THE EAR.THE EAR.
5. Bones of the Ear.—Within the drum of the ear there are three curious little bones which are joined together so as to make a complete chain, reaching from the drum-head to the other side of the drum. The last bone fits into a little hole which leads into another curiouschamber. This chamber, which is called theinner ear, is filled with fluid, and in this fluid the nerve of hearing is spread out. A part of the inner ear looks very much like a snail shell.
6. How we Hear.—Scratch with a pin upon one end of a long wooden pole. Have some one listen with the ear placed close against the other end of the pole. He will tell you that he hears the scratching of the pin very plainly. This is because the scratching jars the ear and especially the drum-head, which vibrates just as the head of a drum does when it is beaten with a drum-stick. When the drum-head vibrates it moves the bones of the ear, and these carry the vibration to the nerves of hearing in the inner chamber. We hear all sounds in the same way, only most sounds come to the ear through the air.
THE INSIDE OF THE EAR.THE INSIDE OF THE EAR.
The snail-shell of the inner part of the ear hears musical sounds. The rest of the inner ear hears ordinary sounds or noises.
7. How to Keep the Ears Healthy.—The ears are very delicate organs and must be carefully treated. The following things about the care of the ears should never be forgotten:
(1.) Never use a pin, toothpick, or any other sharp instrument to clean out the ear. There is great danger that the drum-head will be torn, and thus the hearing will be injured. Neither is it ever necessary to use an ear-spoon to remove the wax. Working at the ear causes more wax to form.
(2.) Do not allow cold water to enter the ear or a cold wind to blow directly into it.
(3.) If anything accidentally gets into the ear, do not work at it, but hold the head over to one side while water is made to run in from a syringe. If an insect has gone into the ear, pour in a little oil. This will kill the insect or make it come out.
(4.) Never shout into another person's ear. The ear may be greatly injured in this way.
(5.) Boxing or pulling the ears is likely to produce deafness, and ought never to be done.
8. The Eye.—The eye is one of the most wonderful organs in the whole body. It enables us to know what is going on at some distance from us, and to enjoy many beautiful things which our sense of hearing and other senses can tell us nothing about. It also enables us to read. Let us learn how this wonderful organ is made.
9. The Eyeball.—Looking at the eye, we see first a round part which rolls in different directions. This is theeyeball. We see only the front side of the eyeball as it fits into a hollow in the skull. Being thus in a safe place, it is not likely to get hurt.
THE EYE.THE EYE.
The eyeball is mostly filled with a clear substance very much like jelly. It is so clear that the light can shine through it just as easily as it can shine through water.
10. The Pupil.—If you look sharply at the eyeball you will see a small black hole just in the centre. This is a little window which lets the light into the inside of the eyeball. We call this thepupil. Just around the pupil is a colored ring which gives the eye its color. We saya person has blue or brown or gray eyes according as this ring is blue or brown or gray. This colored ring is a kind of curtain for the window of the eye.
11.If you observe the pupil closely, you will see that it is sometimes larger and sometimes smaller. If you look at the light the pupil is small; if you turn away from the light the pupil grows larger at once. This is because the curtain closes when in a bright light and opens in the darkness. It does this of itself without our thinking about it. In this way the eye is protected from too strong a light, which would do it great harm.
12.If you look a little sidewise at the eyeball, you will see that the curtain has something in front of it which is clear as glass. It is about the shape of a watch crystal, only very much smaller. This is to the eye what the glass is to the windows of a house. It closes the opening in the front of the eyeball and yet lets the light shine in.
13. The White of the Eye.—The white of the eye is a tough, firm membrane which encloses the eyeball and keeps it in a round shape.
14. The Lens.—Do you know what a lens is? Perhaps you do not know it by this name, but you are familiar with the spectacles which peoplesometimes wear to help their eyes. The glasses in the spectacle frames are called lenses. Well, there is something in the eye almost exactly like one of these lenses, only smaller. It is also called alens. If some one will get the eye of an ox for you, you can cut it open and find this part. The lens is placed in the eyeball just behind the pupil. (See picture.)
THE INSIDE OF THE EYE.THE INSIDE OF THE EYE.
15. The Nerves of Sight.—But a person might have an eyeball with all the parts we have learned about and yet not be able to see. Can you tell what more is needed? There must be a nerve. This nerve comes from some little nerve cells in the brain and enters the eyeball at the back of the eye; there it is spread out on the inside of the black lining of the white of the eye.
16. The Eyelids.—Now we know all that it is necessary for us to learn about the eyeball, so let us notice some other parts about the eye. First there are the eyelids. They are little foldsof skin fringed with hairs, which we can shut up so as to cover the eyeball and keep out the light when we want to sleep or when we are in danger of getting dust or smoke into the eye. The hairs placed along the edge of the lids help to keep the dust out when the eyes are open.
17. The Eyebrows.—The row of hairs placed above the eye is called the eyebrow. Like the eyelids, the eyebrows catch some substances which might fall into the eye, and they also serve to turn off the perspiration and keep it out of the eyes.
