PART II

TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE

Italic text is denoted by _underscores_.

Bold text is denoted by =equal signs=.

Obvious typographical errors and punctuation errors have been

corrected after careful comparison with other occurrences within

the text and consultation of external sources. Misspellings in

the text, and inconsistent or archaic usage, have been retained.

PRINCIPLES OF

PUBLIC HEALTH

A SIMPLE TEXT BOOK ON HYGIENE

PRESENTING THE PRINCIPLES FUNDAMENTAL

TO THE CONSERVATION OF

INDIVIDUAL AND COMMUNITY HEALTH

BY THOS. D. TUTTLE, B.S., M.D.

SECRETARY AND EXECUTIVE OFFICER OF

THE STATE BOARD OF HEALTH OF MONTANA

[Illustration: (publisher's colophon)]

YONKERS-ON-HUDSON, NEW YORK

WORLD BOOK COMPANY

1910

CONSERVATION OF HEALTH

"Our national health is physically our greatest asset. To prevent

any possible deterioration of the American stock should be a

national ambition."--THEODORE ROOSEVELT.

_The conservation of individual and national health is the keynote

of these books_

PRINCIPLES OF PUBLIC HEALTH

By THOS. D. TUTTLE, M.D., Secretary and Executive Officer of the

State Board of Health of Montana. Illustrated. Cloth. vii + 186

pages. List price 50 cents, mailing price 60 cents.

PRIMER OF HYGIENE

By JOHN W. RITCHIE, of the College of William and Mary in

Virginia, and JOSEPH S. CALDWELL, of the George Peabody College

for Teachers, Nashville, Tennessee. Illustrated. Cloth. vi + 184

pages. List price 40 cents, mailing price 48 cents.

PRIMER OF SANITATION

By JOHN W. RITCHIE. Illustrated. Cloth. vi + 200 pages. List

price 50 cents, mailing price 60 cents.

HUMAN PHYSIOLOGY

By JOHN W. RITCHIE. Illustrated in black and colors. Cloth. vi +

362 pages. List price 80 cents, mailing price 96 cents.

WORLD BOOK COMPANY

CASPAR W. HODGSON, _Manager_

YONKERS-ON-HUDSON, NEW YORK

_Copyright, 1910, by World Book Company. All rights reserved_

INTRODUCTION

The earliest history of remote ages describes methods employed in

combating disease, and down through all the centuries the struggle

against infection has been going on. The science of health as

applied in recent years reveals wonderful progress in the avoidance

of disease, and in the control of the violent epidemics by which

in the past nations were almost exterminated. Modern methods of

hygiene and sanitation as applied to public health have robbed

smallpox and diphtheria of their death-dealing power; cholera and

yellow fever have been forced to retreat before the victorious

hosts of applied medical science; tuberculosis, the greatest foe

of human life, is slowly but surely receding before the determined

efforts of modern preventive medicine.

By nature man is endowed with resistive power sufficient to ward

off most forms of disease, provided he keeps his health at a normal

standard by right living. If, however, he allows his health to

become impaired by reason of overwork, bad habits, wilful exposure

to contagion or unhealthful surroundings, he readily falls a prey

to disease.

The author of _Principles of Public Health_ has here set forth the

general rules of life by the observance of which every adult and

every child not only can do much to preserve his own health but

also can prove himself a prominent factor in raising the standard

of public health. A campaign of education is demanded to arrest the

enormous loss of life which is carrying so many to untimely graves,

and the instruction given in this volume will be of inestimable

value in teaching people how to avoid avoidable disease.

The author has not attempted to deal with all the diseases that

may be classed as preventable; as the work is intended for use in

the public schools, only such diseases are mentioned as it seems

fitting to present to school children. To teach our children a

proper respect for their own health and for the community welfare

is to fit them for the best citizenship.

E. A. PIERCE, M. D.

PORTLAND, OREGON

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The author wishes to express his sincere appreciation of the

valuable assistance rendered in the preparation of this work

by Dr. S. T. Armstrong, of New York City; Dr. H. Wheeler Bond,

Commissioner of Health, St. Louis, Missouri; Dr. H. M. Bracken,

Secretary and Executive Officer of the State Board of Health of

Minnesota; J. S. Caldwell, Professor of Biology, George Peabody

College for Teachers, Nashville, Tennessee; R. J. Condon,

Superintendent of Schools, Providence, Rhode Island; Mrs. Nona B.

Eddy, of the Public Schools of Helena, Montana; Dr. F. M. McMurray,

of Teachers College, Columbia University, New York City; Miss

Jessie B. Montgomery, Supervising Critic in Training School, State

Normal School, Terre Haute, Indiana; Dr. E. A. Pierce, Secretary

and Executive Officer of the State Board of Health of Oregon.

