The Project Gutenberg eBook ofApplied Physiology, Including the Effects of Alcohol and NarcoticsThis ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this ebook or online atwww.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this eBook.Title: Applied Physiology, Including the Effects of Alcohol and NarcoticsAuthor: Frank OvertonRelease date: May 4, 2010 [eBook #32251]Language: EnglishCredits: E-text prepared by Larry B. Harrison and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK APPLIED PHYSIOLOGY, INCLUDING THE EFFECTS OF ALCOHOL AND NARCOTICS ***
This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this ebook or online atwww.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this eBook.
Title: Applied Physiology, Including the Effects of Alcohol and NarcoticsAuthor: Frank OvertonRelease date: May 4, 2010 [eBook #32251]Language: EnglishCredits: E-text prepared by Larry B. Harrison and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team
Title: Applied Physiology, Including the Effects of Alcohol and Narcotics
Author: Frank Overton
Author: Frank Overton
Release date: May 4, 2010 [eBook #32251]
Language: English
Credits: E-text prepared by Larry B. Harrison and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK APPLIED PHYSIOLOGY, INCLUDING THE EFFECTS OF ALCOHOL AND NARCOTICS ***
E-text prepared by Larry B. Harrisonand the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team(http://www.pgdp.net)
This primary text-book of applied physiology follows a natural order of treatment. In each subject elementary anatomical facts are presented in a manner which impresses function rather than form, and from the form described derives the function. The facts and principles are then applied to everyday life. Anatomy and pure physiology make clear and fix hygienic points, while applied physiology lends interest to the otherwise dry facts of physiology and anatomy. From the great range of the science there are included only those subjects which are directly concerned in the growth and development of children.
The value of a primary book depends largely upon the language used. In bringing the truths within the comprehension of children, the author has made sparing use of the complex sentence. He has made the sentences short and simple in form, and logical in arrangement.
A child grasps new ideas mainly as they appeal directly to the senses. For this reason, physiological demonstrations are indispensable. Subjects for demonstrations are not given, because they cannot be performed by the children; but the teacher should make free use of the series given in the author's advanced physiology.
Cuts and diagrams are inserted where they are needed to explain the text. They are taken from the author'sApplied Physiology, Intermediate Grade. Each was chosen, not for artistic effect, but because of its fitness to illustrate a point. Most of the cuts are adapted for reproduction on the blackboard.
The effects of alcohol and other narcotics are treated with special fulness. The subject is given a fair and judicial discussion, and those conclusions are presented which are universally accepted by the medical profession. But while this most important form of intemperance is singled out, it should be remembered that the breaking of any of nature's laws is also a form of intemperance, and that the whole study of applied physiology is to encourage a more healthy and a more noble and self-denying mode of life.
Our body is made of many parts. Its head thinks. Its legs carry it, and its arms and hands take hold of things. The leg cannot do the work of the arm, nor the head do the work of the hand; but each part does only its own work.
1. The simplest animal.—Some animals have parts like a man's; but these parts are fewer. No animal has arms or hands like a man. A fish has little fins in place of legs and arms, while a worm has not even a head, but only a body, and yet it moves. An oyster has only a body and cannot move. The simplest of all animals is very small. A thousand of them would not reach an inch. Yet each is a complete animal. It is called theameba. It is only a lump of jelly. It can put out any part of its body like an arm and take a lump of food. This same arm can eat the food, too. It can also put out anypart of its body like a leg and move by rolling the rest of its body into the leg. It can do some things better than a man can do them, for any part of its body can do all kinds of work. So the ameba grows and moves and does as it likes.
AmebaDifferent forms of an ameba (×400).
Different forms of an ameba (×400).
Human cellsCells from the human body (×200).aA colored cell from the eye.bA white blood cell.cA connective tissue cell.dA cell from the lining of the mouth.eLiver cells.fA muscle cell from the intestine.
Cells from the human body (×200).aA colored cell from the eye.bA white blood cell.cA connective tissue cell.dA cell from the lining of the mouth.eLiver cells.fA muscle cell from the intestine.
