill the requirements of 
more recent legislation. The present work is de- 
signed to teach the essential laws of health, and 
to comply fully with the most stringent provisions 
of the enactments requiring this subject taught, 
by conforming to their primary object, namely: To 
have the children instructed as to the nature of 
Alcoholic Drinks and other Narcotics, and the 
results of their use, and thus to forewarn them 
against the insidious poisons that are the constant 
cause of so much misery and crime. 
As much of Anatomy and Physiology is taught 
as is necessary to this end. But these Sciences do 
III IV 
PREFACE. 
not usurp the space and time that belong to the 
more important aims contemplated by the require- 
ments which this book is intended to meet. 
The endeavor has been to make the physiological 
instruction clear and sufficient,-the Temperance 
teachings thorough, and as radical as the whole 
truth now revealed by modern scientific investi- 
gation. 
The work throughout has been more or less 
prepared and wholly supervised by Mrs. Mary 
H. Hunt, the Superintendent of the Department 
of Scientific Instruction of the National Woman's 
Christian Temperance Union, and the Advisory 
Committee of the same, to whom the publishers 
are under very great obligations. 
New York, April, 1889. CONTENTS. 
PAGE 
CHAPTER I. 
The Body 7 
CHAPTER II. 
The Muscles 19 
CHAPTER III. 
Healthful and Poisonous Drinks 27 
CHAPTER IV. 
Fermentation and Distillation 38 
CHAPTER V. 
The Heart and Blood-Vessels . . . . • .45 
CHAPTER VI, 
The Blood 55 
CHAPTER VII. 
Food and Drink 64 
CHAPTER VIII. 
Condiments. - Opium 75 
V VI 
CONTENTS. 
PAGE 
CHAPTER IX. 
Digestion. - Absorption 84 
CHAPTER X. 
Respiration. - The Voice 96 
CHAPTER XI. 
The Nervous System 109 
CHAPTER XII. 
Special Senses. - The Eye.-The Ear 124 PHYSIOLOGY AND HEALTH. 
CHAPTER I. 
THE HUMAN BODY. 
I 
1. If you were sitting in the shade of a large 
tree, and were asked to tell what different parts 
7 8 
UNION SERIES, NO. 2. 
it had, you would say: the roots, the trunk, 
the large limbs, the small limbs, and the leaves. 
So when we look at the human body we notice: - 
(a) It is made of several parts, - namely, the 
head and neck, the trunk, the upper limbs, and the 
lower limbs. 
The upper limbs are ordinarily divided into the 
arm and the hand. 
The lower limbs are divided into the leg and 
the foot. The upper part of the leg, from hip to 
knee, is called the thigh. 
(b) If we draw a line from the top of the 
head down on the backbone, we shall divide the 
body into halves, which are just alike. Each 
half has an eye and an ear, and an arm and a 
leg. True, we have but one nose and one mouth; 
but nose and mouth have two sides, which are 
alike. 
(c) Besides these parts which we see on the out- 
side of the body there are others which are inside. 
They have been examined after death in human 
bodies, and also in the bodies of domestic animals, 
which are made in many respects like ours. These 
are the heart and the lungs; also the stomach and 
bowels, in which our food is digested. Then there 
is the liver and the pancreas and the spleen and 
the kidneys. These parts are called " organs." 
Each one has a special work to do, which we 
will presently study. PHYSIOLOGY AND HEALTH. 
9 
II 
The Frame. 
1. You know that underneath the skin and the 
flesh of the body are hard bones. When the skin 
and flesh have been taken off, and the bones are 
dried and fastened together, we have a skeleton. 
2. The skeleton is the frame of the body. If 
there were no such frame, the body would be 
soft like that of a worm. We could not stand 
or walk. The bones give us shape and strength. 
The muscles are attached to the bones and cover 
them over. 
3. Besides giving shape and strength to the 
body, the bones serve to protect some important 
parts. The skull, for example, is a strong, round 
box for the brain. It has an opening about an 
inch wide, and many other smaller ones through 
which nerves pass in and out. The brain can- 
not bear to be pressed and pounded as the muscles 
can, and accordingly it is taken care of in this 
way. 
4. The backbone is made of many small bones 
put together in such a way that the whole will 
bend and twist, as it has to do in the various 
motions of the body. At the same time it is 
like a strong column, to bear the weight of the 
skull, which is balanced on top of it, and of Parietal. 
Orbit. 
Temporal. 
Inferior Maxillary. 
Cervical Vertebrae. 
Clavicle. 
Scapula. 
Humerus. 
Lumbar Vertebras. 
Innominate. 
Radius. 
Ulna... 
Carpus. 
Metacarpus. 
Phalanges. 
Femur 
Patella. 
Tibia- 
Fibula.- 
Tarsus. 
Metatarsus. 
.Phalanges. 
Fig. I. PHYSIOLOGY AND HEALTH. 
11 
the other parts of the frame which are attached 
to it. 
5. Through the backbone, from top to bottom, 
runs the spinal canal which holds the spinal 
cord. 
6. The chest is a bony box 
made by this backbone behind 
and the breast-bone in front, 
with the ribs arching between 
like barrel hoops. It contains 
the heart and lungs, and de- 
fends them from blows and 
pressure. It is a remarkable 
box, because, while it is mostly 
made of hard bones, it can 
be made larger and smaller as 
we breathe in and out. 
7. The hip-bones are thick 
and large, because they have to 
bear the weight of the trunk. 
8. The arm has three long 
bones, - one above and two be- 
below, and the leg has the 
same number. The upper bone 
of the leg is the thigh-bone. 
9. The feet and hands are 
made of many small bones 
closely bound together. This renders the feet 
Fig. 2. 
The Backbone sawed in two, lengthwise. 12 
UNION SERIES, NO. 2. 
and hands flexible, - that is, they can be bent 
and moved in many directions. There are twenty- 
seven bones in the hand and twenty-six in the 
foot. 
10. There are two hundred bones in the body. 
Many of these are in pairs, the opposite sides of 
the frame being alike, so that there are only a 
few more than one hundred different bones, and 
each has its own name. 
Ill 
The Joints. 
1. The bones are connected by tough bands 
called ligaments. These ligaments surround the 
joints. In a steam-engine, 
the joints must be oiled to 
make them play smoothly. 
So must the joints of the 
body, and they supply their 
own oil. It is a fluid made 
in the interior of the joint, 
and keeps it in excellent 
working order. But some- 
times, as in rheumatism, 
the joint becomes diseased 
and the "joint water" does 
not flow properly, and then 
the joint is stiff and it is painful to move it. 
Ligaments. 
The Shoulder-Joint. 
Fig. 3. PHYSIOLOGY AND HEALTH. 
13 
IV 
Care of the Frame. 
1, Some people have " good figures." Others 
are not so well formed. The form depends very 
much on the bony frame, and the shape of the 
bony frame depends much on our habits when 
young. Stooping shoulders and a round back 
Fig. 4. 
THE SKULL. -1. Frontal bone. 2. Parietal bone. 3. Occipital bone. 4. Temporal 
bone. 5. Nasal bone. 6. Malar bone. 7. Superior maxillary bone. 8. Lachrymal 
bone. 9. Inferior maxillary bone. 
are acquired by careless habits of sitting and 
standing. Healthy exercise, which strengthens 
the muscles, tends to make the form graceful, and 
it is important to take pains to keep the head 
erect and the back straight. 14 
UNION SERIES, NO. 2. 
2. We wonder at the folly of the Chinese, who 
put tight shoes on the feet of their little girls, 
so that they cannot grow like the rest of their 
bodies, but become shapeless stumps. But we 
do something very much like that when we wear 
shoes that are too short or too narrow across the 
Vertebral Column. Ribs. 
Clavicle. 
Third Rib. 
Intercostal Muscles. 
Sternum. 
Seventh Rib. 
False Ribs. 
Fig. 5. 
toes, or that have very high heels. There are 
very few grown people in this country whose feet 
have not been squeezed out of shape by the 
shoes they wear. 
3. Corns and bunions are caused by tight 
shoes. 
4. Tight and high-heeled shoes, not only check 
the natural elastic movements of the feet,-they PHYSIOLOGY AND HEALTH. 
15 
may injure the whole body. The spine has sev- 
eral curves: these help to keep the person in an 
erect posture. If the heels are propped on high- 
heeled shoes, the spinal column curves more, 
to prevent the body from falling forward. This 
causes an ungraceful and unnatural attitude, and 
may also cause deformities. It is far better to 
keep the heel and ball of the foot near a level. 
5. Clothes which bind the waist and chest 
hinder breathing, and press the inward parts out 
of place. 
6. The frame should be free in every part to 
take the shape which Nature intended for it. 
V 
Effects of Alcohol and Tobacco. 
1. The dry bone which you have seen and 
handled is dead. But the bones in the living 
body are alive, and in young persons are growing. 
Blood goes to them as it does to the other parts, 
and they get their nourishment from it. Blood 
poisoned with alcohol and tobacco cannot sustain 
them properly. 
Smoking Checks Growth. 
2. There is no longer any question among 
those who have investigated the subject, that the 
growth of the young is seriously checked by 16 
UNION SERIES, NO. 2. 
smoking. On this account, and because the use 
of alcoholic liquors is much less common among 
the young than the use of tobacco, the latter is 
at the present time working injury to a greater 
number among boys than the former. 
3. Surely any substance which, when first 
taken, will produce violent effects, - which has 
caused death when applied for a long time to 
a raw surface on the body, which has caused 
irritation resulting in cancer,-ought not to be 
in common and daily use among men and boys. 
4. While all forms of smoking are injurious, 
it has been found that the cigarette is more 
harmful than the cigar or pipe. It so seriously 
undermines the power of self-control, that per- 
sons once addicted to its use very often find it 
impossible to break up and abandon the habit. 
Anything that so weakens the power of the will, 
even though it does not injure the health of 
the body, is certainly an enemy to be avoided. 
The mastery of one's self is all-important, and 
what interferes with that mastery should not be 
harbored in the system; or, if once taken up, the 
practice should be abandoned when the effects 
are learned. 
5. In view of what is known of the evil effects 
of tobacco on the young, several of the States 
have already passed laws prohibiting its sale to 
those under sixteen years of age. It is to be PHYSIOLOGY AND HEALTH. 
17 
hoped that the remaining States will erelong 
take similar action. 
6. No one ever regretted that he had not 
formed the habit of using tobacco, while thou- 
sands have had great reason for sorrow that they 
began its use. Since this is so, and in view of 
all the well-known facts regarding its effects, it 
would seem that no one could justify himself in 
beginning. 
ILLUSTRATIONS. 
1. A human skeleton will illustrate this chapter best. Next to 
this, the skeleton of a dog or cat or any other vertebrate animal. 
If these cannot be had, get bones dried and fresh, and direct the 
attention of the children to their structure, to the compact and 
hard tissue, the spongy tissue, the canal for the marrow, and point 
out their adaptation to their uses. 
2. Get some joints from the butcher, and show the ligaments, 
the synovial membrane, the articular surfaces, and the motions of 
which each is capable. 
3. The uses of the joints and of the bones as levers can be well 
shown in some of the jointed figures which are found in a toy-shop. 
4. Let the scholars note and name the joints and bones of their 
own bodies, and those of their companions. 
QUESTIONS. 
I 
1. Into what parts may the body be divided? 
ii 
1. What is the skeleton ? 
2, 3. What is the use of the skeleton? 
4. How is the backbone constructed ? 18 
UNION SERIES, NO. 2. 
5. What canal runs through it ? 
6. What does the chest contain ? 
8. How many bones in the arm? How many bones in the leg? 
9. Describe the bones of the feet and hands. 
10. How many bones are there in the body? 
m 
1. What is a ligament? How are the joints kept smooth? 
IV 
1. What is a "good figure"? How should we try to gain it? 
2, 3. How do shoes that are too short or too narrow affect the 
feet? 
4. How do high-heeled shoes affect the form? 
5. What harm comes from wearing clothes that are tight around 
the waist ? 
1. How may alcohol and tobacco affect the bones ? 
2, Does the use of tobacco affect the growth ? 
4. What are some of the effects of cigarette-smoking? 
5. What laws restricting the sale of tobacco have been passed in 
some States ? 
6. Does any one who has never used tobacco ever regret it? 
Does any one who has used tobacco ever regret it? PHYSIOLOGY AND HEALTH. 
19 
CHAPTER II. 
THE MUSCLES. 
I 
1. One of the wonderful things about the body 
is that it can move itself, and can make other 
things move. A stone never moves unless some- 
thing moves it. A tree is perfectly still unless 
the wind or some other force acts upon it. But 
the human body is never perfectly still. Even 
in sleep the breast heaves and the heart beats. 
And it moves of itself. 
2. Nobody knows just how it does this. But 
we have learned a good deal about it. 
3. We know that the bones cannot move 
themselves. Neither can the skin move or the 
nerves. But upon the bony frame and underneath 
the skin is flesh or muscle, and it is this which 
has the power of moving and which moves the 
bony frame. 
4. If we take the leg of an ox, and remove 
the skin and examine the flesh, we find that it 
is made up of a number of bundles or bands of 
flesh, and that each bundle or band is connected 
at each end with a bone. These bundles and 20 
UNION SERIES, NO. 2. 
bands of flesh are muscles. They are attached to 
the bones by white cords called tendons. 
Muscles of the Back. 
Fig. 6. 
5. We find the same fleshy hands and bundles 
in the body of a man. You can see the cords PHYSIOLOGY AND HEALTH. 
21 
in the wrist when you double your fist, and you 
can feel the muscles grow hard in your arm when 
you bend your elbow. 
6. You have seen a worm making its way over 
the ground. Its body first grows short and thick 
and then stretches out, and becomes long and 
slender. A muscle moves in somewhat the same 
way. It has in itself the power of growing short, 
and then of lengthening out to its former shape. 
7. There is a muscle between the shoulder and 
the elbow, for example, called the "biceps," which 
Fig. 7. 
A Fusiform Muscle. 
is attached by one end to a shoulder-bone and 
by the other end to a bone of the arm just below 
the elbow. When this muscle thickens and short- 
ens itself, it pulls the bone of the arm to which 
it is attached up toward the shoulder, and so 
bends the elbow. In the same way every muscle, 
as it thickens and shortens, pulls some bone to- 
ward another bone, and makes joints bend and 
limbs move. 
8. There is not a movement that we make 
which is not made by the shortening and thick- 
ening of one or several muscles. You can easily 
believe that to make all the movements of an 22 
UNION SERIES, NO. 2. 
active child, a great many muscles are required. 
There are more than five hundred of them. Some 
are large and some are small. Some are long 
and some are short. The shortest muscle in the 
body is one sixth of an inch long. The longest 
is about two feet long in a man. 
II 
Exercise of the Muscles. 
1. Muscles need to be used. If we do not use 
them they grow small and weak. A letter-carrier 
will have strong muscles in his legs because he 
Fig. 8. 
1. BICEPS MUSCLE. The dotted lines indicate the changed shape of the biceps 
when the fore-arm is drawn up. 
walks so much. A farmer or a mechanic will 
have strong, large arms. If you had to lie in bed 
a month, all your muscles would be smaller, and PHYSIOLOGY AND HEALTH. 
23 
you would hardly be able to walk when you first 
tried it again. 
2. It is good for children to run and play be- 
cause their muscles are growing, and they need 
exercise even more than the muscles of a grown 
person. A child who does not like to play, but 
would rather sit still, is not likely to be well. 
Things to be Avoided. 
3. But you may play too hard or too much. 
Even children are not made to play all the time. 
Rest is necessary for the muscles as well as ex- 
ercise. 
4. Children have been known to injure them- 
selves very much by jumping rope too long, or 
trying to do things which they are not strong 
enough to do. 
Ill 
Expression of Face. 
1. A very important set of muscles is in the 
face. They are attached to the skin, and by their 
action give various expressions. 
2. Those expressions which are most frequently 
on the face finally become fixed there. So the 
face shows the state of the mind, and one who 
desires to have a beautiful face must be careful 
to keep a kind and happy temper. 24 
UNION SERIES, NO. 2. 
3. If any of your friends have crossed eyes, or 
cannot keep still, you should not make fun of 
them by mocking them. You might be affected 
in the same way. It is better not to notice their 
expressions. 
IV 
Effects of Alcohol and Tobacco. 
1. You have learned that between the muscles 
there is fat. You know the proverb: " A lean 
horse for a long race." That means, if a horse is 
too fat he will soon tire. So it is with men. A 
man who has lean muscles is very much stronger 
than one whose muscles contain much fat. You 
have seen very fleshy people who could not do 
a little work without soon becoming tired. This 
is partly because their muscles have turned into 
fat. 
2. Alcohol causes muscles to change into fat. 
People who drink beer, and other liquors con- 
taining alcohol, may look very large and strong 
when they are really weak and not well. Their 
muscles are not lean and hard, but fat and soft. 
3. Beer is most apt of all liquors to make 
fatty muscles. Such fat is formed from the waste 
matter that ought to be removed from the body, 
and its being retained is really injurious. 
4. When men are being trained for races, foot- 
ball, and other sports, they are not allowed to PHYSIOLOGY AND HEALTH. 