CONTENTS

PART I--THE FIGHT FOR HEALTH

CHAPTER PAGE

I. CONSTANT DANGER OF ILLNESS 1

II. THE NECESSITY OF CARING FOR THE BODY 4

III. HOW CLOTHING AFFECTS HEALTH 9

IV. THE USES OF FOOD 14

V. CARE OF FOOD--MEATS 18

VI. CARE OF FOOD--MILK 22

VII. DECOMPOSITION OF FOOD 30

VIII. HARM DONE BY IMPROPER COOKING 34

IX. HOW NEATNESS, CHEERFULNESS, AND GOOD MANNERS

PROMOTE HEALTH 37

X. DANGERS FROM POOR TEETH 41

XI. NECESSITY FOR PURE AIR AND HOW TO SECURE IT 45

XII. REST ESSENTIAL TO HEALTH 51

XIII. CARE OF THE EYE AND EAR 56

XIV. CARE OF THE SKIN 60

XV. COMMON POISONS TO BE AVOIDED 64

PART II--THE ENEMIES OF HEALTH

XVI. DISEASE GERMS 73

XVII. ENCOURAGEMENT OF DISEASE BY UNCLEANLY

HABITS 75

XVIII. FLIES AS CARRIERS OF DISEASE 79

XIX. HOW DISEASE GERMS GET INTO WATER 85

XX. TRANSMISSION OF DISEASE THROUGH THE AIR 89

XXI. INSECTS AS CARRIERS OF DISEASE 92

XXII. HOW TO KEEP GERMS OUT OF WOUNDS 95

XXIII. TRANSMISSION OF DIPHTHERIA 100

XXIV. THE CURE OF DIPHTHERIA 108

XXV. HOW TYPHOID FEVER GERMS ARE CARRIED 113

XXVI. HOOKWORM DISEASE AND AMOEBIC DYSENTERY 120

XXVII. HOW SCARLET FEVER IS CARRIED 123

XXVIII. MEASLES AND WHOOPING COUGH DANGEROUS

DISEASES 128

XXIX. HOW SMALLPOX IS PREVENTED 131

XXX. WHY VACCINATION SOMETIMES SEEMS A FAILURE 138

XXXI. CONSUMPTION, THE GREAT WHITE PLAGUE 142

XXXII. HOW CONSUMPTION IS SPREAD AND HOW PREVENTED 150

XXXIII. HOW CONSUMPTION IS CURED 157

APPENDIX--SUMMARY OF ANATOMY 163

SUGGESTIONS TO THE TEACHER 182

INDEX 183

PART I

THE FIGHT FOR HEALTH

CHAPTER I

CONSTANT DANGER OF ILLNESS

Every boy and girl confidently expects to grow into a strong and

healthy man or woman. How often we hear a child say, "When I am a

man," or "When I am a woman;" but I have never heard a boy or a

girl say, "If I live to be a man or woman." When you think of what

you will do when you are grown into men or women, it never occurs

to you that you may be weak and sickly and therefore not able to

do the very things that you would most like to do. This suggests

that sickness is not natural, else the thought that you may perhaps

become sick would enter your mind. As a matter of fact, most

sickness is not natural.

[Sidenote: The fight for life]

There is a constant struggle going on in the world. You see a fight

about you every day among the animals. You see the spider catch the

fly, the snake catch the frog, the bird catch the insect, and the

big fish catch the minnow; and you have heard of wars where men

kill one another.

The greatest enemies that men have to fight, however, are not

other men, or wild animals, but foes that kill more men, women and

children every year than were ever killed in the same length of

time by war. These foes are small, very small, but you must not

think that because things are small they are not dangerous. We

call these foes _disease germs_.

[Illustration: FIG. 1. Looking at cells through a microscope.]

[Illustration: FIG. 2. Some skin cells as seen through a

microscope.]

[Sidenote: The nature of a germ]

The germ is a very, very small body; it is the smallest living

body that we know. Later we shall learn that our bodies are made

up of cells, and that these cells are extremely small--so small

that it takes a very powerful microscope to see one of them. The

germ is still smaller than the cells in our bodies, and it is

made of a single cell. There are a great many kinds of germs in

the world. Fortunately, most of them are not harmful. Some germs

cause disease, but there are other germs that not only are not

harmful, but are actually helpful to men. Among the helpful germs

are those that enrich the ground, and these should be protected;

but all germs that cause disease should be destroyed as rapidly

as possible. These germs are fighting all the time against our

health. They are not armed with guns and cannon, neither do they

build forts from which to fight; but they get inside our bodies and

attack us there.

[Sidenote: How to fight germs]

There are three principal ways by which we fight disease germs:

_first_, by keeping our bodies so well and strong that germs

cannot live in them; _second_, by keeping germs out of our bodies;

_third_, by preventing germs from accumulating in the world--that

is, by killing as many of them as possible.

If it is possible to keep so well and strong that disease germs

cannot live in our bodies, you will naturally infer that there are

other causes of sickness besides disease germs. That is true, for

there are a great many things beside germs that cause our bodies to

get into such a condition that disease germs can enter and grow and

make us ill. We sometimes call this a "run-down" condition. Before

we begin, then, to study the germs that cause disease, we must

learn how to keep our bodies strong and ready to fight these germs.

=Questions.= 1. What evidence have we that sickness is not

natural? 2. Name some of the fights going on in the animal world.

3. What can you say of the amount of illness caused by germs? 4.

Tell what you have learned about germs. 5. Name three ways of

fighting germs.

=Remember.= 1. Most sickness comes from failure to observe

Nature's laws. 2. We must keep up a constant fight against germs

that cause sickness. 3. We fight germs by killing as many of them

as we can, and by keeping our bodies so strong that if a disease

germ enters it cannot grow.

CHAPTER II

THE NECESSITY OF CARING FOR THE BODY

[Illustration: FIG. 3. The organs of the body.]

[Sidenote: How the body is like an automobile]

These bodies of ours are built somewhat like automobiles. An

automobile is made up of a framework, wheels, body, gasoline tank,

engine, and steering-gear. The human body has much the same form of

construction. We have a frame, which is made of the bones of the

body. We have arms and legs, which correspond to the wheels of the

automobile. We have many little pockets in our bodies in which fat

is stored, and these little pockets answer to the gasoline tank

of the automobile. We have an engine which, like the automobile

engine, is made up of many parts; and we have a head or brain, that

plays the same part as the steering-gear of the automobile.

The automobile has a tank in which is carried the gasoline

necessary to develop power for the machine. If the gasoline gives

out, the engine will not run, and before the owner starts on a

trip, he is always careful to see that the tank is well filled.

In the same way, if we do not provide new fat for the pockets in

our bodies in which the fat is stored, our supply will soon give

out and our bodies will refuse to work, just as the engine of the

automobile will refuse to work when the gasoline is used up.

[Sidenote: What cells are like]

The automobile is made of iron and wood and rubber, and each bit

of iron and wood and rubber is made up of tiny particles. The body

is made of bones and muscles, covered with skin, and all these are

made up of very fine particles that we call cells. Every part of

the body is made of these fine cells. The cells are so small that

they can be seen only with a powerful microscope. If you look at

your hand you cannot see a cell, because it takes a great many

cells to make a spot large enough for you to see. In Figure 1 you

see a boy looking through a microscope, and beside him you see a

picture of what he sees. This picture does not look like the skin

on your hand, neither does it look like the skin on the boy's hand;

but it is nothing more nor less than a piece of skin taken from

that boy's hand, and it looks just as a piece of skin from your

own hand would look if you were to see it through a very strong

microscope.

[Sidenote: Why cells must not be killed]

The whole body is made up of just such little cells as you see in

Figure 4, and each cell is alive and has a certain work to perform.

It is very important that we keep these cells from dying and that

they perform the work for which they are intended, for if these

cells die or fail to act, the body becomes sick or dies.

[Illustration: FIG. 4. A cell. (a) Cell body; (b) nucleus; (c)

nucleolus.]