2. Cells.—A man's finger moves and grows something like a separate animal, but it must keep with the rest of the body. A little piece of a finger moves and grows, too. If you should look at a finger, or any other part of your body, through a microscope, you would see that it is composed of little lumps of jelly. Each little lump looks like an ameba. We call each lump a cell. The cells make up the finger.
3. What cells do.—Each cell acts much as an ameba does. From the blood it gets food and airand takes them in through any part of its body. It also grows and moves. But the cells are not free to do as they wish, for they are all tied together in armies by very fine strings. We call these stringsconnective tissue. One army of cells makes the skin, and other armies make the bones and flesh. Some armies make the fingers, and some the legs. Every part of our body is made up of armies of separate cells.
4. The mind.—The body is a home for the mind. The cells obey the mind. The mind pays the cells by feeding them and taking good care of them. When an army of cells is hurt, the body feels sick, and then the mind tells the whole body to rest until the cells are well again. When we study about a man's body, we learn about the separate cells in his body.
1. Our body is made up of many small parts.2. The smallest parts are each like a little animal, and are calledcells.3. Each cell eats and grows.4. One army of cells makes a finger and another a leg, and so on through the body.5. The mind lives in the body.6. The mind takes care of the cells.
1. Our body is made up of many small parts.
2. The smallest parts are each like a little animal, and are calledcells.
3. Each cell eats and grows.
4. One army of cells makes a finger and another a leg, and so on through the body.
5. The mind lives in the body.
6. The mind takes care of the cells.
The cells of our body are made of five common things. You would know all these things if you should see them.
5. Water.—The first thing in the cells iswater. Water is everywhere in the body. Even the teeth have water. Most of our flesh is water. Without water we should soon shrink up. Our flesh would be stiff like bone and no one could live.
Items, cells made ofThe body is made of these five things.
The body is made of these five things.
TissueFat tissue (×100).The liquid fat is stored in living pockets.
Fat tissue (×100).The liquid fat is stored in living pockets.
6. Albumin.—Second, next to water, something like the white of an egg makes the most of the body. The white of an egg isalbumin. Whendried it is like gelatine or glue. Albumin makes the most of the solid part of each cell. Lean meat and cheese are nearly all albumin. When it is heated it becomes harder and turns white. The word albumin means white. Dry albumin is hard and tough, but in the living cells it is dissolved in water and is soft like meat. It is the only living substance in the body, and it alone gives it strength.
7. Fat.—Third, next to albumin, the most of the body is fat. Fat does not grow inside the cells of the body, but it fills little pockets between the cells. Fat does not give strength. It makes the body round and handsome. It also makes the cells warm and keeps them from getting hurt.
8. Sugar.—Fourth, sugar also is found in the body. Sugar is made out of starch. When we eat starch it changes to sugar. Starch and sugar are much alike. We eat a great deal of starch and sugar, but they are soon used in warming the body. Only a little is in the body at once.
9. Minerals.—Fifth, there are also some mineralsin the body. When flesh is burned they are left asashes. Salt, lime, iron, soda, and potash are all found in the body.
GrainsStarch grains (×400).a, of potato.b, of corn.
Starch grains (×400).a, of potato.b, of corn.
Everything in the body is either water, albumin, fat, sugar, or minerals. These things are also our food. We eat them mixed together in bread, meat, eggs, milk, and other foods.
10. Life.—Our food is not alive, but after we eat it the body makes it alive. We do not know how it does it. When the body dies we cannot put life into it again. There is life in each cell.
1. The body is made of five things: water, albumin, fat, sugar, and minerals.2. Water is mixed with all parts of the body.3. Albumin makes the living part of each cell.4. Fat is in pockets between the cells. It warms the cells and keeps them from being hurt.5. Sugar is made from starch. It warms the body.6. The minerals in the body are salt, lime, iron, soda, and potash.
1. The body is made of five things: water, albumin, fat, sugar, and minerals.
2. Water is mixed with all parts of the body.
3. Albumin makes the living part of each cell.
4. Fat is in pockets between the cells. It warms the cells and keeps them from being hurt.
5. Sugar is made from starch. It warms the body.
6. The minerals in the body are salt, lime, iron, soda, and potash.
11. Food of the cells.—All the cells of the body work and wear out. They must eat and keep growing. The food of the cells is the blood. Water, albumin, fat, sugar, and minerals are in the blood. The cells eat these things and grow. All food must be one or more of these five things. Before they reach the blood, they must all be changed to a liquid. A few cells of the body are set aside to do this work of changing them. Changing food into blood is digestion.