25 
drink alcoholic liquors, because their muscles will 
become fattened and thereby weakened. 
5. They are not allowed to use tobacco, because 
it makes their muscles tremble. 
6. It is a fine thing for a boy to have strong 
muscles. He can run, jump, play, and do hard 
work. It is not manly to have a sallow face, 
thin legs and arms, and trembling muscles that 
are so likely to belong to a boy who smokes cigar- 
ettes and cigar-stumps, or to have the unhealthy, 
fluffy fat that is one of the effects of drinking 
beer. 
ILLUSTRATIONS. 
1. Show the muscles and tendons on th'e arm and wrist of a thin 
and muscular boy. 
2. Bring in a limb of a fowl or other small animal and show the 
muscles and their tendons, and their action on the bones. 
3. Cut away the muscle and show the bundle of fibers of which 
it is composed. 
QUESTIONS. 
I 
1. What is one of the most remarkable differences between a 
living body and dead things ? 
3. What parts of the body have the power of moving in them- 
selves ? 
4, 5. Describe a mnscle. 
6. How does a muscle move? 
7. Describe the biceps muscle. 
8. How many muscles are there in the body? 26 
UNION SERIES, NO. 2. 
II 
1. Do muscles need exercise ? Why ? 
2. Why is it good for children to play? 
3. 4. May children play too hard ? 
m 
1, 2. What gives expression to the face? 
3. Is it right to make fun of one who has a deformity? 
IV 
1. Does it make people stronger to have much fat? 
2. How does alcohol make fat? 
3. What liquor has the most power to make fat? 
4. Why do not men who are training for races or ball games 
use alcohol? 
5. Why do they not use tobacco? 
6. Does it make a boy manly to smoke and drink? PHYSIOLOGY AND HEALTH. 
27 
CHAPTER III. 
HEALTHFUL AND POISONOUS DRINKS. 
I 
1. Fluids are needed in the human body. They 
convey to the different organs just the matter 
they need for building them up, and take away 
the worn-out and cast-off particles, acting as a 
go-between or common carrier in the processes 
of digestion and nutrition. The larger part of 
the fluid taken into the system is in the form 
of drinks. The chief drinks used by mankind 
are water, milk, tea, coffee, cocoa, and various 
intoxicating liquors. 
2. Milk is the natural food of mankind before 
the teeth (which form the machine for chewing) 
are furnished. We say, therefore, that milk is 
a food because it always contains certain things 
which build up and sustain the body. Other 
drinks may or may not contain such substances. 
They may have in them food juices, or flavors, 
in which case they are the carriers of those 
food juices, or flavors, to the human system. 
3. While we get juices in liquids, we also get 
a part of our natural water supply from the 28 
UNION SERIES, NO. 
grains, vegetables, meats, and fruits which we 
eat, as well as from springs, brooks, and rivers. 
Tea, Coffee, and Cocoa. 
4. Tea increases the action of the skin, and 
causes the kidneys to secrete more water. 
5. Coffee, perhaps on account of the essential 
oil it contains, is more stimulating to the nerves. 
There is very little, if any, reaction from either. 
If the essential principle of coffee be given in 
full doses to animals, it will cause trembling and 
stiffness of the muscles. 
6. It is true that the effects of all such 
articles, which act on the nerves, are modified 
by their being taken while the stomach is 
nearly empty, or sometime after eating. 
7. Certain portions of milk, when used in 
tea, unite with the tannic acid in the tea, and 
form a compound which is difficult to dissolve, 
and therefore to digest. When tea and milk 
are taken in large quantities, they weaken the 
digestive powers. It is for this reason that 
cream is much better than milk in tea. 
8. The tannin in tea, whether with or with- 
out milk, makes it far from beneficial, and it is 
usually a hindrance rather than an aid to diges- 
tion. It contains no food element. 
9. Children -are better off without tea or coffee; but 
for some, a warm fluid with their meals is better PH YSIOLOG Y A ND HEA L TH. 
29 
than cold water. When such a drink is needed, 
a little hot water, cooled sufficiently to drink 
with milk, and sweetened with sugar, will be 
found very good. 
10. While tea and coffee are open to many 
objections as beverages, particularly for young- 
people, these do not apply to cocoa. Cocoa 
contains so large a proportion of fat, and of 
other nourishing substances, that it has real 
value as food. The cocoa beans, or seeds, are 
roasted, and then passed through a machine 
which loosens their outer coat or husks, when 
these are separated, leaving the nibs or inner 
pieces ready for market. The starch, which the 
seed contains, has been changed into a sort 
of sugar by the roasting, and this is what gives 
it one of its most important food qualities. 
11. Owing to the fact that the cocoa con- 
tains so much fat and starch, when it is pure, 
dishonest persons • adulterate it by the addition 
of fat and starch not found in the pure fruit; 
and among the many forms of adulteration 
this is one of the most objectionable. Some find 
even the natural amount of fat too much, and 
so now much of this is removed, and is used 
for other purposes besides food, under the name 
of cocoa butter. Since the fat of the cocoa is 
not essential, enough of such substance being 
found in other articles of food, it is better to 30 
UNION SERIES, NO. 2. 
get the cocoa prepared without the oil. Such 
preparations may now be found at the best 
groceries; and, when properly served, they make 
an excellent drink. Cocoa, well prepared for the 
table, deserves to come into much more general 
use, and would be found better and more health- 
ful than tea and coffee now so commonly drank. 
12. The drinks we use have so much to 
do with our health, and with that vital strength 
we need for study or other work, that it is very 
important that we learn the effects of different 
drinks, and decide early in life which to use 
and which to avoid. Our habits should be based 
on sound judgment and information; and any 
habit which does not commend itself to our best 
judgment should never be formed, or if formed, 
promptly discarded. 
13. While tea and coffee are often drank to 
excess, and many habitually use them too freely, 
their moderate use is not so dangerous as that of 
some other drinks. 
II 
Alcoholic Drinks. 
1. It is very important that every person should 
know the relation that fluids containing alcohol 
bear to foods, and to individual and public health. 
The mind and morals affect the welfare of the 
body, and therefore we cannot overlook the effects PHYSIOLOGY AND HEALTH. 
31 
of such fluids on these. If they lead to the 
formation of habits which impair the health; 
or if they make one less able to exercise self- 
restraint or self-control, - for these powers form 
the basis of health and character, - then the 
young should be instructed and impressed with 
the danger of their use, and this should be done 
so early in life, as to come before the formation 
of any habits which might not be broken off. 
Alcohol. 
2. Spirituous liquors differ in many respects, 
but they all depend for their use as beverages 
on one substance found in them all, namely, 
alcohol. 
3. Alcohol looks like water, but it is a very 
different fluid. It will burn if you apply a 
lighted match to it. The flame will be blue, 
but it will not give much light. It does not 
make any smoke; and when it is all burned 
there will be no ashes or soot left. Burning 
alcohol is much hotter than burning oil or gas; 
for this reason its' flame is often used by the 
jeweler for delicate work. 
A Poison. 
4. If it is the nature of any substance when 
absorbed into the blood to injure health or to 
destroy life, such a substance is called a poison. 32 
UNION SERIES, NO. 2. 
5. You will soon learn that it is the nature of 
alcohol, when so absorbed, both to injure health 
and to destroy life, therefore,- 
Alcohol is a poison.. 
Wine. 
6. Many of you have visited vineyards or have 
stood under grape-vines or apple-trees growing 
in the garden or fields. You have seen and eaten 
the delicious grapes. They were made for us to 
enjoy as fruits. When fully ripe they are health- 
ful. But the juices of these and other fruits can 
be and often are turned into poisonous drinks. 
Because it is the nature of such drinks to do 
great harm to those who partake of them, all 
should be warned against them. It is the pres- 
ence of alcohol in these drinks that makes them 
dangerous. 
How Does it Get There? 
7. There is no alcohol in grapes when they 
are picked from the vines, or while they remain 
whole fruits. 
8. The juice of these and other fruits is com- 
posed mostly of water and sugar, with a flavor 
of the particular fruit from which it was taken. 
When grapes are ground or mashed, and their 
juice is pressed out and left to stand open to PHYSIOLOG Y AND HE A LTH. 
33 
the air, bubbles will begin to rise in it and come 
to the top, which will soon be covered with froth. 
9. The bubbling in the fluid shows us that 
something is happening. Floating in the warm 
air, or clinging to the skins of the grapes, is a 
something we cannot see with the naked eye, 
which is called a ferment. These ferments are 
quickly carried on the skin of the grape, or 
from the air, into the exposed fruit-juice. There 
they at once begin to work upon the sugar, in 
that moderately warm fluid, and turn it into 
alcohol, and a gas, called carbonic acid.* This 
gas bubbles out, and is carried away by the air. 
When this bubbling stops, the sugar is all or 
nearly all gone, and alcohol and water are about 
all that remain of the juice. 
10. This alcohol is poisonous. It is its nature, 
even in small quantities, to harm any one who 
drinks it. It is capable of ruining the character 
as well as the health ; and if one takes enough, 
it will kill him. 
11. Thus, this juice which is so good in the 
ripe grapes, currants, and other fruits, may be 
changed into a poison that should not be used 
as a drink. 
12. When the sugar in the juice of grapes, 
berries, and many other fruits is turned into 
alcohol, we call such fluids wine. 
* Carbon dioxide. 34 
UNION SERIES, NO. 2. 
13. Some people make the wine they drink 
from the fruits that grow in their gardens, and 
think it contains no alcohol because they did not 
put any in. 
14. But you know that those fruits contained 
sugar, and that when their juices were pressed 
out and left open to the air, the little ferments 
changed that sugar into alcohol and gas; and 
that the gas has bubbled away, and left the 
alcohol in the home-made wine, making it a 
dangerous drink. 
15. It is the nature of alcohol, in wines and 
other liquors, to make one who begins by taking 
a little wine soon want more and more, until 
he seems to care more for drinks that contain 
alcohol than for anything else. Men who gratify 
such an appetite are called drunkards. Thus 
wine lias ruined many. It can make a good 
man bad, an industrious man lazy, and a strong 
man weak. Not every one who now drinks wine 
is a drunkard, but he is in the way of becoming 
one if he keeps on drinking it. Because it is 
the nature of wine to make drunkards, we should 
never drink it. 
Cider. 
16. Would you suppose that alcohol could be 
made from the sweet, delicious apples that you 
so often eat ? Have you ever been on a farm PHYSIOLOGY AND HEALTH. 
35 
in the autumn when cider was being made? 
The apples are gathered and crushed in a grind- 
ing-machine, and their juice pressed out and 
poured into barrels. 
17. This apple-juice, like the grape-juice, con- 
tains sugar. After standing a little while in a 
moderately warm atmosphere, it begins to bubble 
and run over just as the grape-juice did. When 
the bubbling begins, we know that the ferments 
have entered this juice and are at work upon 
its sugar, turning it into alcohol and gas, and 
it is thus becoming a poisonous drink. It is 
called cider. 
18. In warm weather, the ferments begin to 
change the sugar in new cider into alcohol 
in about six hours after it is taken from the 
press, and sometimes sooner. As it bubbles 
longer, and more alcohol is made from its sugar, 
jt is called hard cider. 
19. In hard cider there is a large quantity of 
alcohol. Cider will create an appetite for drinks 
that contain more alcohol, and will injure one 
who drinks it just as you have learned that wine 
does. Cider is very apt to make those who drink 
it ill-tempered. 
20. Thus we see that while apples are good and 
harmless, the cider that is made from them is 
not good, and should not be drank, because it 
is poisoned by the ferments in the air turning 
the sugar of the apple-juice into alcohol. 36 
UNION SERIES, NO. 2. 
21. If cider is left to stand open to the air an- 
other kind of ferment is brought along and gets 
in, and turns the alcohol in the cider into a sour 
liquor, called vinegar or acetic acid. Vinegar is 
entirely different in character from alcohol, and 
is used to flavor foods. There is no alcohol in 
vinegar, and if any one cared to drink it he 
would not become intoxicated. 
22. Some people take cider, thinking their sys- 
tems require an acid. If they would take lime- 
juice or lemon-juice instead they would obtain a 
better effect, and be in no danger of cultivating 
an appetite for alcoholic drinks, and escape the 
poisonous effects of the alcohol in the cider. 
ILLUSTRATIONS. 
1. Show samples of tea, coffee, and cocoa, and describe the 
plants on which they grow. 
2. Show a specimen of alcohol and burn it. 
♦ 
QUESTIONS. 
I 
1. Why do we need fluids in the body? How are they taken in? 
2. What fluids are foods? 
3. Do we get any fluid from the solid food that we eat? 
4. What are the effects of tea and coffee? 
5. Does it make any difference at what time such articles are 
taken ? 
6. 7. What is the effect of tannin contained in tea? 
8. Should children drink tea and coffee? 
9, 10. What is a good substitute for tea and coffee? PHYSIOLOGY AND HEALTH. 
37 
II 
1. Why is it important that the young should know the effects 
of alcohol? 
2. In what respect are all spirituous liquors alike. 
3. What kind of a fluid is alcohol ? 
4. What is a poison ? 
5. Is alcohol a poison ? Why ? 
6. Are ripe grapes, apples, and other fruits, healthful ? May their 
juice become dangerous? 
7. Is there any alcohol in the fresh juice of grapes and other 
fruits ? 
8. What do these juices consist of? 
9. Describe the change that takes place in fruit-juices exposed 
to the air? What is a ferment? 
10. 11. What can the alcohol produced in this change do? 
12. What is wine? 
13. What is home-made wine? 
14. Does it contain alcohol ? 
15. What is the nature of this alcohol? 
16. 17. What is cider? 
18. Does cider contain alcohol? How soon after apple-juice 
is pressed out does it begin to contain alcohol ? What is hard 
cider ? 
19. What effect does hard cider have on the temper of those who 
drink it? 
20. Because apples are good, does it follow that cider is good? 
21. How is vinegar made? Is there any alcohol in vinegar? 
22. If the system requires an acid, what drink may be used in 
the place of cider? 38 
UNION SERIES, NO. 2. 
CHAPTER IV. 
FERMENTATION AND DISTILLATION. 
i 
1. The process, by which ferments turn the 
sugar in grape and apple juice into alcohol, is 
called Fermentation. 
2. There are many kinds of fermentation, but 
you will learn here of only two, namely: - 
Vinous Fermentation, - that causes the sugar in 
certain fluids to turn into alcohol. 
Acetic Fermentation, - that causes alcohol in a 
fermented liquor to turn to vinegar. 
3. It is important for you to know that fer- 
mentation entirely changes the character of a 
substance it works upon. The apple and grape 
juices in those fruits are good; but you remem- 
ber that when pressed out and left to ferment, 
they thereby become poisonous, and that another 
kind of ferment will again change this poison to 
something else, used with food, and called vinegar. 
II 
Beer and Malt. 
1. Beer is made from barley or other grain, 
and has alcohol in it. PH YSIOLOG Y A ND 11 PA L TH. 
39 
2. Alcohol in wine we have learned is macle 
from the sugar in the juice of the grape or berry. 
The grains, as barley, corn, wheat, and oats, have 
a little sugar in them, but are mostly starch. 
3. If you will take a grain of corn and plant 
it in your garden in a warm and moist place in 
the spring-time, after the frost is all gone, you 
will see in a few days a green blade peeping 
out of the ground. If you dig up the grain of 
corn, you will find that it has burst, and let out 
the blade that pushes its way upward toward the 
light, and the roots that strike downward into the 
earth. Such corn is said to be sprouting. 
4. Because the little blades and roots must have 
sugar in order to grow, the starch in the corn 
begins to change into sugar just as soon as the 
sprouting begins. 
5. If you will chew a grain of corn that has 
begun to sprout, and another that has not been 
planted, you will see that the sprouted grain is 
much sweeter, because the starch in it has already 
begun to turn into sugar. 
6. Beer is usually made from barley. 
7. The starch in the barley is first turned into 
sugar by "sprouting" the grain. Of course, the 
brewer does not plant his barley to sprout, as you 
did the corn, because that would be too much 
trouble, as he would have to dig it up again. 
8. He takes many hundred bags of barley and 40 
UNION SERIES, NO. 3. 
empties them into a very large tub; pours enough 
water over the grain to wet it well, and keeps it 
in a warm place. He often looks at the tub, and 
when he sees that his barley has begun to sprout, 
he knows that its starch has turned to sugar, so 
he stops the sprouting by heat enough to kill the 
little sprouts, before the sugar is used up to feed 
them. He calls this grain malt. As the grain 
has not water in itself like the grape, the brewer, 
having mashed the malt so that its sugar may 
more easily be dissolved, adds water to it. 
9. This kind of sugar does not change into 
alcohol and gas as quickly as the sugar in the 
grape-juice, so the brewer puts in some yeast, 
which, being one kind of a ferment, quickly 
turns the sugar in the liquid to alcohol. 
10. In a little time the bubbling begins, and 
the brewer knows very well that sugar is going 
and alcohol is coming. In a few more days the 
bubbling stops, and the brewer knows that what 
was sugar is now alcohol, and that his barley has 
been made into beer. The barley that we eat in 
our soup is good food. But the brewer makes 
barley into a bitter, poisonous drink containing 
alcohol. Fermentation has here again changed 
a food to a poison. 