18. The Tear Gland.—Do you know where the tears come from? There is a little gland snugly placed away in the socket of the eye just above the eyeball, which makes tears in the same way that the salivary glands make saliva. It is called thetear gland. The gland usually makes just enough tears to keep the eye moist. There are times when it makes more than enough, as when something gets into the eye, or when we suffer pain or feel unhappy. Then the tears are carried off by means of a little tube which runs down into the nose from the inner corner of the eye. When the tears are formed so fast that they cannot all get away through this tube, they pass over the edge of the lower eyelid and flow down the cheek.
19. Muscles of the Eyes.—By means of little muscles which are fastened to the eyeball, we are able to turn the eye in almost every direction.
20. How we See.—Now we want to know how we see with the eye. This is not very easy to understand, but we can learn something about it. Let us make a little experiment. Here is a glass lens. If we hold it before a window and place a piece of smooth white paper behind it, we can see a picture of the houses and trees and fences, and other things out-of-doors. The picture made by the lens looks exactly like the view out-of-doors, except that it is upside down. This is one of the curious things that a lens does. The lens of the eye acts just like a glass lens. It makes a picture of everything we see, upon the ends of the nerves of sight which are spread out at the back of the eyeball. The nerves of sight tell their nerves in the brain about the picture, just as the nerves of feeling tell their cells when they are touched with a pin; and this is how we see.
21.Did you ever look through a spyglass or an opera-glass? If so, you know you must make the tube longer or shorter according as you look at things near by or far away. Theeye also has to be changed a little when we look from near to distant objects. Look out of the window at a tree a long way off. Now place a lead pencil between the eyes and the tree. You can scarcely see the pencil while you look sharply at the tree, and if you look at the pencil you cannot see the tree distinctly.
22.There is a little muscle in the eye which makes the change needed to enable us to see objects close by as well as those which are farther away. When people grow old the little muscles cannot do this so well, and hence old people have to put on glasses to see objects near by, as in reading. Children should not try to wear old persons' glasses, as this is likely to injure their eyes.
23. How to Keep the Eyes Healthy.—(1.) Never continue the use of the eyes at fine work, such as reading or fancy-work, after they have become very tired.
(2.) Do not try to read or to use the eyes with a poor light—in the twilight, for instance, before the gas or lamps are lighted.
(3.) In reading or studying, do not sit with the light from either a lamp or a window shining directly upon the face. Have the light come from behind and shine over the left shoulder if possible.
(4.) Never expose the eyes to a sudden, bright light by looking at the sun or at a lamp on first awaking in the morning, or by passing quickly from a dark room into a lighted one.
(5.) Do not read when lying down, or when riding on a street car or railway train.
(6.) If any object gets into the eye have it removed as soon as possible.
(7.) A great many persons hurt their eyes by using various kinds of eye-washes. Never use anything of this kind unless told to do so by a good physician.
24. How we Smell.—If we wish to smell anything very strongly, we sniff or suddenly draw the air up through the nose. We do this to bring more air to the nerves of smell, which are placed at the upper part of the inside of the nose.
INSIDE OF THE NOSE.INSIDE OF THE NOSE.
25.Smelling is a sort of feeling. The nerves of smell are so sensitive that they can discover things in the air which we cannot taste or see. An Indian uses his senseof smell to tell him whether things are good to eat or not. He knows that things which have a pleasant smell are likely to be good for him and not likely to make him sick.
We do not make so much use of the sense of smell as do the savages and many lower animals, and hence we are not able to smell so acutely. Many persons lose the sense of smell altogether, from neglecting colds in the head.
26. How we Taste.—The tongue and the palate have very delicate nerves by means of which we taste. We cannot taste with the whole of the tongue. The very tip of the tongue has only nerves of touch or feeling.
27.The use of the sense of taste is to give us pleasure and to tell us whether different substances are healthful or injurious. Things which are poisonous and likely to make us sick almost always have an unpleasant taste as well as an unpleasant odor. Things which have a pleasant taste are usually harmless.
28. Bad Tastes.—People sometimes learn to like things which have a very unpleasant taste. Pepper, mustard, pepper-sauce, and other hot sauces, alcohol, and tobacco are harmful substances of this sort. When used freely they injure the sense of taste so that it cannot detect and enjoy fine and delicate flavors. These substances, as we have elsewhere learned, also do the stomach harm and injure the nerves and other parts of the body.
29. The Sense of Touch.—If you put your hand upon an object you can tell whether it is hard or soft, smooth or rough, and can learn whether it is round or square, or of some other shape. You are able to do this by means of the nerves of touch, which are found in the skin in all parts of the body. If you wished to know how an object feels, would you touch it with the elbow, or the knee, or the cheek? You will say, No. You would feel of it with the hand, and would touch it with the ends of the fingers. You can feel objects better with the ends of the fingers because there are more nerves of touch in the part of the skin covering the ends of the fingers than in most other parts of the body.