You can scratch some of the paint from your automobile and the

machine will work just as well as ever. Apparently no harm has been

done, but an opening has been made through which moisture and germs

can enter and cause the wood to rot and the iron to rust. You can

remove certain parts of the automobile and still the machine will

do its work; but you cannot take away too much of any one part

without weakening the automobile, and if certain parts are missing

(such as the sparker, the battery, or the steering-gear), the

usefulness of the machine is destroyed. So it is with the body. You

can scratch off some of the skin and not do any apparent harm, but

you have made an opening through which germs may get into the body.

You can remove certain parts of the body, such as the arm or leg,

and still the body will do efficient service. But there are certain

parts of the body that are necessary to life, just as certain parts

of the automobile are necessary to the usefulness of the machine.

You cannot remove the heart and live; you cannot remove the brain

and live.

[Sidenote: How cells are killed]

You are probably thinking that it must be easy to kill such a

little thing as a cell; and so it is. Cells can be killed by too

much heat or too much cold. When you skin your hand, you kill many

cells, and at the same time make an opening for germs to get in and

cause sickness. You can kill cells also by starving them, for they

must have not only enough food, but the right kind of food. If you

feed your bodies on nothing but candy, pie, and cake, most of the

cells will refuse to perform their work and many of them will die.

These cells must have also an abundance of air, and the air must be

pure and fresh. If you breathe the air that others have breathed or

that contains poison of any kind, you will soon find that you are

not feeling well. This simply means that so many of the cells are

being starved for fresh air, that not enough strong ones are left

to do the necessary work. You can kill these cells by overwork, for

they must have a proper amount of rest. If you go to school all

day long and then sit up until midnight every night, you must not

expect the cells of your body to keep strong and well. You can kill

these cells by the use of certain things that act as poisons to

them, such as tobacco, beer, wine, or whisky.

=Questions.= 1. In what way is the body like an automobile? 2.

What are cells like? 3. Why must cells not be killed? 4. Name

five ways by which we kill cells.

=Remember.= 1. Each part of the body is important to the welfare

of the whole body. 2. Each part of the body is made up of very

small particles that we call cells; each cell in the body is

alive and has a certain work to perform. 3. Cells are very easily

weakened and killed. 4. There are five principal ways by which

we kill the cells in our bodies: by too much heat or cold; by not

giving them the proper kinds of foods; by not giving them enough

fresh air; by giving them too much work to do; and by poisoning

them.

CHAPTER III

HOW CLOTHING AFFECTS HEALTH

[Illustration: FIG. 5. Warm, dry clothing necessary for health.]

[Sidenote: Why the body should be equally covered]

The body should always be kept at as nearly uniform a temperature

as possible. In order to do this we wear clothing. Clothing keeps

out the heat on a hot day, just as it keeps the heat in and the

cold out on a cold day. The clothing should be equally heavy on

all parts of the body. It is not right to wear a thick dress over

your chest and leave your shoulders and arms bare, or nearly so.

People who do this are killing a great many cells by letting part

of their bodies become chilled while the rest is warm, probably too

warm.

[Sidenote: Why clothing should not be too heavy]

The clothing should be just heavy enough to keep the body warm.

If you wear such heavy clothing indoors that you are constantly

perspiring, your underclothes become damp, and when you go out,

even though you put on your overcoat, your body becomes chilled. If

you begin to sneeze, that is Nature's way of telling you that you

are killing many of your cells by too much cold.

People sometimes get warm from exercising, and then take off their

coats. They should have removed their coats before they began to

exercise. If you take off your coat after you are too warm, your

body becomes chilled. Baseball pitchers know this, and if you watch

a good pitcher, you will see that he always puts on his sweater as

soon as he stops pitching, even though he is very warm. He knows

that if he cools off too quickly, he will become stiff and sore and

cannot pitch good ball.

[Sidenote: When a draft is dangerous]

Sometimes a person sits in a warm room until he begins to perspire

freely. Then he opens a window and sits in the draft. Under

ordinary conditions, the cool wind alone would chill the body, but

now the rapid drying of the perspiration makes the body cool still

more quickly. The sudden chill causes the person to take cold,

which is simply another way of saying that he has killed many cells

and caused others to fall sick, so that they cannot perform their

work. We cannot get too much fresh air. Drafts do not hurt us if

we are thoroughly wrapped up; but it is very dangerous to allow

the wind to strike the body when it is not well protected, and

especially when it is damp with perspiration.

[Illustration: FIG. 6. Properly prepared for wet weather.]

[Sidenote: Why damp clothing is dangerous]

Damp clothing chills the body very rapidly and kills many cells.

Indeed, if a single one of the germs that cause pneumonia were to

enter your lungs while you were wearing damp clothing, it would

grow so rapidly that you might have pneumonia in a very little

while. That is why it is important to change your shoes and

stockings as soon as you get them wet, and to take off immediately

any clothing that becomes damp. It is hard for boys and girls to

keep their feet dry in the winter and spring months, and rubbers

are a nuisance; but if you expect to grow into the strong man or

woman you picture yourself becoming, you must take care to wear

your rubbers. Otherwise you may become weak and sickly, and never

be able to do the things you hope to do.

The feet are not the only part of the body that needs to be kept

dry. A wet coat is just as harmful as wet shoes and stockings;

hence, you should always carry an umbrella or wear a raincoat when

you go out into the rain. Umbrellas are unhandy for boys and girls

to carry, but if you will remember that thousands of little cells

in your body are being injured when you get wet and chilled, you

will be willing to take your umbrella.

[Sidenote: When to wear an overcoat]

In cold weather the same amount of clothing should not be worn in

the house and outdoors; for this reason, we have overcoats. If you

wear your overcoat in the house, you will become overwarm and your

underclothing will then become damp with perspiration; when you go

outdoors into the cold air, this dampness will have just the same

effect as would dampness that comes from outside.

[Illustration: FIGS. 7 and 8. If you keep your overcoat on in the

house, your underclothes become damp from perspiration, and when

you go outdoors your body becomes chilled.]

As soon as the weather gets cold, put on your overcoat every time

you go outdoors, and take it off as soon as you come into the

house. This is troublesome for boys and girls to do, because they

want to run in and out of the house so often; but on the other

hand, think of all the cells you will kill if you do not do this,

and you will certainly consider it worth while to take off your

coat and put it on again.

=Questions.= 1. How does keeping the body equally covered protect

the cells? 2. Give reasons for not wearing too heavy clothing. 3.

When is it safe to sit in a draft, and when dangerous? 4. What

is the danger of keeping on wet shoes or other damp clothing? 5.

When and why should overcoats be worn?