11. Hops and sometimes other things are put 
in which give it a bitter taste. 
12. If you do not want to drink alcohol, you PHYSIOLOGY AND HEALTH. 
41 
must never drink beer. This dangerous drink 
has made many drunkards. 
Ill 
Bread and Alcohol. 
1. Fermentation is a part of the process of 
making bread. The flour contains a little sugar 
in itself, and the yeast being added, acts as a 
ferment, and converts this sugar into alcohol 
and carbonic acid gas. The gas set free puffs up 
the sticky mass with bubbles, making it light. 
There is a little alcohol in the dough for a loaf 
of bread as it is put into the oven, but this 
alcohol is driven off by the heat, and escapes in 
the form of vapor during the baking. When the 
fermentation is allowed to go on too long in the 
dough before it is put into the oven, the alcohol 
in it is changed to an acid that will not pass 
off in vapor in baking, but stays in the bread. 
Such bread will be sour, and possesses a disagree- 
able odor. 
2. In well-baked bread there is no alcohol. 
Thus you see: - 
3. Fermentation is a part of the process of 
making both beer and bread. Why is one a food 
and the other a poison ? Because the alcohol 
stays in the beer and not in the bread. 42 
UNION SERIES, NO. 2. 
IV 
Distillation. 
1. When boiling water turns into steam, and 
the steam turns back into water, we call this 
steam-water distilled water. When we boil alco- 
hol and turn it into steam we call such steam 
vapor. 
2. How can you prove that there is alcohol 
in beer, cider or wine? You have seen that 
alcohol, when first produced by fermentation, is 
always mixed with water. We can prove that 
the alcohol is there by separating it from the 
water. Put cider or any fermented liquor into 
a vessel, with a pipe in its closely fitting cover. 
Let this pipe rest on a cake of ice as the vessel 
stands over a fire. Before the liquor boils, vapor 
will rise from it and drip from the end of the 
pipe in drops of alcohol, that will burn with a 
faint blue flame if a match is applied. 
3. Fermented liquors, as wines, cider and beer, 
are distilled in this way until they become nearly 
one half alcohol; and then they are brandy, rum, 
gin, and whisky. 
4. A glass of distilled liquor is very strong 
and will injure one more than a glass of wine, 
beer or cider. 
5. But those who drink the weak liquors often PHYSIOLOGY AND HEALTH. 
43 
take so much more of them at a time, that they 
get just as much alcohol as if they had taken a 
smaller quanity of the stronger. 
6. If you do not acquire a taste for the 
weaker liquors, you will not be in danger of 
being poisoned by the stronger. 
V 
Alcohol not Found in Nature. 
1. We have found that where fruit-juices are 
pressed out and exposed, ferments will turn the 
sweet principle, or sugar, of such juices into 
alcohol. But there is no alcohol in apples, 
grapes, berries, or grains, as they grow for our 
food. Nature prevents her products from being 
converted into this dangerous substance, by pro- 
tecting them with the skin of the fruit and the 
hull of the grain. 
2. God makes the fruits and the grains, and 
men turn their juices into alcohol. 
Alcohol a Narcotic, 
3. Any substance that, taken into the living 
body, will stupefy or deaden the nervous system 
is called a narcotic. A powerful narcotic will 
so paralyze the nervous forces that the system is 
rendered unconscious of pain. Alcohol is one of 
the most powerful narcotics, 44 
UNION SERIES, NO. 2. 
ILLUSTRATIONS. 
1. Press out the juice of some fruit, add a little yeast, and let it 
stand all night in a warm place. It will have fermented. 
2. With the apparatus described in the text distill some alcohol 
and burn it. 
QUESTIONS. 
\ I 
1. What is fermentation? 
2. What are the two kinds of fermentation treated of here? 
3. What fact about fermentation is it important to remember? 
n 
1. What is beer? 
2. From what is the alcohol in beer made? 
3. Describe the sprouting of a grain of corn. 
4. 5. What change takes place in the substance of grain when 
it sprouts? 
7, 8. How does the brewer make his grain sprout? 
9. What does the brewer put in his grain? Why? 
10. Describe the process that follows. What change results? 
11. Why should we not drink beer? 
m 
1. Describe the fermentation that takes place in making bread. 
What makes bread sour ? 
2. Is there any alcohol in well-baked bread ? 
3. Why does not fermentation make bread poisonous as well 
as beer? 
IV 
1. What is distillation? 
2. How can you prove that there is alcohol'in beer or cider 
or wine? 
3. How are brandy, rum, gin, and whisky made? 
4. What is the difference between distilled liquors and fermented 
liquors ? 
5. How may fermented liquors be as harmful as distilled liquors? 
v 
1. Is there any alcohol in fresh healthy fruits? 
3. Why is alcohol called a narcotic? PHYSIOLOGY AND HEALTH. 
45 
CHAPTER V. 
THE HEART AND BLOOD-VESSELS. 
I 
1. The heart, which is in the chest, lies towards 
the left side, and can be felt beating if you place 
your hand firmly against the breast a little above 
the waist. 
2. It is shaped like a pear, and yours is about 
as large as one of your fists. 
Trachea. 
Blood Vessels, 
Heart. 
Right Lung. 
Left Lung. 
Lungs, Heart, and Principal Vessels in Man. 
Fig. 7. 
3. It is hollow and is divided in the middle 
into two parts, which are completely separate 46 
UNION SERIES, NO. S. 
from each other. Each half is divided into two 
chambers, with an opening between them. 
4. It is made of muscle, and when it contracts 
it squeezes the blood which it contains out into 
the blood-vessels, just as the water is sent through 
the tube of a syringe when you squeeze the bulb. 
When it relaxes, it lets the blood flow into it. 
5. Its work is to keep contracting and relaxing, 
and so maintain the flow of the blood through 
the body. And it never stops during life. By 
day and by night, waking or sleeping, it keeps 
right on from birth until death. If we are in 
good health it does not falter or get tired. No 
other muscle can endure so much. 
6. As the heart contracts, it seems to strike 
against the chest wall. This we call the heart- 
beat. We can see the movement of the chest 
over the heart with each beat, and if we put the 
ear against the chest we can hear a sound. 
The Pulse. 
7. When a doctor visits a sick person he often 
puts his finger on the sick person's wrist to feel 
the "pulse." What is the pulse? 
8. Every time the heart contracts it squeezes 
the blood in it out into the blood-vessels. That 
makes the blood-vessels swell up a little. If you 
put your finger on one of them, you can feel it 
swell and rise. In the wrist is a blood-vessel The Arterial System. PHYSIOLOGY AND HEALTH. 
49 
that lies just under the skin, and can be easily 
reached, and that is the reason why the doctor 
feels there for the pulse. 
9. From the pulse he learns how the heart is 
beating. If it beats feebly, or too slowly, or too 
rapidly, he knows that the person is not well. 
10. A baby's heart beats more than 100 times 
in a minute; a child's heart beats about 80 times 
in a minute; and a grown man's heart 70 times 
in a minute. 
II 
The Blood-Vessels. 
1. Two great tubes, called arteries, begin at the 
heart and carry the blood away from it. Two 
other great tubes called veins end at the heart, 
and empty the blood into it. The arteries, as they 
pass from the heart divide, as the trunk of a tree 
divides into branches, and these branches go to 
all parts of the body and keep on dividing into 
smaller branches until finally they are as small 
as a hair, and there are so many of them that if 
you should put the point of a needle into your 
body almost anywhere, you would wound some 
of these little vessels and make the blood run. 
2. These little vessels are called capillaries. 
The capillaries empty into larger vessels, called 
veins. The veins keep joining together to form 
larger veins, as streams unite to form a river, 50 
UNION SERIES, NO. 2. 
until finally the two large veins pour all the 
blood into the heart. 
3. So you see that from the time the blood 
leaves the heart until it gets back to it, it is 
inside of the blood-vessels. 
Ill 
What Injures the Heart and Blood-Vessels. 
1. When we are excited the heart beats fast, 
or when we run or jump or exercise violently. 
If we continue violent exercise too long at a time 
we may injure our hearts or even break a blood- 
vessel. But this does not often happen. Intem- 
perate habits are much more dangerous to the 
heart than excessive exercise. 
Effects of Alcohol and Tobacco. 
2. The heart of a healthy person is like a 
willing horse. It works just as fast as it ought. 
Alcohol makes it work a little faster, when a 
small quantity only is taken. If it is beating 
seventy times in a minute, a little alcohol will 
make it beat, perhaps, seventy-five times in a 
minute. These five extra beats do no good, but 
tire the heart for nothing, and help to wear it out. 
3. The beating of the heart is controlled by 
different sets of nerves. One set * acts as a check 
' Inhibitory nerves. PHYSIOLOGY AND HEALTH. 
51 
to keep the heart from beating too fast. Alcohol, 
as you remember, is a narcotic, and in its benumb- 
ing effect it seems to have a preference for cer- 
tain kinds of nerves over others. Even when a 
small quantity is taken, as in a glass of wine, 
these checking nerves are quickly affected. As 
the alcohol deadens or paralyzes them, they cease 
to act as checks; then they do not prevent the 
heart from beating more rapidly than it ought, 
just as turning off the brakes increases the speed 
of a train going down hill. 
4. Diseases of the heart are frequently the 
result of thus overtaxing it, without giving it 
the rest that it requires. 
5. As it is necessary to good health to keep 
the heart in good working order, we should not 
drink such liquors as cider, wine, beer, whisky 
and brandy, because they contain alcohol which 
will injure the heart and blood-vessels. We have 
seen that alcohol turns muscle into fat, and as 
we know the heart is mostly muscle, we also 
know that the alcohol in these drinks may in- 
jure the heart by changing its muscle into fat. 
It often injures the blood-vessels in the same 
way, or may make them hard and brittle. Of 
course, a fatty heart cannot be as strong as if it 
were all muscle, and it cannot do its work as 
well. It is liable to be overworked and wear 
out before its time. When the blood-vessels be- 52 
UNION SERIES, NO. 2. 
come brittle from the use of alcohol, they are in 
danger of bursting. 
IV 
Alcohol no Help in Enduring Cold. 
1. Alcohol deadens the nerves that should 
control the action of the blood-vessels, and lets 
their elastic coats stretch, so that too much blood 
flows to wrong places, especially to the surface of 
the body. 
The drinker at first feels warmer, but the ther- 
mometer will show that he is in reality growing 
colder. Alcohol does not warm the blood, but 
drives too much of it to the veins and capillaries 
near the surface. There the blood cools off more 
quickly than if it had remained in the blood- 
vessels that are deeply buried in the flesh. The 
drinker soon grows colder, and what may be 
called the alcoholic chill comes over him. 
2. Persons who drink alcoholic liquors suffer 
more from cold, and perish more quickly from it 
than those who do not. This is repeatedly proved 
by the experience of arctic explorers, cab and car- 
riage drivers, and others, who in a cold climate 
must be much exposed. The drinkers freeze when 
others will not. 
3. The red faces we see in people who drink 
alcoholic liquors are produced by the stretching PHYSIOLOGY AND HEALTH. 
53 
of their blood-vessels. The blood-vessels in the 
nose of a drinker are often permanently stretched 
by the alcohol he has taken, and unsightly 
blotches, sometimes called " rum blossoms," are 
the result. 
4. The beats of a healthy heart are regular 
and steady, like the working of a steam-engine. 
When the heart is out of order, its beating is 
irregular and unsteady. One of the causes of 
such a condition is tobacco. 
5. We have learned that the use of tobacco 
makes the muscles tremble; it makes the heart 
tremble because it is a muscle. When a doctor 
says that Mr. A. or Mr. B. has a " smoker's heart," 
he means that he has put his heart into this 
unsteady state by smoking or chewing tobacco. 
When young boys smoke cigarettes their hearts 
are liable very soon to be affected in this way. 
1. Get an ox's heart from the butcher, and have him take it out 
so as to leave as much as possible of the large blood-vessels 
attached to it. Cut it up and show the cavities and the valves. 
2. Trace the course by which the blood passes through each 
half. 
3. Show the walls of the different cavities, and explain why they 
differ in thickness. 
4. Show the smooth lining (serous membrane). 
5. Show the blood-vessels which enter and leave it. Show the 
difference between an artery and a vein. 
6. Show that the heart is made chiefly of muscle. 
ILLUSTRATIONS. 54 
UNION SERIES, NO. 2. 
7. If you are sufficiently expert, show, by filling the cavities with 
water, the action of the valves which permit fluid to pass in one 
direction but not in the other. 
I 
1. What is the situation of the heart? 
2. What is the shape and size of the heart? 
3. 4. Describe its structure. 
5. What is the work of the heart? 
6. What is the heart-beat? Does the heart make any sound? 
7. What is the pulse? 
9. Why does the doctor feel the pulse ? 
10. How many times does the heart beat in a minute? 
ii 
1. Describe the blood-vessels. 
2. What are the three kinds of blood-vessels called? 
3. Can the blood get out of the blood-vessels? 
m 
1. How may violent exercise injure the heart and blood-vessels? 
2. What is the effect of a little alcohol on the heart? 
3. Describe the nerves that control the heart. How does alcohol 
affect them ? 
4. How may alcohol produce heart disease? 
5. Why should we avoid such liquors as cider, wine, beer, 
whisky, and brandy ? 
IV 
1. What effect has alcohol on the blood-vessels? Is the blood 
made warmer by alcohol? 
2. Why does a person imagine he is warmer after drinking an 
alcoholic liquor? 
3. Does alcohol enable one to endure cold ? 
4. What causes-the redness of the drinker's face? 
5. What effect has tobacco on the action of the heart? 
6. What effect has tobacco on the muscles? 
QUESTIONS. PHYSIOLOGY AND HEALTH. 
55 
CHAPTER VI. 
THE BLOOD. 
I 
1. It is not pleasant to see blood, for we know 
that when blood flows some one is sick or has 
been injured, and this makes us feel badly. A 
little blood from a trifling cut or from the nose 
is of little consequence. But it is dangerous to 
lose much blood. 
2. A grown person has in his whole body about 
six quarts of blood,-a small pailful. If half of 
this is lost or sometimes if a quarter of it is lost, 
the person will die. 
3. You have learned that the blood is all 
contained in the tubes called blood-vessels. You 
know that sometimes one of these tubes is cut 
off by accident. Do you know why, when that 
happens, the blood does not all run out? Perhaps 
you reply that it is because some one ties a band- 
age over the cut, and so stops the blood. 
4. That is true, but the bandage would not be 
sufficient of itself to stop the blood. The blood 
would keep trickling through it, and when the 
bandage was taken off, even if it were kept on 56 
UNION SERIES, NO. 3. 
for a day or two, it would start again if it were 
not for a remarkable thing about the blood of 
which I will tell you. 
Coagulation of the Blood. 
5. If you should get from the butcher's a basin- 
ful of fresh blood, you would find that in a few 
minutes it would begin to grow thick, and in 
half an hour it would no longer be fluid, but 
would be a jelly which would not run but would 
drop out of the basin in a mass. 
6. While it is in the living body blood remains 
fluid. But when it is let out into the air it grows 
thick and jelly-like. 
7. That is the reason why the blood stops flow- 
ing from a cut after a time. If a bandage is put 
on at once, or the fingers are pressed on the 
wound, the flow is checked, and before long a 
"clot" of thickened blood is formed in the cut 
that prevents further bleeding, while the cut goes 
on to heal. 
8. This is the way Nature provides that we 
shall not "bleed to death" when a blood-vessel 
is cut. 
9. But it is necessary to help nature by band- 
aging the wound or pressing upon it. If this 
is not done, too much blood will escape before it 
has time to thicken and clot. PHYSIOLOGY AND HEALTH. 
57 
10. Blood is red and warm, and is saltish in 
taste. 
Corpuscles of the Blood. 
11. If we look at a drop of 
blood under a microscope, we 
see that it is full of very small 
red specks, shaped like check- 
ers, and all of the same size. 
These are the " corpuscles." 
They give the blood its red 
color. 
Red Corpuscles of Human 
Blood (400 diameters). 
Fig. 8. 
II 
Use of the Blood. 
1. In the cities the letter-carrier is always 
hurrying through the streets. He goes through 
the wide streets, and the narrow streets, and the 
squares, and even the alleys, giving out and 
taking up the mail. 
2. If you will watch him, you will see that 
one person will hand him a letter, another a 
paper, and others little boxes or cards, and also 
that he will go from one lamp-post to another 
and open the letter-boxes, and put the letters 
into his bag. When he has given out all his 
letters, and has collected all from the people 
and the boxes, you will see him hurrying back 
to send them in the mail-bags to people living, 
perhaps, in far-off countries. 58 
UNION SERIES, NO. 2. 
3. Now the work of the heart 
is to send the blood all over 
the body, so that it may take 
food wherever it is needed, and 
bring back waste matter which 
it has collected in its course. 