30.The sense of touch is more delicate in the tip of the tongue than in any other part. This is because it is necessary to use the sense of touch in the tongue to assist the sense of taste in finding out whether things are good to eat or not. The sense of touch is also very useful to us in many other ways. We hardly know how useful it really is until we are deprived of some of our other senses, as sight or hearing. In ablind man the sense of touch often becomes surprisingly acute.
31. Effects of Alcohol and Tobacco on the Special Senses.—All the special senses—hearing, seeing, smelling, tasting, feeling—depend upon the brain and nerves. Whatever does harm to the brain and nerves must injure the special senses also. We have learned how alcohol and tobacco, and all other narcotics and stimulants, injure and sometimes destroy the brain cells and their nerve branches, and so we can understand that a person who uses these poisonous substances will, by so doing, injure the delicate organs with which he hears, sees, smells, etc.
32.Persons who use tobacco and strong drink sometimes become blind, because these poisons injure the nerves of sight. The ears are frequently injured by the use of tobacco. Smoking cigarettes and snuff-taking destroy the sense of smell. The poison of the tobacco paralyzes the nerves of taste so that they cannot detect flavors. Tea-tasters and other persons who need to have a delicate sense of taste do not use either alcohol or tobacco.
1. We have five special senses—hearing, seeing, smelling, tasting, and feeling.
2. The ear is the organ of hearing, and has three parts, called the external ear, the middle ear, and the inner ear. The inner ear contains the nerve of hearing.
3. The middle ear is separated from the external ear by the drum-head. The drum-head is connected with the inner ear by a chain of bones.
4. Sounds cause the drum-head to vibrate. The ear-bones convey the vibration from the drum-head to the nerve of hearing.
5. To keep the ear healthy we must avoid meddling with it or putting things into it.
6. The eye is the organ of sight. The chief parts of the eye are the eyeball, the socket, and the eyelids.
7. In the eyeball are the pupil, the lens, and the nerve of sight.
8. The eyeball is moved in various directions by six small muscles.
9. The eye is moistened by tears from the tear-gland.
10. When we look at an object the lens of the eye makes a picture on the nerve of sight, at the back part of the eyeball.
11. To keep the eyes healthy we should be careful not to tax them long at a time with fine work, or to use them in a poor light.
12. The nerves of smell are placed in the upper part of the inside of the nose.
13. "Colds" often destroy the sense of smell.
14. The nerves of taste are placed in the tongue and palate.
15. Many things which we think we taste we really do not taste, but smell or feel.
16. Objects which have a pleasant taste are usually healthful, while those which have a bad taste are usually harmful.
17. Pepper, mustard, etc., as well as alcohol and tobacco, havean unpleasant taste, and are not healthful. If we use them we shall injure the nerves of taste as well as other parts of the body.
18. We feel objects by means of the sense of touch.
19. The sense of touch is most acute at the tip of the tongue and the ends of the fingers.
1.As we learned in the early part of our study of this subject, alcohol is produced byfermentation. It is afterwards separated from water and other substances bydistillation. We will now learn a few more things about alcohol.
2. Alcohol Burns.—If alcohol is placed in a lamp, it will burn much like kerosene oil. Indeed, it does not need a lamp to help it burn as does oil. If a few drops of alcohol are placed upon a plate, it may be lighted with a match, and will burn with a pale blue flame. Thus you see that alcohol is a sort of burning fluid.
3.The vapor of alcohol will burn also, and under some circumstances it will explode. On this account it is better not to try any experiments with it unless some older person is close by to direct you, so that no harm may be done. Alcohol is really a dangerous substance even though we do not take it as a drink.
4. An Interesting Experiment.—We have told you that all fermented drinks contain alcohol. You will remember that wine, beer, ale, and cider are fermented drinks. We know that these drinks contain alcohol because the chemist can separate the alcohol from the water and other substances, and thus learn just how much alcohol each contains.
5.If we should remove all the alcohol from wine, no one would care to drink it. The same is true of beer and cider. It is very easy to remove the alcohol by the simple process of heating. This is the way the chemist separates it. The heat drives the alcohol off with the steam. If the heating is continued long enough, all the alcohol will be driven off. The Chinaman boils his wine before drinking it. Perhaps this is one reason why Chinamen are so seldom found drunken.
6.By a simple experiment which your parents or your teacher can perform for you, it can be readily proven that different fermented drinks contain alcohol, and also that the alcohol may be driven off by heat. Place a basin half full of water upon the stove where it will soon boil. Put into a glass bottle enough beer or cider so that when the bottle stands up in the basin the liquid in the bottle will be at about the same height as the water in the basin. Now place in the neck of the bottle a closelyfitting cork in which there has been inserted a piece of the stem of a clay pipe or a small glass tube. Place the bottle in the basin. Watch carefully until the liquid in the bottle begins to boil. Now apply a lighted match to the end of the pipe-stem or glass tube. Perhaps you will observe nothing at first, but continue placing the match to the pipe-stem, and pretty soon you will notice a little blue flame burning at the end of the stem. It will go out often, but you can light it again. This is proof that alcohol is escaping from the liquid in the bottle. After the liquid has been boiling for some time, the flame goes out, and cannot be re-lighted, because the alcohol has been all driven off.