12. Cooking.—Cooking begins digestion. It softens and dissolves food. It makes food taste better. Most food is unfit for use until it is cooked. Poor cooking often makes food still worse for use. Food should always be soft and taste good after cooking. Softening food by cooking saves the mouth and stomach a great deal of work. The good taste of the food makes it pleasant for them to digest it. We must cut our food into small pieces before we eat it. If we eat only asmall piece at a time we shall not eat too fast. If we cut our food fine we can find any bones and other hard things, and can keep them from getting inside the body.
13. Chewing.—Digestion goes on in the mouth. The mouth does three things to food.First, it mixes and grinds it between the teeth.
Second, it pours water over the food through fine tubes. The water of the mouth is called the saliva. The saliva makes the food a thin paste.
Third, the saliva changes some of the starch to sugar. Starch must be all changed to sugar before it can feed the cells.
14. Too fast eating.—Some boys fill their mouths with food. Then they cannot chew their food and cannot mix saliva with it. They swallow their food whole, and then their stomachs have to grind it. The saliva cannot mix with the food and so it is too dry in the stomach. Then their stomachs ache, and they are sick. Eating too fast and too much makes children sick oftener than anything else.
Birds swallow their food whole, for they have no teeth. Instead, a strong gizzard inside grinds the food. We have no gizzards, and so we must grind our food with our teeth.
15. Teeth.—We have two kinds of teeth. The front teeth are sharp and cut the food; the backteeth are flat and rough and grind it. If you bite nuts or other hard things you may break off a little piece of a tooth. Then the tooth may decay and ache.
After you eat, some food will sometimes stick to the teeth. Then it may decay and make your breath smell bad. After each meal always pick the teeth with a wooden toothpick. Your teeth will also get dirty and become stained unless you clean them. Always brush your teeth with water every morning. This will also keep them from decaying.
View of a birdDigestive organs of a bird.aesophagus or swallowing tube.bcrop or bag for carrying food.cstomach.dintestine.egizzard or food grinder.
Digestive organs of a bird.aesophagus or swallowing tube.bcrop or bag for carrying food.cstomach.dintestine.egizzard or food grinder.
16. Swallowing.—When food has been chewed and mixed with saliva until it is a paste, it is ready to be swallowed. The tongue pushes the food into a bag just back of the mouth. We call the bag thepharynx. Then the pharynx squeezes it down a long tube and into the stomach. The nose and windpipe also open into this bag, but both are closed by little doors while we swallow. We cannot breathe while we swallow. If the doors are not shuttightly, some food gets into the windpipe and chokes us.
1. We eat to feed the cells of the body.2. All food must be made into blood.3. Changing food to blood is digestion.4. Cooking softens food and makes it taste good.5. Food is ground fine in the mouth, and mixed with saliva to form a paste. Some of its starch is changed to sugar.6. If food is only half chewed the stomach has to grind it.7. When we swallow, the tongue pushes the food into a bag back of the mouth and the bag squeezes it down a long tube to the stomach.
1. We eat to feed the cells of the body.
2. All food must be made into blood.
3. Changing food to blood is digestion.
4. Cooking softens food and makes it taste good.
5. Food is ground fine in the mouth, and mixed with saliva to form a paste. Some of its starch is changed to sugar.
6. If food is only half chewed the stomach has to grind it.
7. When we swallow, the tongue pushes the food into a bag back of the mouth and the bag squeezes it down a long tube to the stomach.
17. The stomach.—When food is swallowed it goes to the stomach. The stomach is a thin bag. In a man it holds about three pints. Like the mouth, it does three things to the food.
Stomach glandsGastric glands in the stomach(×200).The cellsaandb, form the juice.The fibersc, bind the tubes in place.
Gastric glands in the stomach(×200).The cellsaandb, form the juice.The fibersc, bind the tubes in place.
First, the stomach gently stirs and mixes the food.
Second, it pours a fluid over the food. This fluid is called thegastric juice. The gastric juice is sour and bitter.