4. The blood, as it leaves the 
heart, is just like the letter- 
carrier with his bag full of 
letters, newspapers, Christmas- 
cards, and valentines. It is 
loaded with particles of food 
for all parts of the body. It 
passes along through the arte- 
ries and the capillaries, giving 
up bits of food just at the place 
where they are most needed, 
and does not make a mis- 
take,- as the letter-carrier did 
when he left your valentine 
at the wrong house, - until it 
reaches the farthest parts of 
the body. 
5. If you will take a piece of 
thick linen and make a bag, 
and pour water into it, you 
will see drops of water collect on the outside. 
We say the water has soaked through. 
6. So the walls of the capillaries are much 
Superficial Veins on the Front 
of the Upper Extremity 
Fig. 9. PHYSIOLOGY AND HEALTH. 
59 
thinner than linen, and the nourishment in 
the blood soaks through them very easily for 
the support of the different parts of the body. 
At the same time waste matter soaks into the 
capillaries and is carried back to the heart. 
7. This waste matter must be got rid of, and so 
the heart sends the impure blood to the skin and 
the kidneys and the lungs, where it is purified. 
8. The blood carries nourishment to every part 
of the body, and removes the waste matter. It 
carries also oxygen which it receives from the 
air in the lungs. 
9. So the blood is constantly changing. It 
takes up something here and gives out some- 
thing there. We have already compared it to 
the letter-carrier, who goes through the city, 
giving out letters here and taking letters there. 
As the people at each house take what is for 
them, and send away letters for some one else, 
so each particle in the body takes from the 
blood what it needs, and gives up what it does 
not want. 
Ill 
Fainting. 
1. If the blood is cut off from any part of the 
body, that part will die. Sometimes the heart 
loses its strength for a few moments and does not 
send blood enough up to the brain. This may 60 
UNION SERIES, NO. 2. 
happen to a person who is hurt, or even to one 
who is greatly frightened or grieved or otherwise 
excited. He feels sick and dizzy, and then he 
cannot see and falls to the ground. This is a 
fainting fit. 
2. The proper thing to do for one who has 
fainted is to give him fresh air, and let him lie 
flat on his back. The heart can send the blood 
to the brain more easily in that position than 
when the body is erect. A little cold water 
sprinkled on the face helps, because it starts up 
the heart, just as it would make you jump if it 
were sprinkled on your face. 
IV 
Effects of Alcohol and Tobacco. 
1. When a person takes beer, or any drink 
containing alcohol, the alcohol in the stomach 
quickly soaks through the walls of the blood- 
vessels and gets into the blood, and mingles 
with the other substances dissolved in it, but will 
not become a part of them. No portion of the 
body will take the alcohol out of the blood, 
as it does food, to make it a part of itself. It 
does not belong anywhere. It is carried swiftly 
around in the current, and wherever it goes it 
stirs up a commotion. 
2. The alcohol that has passed from the glass 
of brandy, rum, wine or beer into the drinker's PHYSIOLOGY AND HEALTH. 
61 
blood, after being carried by it to every part 
of the body and refused, is finally thrown out 
as useless by the lungs, skin, and kidneys. 
3. The nicotine contained in tobacco, you re- 
member, is a poison. It is taken into the blood 
through the lungs, the mouth, and the stomach 
of the person who uses it. As the smoker gets 
nearer the end of his cigar, he takes more nicotine 
into his blood. So boys who smoke cigar-stumps 
or cigarettes absorb a good deal of this poison. In 
the blood it is carried to every part of the body. 
As the blood feeds the whole system, anything 
that hurts it hurts the entire body. In some cases 
its effects appear immediately, while in others we 
can see that it is gradually doing harm. One 
way to keep good blood is not to poison it with 
tobacco. 
V 
1. Since the blood has so much to do with 
the life of the body, it is very important to 
keep it pure. We may keep the blood pure,- 
(a) By breathing pure air. 
(b) By exercise. The blood flows faster when 
we exercise, and keeps purer, just as a running 
stream is purer than a stagnant pool. 
(c) By bathing. This keeps the skin active, 
Pure Blood. 62 
UNION SERIES, NO. 2. 
and an active skin carries off impurities from 
the blood. 
(d) By moderation in eating. When we eat too 
much, the blood is loaded with more nourish- 
ment than it can dispose of. 
(e) By avoiding unwholesome foods. Some things 
are unwholesome, even if you take but little 
of them. Unripe or decayed fruit is so. Some 
things are wholesome if you take but little, but 
very unwholesome if you eat a great deal. Candy 
and sweetmeats, or pickles, are of this class. 
(/) By avoiding alcohol. The blood does not 
require alcohol, which is a poison, whether much 
or little is taken. 
(</) By avoiding the use of tobacco. When any 
one uses tobacco he is taking into his blood 
nicotine, which is a powerful narcotic poison. 
1. Get from the butcher a glass vessel full of blood. This will 
be coagulated. Show this clot and the serum. 
2. With a microscope magnifying three or four hundred diame- 
ters show the corpuscles of the blood. By winding a handkerchief 
around the finger and slightly pricking the finger-end, a little drop 
of blood can be drawn. Touch this to the center of a glass slide 
and spread it out, by drawing the edge of a second slide over it. 
To show the corpuscles well the blood must be spread so thin that 
it appears only as a spot on the glass without red color. 
3. Pour water into a kid glove or some other bag not water-tight, 
and show how it soaks through. 
ILLUSTRATIONS. PHYSIOLOGY AND HEALTH. 
63 
QUESTIONS. 
I 
1. Why does it alarm us to see blood flow ? 
2. How much blood has a grown person ? How much can one 
lose and live ? 
3. 4. When a blood-vessel is cut, how is the bleeding stopped? 
5, 6. What change takes place in blood poured into a basin ? 
7, 8. How does this change help us to stop the flow of blood ? 
9. How must we help Nature to stop the bleeding? 
10. What are the color and taste of blood? 
11. What are the corpuscles of the blood? 
ii 
1, 2, Describe the trips of the letter-carriers in the cities. 
3. What is the work of the heart? 
4. How is the blood like the letter-carrier? 
5. 6. How can nourishment in the blood get out of the blood- 
vessels ? 
7, 8. What becomes of waste matter in the blood? 
9. Does the blood remain exactly the same as it flows along? 
m 
1. What is a fainting fit? 
2. What should we do for a person who has fainted away? 
IV 
1, 2. What becomes of alcohol when taken into the stomach? 
3. What is nicotine ? Is it harmful ? 
1. Name seven rules for keeping the blood pure. 64 
UNION SERIES, NO. 2. 
CHAPTER VII. 
FOOD AND DRINK. 
I 
1. You have learned how the blood distributes 
nourishment to all parts of the body. Now let us 
inquire where the blood gets its nourishment. 
2. It is all contained in " food and drink." 
Every thing that grows is food for some animal. 
And every animal may be food for some other 
animal. But man can eat only certain kinds of 
plants; and he selects but a few out of the many 
animals for the table. A man might starve on 
a prairie where cattle would grow fat, or in a 
forest where birds and beasts find enough to eat. 
3. The food of man is partly vegetable and 
partly animal. Some nations eat no meat, as the 
Hindoos. Others live chiefly on meat, as the 
Esquimaux. But it is better to have both. 
Animal Food. 
4. Our animal food consists principally of 
beef, mutton, poultry, pork, fish, game, eggs, 
and milk. 
5. No one article can nourish the body as well PH YSIOLOG Y A ND HEAL TH. 
65 
as milk. It is the entire food of the baby for 
many months, and grown people often live on 
it when they are sick. 
Vegetable Food. 
6. The grains are the most important of food 
plants. Wheat, rice, oats, rye, barley, and corn 
form a large part of our nourishment. Of the 
grains rice is used by the greatest number of 
people. 
7. The potato is the most popular vegetable in 
Europe and America. 
8. Pease and beans are very valuable for the 
supply of armies and similar large bodies of 
people, because they contain a great deal of nour- 
ishment in small bulk. 
9. Green vegetables and ripe fruits are valu- 
able additions to our food supplies. If they do 
not afford much nourishment, they help us to 
digest other things. 
Cooking. 
10. Animals eat their food raw. Men always 
cook a part of theirs. That is because the human 
stomach is not strong enough to digest the hard, 
dry things that animals eat. Our food must be 
made soft for us. Cooking makes it taste better 
also. A horse is quite satisfied with his oats raw 66 
UNION SERIES, NO. 2. 
and whole. We must have them ground, and then 
we boil- the oatmeal and add cream and sugar. 
11. A great deal of time and labor and thought 
must be spent in cooking. Our health depends 
so much on having our food cooked properly, 
that it is a very important art. Every girl should 
know how to make good bread, and be able to 
do plain cooking well. 
II 
Water. 
1. Water is as necessary to the life of the body 
as solid food. The body contains blood and other 
fluids which are part water, and even the solid 
flesh contains water, as you can learn by putting 
a piece of meat in an oven or in the sun to dry. 
It will shrink a good deal, and will lose weight 
as the water goes out of it. 
2. Since water is constantly passing off from 
the body by perspiration and in other ways, we 
must drink water to make up for what is lost. 
3. It is important to have perfectly pure water 
to drink. Many poisons are taken into the body 
with water. Pure water has no taste. Pure water 
has no smell. Some things that give water a 
taste do not harm it, - as the wood of a new 
barrel or tank. But it is better that there should 
be no taste. PHYSIOLOGY AND HEALTH. 
67 
4. Water that has lead in it, or that is polluted 
by drains or barn-yards, is sometimes perfectly 
clear and without taste or odor. And yet it is 
quite poisonous. It is necessary to be watchful 
of the water supply, - to see that there is no 
pig-pen or cess-pool or other foul spot near it. 
For the water from such a spot will go through 
the soil a considerable distance, and reach and 
mix with the drinking water. 
Ill 
Alcohol not a Food. 
1. You have learned that food supports life. 
Alcohol will not nourish or build up the body or 
any of its parts; it is its nature to injure health 
and destroy life. Alcohol is not a food. Intoxi- 
cating drinks, like water with lead in it, may 
not appear at first to do great harm. They may 
seem to make the drinker feel better, but by and 
by he will find out that they were injuring him 
from the first. Then, if he tries to stop drinking, 
he finds the habit not so easily broken as to stop 
drinking water poisoned with lead. 
The alcoholic appetite is easily formed and hard 
to overcome. The drinker seldom at first realizes 
that the more of these drinks he takes the more 
he will want, and the harder it will be to give 
them up, and the greater is his danger of becoming 68 
UNION SERIES, NO. 2. 
a drunkard. To refuse to take them again at any 
time, or in any quanity, is the only sure way 
to overcome a craving for alcoholic drinks. A 
subdued alcoholic appetite that has slumbered for 
a long time may be so roused as to be uncon- 
trollable by the taste of only a little alcohol, as 
in beer or cider. 
The custom of putting alcoholic liquors, as wine 
and -brandy, into puddings, sauces, and other pre- 
parations of food is dangerous, and may lead to 
the forming or awakening of an alcoholic appe- 
tite. 
2. Many men spend more money to get alco- 
holic drinks than they spend for food or clothes 
or anything else. 
3. All alcoholic drinks have power to do harm. 
No other drinks are so enticing and so dangerous. 
They can change a man into something worse 
than a beast. They rob him of his property and 
his home. TJiey can destroy his character. They 
make more people poor, unhappy, and wicked 
than any other cause. 
4. The person who never takes the first glass 
is in no danger of ever becoming a drunkard. 
5. It can be safely said of all alcoholic liquors 
that there is nothing in them so valuable as to 
make it desirable to use them, unless it be for the 
sake of the alcohol itself. And this should not 
be used, as it can be shown that alcohol nof only PHYSIOLOGY AND HEALTH. 
69 
fails to nourish the body but does it harm. In 
studying the relation of alcohol to foods, we do 
not find that it is a part of any healthful food 
as given us by Nature, yet all such foods as are 
necessary to maintain life and health are found 
abundantly in nature. This is a very suggestive 
fact, and causes us to wonder why it is so, if, as 
was formerly supposed, alcohol is of great value 
as a food. No analysis of foods ever finds it as 
only an article to be taken into the human sys- 
tem. If it has any such value as was claimed, this 
seems a surprising omission of Nature, and an 
omission not at all in keeping with her ways in 
other departments of her kingdom. 
6. By studying the physiology of digestion and 
the taking up of foods in the system, we fail to 
find any reason for supposing alcohol was ever 
intended to be used as a food by mankind. For- 
merly this was not thought to be the case; but 
every advance in knowledge of the relation of 
foods to life and energy, has been away from the 
old idea and toward the view here taken,-that 
alcohol is not to be defended on the ground of 
its food qualities. 
7. Toxic is the Greek word meaning poison. 
Persons affected by alcohol are never said to be 
overfed, but intoxicated, - in other words, poisoned. 
In none of the text-books of the day on chem- 
istry or hygiene is alcohol classed as a food. 70 
UNION SERIES, NO. 2. 
8. Alcohol does not contain the matter found 
in flesh-forming foods, and hence cannot be called 
a flesh-forming food. 
9. But another class of foods is called heat- 
producing. Yet, although it burns readily, and 
gives the sensation of heat in the stomach and 
throat, alcohol reduces rather than increases the 
temperature. It does not produce animal force 
or increase animal heat in the human system. 
10. We have explained that alcohol is not a 
food, but on the contrary a toxic, or poison. We 
shall show that it does not give out heat to the 
body, although it appears to do so. What, then, 
does it do ? It has an apparent effect of food. In 
other words, it seems to supply the demand for 
food at first, but as it is not a food it leaves the 
system more in want of nourishment than before 
it was taken. 
11. Alcohol, like opium, chloral, hasheesh, and 
some other narcotics or drugs, acts upon the 
nerves as a deadener of sensibility, and has the 
power to create a habit which many individuals 
are willing to understand as a natural demand 
of the system, - that is, when once the habit of 
using alcohol is begun, people deceive them- 
selves into thinking that they must continue its 
use, because of a demand which they have come 
to feel. 
12. Remember that the process of taking food PHYSIOLOGY AND HEALTH. 
71 
into the system, and converting it into tissue, 
bone, flesh, and sinew, is called nutrition, and it 
is with nutrition that alcohol principally inter- 
feres. A fact, then, we need to bear in mind is 
that alcohol and alcoholic drinks interfere with 
nutrition. 
13. These articles not only lack any food value 
of their own, but they take away a part of the 
value of real foods. They also have such an 
effect upon the organs which assimilate and dis- 
tribute the food as to make them less able 
properly to do their work. So that they inter- 
fere with nutrition, - first, by taking from the 
value of the foods eaten, and second, by impair- 
ing the usefulness of the organs which take up 
and distribute those foods. 
14. People formerly thought that alcoholic drinks 
were not only valuable as foods, but very desirable 
as a part of the regular food supply. They were 
therefore issued as a part of the daily rations of 
soldiers, sailors, and other persons engaged in 
constant labor. But experience has taught that 
such a use of them not only fails to serve any 
good purpose, but actually does harm to the 
persons taking them. 
15. What experience has first taught science is 
now also agreed upon, and, by applying the most 
careful tests, students of chemistry and of physi- 
ology have found that experience is right, and 72 
UNION SURINS, NO. 2. 
science, until recently, has itself been wrong. 
Now, both science and experience are agreed. 
16. It often happens that in the army or navy 
it is necessary to get from the soldiers or sailors 
the greatest possible amount of work in a given 
time, therefore it is of supreme importance to 
learn exactly what foods and .drinks will produce 
the greatest physical endurance, and it is on this 
test that alcohol in all its forms has been retired 
from the service. 
17. In training for athletic sports, or contests 
of all sorts, the diet is very carefully guarded. 
Nearly all boys who read of athletic contests, 
and of the training which precedes them, must 
have observed that alcohol, as well as tobacco 
and other narcotics, are rigidly excluded. 
18. Where much depends upon the result of 
these contests, not only on account of the win- 
ning or losing the prize, but the reputation which 
follows, the fact that a person likes or dislikes any 
particular food or drink does not decide him as to 
its use. Strong, compact, and enduring muscles, 
with sound lungs and perfect circulation, are the 
qualities desired, and all athletes have learned 
that these cannot be obtained by indulging the 
appetite in intoxicating beverages. 
19. To sum up,-alcohol is not a food but a poi- 
son. It does not help but hinders nutrition. It 
does not increase but lessens physical endurance. PHYSIOLOGY AND HEALTH. 
73 
ILLUSTRATIONS. 
1. Show the different grains, - wheat, oats, corn, rice. Show 
flour and meal made from them. 
2. Cut up a raw potato and a boiled potato, to show the effect of 
cooking. 
3. If a specimen of clear water which has been shown by analy- 
sis to be impure can be obtained, it will teach an object-lesson. 
QUESTIONS. 
I 
I, 2. What is nourishment? What is food? 
3. What is the best kind of food, animal or vegetable? 
4. What kinds of animal food do we use chiefly ? 
5. If we could have but one article of food, what one should we 
select? 
6. Name some articles of vegetable food. What grain is used 
by the largest number of people ? 
7. What is the most popular vegetable in this country? 
8. What articles of food are especially useful when large num- 
bers of people are to be fed ? 
9. How are green vegetables and ripe fruits useful? 
10. Do we eat any of our food uncooked? Why do we cook 
most of it? 
II. Why is cooking an important art? 
ii 
1, 2. Why do we need water to drink? 