EXPERIMENT.
7. The Alcohol Breath.—You have doubtless heard that a person who is under the influence of liquor may be known by his breath. His breath smells of alcohol. This is because his lungs are trying to remove the alcohol from his blood as fast as possible, so as to prevent injury to the blood corpuscles and the tissues of thebody. It is the vapor of alcohol mixed with his breath that causes the odor.
8.You may have heard that sometimes men take such quantities of liquor that the breath becomes strong with the vapor of alcohol and takes fire when a light is brought near the mouth. These stories are probably not true, although it sometimes happens that persons become diseased in such a way that the breath will take fire if it comes in contact with a light. Alcohol may be a cause of this kind of disease.
9. Making Alcohol.—It may be that some of our young readers would like to find out for themselves that alcohol is really made by fermentation. This may be done by an easy experiment. You know that yeast will cause bread to "rise" or ferment. As we have elsewhere learned, a little alcohol is formed in the fermentation of bread, but is driven off by the heat of the oven in baking, so that we do not take any of it into our stomachs when we eat the bread. If we place a little baker's yeast in sweetened water, it will cause it to ferment and produce alcohol. To make alcohol, all we have to do is to place a little yeast and some sweetened water in a bottle and put it away in a warm place for a few hours until it has had time to ferment. You will know when fermentationhas taken place by the great number of small bubbles which appear. When the liquid has fermented, you may prove that alcohol is present by means of the same experiment by which you found the alcohol in cider or wine. (See page 160.)
10.Alcohol is made from the sweet juices of fruits by simply allowing them to ferment. Wine, as you know, is fermented grape juice. Cider is fermented apple juice. The strong alcoholic liquor obtained by distilling wine, cider, or any kind of fermented fruit juice, is known as brandy.
11. How Beer is Made.—Beer is made from grain of some sort. The grain is first moistened and kept in a warm place for a few days until it begins to sprout. The young plant needs sugar for its food; and so while the grain is sprouting, the starch in the grain is changed into sugar by a curious kind of digestion. This, as you will remember, is the way in which the saliva acts upon starch. So far no very great harm has been done, only sprouted grain, though very sweet, is not so good to eat as grain which has not sprouted. Nature intends the sugar to be used as food for the little sproutlet; but the brewer wants it for another purpose, and he stops the growth of the plant by drying the grain in a hot room.
12.The next thing the brewer does is to grind the sprouted grain and soak it in water. The water dissolves out the sugar. Next he adds yeast to the sweet liquor and allows it to ferment, thus converting the sugar into alcohol. Potatoes are sometimes treated in a similar way.
13.By distilling beer, a strong liquor known as whiskey is obtained. Sometimes juniper berries are distilled with the beer. The liquor obtained is then called gin. In the West Indies, on the great sugar plantations, large quantities of liquor are made from the skimmings and cleanings of the vessels in which the sweet juice of the sugar-cane is boiled down. These refuse matters are mixed with water and fermented, then distilled. This liquor is called rum.
14.Now you have learned enough about alcohol to know that it is not produced by plants in the same way that food is, but that it is the result of a sort of decay. In making alcohol, good food is destroyed and made into a substance which is not fit for food, and which produces a great amount of sickness and destroys many lives. Do you not think it a pity that such great quantities of good corn and other grains should be wasted in this way when they might be employed for a useful purpose?
15. The Alcohol Family.—Scientists tell us that there are several different kinds of alcohol. Naphtha is a strong-smelling liquid sometimes used by painters to thin their paint and make it dry quickly. It does not have the same odor as alcohol, but it looks and acts very much like it. It will burn as alcohol does. It kills animals and plants. It will make a person drunk if he takes a sufficient quantity of it. Indeed, it is so like alcohol that it really is a kind of alcohol.
16.There are also other kinds of alcohol. Fusel-oil, a deadly poison, is an alcohol. A very small amount of this alcohol will make a person very drunk. Fusel-oil is found in bad whiskey. (All whiskey is bad, but some kinds are worse than others.) This is why such whiskey makes men so furiously drunk. It also causes speedy death in those who use it frequently. There are still other kinds of alcohol, some of which are even worse than fusel-oil. So you see this is a very bad family.
17.Like most other bad families, this alcohol family has many bad relations. You have heard of carbolic acid, a powerful poison. This is one of the relatives of the alcohol family. Creosote is another poisonous substance closely related to alcohol. Ether and chloroform, by which people are made insensible during surgical operations,are also relatives of alcohol. They are, in fact, made from alcohol. These substances, although really useful, are very poisonous and dangerous. Do you not think it will be very wise and prudent for you to have nothing to do with alcohol in any form, even wine, beer, or cider, since it belongs to such a bad family and has so many bad relations?
18.Some persons think that they will suffer no harm if they take only wine or beer, or perhaps hard cider. This is a great mistake. A person may get drunk on any of these drinks if a sufficient amount be taken. Besides, boys who use wine, beer, or cider, rarely fail to become fond of stronger liquors. A great many men who have died drunkards began with cider. Cider begins to ferment within a day or two after it is made, and becomes stronger in alcohol all the time for many months.