Third, the gastric juice changes some of the albumin of food to a liquid form.
If the mouth has done its work well, the stomach does its work easily and we do not know it. But if the mouth has eaten food too fast and has not chewed it well, then the stomach must do the work of the mouth too. In that case it gets tired and aches.
18. The intestine.—The food stays in the stomach only a little while. All the time a little keeps trickling into a long coil of tube. This tube is called theintestineor thebowels. Three or four hours after a hearty meal the stomach is empty. Some of the food has been changed to a liquid, but most of it has only been ground to smaller pieces, and mixed with a great deal of water. Now it all must be changed to a liquid.
19. What the intestine does.—Like the mouth and stomach, the intestine does three things.
First, it mixes the food and makes it pass down the tube.
Second, two sets of cells behind the stomach make two liquids and pour them into the intestine. One set of cells is thesweetbread, orpancreas, and its liquid is thepancreatic juice. The other is theliverand its fluid is thebile.
Third, the pancreatic juice makes three changes in food.First, like the mouth, it changes starch to sugar.Second, like the stomach, it makes albumin a liquid.Third, it divides fat into fine drops. These drops then mix with water and do not float on its top.
20. Bile.—The bile is yellow and bitter. It helps the pancreatic juice do its work. It also helps to keep the inside of the intestine clean.
21. Digestion of water and minerals.—Water and the mineral parts of food do not need to be changed at all, but can become part of the blood just as they are. Seeds and husks and tough strings of flesh all pass the length of the intestine and are not changed.
22. How food gets into the blood.—By the time food is half way down the intestine it is mostly liquid and ready to become part of the blood. This liquid soaks through the sides of the intestine and into the blood tubes. At last the food reaches the end of the intestine. Most of its liquid has then soaked into the blood tubes and only some solid waste is left.
23. Work of the liver.—The food is now in the blood, but has not become a part of it. It is carried to the liver. There the liver changes the food to good blood, and then the blood hurries on and feeds the cells of the body. Spoiled food may be swallowed and taken into the blood with the good food. The liver takes out the poisons and sends them back again with the bile. The liver keeps us from getting poisoned.
24. Bad food.—Sometimes the stomach and intestine cannot digest the food. They cannot digest green apples, but they try hard to do so. They stir the apples faster and faster until there isa great pain. Sometimes the stomach throws up the food and then the pain and sickness stop. Spoiled food makes us sick in the same way.
25. Too fast eating.—When the food stays too long in the stomach or intestine it sours, or decays, just as it does outside of the body. This makes us very sick. When we eat too much, or when we do not chew the food to small pieces, the stomach may be a long time in digesting the food. Then it may become sour and make us sick.
26. Biliousness.—When the food is poor or becomes sour, it is poorly digested. Then the liver has more work to do, and does not change the food to blood as it should. It also lets some of the sour poisons pass by it. These poison the whole body and make the head ache. We call thisbiliousness. The tongue is then covered with a white or yellow coat and the mouth tastes bad. These are signs of sickness. The stomach and liver are out of order.
27. Rules for eating.—If we eat as we should, our stomach will digest its food. We must follow three rules.
First, we must chew the food in the mouth until all the lumps are fine. Then the food will be ready for the stomach.
Second, we must eat slowly. If we eat fast we cannot chew the food well. The stomach cannot take care of food if it comes too fast. We must swallow all of one mouthful before we put another into the mouth.
Third, we must eat only at meal times. The stomach needs a rest. Even a little candy, or apples, or nuts will keep the stomach at work, and tire it out. A child needs to eat more often than his father. So, besides his meals, he should have something to eat in the middle of the morning and some more in the afternoon. But he should not be eating at all hours. He ought not to eat little bits just before dinner, for that spoils his meal.
1. The stomach and intestine stir and rub the food, and mix it with juices.2. The juices change albumin to a liquid, and starch to sugar. They also change fat to the form of tiny drops.3. The digested food soaks through the sides of the intestine into the blood tubes.4. The blood carries the food to the liver.5. The liver changes food to blood.6. Blood goes to all parts of the body and feeds the cells.7. The liver keeps poisons from getting into the blood.8. Water and minerals become a part of the blood without being digested.9. When food is not well digested, the liver cannot make it into good blood. This makes us bilious.10. If food is not soon digested it sours and decays. This makes us sick.11. We can make food digest quickly by chewing it well and eating slowly.