3. May water become poisonous? How is bad water distin- 
guished from good water? 
4. May water be poisonous and yet look pure and clear ? How 
may it become poisonous ? 
m 
1. Is alcohol food? Do drinkers always know when alcohol is 
injuring them? Can they always stop using it when they find out 
that it is injuring them ? What danger is there in using alcoholic 
liquors to flavor puddings and sauces ? 74 
UNION SERIES, NO. 2. 
2. What can yon say of the expense of alcoholic drinks? 
3. What has alcohol power to do ? 
4. How may we be absolutely safe from the power of alcohol? 
5. Does Nature provide alcohol for the use of man as she pro- 
vides other food? Why not? 
6. Does science show that it was designed that alcohol should be 
used as food ? 
7. What does the word "toxic" mean? What does the word 
" intoxicated " mean ? 
8. Is alcohol a flesh-forming substance? 
9. Is alcohol a heat-producing substance in the body? 
10. Why do people think that it makes heat in the body? 
11. What is the effect of alcohol on the nerves ? 
12. What is "nutrition"? What is the effect of alcohol on 
nutrition? 
13. In what two ways does alcohol affect nutrition ? 
14. What has experience taught us as to the use of alcohol in 
the army and navy? 
15. How does science confirm experience? 
16. Why is the experience of the army and navy valuable in 
determining the effect of alcohol? 
17. Are alcohol and tobacco used by those who are in training 
for athletic sports ? 
18. Why not? 
19. What do we conclude from the facts stated ? PHYSIOLOGY AND HEALTH 
75 
CHAPTER VIII. 
CONDIMENTS. 
I 
1. Condiments are substances which have no 
value for the nourishment which they contain, 
but which are frequently taken as flavors with 
food. They please the taste, and sometimes help 
and sometimes hinder digestion. 
2. Condiments include mustard, peppers, spices, 
and certain essential oils. 
3. Common salt lias not here been mentioned 
as a condiment, although it is used like one; 
but since it supplies the blood with one of its 
natural and necessary constituents, and is sup- 
posed to aid the stomach in producing certain of 
its juices which aid digestion, it seems better to 
exclude it from the list. 
4. It is also true of some of the condiments 
that they have a slight value as food. Mustard, 
for instance, is a seed which has slight nourish- 
ing qualities, but we speak of mustard and several 
other such articles as condiments, because they 
are mostly used as. such, or for the purpose of 
stimulating digestion. 76 
UNION SERIES, NO. 2. 
5. Mustard, cayenne pepper, horse-radish, and 
ginger are the condiments most commonly used 
in their natural forms, although each is also used 
in combination with other substances. Both epi- 
cures and chemists have wondered at their pecu- 
liar effects and studied to learn the secret of their 
power to excite. 
6. People interested in such matters claim, for 
instance, that olives stimulate the gustatory nerve, 
or nerve of taste, and the upper part of the throat, 
and so increase the appetite. It is also said that 
cayenne pepper, and some other varieties of pepper, 
act upon the lining of the stomach, and cause an 
unusual flow of gastric-juice, and for this reason 
tend to counteract the evil effects of overloading 
the stomach by excessive eating. But it will be 
easily understood that if the stomach is thus 
forced to do more than its natural amount of 
work, it will suffer in the end; and one who 
thinks to take advantage of the stimulating effects 
of such condiments, and unduly indulges his 
appetite, will surely be the sufferer for his short- 
sighted policy. 
7. It is safe to say of these condiments, as of 
other questionable articles taken into the stomach, 
that a person should be able to give a good reason 
for using them. Before giving them an oppor- 
tunity to have what may be a disastrous effect 
upon his own system, he should be fully informed PHYSIOLOG Y A ND HE A L TH. 
77 
of their nature. These, and some other articles, 
when allowed to overtax and weaken the action 
of any organs, often create an unnatural desire, 
which runs into a habit, and that which-at first 
was not an appetite may soon become one. It is 
for this reason, and because when this unnatural 
appetite is acquired, the organs themselves are in 
an unnatural condition, that persons accustomed 
to the use of fiery condiments can take them in 
larger quantities than those persons who are not. 
8. Black pepper, with its peculiar taste, when 
burned, shows by its ash that it contains certain 
valuable substances, among them a constant quan- 
tity of a substance recognized as phosphoric acid. 
Several other ingredients are found which we 
allude to, because black pepper has a more im- 
portant place than that occupied by most of its 
neighbors among the condiments. 
9. When the larger portion of the dark cover- 
ing on the pepper-berry is removed, the result is 
what is known as white pepper. As has already 
been hinted, in speaking of cayenne pepper, it 
cannot be spoken of as favorably as can black 
pepper. It is nearly always irritating in its action, 
and is called an irritant. For this reason it is 
the cause of many cases of dyspepsia, and other 
forms of derangement of the stomach. 
10. We have said that mustard has some food 
value, although its value in this respect is not 78 
UNION SERIES, NO. 2. 
great. Its sharp and irritating action is not so 
lasting as that of cayenne pepper and some of 
its other neighbors; therefore, since it is a mild 
stimulant, and does not have the disadvantages 
that accompany most other stimulants, it is some- 
times of service. 
11. Perhaps you have been so situated as to 
be very hungry, with nothing before you to eat 
but a piece of very tough meat; you had, then, 
to eat the meat or nothing. The stomach might 
prove incompetent to digest such a meal; but 
if the meat were thoroughly chewed and taken 
with a little mustard, the mustard might furnish 
a needed stimulant of considerable service to 
digestion. This is not recommended as a wise 
course to pursue, when tender and easily digested 
food can be obtained. 
12. Horse-radish is a root, which, finely grated, 
is an appetizer. As such, it is perhaps better than 
either mustard or black pepper, although not so 
good for general use, on account of the fact that 
it is a greater irritant to the stomach. Horse- 
radish has a slight food value, although not 
enough to warrant its use on that account. 
13. Curry powders are freely used by many 
people, and consist of a mixture of various con- 
diments such as ginger, black pepper, garlic, etc., 
and we can judge of their nature by the qualities 
of the various ingredients used in their manu- PHYSIOLOGY AND HEALTH. 
79 
facture. Curry was first used among the natives 
of Ceylon as a dressing for rice, and was thought 
to make it more pleasant to the taste. Generally, 
in hot climates, hot spices are specially relished, 
and singularly enough it is there too that they 
abound in nature. 
14. Catsups and sauces, now so commonly and 
extensively used, are made of various fruits and 
condiments, in order to cover the taste of some 
foods, to give special flavor to others, and to 
stimulate the appetite and the digestive appara- 
tus. It is safe to say of such articles, as a class, 
that they are generally used to excess at the 
present time and are very injurious. 
15. Diseases of the stomach and digestive organs, 
and especially of the kidneys, are more common 
now than formerly; and it is believed that this 
has been brought about very much by the habit 
of using frequent and unnatural stimulants, and 
especially by eating foods made very heating by 
strong peppers, sauces, etc. 
16. Since delicate and appetizing flavors and 
extracts can be obtained without all this danger 
from irritants, how much better it would be if 
these could become the condiments in general 
use, rather than the more fiery and dangerous 
ones now so commonly taken. 80 
UNION SERIES, NO. 2. 
II 
Tobacco. 
1. Tobacco is the leaf of a plant which was 
found in this country when it was discovered 
by the Europeans. The Indians taught the new- 
comers the use of it. 
2. In this leaf a powerful narcotic is found 
called nicotine. A few drops of this poison 
will kill a man in five or six minutes. It is 
so strong that the nicotine in one cigar, if taken 
out and given in a pure state, would be sufficient 
to kill two men. 
3. The Indians used to poison their arrows, by 
dipping them in nicotine, convulsions and often 
death being the results of these arrow-wounds. 
Cigarettes. 
4. The most dangerous preparation of tobacco 
is the cigarette. It is often made from the cigar- 
stumps that are picked out of the gutter. Besides 
the filthiness of using tobacco that has been in 
another's mouth, there is danger of becoming 
diseased by it. Such cigarettes contain a large 
quantity of nicotine. Men and boys often begin 
smoking by using cigarettes, believing them to 
be less hurtful than cigars. 
5. Tobacco should be classed among the toxics, 
or poisons. In works on this subject may be PHYSIOLOGY AND HEALTH. 
81 
found the clearest and fullest accounts of it. 
When first freely used, it generally causes dizzi- 
ness, trembling of the limbs, faintness, sickness 
of the stomach, and cold sweats. The pulse is 
weak and quivering, the breathing is irregular, 
and the eye-sight dimmed. If the chewing, or 
smoking, which produces these bad effects has not 
been excessive, these symptoms soon pass away. 
If tobacco is only slightly used, the system soon 
becomes accustomed to it, and learns to tolerate 
it, and at length the appetite is acquired for it. 
Everybody knows how difficult it is to overcome 
the smoking or chewing habit when the indul- 
gence has been prolonged. 
6. Experience has shown that the system will 
accomodate itself to very unusual and unnatural 
conditions; but, because it acquires a toleration 
for tobacco, and none of the violent symptoms 
mentioned follow immediately on its use, this by 
no means proves that such articles are useful or 
even harmless. Not even the first effects of 
milk, or meat, or fruit, or of the cereals, are ever 
like those of tobacco, and this shows that the 
latter is regarded by Nature as an unfriendly 
element. 
7. The irritation caused by the use of tobacco 
and strong condiments often leads to a craving 
for alcoholic liquors. 82 
UNION SERIES, NO. 2. 
Ill 
Opium. 
1. Opium is the dried juice of the poppy. Most 
of it comes from Asia Minor and from India. 
Laudanum is opium in a liquid form. Mor- 
phine is a white powder made from opium. It 
is stronger than opium. 
2. Opium in either of these forms is a powerful 
narcotic poison. It is a very dangerous drug, and 
should not be used except under the direction 
of a physician. 
3. People sometimes form a habit of taking it 
daily, and the habit, once formed, is very hard 
to break. It makes slaves of those who use it, 
and often ruins body and mind. 
ILLUSTRATIONS. 
1. Show some mustard-seed, pepper, spice, and describe the 
plants. 
2. Show some tobacco and opium, and give details as to their 
production and effects. 
QUESTIONS. 
I 
1. What are " condiments " ? 
2. Name some condiments. 
3. Should salt be called a condiment? Why not? 
4- Do condiments have any value as food ? PHYSIOLOGY AND HEALTH. 
83 
6. Why are condiments used? Blay they be injurious? 
7. What is a safe rule with regard to the use of condiments ? 
What evil may they do? 
8. 9. What can you say of black pepper? of white pepper? of 
cayenne pepper? 
10, 11. What can you say of mustard as a condiment? 
12. What can you say of horse-radish ? 
13. What is curry powder? 
14. What is catsup ? 
15. What evil effects are believed to result from the use of con- 
diments? 
16. What substances might be used in the place of hot and fiery 
condiments ? 
• li 
1. What is tobacco? 
2. What is nicotine? 
3. 4, How is its poisonous character proved ? 
5. Are cigarettes less harmful than cigars ? 
6, Describe the first effects of tobacco. 
7 Because the system learns to tolerate tobacco, should we infer 
that it is harmless? 
8. To what may the use of tobacco and strong condiments lead? 
m 
1. What is opium? laudanum? morphine? 
2. Is opium a safe medicine for every one to use? 
3. What is the danger of taking opium often? 84 
UNION SERIES, NO. 2. 
CHAPTER IX. 
DIGESTION. -ABSORPTION. 
I 
1. The question, Where does the blood get the 
nourishment which it carries to all parts of the 
body, has been answered in the preceding chapters. 
It gets it from food. 
2. The next question is, How does the food get 
into the blood? 
3. A piece of beefsteak or a potato is a very 
different thing from blood. And yet in a few 
hours after we eat them they become a part of 
the blood in our veins. This wonderful change 
which takes place in the beefsteak and potato 
and other foods is called digestion. It is made 
in the stomach and bowels. 
4. After the food is digested, it passes through 
the walls of the blood-vessels that are in the 
coats of the stomach and bowels, and thus gets 
into the blood. This is called absorption. 
5. The gullet is a tube which extends from the 
throat to the stomach. The gullet and stomach 
and bowels are all parts of one long tube which 
is contained in the body, and extends from the PHYSIOLOGY AND HEALTH. 
85 
lips to the lower end of the trunk. This tube 
is called the alimentary canal. Aliment means 
nourishment. The 
alimentary canal is 
the canal in which 
nourishment is di- 
gested, or prepared to 
pass into the blood. 
6. The alimentary 
canal is to the body 
what the kitchen is 
to the house. Food 
as it comes from the 
butcher and the gro- 
cer is first carried to 
the kitchen. There it 
is cut up and cooked, 
and finally it comes 
to us in nice tempt- 
ing dishes. So in the 
alimentary canal the 
food is cut up, and 
the nourishing part 
is softened to a liquid 
which can be taken 
into the blood. This 
is digestion. 
7. The cutting and grinding is done by the 
teeth, and at the same time the food is mixed 
Fig. IO. 
Diagram of the Stomach and Intestines. 86 
UNION SERIES, NO. 3. 
with saliva. When it is sufficiently chewed it 
passes, by the act of swallowing, into the stomach. 
There it mingles with a fluid made in the walls 
of the stomach called gastric-juice, which digests 
a part of it. That part which is not digested in 
the stomach goes on into the bowels, and there 
meets with the bile from the liver and the pan- 
creatic-juice from the pancreas. These juices 
complete the change, and the food is ready to be 
absorbed. 
II 
Absorption. 
1. If you put a man's boot into a tub of water, 
leaving the top above the water, the water will 
not get inside immediately, if it is a sound and 
well-made boot, but in a few hours it will soak 
through and fill the boot. So the liquid in the 
alimentary canal soaks through into the blood- 
vessels. We say that it is absorbed by the blood- 
vessels, and the process is called absorption. 
2. The hard and tough parts of our food, like 
gristle and seeds of fruits, are not made liquid, 
and so they cannot be absorbed. They pass down 
lower and lower in the alimentary canal, and are 
finally discharged from the body. 
3. It is sometimes said of one who can eat very 
tough and hard things without hurting himself, 
"he has the stomach of an ostrich." The ostrich PHYSIOLOGY AND HEALTH. 
87 
will swallow wood and metals and stones and 
even glass. But none of us have stomachs like 
that. 
4. If we do not wish to injure our stomachs, 
we must be careful to eat only proper food. If we 
indulge in unripe fruit or too much rich food, or 
if we overload our stomachs, or put fiery, highly 
seasoned food or alcoholic liquors into them, we 
are very likely to have discomfort and pain, and 
if we persist in such a course our stomachs will 
become unhealthy. A feeble or unhealthy con- 
dition of the stomach or bowels is called dyspep- 
sia. Dyspepsia causes one who has it much pain, 
trouble, and sorrow. 
in 
1. If poison is taken in place of or with food, 
the healthy work of digestion will be injured. 
Alcohol is a narcotic poison. Clear alcohol irri- 
tates or "bites" when taken into the mouth, as 
pepper does. You could not keep it in your 
mouth for a moment. The mouth and stomach 
are made for simple food, and do not need irri- 
tating foods or drinks. Too much mustard or 
pepper is bad for them. 
2. Alcohol is much more dangerous than these. 
Clear alcohol is not often drank. The strongest 
drinks are rum, brandy, gin, whisky, and the 
like, which are about one-half alcohol. The 88 
UNION SERIES, NO. 2. 
weakest are wine, beer, and cider. But you 
remember that the nature of the alcohol they 
contain is just the same as that of ardent spirits. 
If they have only three or four tea-spoonfuls of 
alcohol to a tumblerful, or less, they will irritate 
the stomach, and hinder, not help, digestion. 
3. You have seen that alcohol often sends more 
blood to the parts than they need, causing them 
to become flushed and red. Besides doing this 
in the stomach it causes irritation. Sores often 
appear on the lining of the stomach of a heavy 
drinker. 
4. When alcohol first enters the stomach it 
creates a feeling of warmth, but this soon passes 
off as the nerves become stupefied by its presence. 
The glands which pour out the gastric-juice to aid 
digestion work too actively, and too much fluid 
is present. It is a great mistake to think that 
beer, cider, wine, or any other alcoholic liquor, 
will aid digestion. 
5. Alcohol is one of the most dangerous of 
narcotics. It is easy to learn to like it, and to 
require a great deal of it. 
6. If a boy handles a bat a good deal he may 
get his hands blistered at first. By and by the 
skin will grow thick and hard. In the same 
way the ends of a girl's fingers may get hardened 
by sewing. So if the stomach is irritated con- 
stantly by alcohol it will grow thick and tough. PHYSIOLOGY AND HEALTH. 
89 
7. An old toper can drink a great deal of 
strong liquor without feeling it in his stomach. 
That is because the stomach is changed, and in the 
change it has become unfit to digest food well. 
8. Drinking often causes dyspepsia. It takes 
away the appetite and spoils the gastric-juice. 
9. After a long use of alcohol, the stomach 
sometimes gets into such a condition that it will 
not bear food at all without being first roused by 
spirits, and every glass makes the condition worse. 