19. "Bitters."—There are other liquids not called "drinks" which contain alcohol. "Bitters" usually contain more alcohol than is found in ale or wine, and sometimes more than in the strongest whiskey. "Jamaica ginger" is almost pure alcohol. Hence, it is often as harmful for a person to use these medicines freely as to use alcoholic liquors in any other form.
20.Alcoholic liquors of all kinds are often adulterated. That is, they contain other poisonsbesides alcohol. In consequence of this, they may become even more harmful than when pure; but this does not make it safe to use even pure liquor. Alcohol is itself more harmful than the other drugs usually added in adulteration. It is important that you should know this, for many people think they will not suffer much harm from the use of alcohol if they are careful to obtain pure liquors.
21. Some Experiments.—How many of you remember what you have learned in previous lessons about the poisonous effects of alcohol? Do people ever die at once from its effects? Only a short time ago a man made a bet that he could take five drinks of whiskey in five seconds. He dropped dead when he had swallowed the fourth glass. No one ever suffered such an effect from taking water or milk or any other good food or drink.
22.A man once made an experiment by mistake. He was carrying some alcohol across a lawn. He accidentally spilled some upon the grass. The next day he found the grass as dead and brown as though it had been scorched by fire.
23.Mr. Darwin, the great naturalist, once made a curious experiment. He took a little plant with three healthy green leaves, and shut it up under a glass jar where there was a tea-spoonful of alcohol. The alcohol was in a dish by itself, so it did not touch the plant; but the vapor of the alcohol mixed with the air in the jar so that the plant had to breathe it. In less than half an hour he took the plant out. Its leaves were faded and somewhat shrivelled. The next morning it appeared to be dead. Do you suppose the odor of milk or meat, or of any good food, would affect a plant like that? Animals shut up with alcohol die in just the same way.
24. A Drunken Plant.—How many of you remember about a curious plant that catches flies? Do you remember its name? What does the Venus's fly-trap do with the flies after it catches them? Do you say that it eats them? Really this is what it does, for it dissolves and absorbs them. In other words, it digests them. This is just what our stomachs do to the food we eat.
25.A few years ago Mr. Darwin thought that he would see what effect alcohol would have upon the digestion of a plant. So he put a fly-catching plant in a jar with some alcohol for just five minutes. The alcohol did not touch the plant, because the jar was only wet with the alcohol on the inside. When he took the plant out, he found that it could not catch flies, and thatits digestion was spoiled so that it could not even digest very tender bits of meat which were placed on its leaves. The plant was drunk.
26.Mr. Darwin tried a great many experiments with various poisons, and found that the plants were affected in much the same way by ether and chloroform, and also by nicotine, the poisonous oil of tobacco. Sugar, milk, and other foods had no such effect. This does not look much as though alcohol would help digestion; does it?
27. Effects of Alcohol on Digestion.—Dr. Roberts, a very eminent English scientist, made many experiments, a few years ago, to ascertain positively about the effect of alcohol upon digestion. He concluded that alcohol, even in small doses, delays digestion. This is quite contrary to the belief of very many people, who suppose that wine, cider, or stronger liquors aid digestion. The use of alcohol in the form of beer or other alcoholic drinks is often a cause of serious disease of the stomach and other digestive organs.
28. Effects of Alcohol on Animal Heat.—A large part of the food we eat is used in keeping our bodies warm. Most of the starch, sugar, and fat in our food serves the body as a sort of fuel. It is by this means that the body is kept always at about the same temperature, whichis just a little less than one hundred degrees. This is why we need more food in very cold weather than in very warm weather.
29.When a person takes alcohol, it is found that instead of being made warmer by it, he is not so warm as before. He feels warmer, but if his temperature be ascertained by means of a thermometer placed in his mouth, it is found that he is really colder. The more alcohol a person takes the colder he becomes. If alcohol were good food would we expect this to be the case? It is probably true that the alcohol does make a little heat, but at the same time it causes us to lose much more heat than it makes. The outside of the body is not so warm as the inside. This is because the warm blood in the blood-vessels of the skin is cooled more rapidly than the blood in the interior of the body. The effect of alcohol is to cause the blood-vessels of the outside of the body to become much enlarged. This is why the face becomes flushed. A larger amount of warm blood is brought from the inside of the body to the outside, where it is cooled very rapidly; and thus the body loses heat, instead of gaining it, under the influence of alcohol. This is not true of any proper food substance.
30. Alcohol in the Polar Regions.—Experience teaches the same thing as science respecting the effect of alcohol. Captain Ross, Dr. Kane, Captain Parry, Captain Hall, Lieutenant Greely, and many other famous explorers who have spent long months amid the ice and snow and intense cold of the countries near the North Pole, all say that alcohol does not warm a man when he is cold, and does not keep him from getting cold. Indeed, alcohol is considered so dangerous in these cold regions that no Arctic explorer at the present time could be induced to use it. The Hudson Bay Company do not allow the men who work for them to use any kind of alcoholic liquors. Alcohol is a great deceiver, is it not? It makes a man think he is warmer, when he is really colder. Many men are frozen to death while drunk.