1. The stomach and intestine stir and rub the food, and mix it with juices.
2. The juices change albumin to a liquid, and starch to sugar. They also change fat to the form of tiny drops.
3. The digested food soaks through the sides of the intestine into the blood tubes.
4. The blood carries the food to the liver.
5. The liver changes food to blood.
6. Blood goes to all parts of the body and feeds the cells.
7. The liver keeps poisons from getting into the blood.
8. Water and minerals become a part of the blood without being digested.
9. When food is not well digested, the liver cannot make it into good blood. This makes us bilious.
10. If food is not soon digested it sours and decays. This makes us sick.
11. We can make food digest quickly by chewing it well and eating slowly.
28. Kinds of food.—The cells of the body need water, albumin, fat, sugar, and minerals for food. We sometimes eat sugar alone, and we drink pure water. But most of our food is a mixture of all five kinds of food. Food comes from animals and plants.
29. Milk.—Milk is the best food known. It contains just enough water, albumin, fat, sugar, and minerals. Babies and young mammals live on milk alone. A man can live upon four quarts of milk a day. In sickness, milk is the very best food for men, as well as for babies.
The albumin of milk becomes hard when the milk sours. This makescheese. The fat of milk rises to the top. We call itcream. When cream is churned, the pure fat comes together in a lump. Pure fat of milk is calledbutter. Cheese and butter are both good foods.
30. Eggs.—Eggs are also good food. The white of an egg is almost pure albumin. The yolk is albumin and fat. Eggs have no starch or sugar.They are not a perfect food, for some sugar must be eaten. But they can be quickly digested and they produce a great deal of strength.
31. Meat.—Meat contains albumin and fat, but no sugar. Fish, oysters, and clams are like meat. They all make good food. Boys and girls should eat milk, eggs, and meat. These foods are the best to give strength to the body. Nearly all food from animals is more quickly digested and gives more strength than food from plants.
32. Bread.—White bread is a food made from wheat. The wheat is ground to flour. Flour is mixed with water, and yeast is added. The yeast makes a gas, and the gas puffs up the wet flour and makes it full of holes. The holes make the breadlight. Then bread is baked. Rye or corn meal makes good bread. Cake, biscuit, and pancakes are much like bread. Sometimes in place of yeast, baking powder is used to make the bread or cake light.
33. Meal.—Oatmeal, corn meal, and cracked wheat and rice are sometimes boiled, and eaten with milk. Bread, biscuit, oatmeal, and corn meal are made from grain. All are very much alike. The cooking makes them look and taste different, but yet they are nearly the same.
34. Why we need grain food.—All kinds of grainhave much albumin, but only a little fat. But all have a great deal of starch. By digestion the starch becomes sugar. Grain is a good food because it has starch or sugar. Animal foods have no sugar, so we eat grain food with them. The two together make the most nourishing food. Potatoes have a great deal of starch and only a little albumin. They also are good food with meat.
Healthy foodsA healthy man needs as much food as this every day.
A healthy man needs as much food as this every day.
A person cannot live well upon plant food alone, for it has too much starch and sugar, and too little albumin and fat. We need nearly equal parts of albumin, fat, and sugar. A mixture of bread, meat, eggs, vegetables, and milk makes the best food.
35. Fruit.—Fruit, like apples, peaches, and plums all have sugar. They taste good, and give us anappetite for other kinds of food. They have little albumin or fat.
36. Salt.—There is enough mineral matter in all food, and we do not have to eat iron or lime or soda. But we do need some more salt. Even animals need salt. Salt makes food taste good, and helps its digestion.
Unhealthy wellPeople are made sick by drinking water from such a well.
People are made sick by drinking water from such a well.
37. Water.—Water is also a food, for it forms the most of our bodies. All food has water. Even dry crackers contain it.
38. Pure water.—Water in a well runs through the dirty earth, and yet is clear and pure. This is because sand holds back the dirt. But sometimes slops from the house, and water from the barn yard, soak through the soil until the sand is full. Then the well water will be dirty and poisonous. People are often made sick by drinking such water. In cities the dirt fills all the soil and spoils the water. So the water must be brought from the country in large pipes.