10. Drinking often causes diseases of the liver. 
11. Tobacco smokers and chewers find to their 
cost that the weed has a powerful effect on their 
stomachs. It produces irritation, debilitates the 
muscles, and often causes dyspepsia. 
IV 
Rules for the Care of the Stomach. 
1. We should not eat too fast. It takes time 
to chew our food properly. If we swallow it 
down in lumps, the stomach will have hard 
labor to digest it. 
2. We should not eat too much. If we feel 
heavy and full after a meal, it is a sign that we 
are not well, or that we have overloaded our 
stomachs. It is foolish to stuff down food which 
we do not need because it tastes well. 
3. We should not eat too often. The stomach 90 
UNION SERIES, NO. 3. 
needs rest as well as the other parts of the body. 
If we keep it at work continually it will soon 
wear out. 
4. Pie and cake and candy should not be eaten 
freely, like bread or fruit. A little of such food 
is sufficient. 
5. When you find that anything you eat hurts 
you, do not eat of it again. If you have eaten 
green apples or cucumbers, and have had a 
stomach-ache after it, let them alone in future. 
If you have eaten two pieces of pie and feel sick, 
eat only one piece next time. If you feel badly 
after eating anything, it is a sign that it is not 
good for you. That is the way Mother Nature 
teaches us. 
6. Alcoholic liquors and tobacco are enemies 
to good digestion, and should not be used. 
V 
Some Serious Facts. 
1. The teachings of physiology concerning the 
evil effects of the drinking habit are confirmed 
by observation and experience, as shown by sta- 
tistics. 
2. From facts gathered between the years 1870 
and 1880 in England and Wales, some startling 
truths are learned. First, these statistics set forth 
that deaths among men who are directly concerned PH YSIOLOG Y A ND HE A L TH. 
91 
in the liquor trade are very much more frequent 
than among those engaged in other occupations. 
While common observation might lead one to a 
similar conclusion, nothing but a collection of 
the facts themselves, for a period of years, would 
absolutely prove it. 
3. Life-insurance tables have been prepared, for 
the purpose of learning whether the common use of 
alcoholic liquors among the people insured would 
increase the risk to the companies insuring them. 
These prove beyond a doubt that it is greatly in- 
creased, the risk among liquor-sellers being shown 
to be fifty per cent, greater than among others. 
4. Some diseases are much more likely to occur 
in persons addicted to strong drink; liver dis- 
eases, for instance, being six times as prevalent. 
Without here specifying other diseases brought 
about in the same way, it may be said that there 
is scarcely any organ of the body that may not 
be more or less seriously damaged by the use of 
alcoholic drinks. 
Effects of Moderate Drinking. 
5. Many persons freely admit the injurious 
effects of excessive drinking, but are not willing 
to believe that drinking in moderation is harmful. 
Unfortunately for those who indulge in this de- 
lusion, there is no such safety as they would be 92 
UNION SERIES, NO. 2. 
glad to suppose. If intoxicants are habitually 
taken, even in small quantities, persons addicted 
even to such moderate use of them are likely to 
suffer from hardening of some of the nerve- 
centers, and from the shriveling and thickening 
of the lining membranes of the stomach. 
6. The kidneys are still more seriously affected, 
being very susceptible to injury from this cause. 
The tendency of alcohol to distend and engorge 
the minute blood-vessels is plainly shown in the 
reddened face and unnatural complexion of many 
persons who, while they habitually use it in small 
quantities, may not be called excessive tipplers. 
7. We have shown that the stomach, the liver, 
and the kidneys are easily affected, and in a seri- 
ous manner by drinking habits. The various forms 
of disease which are brought about by alcohol 
are many, and are of very frequent occurrence, 
being most alarmingly prevalent among the class 
of people known as " moderate drinkers." 
8. Any one who has seen a drunken man in 
all his repulsiveness needs not to be convinced 
that intoxication is an evil. The effects upon the 
man who habitually uses liquor, but may never 
be seen in this condition, are not so apparent; but 
by a careful observation of many cases under 
various conditions, it has been proved that these 
effects are just as real and as certainly harmful 
as drunkenness itself. PHYSIOLOGY AND HEALTH. 
93 
9. The most disastrous effects that follow the 
use of alcohol and tobacco are due to their tend- 
ency to create an appetite and habit. Those who 
never begin to use them never regret it, while 
many who are themselves their victims unite in 
condemning the use of these narcotics. 
10. No one becomes a drunkard or a victim 
to the tobacco habit all at once. No one intends 
to become so when he begins the use of either of 
these dangerous articles; but it is impossible to 
tell where the habit may lead, if once formed, and 
therefore the only wise and safe course is never to 
form it. "Touch not, taste not" is a wise maxim 
to follow, not alone for the sake of retaining one's 
self-control, but as a safeguard to health. 
ILLUSTRATIONS. 
1. The alimentary canal of a bird or a fish will give a general 
idea of that organ. 
2. Get a grain of good pepsin at the druggist's, and put half of it 
in a test-tube, with a few shreds of lean beef. Add a teaspoonful 
of water made acid by a fraction of a drop of hydrochloric acid. 
Cork the test-tube, and put it where it will be kept at a tempera- 
ture of about 100° Fahr, for twelve hours. The meat will be more 
or less liquified. The experiment will not succeed perfectly with- 
out much care, but it will show enough to illustrate the process of 
digestion and to contrast with the result of the following experi- 
ment. 
3. Prepare shreds of beef in a test-tube with pepsin, as before, 
but instead add alcohol with the water, and treat as in the pre- 
vious experiment. 94 
UNION SERIES, NO. 2. 
QUESTIONS. 
I 
1. Where does the blood get its nourishment? 
3. Can a piece of beefsteak or potato become part of the blood ? 
Where does the change in them take place? What is this change 
called ? 
4. What is absorption ? ■ 
5. Describe the alimentary canal. What is its use? 
6. How is the alimentary canal like the kitchen of a house? 
7. What can you tell of the process of digestion ? 
ii 
1. How may you illustrate absorption? 
2. Can all parts of our food be digested and absorbed? 
4. How may we injure our stomachs ? What is dyspepsia ? 
m 
1. Are irritating substances good for the stomach ? 
2. What are the strongest alcoholic liquors? What are the 
weakest ? Are the weaker liquors harmless ? 
3. 4. What is the immediate effect of alcohol in the stomach? 
5. Is alcohol as dangerous as other narcotics ? 
6. 7, 8, 9. What are some of the later effects of alcohol in the 
stomach ? 
10. Does alcohol affect the liver ? 
11. What is the first effect of tobacco on the stomach ? 
IV 
1. Why should we not eat fast? 
2. How may we know when we have eaten too much? 
3. Why is it harmful to eat often between meals? 
4. What is the rule about eating pie and cake and candy? 
5. How does Mother Nature teach us to avoid hurtful food? 
6. Should we use alcohol and tobacco, if we desire to have good 
digestion ? Name six rules for the care of the stomach. 
v 
1. What do statistics teach as to the effects of alcoholic bever- 
ages ? 
2, 3. What do statistics and life-insurance tables show as to the PHYSIOLOGY AND HEALTH. 
95 
number of deaths among those engaged in the manufacture and 
sale of alcoholic liquors ? 
4. What do they show as to liability to certain diseases ? 
5. Is moderate drinking harmless ? What is its effect on the 
stomach ? 
6. What is its effect on the kidneys ? 
7. Is alcohol in itself a cause of disease ? 
8. How have the effects of moderate drinking been learned ? 
9. How does the use of alcohol affect the appetite for it? 
10. Does any one ever intend to become a drunkard? What is 
a safe and good maxim with regard to the use of alcohol? 96 
UNION SERIES, NO. 2. 
CHAPTER X. 
RESPIRATION.-THE VOICE. 
I 
1. You know that we never stop breathing 
while we live. When we are running or jumping 
or working hard, we breathe faster. When we 
are sitting, or lying quite still, we breathe more 
quietly, but even when we are fast asleep we still 
breathe. The chest rises and falls as constantly 
as the waves rise and fall on the ocean. We may 
go a good while without eating or drinking. We 
may lie for hours without moving a limb, but we 
cannot go a minute without breathing. Breath- 
ing must be a very important matter, since it is 
the only act that we continue to do all the time. 
Let us inquire: (1) How we breathe. (2) Why 
we breathe. 
How we Breathe. 
2. In order to understand how we breathe, we 
must examine the part of the body that we use 
in breathing and see how it works. 
3. When we watch a person breathing what we 
see is that the nostrils open a little with every PH YSIO LOG Y A ND HE A L TH. 
97 
breath, and that the chest and abdomen swell 
and then sink back regularly. But we know by 
feeling that when the nostrils open and the chest 
swells, air rushes in through the nose or mouth, 
or both. 
4. The proper opening for the air to enter in 
breathing is the nose. But sometimes the nose 
Bronchial 
tubes. 
A 
-Larynx. 
-Trachea. 
Section of the Lungs, partly showing the Course of the Bronchial Tubes. 
Fig. I I. 
is stopped by a bad cold, or by an accident. Then 
we breathe through the mouth. 98 
UNION SERIES, NO. 2. 
5. It is a bad habit to breathe through the 
mouth when it is not necessary. It sometimes 
causes sore throat. People who sleep with their 
mouths open snore and disturb their neighbors. 
6. The nose has two narrow passage-ways, and 
the air is warmed and moistened by the warm 
moist walls as it passes through. Through the 
mouth a constant stream of 
air can pour in, which does 
not get properly warmed and 
moistened before it reaches 
the throat. 
7. But whether the air 
enters by the nostrils or by 
the mouth, it reaches the 
throat next. Then it goes 
down through the windpipe 
into the chest, and there the 
windpipe divides into two 
branches, one of which goes to the right lung 
and the other to the left lung. 
8. The nose and mouth, the throat, and the 
windpipe with its two branches, are the air-pass- 
ages by which air is admitted to the lungs. 
9. The branches of the windpipe as they enter 
the lungs divide into many smaller branches,- 
as the trunk of a tree divides into limbs and 
branches and twigs, - and they finally end in 
very small sacs called air-cells, so small that there 
Bronchial Tubes and Air-Cells. 
Fig. 12. PHYSIOLOGY AND HEALTH. 
99 
are millions of them in each lung. These sacs 
may be compared to the leaves on the ends of 
the twigs. 
10. Alongside of the branches of the windpipe 
which carry air into and out of the lungs are 
other pipes - blood-vessels - which carry blood 
into and out of the lungs. The large blood-vessels 
divide, just as the large branches of the windpipe 
divide into smaller and smaller vessels, until when 
they reach the air-cells, they are as small as the 
finest hairs, and cover the outside of the air-cells 
in a network. 
11. Now we want to know what makes the air 
go in through the air-passages into the air-cells 
of the lungs, and what makes it go out again. 
Perhaps you will say, "That is simple enough. 
We breathe it in." But if 1 ask you what you 
mean by that and how we breathe it in, you will 
see that it is not so simple a matter as it seems 
to be. 
12. If you take an old-fashioned bellows, and 
pull the handles apart air will rush into it. When 
you press the handles together, the air will pour 
out. The human chest is somewhat like the 
bellows. The muscles on the chest pull it and 
make it expand, as our hands pull the handles 
of the bellows apart, and make it expand. At 
the same time the diaphragm, which is partly 
muscle, and which is the floor of the chest, pulls 100 
UNION SERIES, NO. 2. 
itself down and makes the chest deeper. As the 
chest is made larger and deeper in this way, the 
lungs inside of it, which are elastic, also grow 
larger, and so the air must pour in through the 
air-passages, just as it pours into the bellows. 
When the muscles in the chest stop pulling it 
open, and the diaphragm rises up again, the chest 
returns to its former size and the lungs with it, 
and the air which poured in is forced out again. 
13. So the chest is like the bellows, and breath- 
ing is like the opening and shutting of the bellows 
which lets the air in, and makes it go out. 
Why do we Breathe? 
14. We breathe because we need air. But why 
do we need air? When chemists examine air 
that is breathed out, they find that it is quite 
different from the fresh pure air that is breathed 
in. It has lost some of its oxygen, and it has 
gained carbonic acid and some other waste matter 
from the body. 
15. The oxygen has gone into the blood, and 
the carbonic acid and other waste matter has 
come from the blood. We have learned that in 
the lungs the hair-like blood-vessels surround the 
air-cells. The walls of these blood-vessels and 
air-cells are very thin, and the oxygen passes 
through them from the air in the cells into the 
blood-vessels, and the carbonic acid and other PHYSIOLOGY AND HEALTH. 
101 
waste matter comes out of the blood-vessels into 
the air-cells in the same way. And that is what 
we breathe for. It is in order that the air may 
get down into the air-cells and make this ex- 
change with the blood. 
16. The blood takes the oxygen and carries it 
about and distributes it through the whole body. 
The body cannot live without it any more than 
a fire can burn without fuel. And the blood 
must get rid of its carbonic acid. Carbonic acid 
is like the ashes in the stove. It is poisonous 
to the body when there is much of it in the 
blood. So it must be given off constantly by 
the breath, or else it will stop the life of the 
body, as ashes will stop the fire if the stove gets 
full of them. 
17. You can easily see why air that has been 
breathed once is not good to breathe again. 
You can see also why air soon gets bad in a 
room where people are, and why it is necessary 
to have fresh air coming into such a room all 
the time. 
18. The air in a close room full of people 
soon acquires a bad smell. Those who have been 
in the room all the time may not notice the foul 
air. They are very apt, however, to feel badly 
in some way. Perhaps they have a headache, or 
they are sleepy, or they feel languid and dull. 
19. Those who spend much of their time in 102 
UNION SERIES, NO. 2. 
rooms where the air is bad look sickly, and 
generally are far from feeling well. 
20. Air may be made impure in many other 
ways than by being breathed. Coal gas, and gas 
from dead and decaying things from sewers and 
drains and outhouses, spoil the air. A bad smell 
is a warning, but air is sometimes bad when it 
does not smell bad. If we wish to have good 
health, we must always be careful to get pure 
air to breathe. 
II 
The Voice. 
1. In all wind instruments, like a cornet, horn, 
or flute, the sound is produced 
by blowing through a tube. The 
human throat is a wind in- 
strument. The same parts that 
we use for breathing are used 
also for making sounds. The 
windpipe is the tube, and at 
the upper end of it is an en- 
largement called the larynx, 
in which are the vocal chords. 
These are two bands stretched 
across the larynx, which can be 
made to vibrate by the air pass- 
ing out through the windpipe, 
and as they vibrate the sound is produced. 
Fig. 13. 
THE LARYNX.- 1. Adam's 
Apple. 2. The Trachea. PHYSIOLOGY AND HEALTH. 
103 
Ill 
1. The odor of even a small quantity of wine, 
or any alcoholic liquor, is quickly detected in 
the breath of the drinker. 
2. When the liquor strikes the stomach, the 
alcohol soaks through the thin walls of the blood- 
vessels into the blood, which carries a part of it 
to the lungs and air-cells. Some of it, in the 
form of vapor, then passes out in the breath, which 
thus has the odor of the liquor. You have learned 
how important oxygen is to a healthy life, and 
that the red corpuscles in the blood take up the 
oxygen they get from the air in the lungs, and 
carry it to every part of the body. A sufficient 
quantity of alcohol in the blood will shrink 
these corpuscles. They are thus unable to take 
up oxygen from the air in the lungs as they 
ought to do, while they retain the carbonic acid 
or refuse matter instead, and carry it back to 
poison the whole system, and thereby lower its 
tone. Thus, people who drink alcoholic liquors 
are thereby less able to resist any disease to which 
they may be exposed. Alcoholic liquors often 
keep the lining of the air-passages in the lungs 
in an irritated and inflamed state. This increases 
the tendency to colds of the head or lungs. A 
person who drinks alcoholic liquors is more liable 
to have diseases of the lungs, with less chance of 
recovery, than one who does not. 104 
UNION SERIES, NO. 2. 
3. Alcohol causes redness and dryness of the 
vocal chords and voice-box, and the voice conse- 
quently becomes harsh and husky. 
4. It is a mistake to think that any form of 
alcohol will cure consumption. One kind of 
consumption is caused by alcohol. 
5. If you would prevent disease; 'if you would 
have a pure, sweet breath; if you would have a 
clear voice; and if you would have good, strong 
breathing, never drink any liquors containing 
alcohol. 
6. Tobacco irritates the air-passages. Its odor 
clings to the breath of one who uses it and makes 
it stale and unpleasant. It defiles and blackens 
the teeth. 
7. The habit, particularly of the cigarette smoker, 
of drawing the smoke into the lungs instead of 
puffing it out of the mouth is very hurtful. The 
nicotine that it contains passes in quantities 
through the delicate walls of the air-cells and 
blood-vessels into the blood. 
8. The throat of the smoker is apt to become 
inflamed and sore, producing a cough. 
9. The habit of smoking has in some cases 
caused a cancer of the tongue or throat. This is 
a fatal disease. 
10. You can escape these injurious effects by 
never using tobacco. PHYSIOLOGY AND HEALTH. 
105 
IV 
Ventilation. 