31. Alcohol in Hot Regions.—Bruce, Livingstone, and Stanley, and all great African travellers, condemn the use of alcohol in that hot country as well as elsewhere. The Yuma Indians, who live in Arizona and New Mexico, where the weather is sometimes much hotter than we ever know it here, have made a law of their own against the use of liquor. If one of the tribe becomes drunk, he is severely punished. This law they have made because of the evil effects of liquor which they noticed amongthe members of their tribe who used to become intoxicated. Do you not think that a very wise thing for Indians to do?
32. Sunstroke.—Do you know what sunstroke is? If you do not, your parents or teacher will tell yow that persons exposed to the heat of the sun on a hot summer day are sometimes overcome by it. They become weak, giddy, or insensible, and not infrequently die. Scores of people are sometimes stricken down in a single day in some of our large cities. It may occur to you that if alcohol cools the body, it would be a good thing for a person to take to prevent or relieve an attack of sunstroke. On the contrary, it is found that those who use alcoholic drinks are much more liable to sunstroke than others. This is on account of the poisonous effects of the alcohol upon the nerves. No doctor would think of giving alcohol in any form to a man suffering with sunstroke.
33. Effects of Alcohol upon the Tissues.—Here are two interesting experiments which your teacher or parents can make for you.
Experiment 1.Place a piece of tender beefsteak in a saucer and cover it with alcohol. Put it away over night. In the morning the beefsteak will be found to be shrunken, dried, and almost as tough as a piece of leather. Thisshows the effect of alcohol upon the tissues, which are essentially like those of lower animals.
Experiment 2.Break an egg into a half glassful of alcohol. Stir the egg and alcohol together for a few minutes. Soon you will see that the egg begins to harden and look just as though it had been boiled.
34.This is the effect of strong alcohol. The alcohol of alcoholic drinks has water and other things mixed with it, so that it does not act so quickly nor so severely as pure alcohol; but the effect is essentially the same in character. It is partly in this way that the brain, nerves, muscles, and other tissues of drinking men and women become diseased.
Eminent physicians tell us that a large share of the unfortunate persons who are shut up in insane asylums are brought there by alcohol. Is it not a dreadful thing that one's mind should be thus ruined by a useless and harmful practice?
1. Alcohol is produced by fermentation, and obtained by distillation. It will burn like kerosene oil and other burning fluids.
2. The vapor of alcohol will burn and will sometimes explode.
3. Alcohol may be separated from beer and other fermented liquids by boiling.
4. Brandy is distilled from fermented fruit juice, whiskey and gin from beer or fermented grains, rum from fermented molasses.
5. Alcohol is the result of a sort of decay, and much good food is destroyed in producing it.
6. Besides ordinary alcohol, there are several other kinds. Naphtha and fusel-oil are alcohols.
7. All the members of the alcohol family are poisons; all will burn, and all will intoxicate. The alcohol family have several bad relations, among which are carbolic acid, ether, and chloroform.
8. Cider, beer, and wine are harmful and dangerous as well as strong liquors. "Bitters" often contain as much alcohol as the strongest liquors, and sometimes more.
9. Alcoholic liquors are sometimes adulterated, but they usually contain no poison worse than alcohol. Pure alcohol is scarcely less dangerous than that which is adulterated.
10. Death sometimes occurs almost instantly from taking strong liquors.
11. Alcohol will kill grass and other plants, if poured upon them or about their roots.
12. Mr. Darwin proved that the vapor of alcohol will kill plants; also that plants become intoxicated by breathing the vapor of alcohol.
13. Alcohol, even in small quantities, hinders digestion.
14. Alcohol causes the body to lose heat so rapidly that it becomes cooler instead of warmer.
15. The danger of freezing to death when exposed to extreme cold is greatly increased by taking alcohol.
16. Stanley, and other African explorers, say that it is dangerous to use alcoholic drinks in hot climates.
17. In very hot weather, persons who use alcoholic drinks are more subject to sunstroke than those who do not.
18. Beefsteak soaked in alcohol becomes tough like leather. An egg placed in alcohol is hardened as though it had been boiled.
19. The effect of alcohol upon the brain, nerves, and other tissues of the body is much the same as upon the beefsteak and the egg.
CHAPTER I.The House we Live in.—What is the body like? Does the body resemble anything else besides a house? How is it like a machine? Name the different parts of the body. What is anatomy? physiology? hygiene?
CHAPTER II.A General View of the Body.—What are the main parts of the body? Name the different parts of the head; of the trunk; of each arm; of each leg. What covers the body?
CHAPTER III.The Inside of the Body.—What is the name of the framework of the body? What is the skull? How is the back-bone formed? Name the two cavities of the trunk. What does the chest contain? the abdomen?
CHAPTER IV.Our Foods.—Of what are our bodies made? What are foods? Where do we get our foods? Name some animal foods; some vegetable foods. What are poisons?