=Remember.= 1. Clothing should be just heavy enough to keep the

body warm all the time. 2. Never take off your coat or sit in

a draft when you are too warm. 3. Since wearing damp clothing

causes a great deal of sickness, change your clothes as soon as

they become wet or damp. 4. Do not forget to take your umbrella

when it is raining and to wear your rubbers when the ground is

wet. 5. In cold weather wear your overcoat when you are outdoors,

but take it off when you come into the house.

CHAPTER IV

THE USES OF FOOD

We kill a great many of the cells in our bodies by starving them;

either we do not give them enough food or we do not supply the

right kind of food.

[Sidenote: Why the body needs new cells]

Not only must we feed the cells in our bodies, but we must be

constantly making new ones, for in all our work or play, awake or

asleep, we are constantly using up certain cells. These cells are

used to make the body go, just as the engine uses coal to form the

steam that gives it power to run. Boys and girls grow fast and, of

course, if they expect to become well men and women, they must make

a great many new cells all the time, in addition to those used in

doing the work of the body. If we are to make new cells we must

have the right kind of food with which to make them.

[Sidenote: How the body keeps itself warm]

We want to do something besides make new cells; we want to keep

warm and well the cells we already have. No amount of clothing

would keep you warm if you were not making heat inside your body

all the time, any more than you could make a telephone post warm

by putting your coat on it. Therefore it is necessary to have food

that makes heat in the body, in addition to food that builds cells.

We eat a great many kinds of foods, and all that we eat is used

either for building new cells or for producing heat in the body.

Thus we can divide all our foods into two classes--building

material and heat-producing material. The type of building material

is lean meat, and the type of heat-producing material is fat meat

and starches, such as potatoes and bread. Milk contains much

building material as well as heat-producing material. That is why

a baby grows and keeps warm while he takes nothing but milk.

[Sidenote: The building foods]

Lean meat is the best of all building foods. Eggs are largely a

form of lean meat, and hence constitute a good article of food for

building purposes. Certain vegetables contain a large per cent of

building material; this is especially true of dried beans and peas.

Wheat flour and corn meal (particularly when made of whole wheat

and unbolted meal) contain much building material.

It is possible for one to live and grow when eating only vegetable

matter. But the boy or girl who tries to become a strong man or

woman by eating only vegetables will be disappointed; these are

mostly heat-producing foods and will not make strong bodies.

Experience has proved that the best results are obtained by eating

what is called "a mixed diet," that is, a diet composed partly of

lean meats and partly of fats and vegetables.

[Sidenote: The heat-producing foods]

Of the heat-producing foods, fat is the most powerful. Most of the

fat that we eat is used immediately for producing in the body heat,

and therefore power, but a part of it is stored up for future use.

We see it in all healthy young persons. It is this stored-up fat

that gives the body its rounded form. When any one has been sick he

is thin, because, to produce heat and power while he was sick, he

has had to use the fat stored up in his body. To have such a supply

of fat is like having a bank account to draw on when out of work.

We might call the deposits of fat in our bodies our health banks.

Fat meat is not the only form in which we eat fats; we eat them

in a great many other ways. Certain vegetables, such as beans,

contain an oil that forms fat. Ripe olives contain a great deal

of fatty oil. Butter is a very important form of fat, and cream

contains a large amount of it.

[Sidenote: Cost of suitable foods]

In selecting our foods we should think of two things: _first_, the

value of the food as a heat-producer or as a building material;

and _second_, the cost of the food. We may like butter much better

than bacon, but we should remember that, pound for pound, bacon has

a greater nourishing power than butter, and a pound of bacon will

cost far less than a pound of butter.[1]

Vegetable foods produce heat by means of the starch which they

contain. All vegetables contain starch. This starch is changed

into a kind of sugar in the body, and when thus changed it is used

to produce heat and power. All vegetable foods do not have the

same heat-producing power. There is more heat-producing power in

a pound of oatmeal than there is in ten pounds of cabbage. Ten

cents' worth of dried beans will produce more heat in the body

than will a dollar's worth of lettuce. Thirty cents' worth of corn

meal will do more building in the body than will a piece of mutton

worth a dollar and a half; but you would have to eat a large amount

of corn meal in order to secure the building effect that would

result from eating a small quantity of mutton. In most fruits the

only nourishing quality is in the sugar they contain. This sugar

produces heat in the body just as starch does.

[Sidenote: The real value of advertised foods]

You will see some foods advertised as possessing a wonderful

nourishing power. Do not let such statements deceive you, for no

food can have a greater nourishing power than the things from which

it is made. If the particular food advertised is made from wheat

flour, its nourishing power is just the same as that of an equal

quantity of wheat flour. If it is made from corn meal, it can have

no greater nourishing power than has the meal itself.

We have learned something about the materials necessary in food and

why they are needed. We must now learn why foods that contain these

materials sometimes do not give us as good results as we might hope

for.

=Questions.= 1. What use does the body make of new cells? 2. How

does the body keep itself warm? 3. Name two uses that the body

makes of food. 4. What foods are especially useful for making

cells? 5. What foods are chiefly used for making heat? 6. Select

articles of food for two meals of equal nourishing value, one

meal to be expensive and the other inexpensive. 7. How would you

determine the real value of any food?

=Remember.= 1. Foods are used to make heat and power in the body

and to make the body grow. 2. The foods that make the body grow

are called building materials, and lean meat is the best kind

of building material. 3. The foods that produce heat and power

in the body are called heat-producing materials, and fats and

starches are the best heat-producers. 4. All vegetables contain

starch, some of them contain a fatty oil, and most of them

contain some building material. 5. You can get as much building

and heat-producing material from cheap foods as you can from

expensive foods.

CHAPTER V

CARE OF FOOD--MEATS

[Sidenote: Value of meat as a food]

Meat is one of the most important articles of our diet. It

furnishes essential materials for building cells, and it furnishes

fat for making heat and power in the body.

[Illustration: FIG. 9. A double menace to health; the

slaughterhouse is dirty, and the filth is drained into a stream.]

[Sidenote: Characteristics of good meat]

Since meat is so important an article of food, we should be very

careful to see that it is handled in a way to keep it always

perfectly clean. We should make sure that it comes from animals

absolutely free from any kind of disease, and that no germs have

been allowed to develop poisons in it.

[Sidenote: How meat may be kept clean]

While people know that they ought to pay attention to these things,

as a matter of fact they do not do it. They take very little

interest in the way the meat that they are to eat is handled, and

very few ever go to the slaughterhouse or into the back room of the

butcher shop to see whether things are kept clean or not. Some

people say, "Oh, we do not like to go there because it is such a

horrid place." If these places were kept clean, as they should be,

they would not be "horrid." And if the people who buy the meat

would occasionally visit them, these places would be kept clean.