Water in lead pipes takes up some of the lead. Lead is a poison. You should let the water run off from a pipe a little while before you use it. Good water is clear and has no smell or taste. Dirty or yellow water, or water with a taste or smell, is not fit for use.
39. Tea and coffee.—Tea and coffee are steeped in water and used as a drink. The drink is the water. The tea and coffee are neither food nor drink. They cause the cells of the body to do more work, and at the same time they take away the feeling of being tired. They do not give strength to the body, but are like a whip and make the body work harder.
40. The appetite.—When we have so many kinds of food, what kind is best for us? The taste of food tells us the kind of food to eat. Bread andmeat, and such plain foods, always taste good, and we never get tired of them. Sugar tastes good until we get enough. Any more makes us sick. More than enough sugar or starch is found in bread and potatoes.
IntemperanceOne kind of intemperance.
One kind of intemperance.
If we can eat food day after day, without getting tired of it, the food is good for us. If we get tired of its taste, either the food is not good for us or we are eating too much. Bad tasting or bad smelling food is always dangerous.
We can tell how much food to eat by ourhungerorappetite. We can always feel when we have enough. Then is the time to stop.
Sometimes we eat plain bread and meat until we have enough, and then sweet cake or pie is brought in. Then we have a false appetite for sweet things. If the sweet things had not made a false hunger, we should have had enough to eat. But the false appetite makes us want more, and so we eat too much, and sometimes get sick from it.
41. Intemperance.—Eating for the sake of a false appetite isintemperance. Drinking strong drink for the sake of its taste is a common form of intemperance. But eating too much preserves, pie, and candy is intemperance too, and can do a great deal of harm. A little pie, or pudding, or candy, is good, because we can eat our sugar as well that way as in bread. But we should eat only a little.
42. Food and Diseases.—If our food is dirty or is handled with dirty hands, or is put into dirty dishes, there may be disease germs in it. Our food should always be clean, and we should have our hands clean when we handle it or eat it.
Storekeepers sometimes keep fruit and vegetables out of doors where street dust may blow upon it. This dust is often full of disease germs. Flies may also bring disease germs to the food. If food iskept where dust and flies can get at it, we ought not to buy it.
1. Food is a mixture of water, albumin, fat, starch or sugar, and minerals.2. Animal foods, like milk, eggs, and meat, have albumin and fat in the best form.3. Plant food has albumin and fat, but it has very much starch or sugar. So, taken together with animal food, it makes a complete food.4. Lime, iron, soda, and salt are found in all foods, but we must add a little more salt to food.5. Water is found in all food, but we must drink some besides.6. Dirty water, or water with a taste or smell, is not fit for use.7. Taste tells us what kind of food to use.8. Hunger, or the appetite, tells us how much food to use.9. There can be a false hunger for sweet things. This may lead us to eat too much.10. Eating too much of sweet things is one form of intemperance.
1. Food is a mixture of water, albumin, fat, starch or sugar, and minerals.
2. Animal foods, like milk, eggs, and meat, have albumin and fat in the best form.
3. Plant food has albumin and fat, but it has very much starch or sugar. So, taken together with animal food, it makes a complete food.
4. Lime, iron, soda, and salt are found in all foods, but we must add a little more salt to food.
5. Water is found in all food, but we must drink some besides.
6. Dirty water, or water with a taste or smell, is not fit for use.
7. Taste tells us what kind of food to use.
8. Hunger, or the appetite, tells us how much food to use.
9. There can be a false hunger for sweet things. This may lead us to eat too much.
10. Eating too much of sweet things is one form of intemperance.
43. Harmful eating.—Men often eat for the fun of eating, and sometimes they eat harmful things. They chew tobacco and drink strong drinks, because they like their taste, just as a child eats candy.
44. Tobacco.—Men have always drunk strong drink. Within the last four hundred years, men have learned another way to please a wrong taste. When Columbus discovered America, the Indians were using tobacco. They taught the Spaniards how to smoke it, and since then almost the whole world has used it.