1. Ventilation is supplying fresh air in the place 
of that which has been breathed, or is otherwise 
impure. The amount of fresh air required in 
public-halls, school-rooms, churches, and cars and 
carriages, depends upon the number of persons 
they contain. A dozen people would breathe very 
comfortably in a hall where a hundred would suffo- 
cate, if they were prevented from getting fresh air. 
2. In the proper ventilation of a building it 
must be remembered that fires, gas, and lamps 
consume the oxygen of the air and give carbonic 
acid to it. Hence the more fires and lights the 
greater must be the supply of fresh air. 
3. The lungs may be able to get enough oxygen 
for the body out of impure air without much 
difficulty. The headaches, drowsiness, and other 
bad effects of breathing impure air are not due 
only to an insufficient supply of oxygen, but to 
re-breathing an atmosphere laden with particles 
of waste matter given off by the lungs in previous 
exhalations. 
4. The sense of smell is the best guide to the 
necessity for ventilation. One can very easily tell 
upon entering a room whether there is proper 
ventilation. If not, the disagreeable odors will 
be the best indicators for more fresh air. 106 
UNION SERIES, NO. 2. 
5. Ventilation, in the ordinary acceptation of 
the term, simply means the opening of windows 
and doors, so as to let in fresh air and drive out 
the impure. Correctly speaking, it is something 
more. Not only must fresh air be taken into the 
room, but it must also be distributed to every 
part of it. This is best accomplished by letting 
the warm fresh air in at the floor of the room, 
and by driving the impure out at the ceiling. 
6. It is particularly desirable to have plenty 
of fresh air in our sleeping apartments. The 
window should be slightly raised at the bottom 
and lowered a little at the top. To secure a 
healthful atmosphere in such apartments, the win- 
dows and doors should be widely opened every 
day, so as to admit the outside air. 
7. The bed and bedding should also be well 
aired every day. 
ILLUSTRATIONS- 
1. Let the scholars sit quietly, and each observe the breathing of 
his neighbor, counting the number of breaths drawn in a minute 
or half a minute. 
2. Have them learn by trying it, the greater ease, quietness, and 
comfort in the throat in breathing through the hose, rather than 
through the mouth. 
3. Get the windpipe and lungs of a sheep from the butcher, and 
show them. 
4. Bring in a pair of bellows and show how they act. 
5. Direct the attention of the children to their own uncomfort- 
able and restless sensations after sitting for some time in a close PHYSIOLOGY AND HEALTH. 
107 
room, and the comfort and freshness of the same room after the 
windows have been opened. This illustration is easily furnished 
in most school-rooms. 
6. Show the voice-box or larynx in the top of the windpipe - 
the "Adam's apple" in their own throats. Show the vocal cords, 
and the opening between them through which the air passes. A 
musical pipe can be obtained at a toy-store which will illustrate 
the production of vocal sound. 
7. Show and explain your method of ventilating the school- 
room. Show that there must be an opportunity both for entrance 
and exit of the air, and that there must be some force to make a 
" draught." 
QUESTIONS. 
I 
1. What bodily act is incessantly repeated from the beginning to 
the end of life ? 
2, 3. When we watch a person breathing, what do we observe? 
4. What is the proper entrance for air in breathing? 
5. What are some bad results of breathing through the mouth? 
6. Why is the nose a better channel for the breath? 
7. Where does the breath go after passing through the nose? 
8. What do you mean by the term air-passages ? 
9. How does the windpipe divide and branch? 
10. What other tubes enter the lungs and leave them with the 
branches of the windpipe? 
11. 12. 13. To what may the chest be compared? How do we 
expand the chest? What makes the air enter the lungs? What 
makes it go out again ? 
14. What is the object of breathing? How is air changed in 
breathing? 
15. Where does the oxygen taken from the air go? Whence 
comes the carbonic acid formed in air that has been breathed? 
16. What does the blood do with the oxygen taken from the air? 
Why must the blood get rid of its carbonic acid? 
17. What change has taken place in bad air in crowded rooms? 
18. How can we tell when air is bad ? 108 
UNION SERIES, NO. 2. 
19. What is the effect of bad air? 
20. In what ways other than breathing it may air be made 
impure ? 
ii 
1. To what kind of an instrument may the human throat be 
likened? What two uses has the windpipe? How is sound pro- 
duced in the voice-box ? 
m 
1. How can you tell when a person who is near you has been 
drinking? 
2. When alcohol is taken into the stomach where does it go? 
What effect has alcohol on the red corpuscles of the blood ? What 
effect has alcohol on the lining of the air-passages. 
3. What effect has alcohol on the voice? 
4. Does alcohol cure consumption? 
5. What course should we take to maintain the soundness of the 
air-passages ? 
6. What effect has tobacco on the air-passages ? on the breath ? 
on the teeth? 
7. Why is cigarette-smoking more harmful than cigar-smoking? 
8. How does smoking sometimes affect the throat ? 
9. What fatal disease is sometimes caused by smoking? 
10. How may we escape all these bad effects ? 
IV 
1. What is ventilation? How much fresh air does a room 
require? 
2. Is air spoiled in any other way than by breathing it? 
3. What is the cause of the headache and drowsiness which 
come when the air is impure? 
4. What simple test of air do we carry with us ? 
5. What is sometimes incorrectly called ventilation? 
6. What can you say of the ventilation of sleeping-rooms? 
7. What should be done with the bed and bedding? PHYSIOLOGY AND HEALTH. 
109 
CHAPTER XI. 
THE NERVOUS SYSTEM. 
I 
1. Sometimes when a strong man is struck on 
the head with a stone or a club he will fall down 
as if he were dead. We say that he is "stunned." 
His muscles are not injured. No bones are 
broken, but he is unable to move, and he only 
breathes. It is because his brain has been hurt. 
2. The brain lies in the skull. Through a large 
hole in the bottom of the skull the spinal cord 
passes from the brain down through the spinal 
canal in the backbone. And from the spinal 
cord the white threads which we call nerves pass 
off and go to all parts of the body. 
3. With the brain we think and feel and 
resolve. The brain is the seat of government 
of the whole body, just as Washington is the 
seat of government of the United States. 
4. But the brain cannot take charge of every 
movement of each muscle any more than the 
general government at Washington could order 
the affairs of each town. Many actions which 
we do without thinking about them are under 110 
UNION SERIES, NO. 2. 
Cerebrum. 
-Cerebellum. 
l Spinal cord. 
[Cauda 
lequina. 
Great 
sciatic 
knerve. 
Fig. 13. 
General Representation of the Nervous System. PHYSIOLOGY AND HEALTH. 
111 
the control of the spinal cord. For example, the 
movements of the muscles of the legs in walking- 
are directed by the cord, and the brain is not 
troubled with them. If we had to think of 
every movement in such acts as walking, it 
would be hard work to live. 
5. The nerves are the lines along which mes- 
sages pass between all parts of the body and the 
spinal cord and brain. 
6. Suppose, for instance, that you step on a 
pin and it sticks in your foot. Instantly, before 
you have time to think about it, you jerk your 
foot up and hop on the other. The spinal cord 
directs this movement. Next you sit down and 
carefully pull the pin out. This act is directed 
by the brain. 
7. In the skin all over the body are many 
fine threads of nerves which are very sensitive. 
These threads join in larger nerves, and run 
to the spinal cord, and so are connected with 
the brain. Accordingly, if on any part of the 
skin, you receive a hard blow or a cut or burn, 
those little nerves send a message inward to the 
brain which makes the feeling of pain. If you 
cut off one of these nerves, and then pinch or 
prick that part of the skin in which the ends of 
this nerve lie, you will not feel anything. The 
line along which the message should pass being- 
cut off, the brain gets no message at all. 112 
UNION SERIES, NO. 2. 
8. In every muscle of the body are nerve- 
threads, which look precisely like those just 
spoken of. They also unite to form large nerves 
which can be followed in to the spinal cord. 
But they have a different use. They are nerves 
of motion. The others are nerves of feeling-. 
When you resolve to lift your foot or move your 
Half of the Brain, and upper end of the Spinal Cord, with 
the Nerves coming from them. 
Fig. 14. 
hand or any other part, the brain sends its mes- 
sage to the muscles through the nerves of mo- 
tion. If one of them is cut off, the muscle to 
which it goes does not move when the brain 
wants it to move. When all the nerves that go to 
a part of the body are cut off or made useless, 
that part is said to be paralyzed. PHYSIOLOGY AND HEALTH. 
113 
9. You see that the nervous system, which in- 
cludes the brain and spinal cord and nerves, is 
the most important part of the body, because it 
presides over all the other parts. It is very 
necessary to keep it sound and healthy. How 
can we do this? 
10. (a) We must sleep enough. Sleep gives 
brain and nerves rest. If we are deprived of 
sleep for one night, the nervous system suffers; 
and if we could not sleep at all, we should soon 
die. Children especially ought not to sit up late 
at night. 
(b) We must have fresh air. Nothing exhausts 
the brain sooner than close, foul air. 
(c) We must have exercise. Work or play with 
the muscles is often a rest for the brain. 
(d) We must keep the blood pure. 
II 
Alcohol and the Nervous System. 
1. To make good blood the food should be 
properly digested, and no poison should be mixed 
with it. Alcohol is a poison. You remember 
that the alcohol from a glass of wine, beer, or 
any stronger liquor, quickly soaks through the 
blood-vessels of the stomach into the blood. 
2. The nervous system is so well supplied with 
blood-vessels that plenty of fresh blood is being 114 
UNION SERIES, NO. 2. 
constantly sent to every part of it. The blood 
is rapidly passing through these vessels, leaving 
the food needed and taking away waste matter. 
This is especially true of the brain, the great 
nerve-center. 
3. Little blood-vessels or capillaries run through 
and around the soft gray matter of the brain, 
and in and out among its white fibers. Through 
these a great deal of blood is constantly passing. 
The food, brought up from the stomach in this 
blood, soaks through the thin walls of the blood- 
vessels to nourish the brain. If the stomach sends 
alcohol also into the blood, it too will soak 
through upon the brain, doing harm to its deli- 
cate structure. No wonder the drinker has a head- 
ache after his wine. Because more alcohol goes 
to the brain than to any other organ, except the 
liver, alcohol is said to have an affinity for or a 
tendency to go to the brain. 
4. Why does so much of the alcohol go to 
the brain? About one-fifth of the blood in the 
healthy living body, at any one time, is naturally 
in the brain, and alcohol sends more. You re- 
member that nerves in the walls of the blood- 
vessels control and regulate the circulation of the 
blood as it moves through them. Alcohol in 
the brain of the drinker paralyzes these nerves, 
letting the blood-vessels of the brain stretch, and 
too much blood flows into them. The more blood PH YSIOLOG Y A ND HE A L TH. 
115 
that goes to these blood-vessels, the more alcohol 
will soak through their thin walls upon the brain 
of the drinker. 
5. As so much blood must pass through the 
brain to nourish it, the blood-vessels should be in 
good condition. If anything should cause one 
to burst, the blood would How out and injure the 
brain. This is called apoplexy, and may kill 
the person at once or cause paralysis. You have 
seen that alcohol weakens the blood-vessels, so 
that they are liable to stretch and burst. The 
drinking of alcoholic liquor is one cause of 
apoplexy. 
6. The brain is the" seat of reason; with it we 
do our thinking, deciding, and willing. How we 
cannot tell, but we know that whatever injures 
the brain injures the power to think, to decide, 
or to will. 
Ill 
Alcohol and the Brain. 
1. If alcohol is a narcotic or deadener of 
sensibility, why does it excite the brain of one 
who has taken a little wine or any such liquor? 
We shall better understand this by remembering 
two things. 
(a) Nerves in the heart and in the walls of 
the many blood-vessels of the brain should con- 116 
UNION SERIES, NO. 2. 
trol the circulation of the blood, letting only the 
right amount go to that organ. 
(6) Alcohol paralyzes these nerves, an undue 
amount of blood rushes to the brain, which is 
excited by it. This excitement led people to 
think that alcohol was something that would 
help the brain do better work. But they were 
mistaken. This excitement, the result of the 
paralyzing or narcotic character of alcohol, is 
not a trustworthy activity of the brain. 
2. The judgment seems paralyzed also. It is 
the nature of the alcohol in a glass of wine to 
blunt the fine sensibilities of the drinker, so that 
while under its influence he often says and does 
what he otherwise would not. He is less wise 
and safe in thought and act for the wine. 
3. More frequent and deeper drinking affects 
the brain still more, and results in weakening the 
will and likewise further blunts the moral sense. 
When such a person tries to reform, his weak- 
ened will too often yields to the tempting drink. 
His word cannot be trusted. His love of truth 
seems gone. " This tendency to untruthfulness 
often descends to his children." (B. W. Richard- 
son.) 
4. While a very little alcohol will to some 
extent thus deaden the best powers of the human 
mind, its worst passions,-as anger, malice and 
cruelty, - are not deadened or overcome by it PHYSIOLOGY AND HEALTH. 
117 
until the drinker is dead-drunk. Thus, when 
the brain is partly paralyzed by alcohol, the 
judgment is asleep, the lower passions aroused, 
and the drinker is ready to become excited by 
small things and to quarrel. 
5. Alcohol promotes crime. Men beat and 
murder their wives and children under its influ- 
ence. It takes away prudence and self-control, 
and leads them to deeds that they would not do 
when sober. It drives the reason from its right- 
ful throne in the body, and leaves it to be guided 
by excited passions. 
6. The first glass of cider, of beer, or of wine 
was the first step towards the discords in fam- 
ilies, quarrels, murders, sickness, pauperism, in- 
sanity and misery that are some of the results 
of the action of alcohol on the nervous system. 
Alcohol is a brain poison. If you never drink 
any liquor that contains it, you will never be- 
come a slave to it. 
7. The use of alcohol when persisted in often 
brings on the disease called "delirium tremens." 
It is one of the most terrible of diseases. The 
subject of it is filled with horror and wild raving, 
and if he survives is generally shattered in body 
and mind. 
8. The mind sometimes gives way gradually to 
the effects of alcohol, and the drinker becomes 
insane. 118 
UNION SERIES, NO. 2. 
Heredity of Alcohol. 
9. A child may have the dark hair and brown 
eyes of his father, and the kindly, generous dis- 
position of his mother; another child in the same 
family may have the hair and eyes of his mother 
and the ill-natured, ugly disposition of his father; 
and a third child may not resemble either of 
his parents, but have his grandfather's mouth 
and eyes, and the amiable disposition of his grand- 
mother. Thus are we like our parents. If a 
parent has poisoned his stomach and blood, and 
his muscles, nerves, and brain with alcoholic 
liquors, his children will inherit some of the 
evil consequences. The appetite for wine which 
the parent may not have indulged to the extent 
of drunkenness often descends to the child, with 
a will too weak to control it. A small brain, 
weak nerves and a weak will; a weak conscience, 
with quick and violent passions, are often a child's 
inheritance from his father's cups. Combe men- 
tions a child, six years old, that was well-formed 
in body, but whose mind was idiotic. The only 
way it could make known its wants was with 
a wild shriek. Its parents were healthy and in- 
telligent; but the weak mental condition of the 
child was due to the drunkenness of both its 
parents. PHYSIOLOGY AND HEALTH. 
119 
IV 
Effect of Tobacco on the Nervous System. 
1. Tobacco acts on the nervous system chiefly. 
At first it makes the head giddy and the whole 
body faint and sick. An unsteady hand, a languid 
brain, and an irregular heart often follow its use. 
Many men are wearing out their nerves and short- 
ening their lives by the use of tobacco. Many 
boys are making their bodies puny and their 
minds weak by tobacco. 
2. Cigarettes are said to have a worse effect 
on the nervous system than cigars. If they are 
made from the stumps of cigars, they will con- 
tain more nicotine than other tobacco; and their 
smoke is more likely to be drawn into the lungs. 
3. A member* of the Paris Academy of Medi- 
cine said: " Statistics show that in exact propor- 
tion with the increased consumption of tobacco 
is the increase of diseases of the nerve-centers 
(brain and spinal cord), insanity, general paraly- 
sis, and certain cancerous affections." 
4. Dr. Woodward said: "That tobacco produces 
insanity I am fully confident. Its influence upon 
the brain and nervous system is hardly less than 
that of alcohol, and if excessively used it is equally ' 
injurious." 
* Lander : The Tobacco Problem, pp. 86-88. 120 
UNION SERIES, NO. 2. 
5. The use of tobacco so paralyzes the nerves 
and blunts the refined sensibilities of the smoker 
that he soon becomes unmindful of the comforts 
and rights of others. How often we see the smoke 
from a cigar, or the disagreeable odor from the 
smoker's breath, blown into the faces of others 
who are made sick by it. 
6. A man may think he is being polite when 
he smokes his tobacco on the front platform of 
a car; but when he has finished smoking and 
steps into the car, he soon pollutes the already 
close air with his tobacco-smelling breath and 
clothes. 
7. If you would be true to yourself, or just to 
others, you must avoid the use of tobacco at all 
times and in all places. 
8. Tobacco is not nearly so likely to change the 
structure of an organ as is alcohol, but it rather 
affects the action of that organ. Yet permanent 
changes, especially in the blood-vessels and in the 
nervous system, frequently result from its use. 