[Illustration: FIG. 10. Properly displayed foods, protected from

handling and from dirt and flies.]

If the slaughterhouse and the butcher shop where your meats are

handled are not kept clean, the meat is sure to have germs growing

in it, and these germs will cause poisons called _ptomaines_ to

form in the meat. There may not be enough of them to make you

sick, but there will be enough to injure some of the cells of your

body, and to deprive you of much of the nourishment that you would

otherwise get from the meat.

All boys and girls should belong to a "Clean Meat League" and

should try to persuade their parents not to buy meat from any

butcher who does not keep his slaughterhouse and butcher shop clean.

[Sidenote: Dangers from diseased meat]

Sometimes butchers are anxious to make money fast and take little

thought for the number of people they may make ill. They can buy

sick cows very much cheaper than well ones. The meat from a sick

cow looks just like the meat from a healthy cow, and the dishonest

butcher sells both at the same price. The meat from the diseased

cow is not suitable for food. It may cause you to have the same

disease that the cow had, or it may only be changed to such an

extent that it will not give you the nourishment that you should

get from good meat. The butcher who sells you meat from a sick cow

is of course dishonest.

[Illustration: FIG. 11. Improperly displayed foods, exposed to

handling and to dirt and flies.]

[Sidenote: How to prevent the sale of diseased meats]

Ask your father to visit the slaughterhouse where your meat is

killed. The only thing you need to do is to persuade him to go and

see whether the cattle are sick or not. If the cattle look sick,

you will not have to ask him not to buy the meat. No person should

ever eat meat that comes from a diseased animal, no matter what the

nature of the sickness may be. People who will take the trouble to

visit the slaughterhouses occasionally, to investigate these things

for themselves, will not have such meat offered them.

[Sidenote: Importance of giving animals clean food]

Animals that are fed on filthy food are not fit for human

consumption. Butchers often feed the offal (the insides) of animals

to the hogs. This makes the hogs fatten quickly, but it also makes

them diseased. When you go to the slaughterhouse with your father,

ask him to go around to the back door, and if you see hogs eating

this filth, do not buy any more meat from that butcher.

=Questions.= 1. What use does the body make of meat? 2. What

conditions are essential for good meat? 3. How can meat be kept

clean? 4. Why is meat from a diseased animal unfit for food? 5.

How can you help in preventing the sale of meat from diseased

animals? 6. Why should animals not be fed with offal?

=Remember.= 1. Meat that is not handled in a clean manner

is sure to contain germs that cause a poison to form in the

meat. 2. Never buy meat from a butcher who does not keep his

slaughterhouse and butcher shop clean. 3. Meat from a diseased

animal is not fit for food. 4. Meat from animals fed on filthy

food should not be eaten. 5. Form a "Clean Meat League" and visit

the slaughterhouse where your meat is killed.

CHAPTER VI

CARE OF FOOD--MILK

[Sidenote: Value of milk as a food]

Milk is another important article of food. The Department of

Agriculture at Washington says that milk furnishes sixteen per

cent of the nourishment of the people of the country. Milk is an

excellent food when it is pure, but when it is not pure it is very

dangerous.

[Illustration: FIG. 12. A clean dairy.]

[Sidenote: Milk as a carrier of germs]

Milk has carried the germs of every disease of which the germ is

known; it has also carried many diseases of which we do not know

the germ. Disease germs grow rapidly in milk, and they do not

make the milk look different or taste different from milk that is

perfectly pure. If you could take two bottles of milk entirely free

from disease germs and put typhoid fever germs in one, and should

set both bottles in an ice box for twenty-four hours, you would

not then be able to tell into which one you had put the germs. The

milk in both bottles would look and taste just the same. The only

difference between the milk in the two bottles would be that if you

drank from one it would make you stronger and would furnish you

with both building material and power-producing material, while

if you drank from the other you would become very ill and would

probably die.

[Sidenote: How disease germs get into milk:]

Since we cannot tell from the taste or the appearance of milk

whether or not there are disease germs in it, we must take every

precaution possible to keep them out. The first step is to learn

where the disease germs come from and how they get into the milk.

[Illustration: FIG. 13. Polluted milk is sure to come from a dairy

where cleanliness is not observed.]

[Sidenote: (_1_) By dirt on the cow]

Every cow has more or less dirt on her sides and udder; some have

a great deal. When the cow is milked, much of the dirt falls into

the milk bucket. This dirt always contains a great many germs of

different kinds, and many of them are germs that cause disease.

Straining the milk will take out much of the dirt, but disease

germs will go through the finest strainer that was ever made.

In Figure 13 we see a man milking a dirty cow. The owner has

allowed his lot to become so dirty that the cow cannot find a clean

place in which to lie down. If the man kept his lot clean, and if

before milking the light dirt on the cow's sides and udder were

wiped off with a damp cloth, no germs would fall into the milk.

[Sidenote: (_2_) By dirt in the cow barn]

Another source of dirt and disease germs in milk is the barn. The

walls of a barn where cows are milked should always be kept clean

and should be whitewashed frequently. If this is done, there will

be comparatively little dirt on the walls to fall into the milk.

[Illustration: FIG. 14. Only clean milk will come from a dairy

where proper precautions are taken.]

Of course the walls and floors of a barn cannot be kept absolutely

clean. There will always be some dirt, and the movements of the

cows shifting their position and switching their tails, will stir

up the dust; so it is important to remove the milk from the barn as

soon as possible. Milk cans should never be kept in the barn. The

milk should be taken directly from the barn to a cooling house and

there strained.

All barns where cows are kept should have plenty of windows, that

there may be an abundance of light and fresh air. Cows need fresh

air just as much as people do, while a barn that is not supplied

with plenty of light is very likely to be a dirty barn.

Keep dirt and disease germs out of the milk by keeping the barn

clean and by taking the milk away from the barn as soon as possible.

[Illustration: FIG. 15. A dirty, insanitary milk-house.]

[Illustration: FIG. 16. A clean, inexpensive milk-house.]

[Sidenote: (3) By dirt on the milkman]

Another source of dirt and disease germs in milk is the milkman or

milkmaid. No matter how careful we may be, our clothes hold more or

less dust, and all dust contains germs, very often disease germs.