Tobacco is the leaf of a tall plant. It needs a better soil than any other crop. It takes the richness from the ground, and spoils it for other crops.
45. Nicotine.—About 1/30 of each tobacco leaf is a strong poison. This poison is callednicotine. A drop or two of it, or as much of it as is in a strong cigar, will kill a man. It gives the tobacco its smell and taste. Men use tobacco for the sake of a poison.
46. Why men use tobacco.—Men give queer reasons for using tobacco. One smokes for its company, another because he is with company. One smokes to make his brain think better, and another to keep himself from thinking. Some use tobacco to help digest their food, and others use it to keep themselves from eating so much. Boys smoke to make themselves look like men. The real reason for using tobacco is that men learn to like its taste, and do not care if it harms them.
47. Spitting.—Tobacco in any form makes the saliva flow. Men do not dare swallow it, for it makes them sick. So they spit it out. No one likes to see this. It is a dirty and filthy habit. Besides, the saliva is lost, and cannot help digest food.
Tobacco stains the teeth brown. You can always tell a tobacco chewer by his teeth. His breath will smell of tobacco, and even his clothes are offensive to the nose.
48. Tobacco lessens strength.—Tobacco always makes a person sick at the stomach, at first. After a while, he becomes used to it, and an ordinary chew or smoke does not make him sick. But a large chew or smoke will always make him sick again. When a person is sick from tobacco he is very weak. Even if he is not sick, the tobaccopoisons his muscles and makes his strength less. When a man trains for a hard race he never uses tobacco.
49. Tobacco hinders digestion.—Tobacco and its smoke both have a burning taste. This makes the throat sore, and causes a cough. Tobacco does not help the stomach to digest food. Smokers and chewers often have headaches and coated tongues. These are signs of a poor digestion.
50. Effect upon the young.—Tobacco is more harmful to boys than to men. If boys smoke they cannot run fast or long. They cannot work hard with their brains or hands. They do not grow fast, and are liable to have weak hearts.
51. Tobacco harms others.—Many persons do not like the smell of tobacco, and no one likes the spit. No one should use it in the presence of others. The tobacco user's pleasure should not spoil the comfort and happiness of others.
52. Snuff.—Powdered tobacco is called snuff. Snuff causes sneezing. No one should harm the nose and the whole body for the pleasure of a sneeze. Years ago snuff was used much more than it is now.
53. Chewing.—Chewing tobacco is the most poisonous way of using it, for it keeps most of the nicotine in the mouth. Chewing will makeany one very sick, unless he spits out all the saliva.
54. Smoking.—Men smoke pipes, cigars, and cigarettes. The smoke has nicotine, and is poisonous. Pipe stems get dirty and full of nicotine. After a while they smell bad and are very poisonous. An old smoker's pipe will make a young smoker sick.
55. Cigarettes.—Cigars are not so poisonous as a pipe, for more of the nicotine is burned up. Cigarettes are often made of weak tobacco. A cigarette does not contain so much tobacco as a cigar. Hence a cigarette does not cost much. It can be smoked in a hurry. It does not make a boy so sick as cigars do. Boys and men use a great many cigarettes where they would not touch a cigar. This makes the use of cigarettes the most dangerous form of smoking. Selling cigarettes to young boys is forbidden by law.
56. Habit.—When men have used tobacco for some time, they like it and feel bad without it. So they get into the habit of using it, and find it hard to stop. The tobacco seems to help them, but it does not do so. It cheats men, and they do not know it.
57. Chewing gum.—Chewing gum is made from pitch or paraffin, for these substances will not dissolvein the mouth. The gum is flavored with sugar and spices. The gum and its flavors are not harmful in themselves, and yet chewing them is harmful. Chewing makes a great deal of saliva flow. All this saliva is wasted, and when we eat our meals we may have too little. Then our food will not digest well, but we shall have dyspepsia and headaches.
By pulling and handling the gum while chewing it, you may get some poisonous dirt into your mouth, and make yourself very sick.
Even if your gum should not harm you, there is a good reason for letting it alone. When you are chewing gum, you look as if you were chewing tobacco. No one likes to see a boy or girl even appearing to chew tobacco. If you form a habit of chewing gum you will be more likely to chew tobacco when you are grown.