CHAPTER V.Unhealthful Foods.—Is the flesh of diseased animals good for food? What can you say about unripe, stale, or mouldy foods? What is adulteration of foods? What foods are most likely to be adulterated? Are pepper, mustard, and other condiments proper foods? What about tobacco? What is the effect of tobacco upon boys?
CHAPTER VI.Our Drinks.—What is the only thing that will satisfy thirst? Why do we need water? How does water sometimes become impure? What is the effect of using impure water? What are the properties of good water? Are tea and coffee good drinks? How is alcohol made? Give familiar examples of fermentation. How are pure alcohol and strong liquors made? Is alcohol a food? Why do you think it is a poison? Do you think moderate drinking is healthful?
CHAPTER VII.How we Digest.—What is digestion? What is the digestive tube? Name the different digestive organs. How many sets of teeth has a person in his lifetime? How many teeth in each set? How many pairs of salivary glands? What do they form? What is the gullet? Describe the stomach. What is the gastric juice? How long is the intestinal canal? What fluid is formed in the intestines? Where is the liver found, and how large is it? What does the liver produce? What is the gall-bladder, and what is its use? What does the liver do besides producing bile? What and where is the pancreas? What does the pancreas do? Where is the spleen? How many important organs of digestion are there? How many digestive fluids?
CHAPTER VIII.Digestion of a Mouthful of Bread.—Name the different processes of digestion [mastication, action of saliva, swallowing, action of stomach and gastric juice, action of bile, action of pancreatic juice, action of intestines and intestinal juice, absorption, liver digestion]. Describe the digestion of a mouthful of bread. Where is the food taken after it has been absorbed? What are the lacteals? What is the thoracic duct?
CHAPTER IX.Bad Habits in Eating.—What is indigestion? Mention some of the causes of indigestion. How does eating too fast cause indigestion? Eating too much? too frequently? Irregularly? when tired? How do tea and coffee impair digestion? Why is it harmful to use iced foods and drinks? Why should we not eat pepper and other hot and irritating things? How should the teeth be cared for? How does tobacco-using affect the stomach? What dreadful disease is sometimes caused by tobacco? How does alcohol affect the gastric juice? the stomach? the liver?
CHAPTER X.A Drop of Blood.—What does the blood contain? How many kinds of blood corpuscles are there? What work is done for the body by each kind of corpuscles?
CHAPTER XI.Why the Heart Beats.—Where is the heart? Why does the heart beat? How many chambers has the heart? What are the blood-vessels? How many kinds of blood-vessels are there? Name them. What is the difference between venous blood and arterial blood? What change occurs in the blood in the lungs? What is the pulse? How much work does the heart do every twenty-four hours? What are the lymphatics? What do they contain, and what is their purpose? What are lymphatic glands?
CHAPTER XII.How to Keep the Heart and Blood Healthy.—Name some things likely to injure the heart or the blood. What is the effect of violent exercise? of bad air? of bad food? of loss of sleep? of violent anger? What can you say about clothing? What is the effect of alcohol upon the blood? the heart? the bodily heat? What is the effect of tobacco upon the heart? the pulse? the blood? What is the effect of tea and coffee upon the heart? What is a cold? In a case of bleeding from a wound, how can you tell whether a vein or an artery is cut? How would you stop the bleeding from an artery? from a vein? How would you stop nose-bleed?
CHAPTER XIII.Why and How we Breathe.—What happens to a lighted candle if shut up in a small, close place? to a mouse? Why is air so necessary for a burning candle and for animals? How is the heat ofour bodies produced? Name the principal organs of breathing. Describe each. How do we use the lungs in breathing? How much air will a man's lungs hold? How much air do we use with each breath? What poisonous substance does the air which we breathe out contain? Will a candle burn in air which has been breathed? What happens to animals placed in such air? What change takes place in the blood as it passes through the lungs? How do plants purify the air?
CHAPTER XIV.How to Keep the Lungs Healthy.—What is the thing most necessary to preserve life? Name some of the ways in which the blood becomes impure. Why is bad-smelling air dangerous to health? What are germs? Why are some diseases "catching"? Name some such diseases. What should be done with a person who has a "catching" disease? What is the effect of the breath upon the air? How much air is poisoned and made unfit to breathe by each breath? How much air do we spoil every minute? every hour? How much pure air does each person need every minute? every hour? How do we get fresh air into our houses? Why are windows and doors not good means of ventilating in cold weather? How should a room be ventilated? How should we use the lungs in breathing? What about the clothing in reference to the lungs? Why is it injurious to breathe habitually through the mouth? What is the effect of alcohol upon the lungs? What is the effect of tobacco-using upon the throat and nose?
CHAPTER XV.The Skin and What it Does.—How many layers in the skin? What is each called? To what is the color of the skin due? What glands are found in the true skin? What are the nails and what is their purpose? How does the hair grow? Name the different uses of the skin?