9. Cases are given in medical works in which 
excessive smoking has caused death; in other 
cases it has caused paralysis, and, in general, the 
use of tobacco tends to bring about dyspepsia, 
palpitation of the heart, and various diseases of 
the nerves. 
10. While tobacco acts injuriously on adults, 
its effects upon young and growing boys are much PHYSIOLOGY AND HEALTH. 
121 
more damaging. At one time orders were given 
in the United States Naval Academy for the 
students to refrain from the use of tobacco. Sub- 
sequently they were allowed to return to its use, 
when the evil effects became so noticeable that 
the young men were again ordered to desist. 
11. It is an interesting and suggestive fact, that 
even those persons who do not admit that tobacco 
injures themselves, are agreed as to its harmful 
effects upon the youth, and nearly all such persons 
favor laws which would prevent its sale in any 
form to those under age. 
12. By students who have made a special study 
of the subject, it is believed that a large part of 
our population of young men have been greatly 
injured by the prevalent use of tobacco, and even 
among adults the habit has become so general, 
and in many cases so excessive, that special dis- 
eases may be directly traced to it. Not alone 
does it injure the person addicted to its use, but 
its injurious effects are even transmitted to his 
descendants. 
13. Tobacco-smoking increases the rapidity of 
the pulse,-and both in smoking and chewing 
there is an unnatural stimulation of the salivary 
glands. For this reason their usefulness as aids 
in the process of digestion is interfered with. 
14. It is sometimes said that while occasional 
smoking, even if it has injurious effects, does 122 
UNION SERIES, NO. 2. 
not permanently injure the system, it is equally 
true that there are comparatively few occasional 
smokers; but, on the other hand, persons who 
smoke at all are very apt to smoke to excess, and 
excessive smoking makes in time a permanent, 
impression upon the nervous system. 
ILLUSTRATIONS. 
1. Show the brain cavity in the skull, and the spinal canal in the 
backbone, if you have a skeleton. Show also the small openings 
through which the nerves come out from the spinal cord ? 
2. Find a large nerve in the " second joint " of a fowl's leg, and 
show it. 
3. If you have an electric battery, illustrate the action of nerve- 
centers and nerves with it. If not, the telegraph wires and offices 
are familiar to the scholars. 
QUESTIONS. 
I 
1. What is it to be stunned ? 
2. Where are the brain and spinal cord? Where are the nerves? 
3. What is the work of the brain ? 
4. What is the " lieutenant " of the brain? 
5. What is the work of the nerves? 
6. How can you illustrate the action of the brain and spinal 
cord? 
7. Describe the nerves of feeling. 
8. Describe the nerves of motion. 
9. Why is the nervous system important? 
10. What should we do to keep the nervous system sound? 
II 
1. What is necessary to make good blood ? 
2. Are there many blood-vessels in the nervous system ? PHYSIOLOGY AND HEALTH. 
123 
3. How does alcohol reach the brain? 
4. How does alcohol affect the blood-vessels of the brain ? 
5. What is apoplexy? What is paralysis? How may alcohol 
cause apoplexy? 
6. What effect does a little alcohol have on the brain? 
m 
1. How does a little alcohol excite the brain? 
2. How does a little alcohol affect the judgment? 
3. What effect has frequent drinking? 
4. What effect has alcohol on the lower passions? 
5. 6. Name some other effects of alcohol. 
7. What is " delirium tremens " ? 
8. Does alcohol ever cause insanity? 
9. May the effects of alcohol descend by inheritance ? 
IV 
1. What are the first effects of tobacco? Name some later 
effects. 
2. Why are cigarettes worse than cigars? 
3. 4. How does tobacco cause diseases of the nervous system? 
5. 6, 7. How does tobacco affect the manners? 
8, Does tobacco ever affect the structure of organs? 
9, Name some other effects of tobacco. 
10, 11. Does tobacco affect boys more than adults ? 
12. What is the conclusion of those who have studied the effects 
of tobacco? 
13. How does tobacco affect the pulse ? How does it affect the 
salivary glands ? 
14. What can be said of occasional smoking ? 124 
UNION SERIES, NO. 2. 
CHAPTER XIF. 
SPECIAL SENSES.-THE EYE.-THE EAR. 
I 
1. We have five senses, - Touch, Taste, Smell, 
Hearing, and Sight. The sense of touch resides 
in the skin all over the surface of the body, and 
in some parts of the inside of the body. The 
sense of taste has its place in the tongue and in 
the palate chiefly, 
and the sense of 
smell in the nose. 
The senses of hear- 
ing and of sight are 
the only ones that 
have a special or- 
gan. The eye is 
made only for see- 
ing, though it adds 
to the beauty of the face. The ear is made only 
for hearing. 
2. The eyeball is nearly round, and is placed in 
two bony pits, which look very large and deep 
in the bare skull. In the living body these pits 
are filled with fat, which makes a soft cushion 
for the ball. 
Fig. 15. 
Eyeball and Optic Nerve. PHYSIOLOGY AND HEALTH. 
125 
3. The eyeball is protected by the brow which 
arches over it, and by the bridge of the nose on 
the inner side of it. 
Above it, in the bony 
socket, lies the little 
body, called the tear- 
gland, which makes 
tears. In front of it 
the lids close, and the 
lashes on the edges 
of the lids serve to 
keep out dust and to shade the eye a little. 
4. Six small muscles are attached to the eye- 
ball, which move it in all directions. 
5. The outside coat of the eyeball is tough and 
white. In the front of the ball is a clear, trans- 
parent piece, shaped like the glass which covers 
the face of a watch. This is called the cornea. 
Through the cornea the colored part of the eye 
is seen. This is called the iris, and is blue or 
brown or black', or some shade between these col- 
ors. It moves as the light falls upon it. Indeed, 
it is made in part of fine bands of muscle. 
6. In the center of the iris is a hole which 
always looks black. This is the pupil. 
7. The rays of light pass through the pupil, 
and reach the nerve of the eye called the retina in 
the back part of the eyeball. From the retina the 
impression is sent in along the trunk of the nerve 
Fig. 16. 
1 2 3 
THE EYE. - 1. Pupil. 2. Iris. 3 Sclerotic 
Coat. 126 
UNION SERIES, NO. 2. 
to the brain. It is really the brain that sees. 
The eye is its instrument. 
8. Good eye-sight is one of the greatest blessings. 
Indeed, it is necessary for success in most employ- 
ments. Therefore, we should take the utmost care 
of our eyes. The following rules are important: 
(а) Do not strain the eyes by using them in 
a bad light, or by using them too long. 
(б) Do not read when lying down. 
(c) Do not hang your head over your book. 
(d) Do not hold your book too near your eyes. 
II 
The Ear. 
1. When we speak of the ear we often refer 
only to that part which 
projects from the side of 
the head. But that is 
really the least important 
part. It is like the wide 
end of an ear-trumpet, in- 
tended to catch the sounds. 
From this part a tube ex- 
tends about an inch into 
the head, and ends at the 
"drum-head" of the ear. 
This is a thin membrane 
stretched across the end of 
the tube. Sounds make it vibrate as the drum- 
stick makes the head of a drum vibrate. 
THE EAR. - 1. Parts of the external 
ear. 2. Parts of the middle ear. 
3. Parts of the internal ear. 
Fig. 17. PHYSIOLOGY AND HEALTH 
127 
2. Behind the drum-head is a little cavity 
called the middle ear, which is connected by a 
tube with the throat. Beyond the middle ear 
is the internal ear, which is the real organ of 
hearing. The external ear and the middle ear 
only serve to carry the sound into the internal 
ear. In the internal ear is the nerve of hearing, 
which conveys the impression of sound into the 
brain. It is the brain that hears, and not the 
ear. 
Care of the Ears. 
3. It is just as important to take care of the 
ears, if we would hear well, as it is to take care 
of the eyes in order to see well. 
(а) Never "box one's ears." By doing so the 
drum-head is apt to be burst, just as your brother's 
drum was burst when he struck it too hard. If 
the drum-head is broken, the hearing may be 
injured for life. 
(б) Never kiss little children in the ear. The 
drum-head has been broken by kisses, and the 
child made very deaf. 
(c) In cleansing the ear use great care. It is 
not often necessary to remove wax from it. Never 
push any sharp thing, like a pencil or a hair-pin, 
into it. You may injure it severely. A gentle 
washing with warm water will generally be suffi- 
cient, and if there is anything in the ear which 128 
UNION SERIES, NO. 2. 
you cannot remove in this way, consult a physi- 
cian. 
The observance of these simple rules may keep 
your hearing good during your life-time. 
Ill 
Effects of Alcohol and Tobacco. 
1. "Who hath redness of eyes?" asks the sacred 
writer, and the answer is, "They that tarry long 
at the wine." 
2. This redness of the eyes, which is so common 
in drinkers, shows that too much blood is being 
sent to them. After a time they become weak 
and watery. 
3. The use of strong drink sometimes causes the 
loss of eye-sight. The same effect has often been 
traced to the use of tobacco. 
4. He who would keep all his senses clear 
and strong to old age should avoid intoxicating 
liquors and tobacco. 
ILLUSTRATIONS. 
1. Get an ox's eye from the butcher. Show the external parts, 
the pupil, the iris, and the optic nerve entering it behind. Then 
cut it open, and show the internal fluids and the retina. 
2. The location of the middle and internal ear can be shown on 
the human skull, or the skull of a lower animal. By sawing 
through the hard bone in which they are contained, the cavities 
themselves can be shown. PHYSIOLOGY AND HEALTH. 
129 
QUESTIONS. 
I 
1. Name the five senses. What is the seat of each? 
2, 3. Describe the eyeball and its socket. 
4. How many muscles are attached to the eyeball? 
5. What is the cornea? the iris? 
6. What is the pupil of the eye ? 
7. What is the retina? 
8. Give four rules for the care of the eyes. 
ii 
1. Is the most important part of the ear on the outside or inside 
of the head? What is the drum-head of the ear? 
2. Where is the middle ear ? Where is the internal ear ? What 
is the work of the internal ear? What has the brain to do with 
hearing? 
3. Give three rules for the care of the ear. 
m 
1, 2. How does alcohol cause redness of the eyes ? 
3. Do alcohol and tobacco evei' destroy the eye-sight ? 
4. Can drinkers and smokers expect to keep their senses clear 
and strong to old age? INDEX. 
Alcohol, 31, 41, 62, 67, 87, 113, 115. 
" of bread, 41. 
" and crime, 117. 
" and cold, 52. 
" effects of, 60, 128. 
" effect on air-passages, 103. 
" effect on bones, 15. 
" effect on corpuscles, 103. 
" as food, 69. 
" not food, 72- 
" heredity, 118. 
" effect on the heart, 50, 51 
" effect on muscles, 24. 
" not found in nature, 43. 
" a narcotic, 43. 
'' origin of, 43. 
" a poison, 31. 
" effects on stomach, 90. 
" effect on will, 104. 
" in wine, 39. 
Alcoholic appetite, 67. 
" drinks, form of, 68. 
Absorption, 84, 86. 
Air, bad, 102. 
Air-cells, 98. 
Air, fresh, 106, 113. 
Air-passages, 98. 
Air, pure, 61. 
Apoplexy, 115. 
Alimentary canal, 85. 
Apples, 35. 
Arm, 8. 
Arteries, 47. 
Backbone, 9. 
Barley, 38. 
Bathing, 61. 
Bellows, 99. 
Beer, 38, 41, 60, 88. 
" from barley, 39. 
" effect on muscles, 24. 
Beans, 65. 
Biceps, 21. 
Bile, 86. 
Blood, 55. 
" color of, 57. 
" coagulation, 56. 
" clot, 56. 
" corpuscles, 57. 
changes of, 59. 
" pure, 61. 
" amount in the body, 55. 
" taste of, 57. 
" use of, 57. 
" vessels, 45, 47, 55, 99. 
" vessels, injury of, 50. 
Bones, arm, 11. 
" feet, 12. 
" growth of, 15. 
" hand, 12. 
" hip 11. 
" number of, 12. 
" thigh, 11. 
Bowels, 84. 
Bunions, 14. 
Brain, 109, 115. 
Brandy, 87. 
131 132 
INDEX. 
Breathing, 96. 
Bread, 41. 
" sour, 41. 
Carbonic acid, 33, 41, 100. 
Catsups, 79. 
Chest, 11, 98. 
Cider, 34, 88. 
" hard, 35. 
" effects of, 35. 
Cigarettes, 16, 53, 61, 80, 119. 
Cigar stumps, 61. 
Cocoa, 29. 
" butter, 29, 
Cooking, 65. 
Coffee, 28. 
Condiments, 75. 
Cord, spinal, 11. 
Cornea, 125. 
Corns, 14. 
Curry-powders, 78. 
Delirium tremens, 117. 
Diaphragm, 99. 
Distillation, 38, 42. 
Digestion, 84, 185. 
Drinks, 27, 30. 
Drinking, 89, 91. 
Drum-head, 126. 
Drunkards, 34, 68. 
Dyspepsia, 87, 89, 120, 
Ear, 126. 
Ears, care of, 127. 
Eyeball, 124. 
Exercise, 61, 113. 
Fainting, 59. 
Ferment, 33, 35, 40, 41, 43. 
Fermentation, 38, 40, 41. 
" acetic, 38. 
Fluids, 27. 
Food, 41, 64, 67. 
" flesh-forming, 70. 
" heat-producing, 70. 
" rich, 87. 
" vegetable, 65. 
Foot, 8. 
Frame, 9. 
" care of, 13. 
Fruit, decayed, 62. 
" unripe, 62, 88. 
Garlic, 78. 
Gin, 42, 87. 
Ginger, 75. 
Gullet, 84. 
Hand, 8. 
Habits, 30, 31, 67, 93. 
Heart, 45. 
" child's, 47. 
" baby's, 47. 
" beat, 46. 
" diseases, 51. 
" injury of, 50. 
" man's, 47. 
" made of, 46. 
" sound of, 46. 
" smoker's, 53. 
" work of, 46, 58. 
Horse-radish, 76. 
Hops, 40. 
Intemperate habits, 50. 
Intoxicating drinks, 67. 
Iris, 125. 
Joints, 12. 
Joint, shoulder, 12. 
Joint water, 12. 
Juice, apple, 35. 
" lime, 36. 
" pancreatic, 86. INDEX. 
133 
Kidneys, 59, 92. 
Laudanum, 82. 
Larynx, 102. 
Leg, 8. 
Lemon-juice, 36. 
Ligaments, 12. 
Liquor, distilled, 42. 
" in puddings, 68. 
" in sauces, 68. 
Liver, 86, 89, 92. 
" diseases, 91. 
Lungs, 59, 98. 
" diseases of, 103. 
Malt, 38, 40. 
Middle ear, 127. 
Milk, 27, 65. 
Morphine, 82. 
Muscles, 19. 
" exercise of, 22. 
" longest, 22. 
" movement of, 21. 
" number of, 22. 
" of the face, 23. 
" shortest, 22. 
Mustard, 75-78. 
Narcotic, 43. 
Nerves, 109, 111. 
" feeling, 112. 
" inhibitory, 50. 
" motion, 112. 
Nervous system, 109, 113, 119. 
Nose, 97, 98. 
Nicotine, 61, 62, 80, 104. 
Olives, 76. 
Organs, 8. 
Opium, 82. 
Oxygen, 59, 100, 105. 
Pancreas, 86. 
Paralysis, 115-120. 
Pease, 65. 
Peppers, 75. 
Pickles, 62. 
Pie, 90. 
Poison, 31, 41. 
Potato, 65. 
Pulse, the, 46. 
Pupil, 125. 
Respiration, 96. 
Retina, 125. 
Rheumatism, 12. 
Rice, 65. 
Rules, 126. 
Rum, 42, 87. 
Salt, 75. 
Sense of smell, 105. 
Shoes, tight, 14. 
Sleep, 113. 
Skeleton, 9. 
Skin, 59. 
Skull, 9, 109. 
Smell, 124. 
Snore, 98. 
Spices, 75. 
Spinal cord, 111. 
Spine, 15. 
Sprouting, 39, 40. 
Stomach, 84, 92. 
Sweetmeats, 62. 
Tannin, 28. 
Taste, 124. 
Tea, 28. 
Tear-gland, 125. 
Tendons, 20. 
Thigh, 8. 
Throat, 98, 104. 
Tobacco, 62, 80, 119. 
" effects of, 60, 81, 128. 134 
INDEX. 
Tobacco, effect on air-passages, 104. 
" effect on bones, 15. 
" effect on boys, 16, 25, 121. 
" effect on heart, 50, 53. 
" and insanity, 119. 
" effect on muscles, 25. 
" odor, 104. 
" effect on teeth, 104. 
Touch, 124. 
Toxics, 69, 80. 
Trunk, 8. 
Vapor, 42. 
Vegetables, 65. 
Ventilation, 105, 106. 
Veins, 47. 
Vinegar, 36, 38. 
Vocal chord, 102. 
Voice, 102. 
Voice-box, 104. 
Water, 66. 
Water supply, 27. 
Whisky, 42, 87. 
Wine, 31, 33, 88. 
Wine, home-made, 35. 
Windpipe, 98. 
Yeast, 40, 41.