When a person is milking a cow, the dust from his clothes is shaken

off into the milk. The only way to avoid this is to wear, while

milking, a special suit of clothes made of white cloth, which may

be washed as soon as it shows the least particle of dirt.

The milker's hands, too, are often dirty. Perhaps he carefully

washes his hands after milking, but not before. It is a common

custom for milkers to moisten their hands with milk while milking,

and to do this frequently. The result is that dirty milk from their

hands is constantly dropping into the milk pail. This is a very

bad habit, and doubly bad if the milkman has not washed his hands

before milking.

Sometimes there are sick people at the dairy farm. Often some one

nurses a sick person until milking time and then goes out and milks

the cows. When this is done, the milker is almost sure to plant the

germs of the disease in the milk. No milk should ever be used from

any dairy where there is an infectious disease; and no one who has

charge of a sick person, no matter what the nature of the sickness,

should ever handle milk that is to be used by others.

[Illustration: FIG. 17. A model bottling establishment.]

[Sidenote: (4) By dirt in cans and bottles]

The cans and bottles in which the milk is placed are frequently

sources of dirt and germs. Milk cans and bottles are supposed to be

thoroughly washed before milk is put into them, and they should be

thoroughly scalded after they are washed. This is not always done,

and sometimes the bottles are not washed at all.

Some dairymen will tell you that the bottles and cans are always

washed and scalded just before the milk is put into them, and that

this is never neglected by any dairyman. That is what a dairyman

once told me. Then I asked him how he accounted for the fact that

I had found a milk ticket in the bottle with the fresh milk. Of

course he could not explain this, though I thought I could explain

it for him. The old milk bottle was returned to the milkman with

the ticket for the new milk inside it. The deliveryman left the

fresh milk, but forgot to take the ticket out of the bottle; and

the man who "washed" the bottles must have forgotten to take out

the ticket too. Of course, the bottle was not washed at all, and if

one bottle goes unwashed, it is reasonable to assume that others

are neglected in the same way.

Milk bottles and cans should always be thoroughly washed before

fresh milk is put into them. This washing cannot be done by little

children; it is work for a man or woman, and careful work at that.

[Sidenote: (5) By polluted water]

I have just told you that milk vessels should be thoroughly washed.

It is true, however, that disease germs may get into the milk

through this very process of washing the vessels. Water sometimes

contains disease germs, especially the germs that cause typhoid

fever, cholera, and other diseases of the intestines. Such water

is said to be polluted. When milk vessels are washed with polluted

water, the germs are left in them and thus get into the milk. If

the water used to wash the cans is thoroughly boiled, the germs

will be killed; hence it is important to scald all milk vessels.

All water used about a dairy should be perfectly pure. If there is

the least suspicion about the quality of the water, it should be

examined by a chemist; and if it is not pure, the milk from such

a dairy should not be used. In order to prevent the possibility

of any infection, all water used to wash milk vessels should be

thoroughly boiled even when the water is known to be pure, and the

vessels should afterward be scalded, to kill any germs that may be

left after washing.

[Sidenote: (6) By flies falling into the milk]

Flies very frequently get into the milk. Later we shall learn more

about how flies carry germs, but at present it is enough to know

that on every fly there are a great many germs, and whenever a fly

gets into milk it plants those germs and they grow very rapidly.

As soon as a cow is milked, the milk should be taken to a clean

cooling house, with screens at all the windows and doors, and there

strained into a vessel and cooled.

[Sidenote: (7) By disease in the cow]

The last way that we will mention by which germs get into milk is

by disease in the cow herself. Cows suffer from many diseases,

just as men do; and when a cow is sick, her milk is very likely

to contain the germs of the disease that is making her sick.

Especially is this true of tuberculosis, or consumption, as it is

called. A great many children get consumption by drinking milk

from consumptive cows. No milk should ever be used from a cow that

is not healthy. All dairy cows should be examined at frequent

intervals by a competent veterinarian to make sure that they are

free from any disease.

=Questions.= 1. Milk forms what per cent of the food of the

people of the United States? 2. Why is it important that milk

should be kept clean? 3. Name some ways by which germs get into

milk. 4. What is the danger from a dirty cow and barn? 5. How can

this danger be prevented? 6. How does the milkman allow germs to

get into the milk, and how can he avoid doing so? 7. How should

milk cans and bottles be washed? 8. Why is it important that only

pure water be used about the dairy? 9. How can flies be kept out

of milk? 10. How should milch cows be tested to make sure that

they are free from tuberculosis?

=Remember.= 1. Milk is a very important article of food; it is

both a building and a heat-producing material. 2. When milk is

not properly handled, it contains many disease germs. 3. Disease

germs often get into milk from unwashed bottles and cans; from

dirty barns; from dirty milkmen; from dirty water used to wash

the cans and bottles; from flies falling into the milk; from

diseased cows.

CHAPTER VII

DECOMPOSITION OF FOOD

[Illustration: FIG. 18. Partially decayed fruit is not fit for

food.]

[Sidenote: Why partially decomposed foods should not be eaten]

Vegetables and fruits that are partially decayed should not be

eaten. Even if an orange is decayed only on one side, the products

of decomposition--that is, the poisons produced by decay--have

extended all through the orange. You cannot see them, but they are

there. It is the same with a decaying apple, potato, or melon. It

never pays to buy partially decayed or stale fruits or vegetables,

for not only are they dangerous to health, but they are so reduced

in nourishing qualities by decomposition that you get little value

for the money you spend. It is always better economy to buy fresh

fruits and vegetables, or even canned vegetables, when the latter

are properly put up.

[Sidenote: What causes decomposition]

All decomposition (rotting) in fruits and vegetables is due to the

action of germs. If you will look at a bunch of old grapes, you

will notice that some of the grapes are rotten, while others have

dried up. Now, if you examine them very carefully, you will find

that all the decomposed grapes have breaks in the skin. The break

may be very small, but it is there, and through this break the

germs that cause decomposition have entered. You will find also

that there is not the slightest break in the skin of any grape that

has dried up. The germs could not enter, hence there has been no

decomposition. It is the same with other fruits and vegetables: if

the germs that cause decomposition cannot get inside, the fruit or

vegetable will dry up, but will not rot.

[Illustration: FIG. 19. Fruits displayed for sale, but properly

protected from flies, dust, and dirty hands.]

Germs can go through a very small opening--so small that you may

not be able to find it; but if there is decomposition, the hole is

there.

The skin of the body acts in the same way as the skin of the grape

and keeps out a great many germs that would make us sick were they

able to get through the skin. They often get through the skin when

we cut ourselves.