CHAPTER XVI.How to Take Care of the Skin.—What happened to the little boy who was covered with gold leaf? Why did he die? What is the effect of neglecting to keep the skin clean? What is the effect of wearing too much clothing and living in rooms which are too warm? How should the hair be cared for? the nails? What is the effect of alcohol, tobacco, and other narcotics upon the skin?
CHAPTER XVII.The Kidneys and their Work.—What is the work of the kidneys? How may we keep these organs healthy? What is the effect of alcohol upon the kidneys?
CHAPTER XVIII.Our Bones and their Uses.—How many bones in the body? What are the bones called when taken all together? Name the principal parts of the skeleton. Name the bones of the trunk, of the arms, of the legs. What are the uses of the bones? What is a joint? What is cartilage? By what are the bones held together? Of what are the bones largely composed?
CHAPTER XIX.How to Keep the Bones Healthy.—What sort of bread is best for the bones? Why? If a child tries to walk too early why are its legs likely to become crooked? What are the effects of sitting or lying in bad positions? Of wearing tight or poorly-fitting clothing? Of tight or high-heeled shoes? What injuries are likely to happen to the bones and joints by accident or rough play?
CHAPTER XX.The Muscles and How we Use Them.—How many muscles in the body? Of what are the muscles composed? How are many of the muscles connected to the bones? To what are all bodily movements due? How do the muscles act? What causes the muscles to act? Do all muscles act only when we will to have them act?
CHAPTER XXI.How to Keep the Muscles Healthy.—What makes the right arm of the blacksmith stronger than the left one? How should exercise be taken? Mention some things in relation to the use of the muscles which we ought not to do, and state the reasons why. What is the effect of alcohol upon the muscles? of tobacco? of tea and coffee?
CHAPTER XXII.How we Feel and Think.—With what part of the body do we think? How many brains does a man have? How is each brain divided? Of what is the brain largely composed? Where do the nerves begin? What is the spinal cord? Why does it cause pain to prick the finger? How many kinds of nerves are there? (Ans.Two; nerves of feeling and nerves of work.) Name some of the different kinds of nerves of feeling? Name some of the different kinds of work controlled by the nerves of work. Of what use to the body are the brain and nerves? How does the brain use the nerves? Of what use is the large brain? What does the little brain do? Of what use is the spinal cord?
CHAPTER XXIII.How to Keep the Brain and Nerves Healthy.—Mention some things which we need to do to keep the brain and nerves healthy. Mention some things which we ought not to do.
CHAPTER XXIV.Bad Effects of Alcohol upon the Brain and Nerves.—What is the effect of alcohol upon the brain and nerves? Does alcohol produce real strength? Does it produce real warmth? Does alcohol make people better or worse? What is the effect of tobacco upon the brain and nerves? Does the use of tobacco lead to other evil habits? What about the effect of opium and other narcotics?
CHAPTER XXV.How we Hear, See, Smell, Taste, and Feel.—How many senses have we? What is the ear? Name the three parts of the ear. How do we hear? How should we treat the ear?
Name the principal parts of the eye? What are found in the eyeball? How is the eyeball moved in the socket? How is the eye moistened? Of what use is the lens of the eye? Of what use is the pupil of the eye? How may we preserve the eyesight?
Where are the nerves of smell located? Of what use is the sense of smell?
Where are the nerves of taste found? How is the sense of taste sometimes injured or lost? What do we detect with the sense of taste? Of what use to us is the sense of taste?
With what sense do we feel objects? In what parts of the body is this sense most delicate? Upon what do all the special senses depend? Does anything that injures the brain and nerves also injure the special senses? What is the effect of alcohol and tobacco upon the sense of sight? How is the hearing affected by tobacco-using? The sense of smell? The sense of taste?
CHAPTER XXVI.Alcohol.—How is alcohol produced? In what respect is alcohol like kerosene oil? Is alcohol a dangerous thing even if we do not drink it? How can you prove that there is alcohol in wine, beer, cider, and other fermented drinks? Can you tell by the odor of his breath when a person has been drinking? Why? Does the breath ever take fire? May alcohol be a cause? From what is brandy made? How are whiskey, gin, and rum made? Is alcohol a result of growth, like fruits and grains, or of decay? Is there more than one kind of alcohol? Mention some of the members of the alcohol family. In what ways are the members of this family alike? Name some of the bad relations. Are cider and beer, as well as whiskey, dangerous? Why? Mention some other things, besides drinks, which contain alcohol. Are alcoholic drinks adulterated? Is pure alcohol safe? Is instant death ever produced by alcohol? Will alcohol kill plants? Describe Mr. Darwin's experiment which proved this. Can plants be made drunk by alcohol? Describe the experiment which proves this. What has Dr. Roberts proven concerning the influence of alcohol upon digestion? How are our bodies kept warm? Explain how alcohol makes the body cooler? Do Arctic explorers use alcohol? Why not? Does the use of alcohol prevent sunstroke? What do Stanley and Livingstone say about the use of alcohol in Africa? What is the effect of using alcohol upon meat and eggs? What is the effect of alcohol upon the brain and other tissues of the body? Does alcohol cause insanity and other diseases of the brain and nerves?