Meats decompose as well as fruits and vegetables, and the

decomposition is due to the presence of germs in the meat. We

cannot keep all germs out of meat, but we can keep out a great many

of them by having everything clean about the meat, by keeping it

covered as much of the time as possible, and by handling it only

with clean hands.

[Illustration: FIG. 20. Fruits for sale, not properly protected

from flies, dirt, and other sources of filth.]

[Sidenote: Why foods do not decompose in very cold places]

When meat is kept so cold that it is almost frozen, the germs

cannot grow, and decomposition is prevented. In this way meat can

be kept perfectly free from decomposition for several weeks. After

the meat is taken from the cold storage room, it should be cut as

soon as possible into steaks, roasts, and other pieces for cooking;

and when taken to your home, it should be kept in an ice box until

the time to cook it. You cannot keep meat very long at home without

decomposition starting, because small ice boxes are not cold enough

to check entirely the growth of germs.

Unless the meat is to be eaten hot, it should be cooled after

cooking and placed again in the ice box as soon as possible.

Cooking kills the germs that are in the meat before it is cooked;

but unless it is kept in a very cold place and protected from flies

after it is cooked, germs will get into it again as soon as it is

cold. Cooked meat will decompose just the same as uncooked meat.

[Sidenote: What is formed in food by decomposition]

When germs are allowed to grow in meat, as always happens when it

is not kept in a very cold place, these germs cause the poisons

that we call ptomaines. The people who eat such meat become sick,

and in many cases do not recover. Cooking meat that contains

ptomaines will kill the germs that caused the poison, but it will

not destroy the poison that has already been formed.

[Sidenote: Why some canned meats are poisonous]

People not infrequently are poisoned by eating canned meat.

Sometimes you will hear it said that the poison formed because the

meat was in cans. This is not true; the cans had nothing to do

with the forming of the poison. This was caused by germs that were

allowed to grow in the meat before it was cooked. When the meat was

cooked the germs were killed, but the poison was not destroyed. In

other words, the poison developed before the meat was canned, and

not after it was put into the cans.

=Questions.= 1. What is the objection to eating fruits when they

are partially decayed? 2. Why do some foods shrivel while others

decay? 3. Why does decomposition not go on in cold places? 4.

What are ptomaines? 5. When are ptomaines formed in canned meats?

=Remember.= 1. Partially decomposed fruits or vegetables are not

suitable for foods. 2. Meats in which germs have been allowed to

grow should not be eaten. 3. Cooking meat kills the germs in it,

but does not destroy the poisons that the germs have formed. 4.

When canned meats are poisonous, it is because the poison was

formed before the meat was canned; the poison is not caused by

the can.

CHAPTER VIII

HARM DONE BY IMPROPER COOKING

[Sidenote: Effects of improper cooking]

Nearly all food should be cooked before it is eaten; but if the

cooking is not properly done, much of the nourishing power of the

food is destroyed, and in some instances the food is rendered

actually injurious.

[Sidenote: Why starchy foods should be thoroughly cooked]

Starchy foods should be thoroughly cooked in order that the

coverings which surround the little granules may be broken or

made soft. If starchy foods are not thoroughly cooked, the little

grains go into the stomach as hard as grains of sand; then most of

them are not digested at all, but pass out of the system without

furnishing any nourishment to the body. If starchy foods are fried

in fats, as is the case with doughnuts, the granules of starch

become coated with fat. As the fat is not digested until it comes

to the intestines, the saliva never reaches the coverings of the

starch, and more work is thrown on the other juices of the body.

The result is that the little glands which make these other juices

are overworked, or else the starch is not digested at all and

therefore furnishes no nourishment to the body. When bread is

sticky (we sometimes call it soggy) in the middle of the loaf, it

is because the flour has not been thoroughly cooked and the little

grains or granules of starch are still hard. You cannot feel these

granules between your fingers, but they are hard just the same, and

very little of such food is made use of in the body.

Remember that all starchy foods should be thoroughly cooked, and

remember, too, that all vegetables are chiefly starchy in character.

[Sidenote: How fats should be cooked]

When fats are cooked over a very hot fire, an acid is developed

that is injurious to the body. This does not mean that when the

fire is hot enough to broil a steak well, it causes this acid to

form; neither does it mean that heat sufficient to boil the grease

for cooking doughnuts will cause it to form. Every cook knows

that when she fries fat meat over a fire that is too hot, it has

a bitter taste. This bitter taste is caused by an acid which will

destroy a part of the usefulness of the food in the body and will

cause many of the cells to stop doing their work properly.

[Sidenote: How meats should be cooked]

There is a great difference of opinion in regard to cooking foods,

especially meats. Some people will tell you that meats should not

be cooked at all; that man originally ate his meat raw and that

this is the proper way. Others will tell you that all meat should

be cooked until it does not show a particle of red, even until it

is dry throughout. These are the two extremes; and it is never well

to go to extremes in anything, especially in matters that concern

the health.

Meat should always be cooked, because by being cooked it is made

more easily digestible; but it should not be cooked, until all the

juices, which contain much of the nourishing matter, are dried up

and the meat made hard. Meat that is cooked until it is dry and

hard is more difficult to digest than meat that is not cooked at

all.

=Questions.= 1. What effect has improper cooking on foods? 2. Why

should starches be thoroughly cooked? 3. What is the objection

to starchy foods fried in grease? 4. What changes take place in

fatty food when it is fried over a very hot fire? 5. Why should

all meats be cooked? 6. What is the objection to cooking meat

until the juices are dried out?

=Remember.= 1. Starchy foods should be thoroughly cooked so that

the fine grains may be softened and the food thus made more easy

to digest. 2. Fats should not be fried over a very hot fire

because too much heat causes a poison to form in the fat. 3.

Meats should be cooked, but never until they become dry, as the

juices in the meat contain most of the nourishing material.

CHAPTER IX

HOW NEATNESS, CHEERFULNESS, AND GOOD MANNERS PROMOTE HEALTH

[Sidenote: Why mealtime should be pleasant]

The dining table should be the pleasantest and most inviting place

in the house. If you are complaining and quarreling during the

meal, you cannot enjoy the food; you cannot eat it properly; and

your ill temper will so affect your body that you cannot properly

digest what you eat. A dirty table, with flies swarming over the

food, is not very tempting, and when seated at such a table, one

does not eat the things that are best for him and sometimes does

not eat anything at all.

[Illustration: FIG. 21. A clean, inviting dining-room.]

[Sidenote: How uninviting luncheons affect the appetite]

The luncheons that boys and girls take to school with them are

often prepared in so careless a way that they are extremely

uninviting. The substantial school lunch can be made just as

appetizing as the dainty refreshments at an afternoon tea or at

a party. If the same care is devoted to the preparation of the

one as of the other, boys and girls will eat their lunches with

enjoyment and good appetites.

[Sidenote: Why an attractive table calls for pleasing guests]

If the table is made to look clean and inviting, do you not think

that you, in your turn, should make yourself as neat and clean as

possible before you come to it? Dirt on your hands and face not

only does not look well, but contains a great many germs that may

get into your food and thus find their way into your body and try

to make you ill.

[Illustration: FIG. 22. Two lunches. Which is the more tempting?]

[Sidenote: How foods should be eaten]

Besides being eaten in pleasant surroundings, all food should be

eaten slowly. Let us suppose that we are all seated at a clean,

inviting table and everyone is clean and happy. Before the children

is the very kind of food that is best for them. It looks good and

they know it is good, and they want to eat all they can of it. But

they think of a game of jacks or of ball that they want to play as

soon as dinner is over, so they simply "bolt" their food.

What are teeth made for? Why, to chew with, of course. But why are

we given some teeth that are sharp like knives, and some that are

flat like millstones? It seems probable that these different kinds

of teeth are intended for special purposes, and so they are. If

our teeth were intended only for cutting our food into bits small

enough to swallow without causing pain, there would be no need

for any except the sharp, knife-like teeth. But we have the big

grinders, which were made to use, and it is very important that

they be used in the right way.

[Sidenote: Why food should be thoroughly chewed]

We do not chew our food simply to make it fine enough to swallow,

but for quite another reason as well. In our mouths there is a

fluid called _saliva_. Think of something that you are very fond

of eating, and the mere thought of it makes the saliva come into

your mouth. This saliva has a very important duty to perform in

connection with preparing the food for the little cells of the

body. Each little grain of starch--and you will remember that all

vegetable foods are composed largely of starch--has a capsule about

it. This simply means that it is done up in a little package. The

saliva helps to open this capsule by making it soft (just as water

will soften the paper on a package of candy), so that the other

digestive juices can reach the starch and turn it into the kind of

sugar that is used in the body. If you do not chew your food very

fine, the saliva will not reach the starch granules, the little

packages of starch will be hard to open when they go into the

stomach, and much of the starch will never be made use of in the

body. The saliva has much the same action on the coverings of the

little packages of meat, for all the meat that we eat is done up in

similar packages.

A great Englishman, Mr. Gladstone, who lived to be eighty-three,

made a practice of chewing every bite of food twenty times, and he

thought this had a great deal to do with his being such a strong

and well man and living to such an old age.

[Sidenote: When desserts are not harmful]

After you have eaten meats, bread, and vegetables, it will do no

harm to eat a piece of pie or cake, or a dish of ice-cream or some

other dessert. It is not easy, as a rule, to digest these things

(that is, to get them into such shape that they can be used as food

by the little cells in the body), but a moderate amount of them is

very good for boys and girls, as well as for grown people. If you

refuse to eat the meat and bread, but wait until the dessert is

served and then fill your stomach with sweet things, you will be

starving some of the little cells, and you will be reminded of this

very soon. Sometimes you may be reminded of it by having a pain in

your stomach, but more often by getting low grades in your lessons

at school. Your teacher will know it, too, because you will be so

restless and inattentive in your classes that she will have to give

you a low grade in deportment as well.

=Questions.= 1. What kind of topics should be discussed at

mealtime? 2. What is the objection to an untidy table? 3. What

kind of luncheon do you like best? 4. What does a clean table

call for? 5. What is the importance of eating slowly? 6. Why

should we chew our food thoroughly? 7. When are desserts not

harmful?

=Remember.= 1. The dining table should be the most inviting

place in the house. 2. Unpleasant subjects should be avoided at

mealtime. 3. A clean table calls for clean people. 4. Eat slowly

and chew your food thoroughly, that the saliva may reach each

grain of starch. 5. Desserts are not harmful if eaten at the end

of a meal composed of good building and heat-producing materials.

CHAPTER X

DANGERS FROM POOR TEETH

We have learned that chewing is not merely a process of cutting our

food into such lumps as we can swallow without hurting ourselves;

but that the food must be ground up fine and thoroughly mixed with

the saliva, that the saliva may reach every particle of starch. If

we do not have good teeth, we cannot grind our food as fine as it

ought to be ground, and, as a result, a great deal of the starch

will not be reached by the saliva.

Nature starts every child with a full set of good, strong, clean

teeth. These teeth, which we call first, or milk, teeth, are not

very large, but they are perfect in every respect and last until

the second, or permanent, teeth come in. That is, they will last so

long _if they are taken care of_. If they are not taken care of,

they will decay just as the later teeth will decay, and they must

be cared for in the same way.

[Sidenote: Why we have baby or milk teeth]

Boys and girls sometimes wonder why they have a set of teeth that

come out before they can have the teeth that must last them the

rest of their lives. This is simply because there is not room

enough in a child's mouth for the big, permanent teeth. We must

have teeth while our jaws are growing, so we have first a set of

little teeth. Then just as soon as our jaws get large enough for

the big teeth, the little teeth come out and the big ones come in.

Teeth are about the hardest substance in the body. If we take care

of our second teeth, they should last as long as we live. The only

reason they do not last is because we do not take care of them. If

a person would keep his teeth clean all the time, he would rarely

be obliged to have a single permanent tooth pulled.

[Sidenote: Why teeth break easily]

Teeth are so hard that they are brittle, that is, they break

easily. Glass is brittle, and you can chip off a piece of glass

with a pin by sticking the pin into a crack in the glass. In just

the same way you can chip off a piece of a tooth by sticking a pin

between two teeth. That is what often happens when people pick

their teeth with pins, or with any other hard substance. A metal

toothpick is just as bad as a pin.

[Illustration: FIG. 23. Teeth were not intended for nutcrackers.]

Another way by which little pieces are chipped off the teeth is by

biting hard things. Sometimes we see boys and girls cracking nuts

with their teeth; again we see them trying to bite wires in two.

They put their teeth to many uses for which teeth were never made.

They do not realize, while they are abusing their teeth in this

way, that they are probably chipping the enamel, which is the hard,

shiny covering of the tooth, and are destroying the one protection

that their teeth have against decay.

[Sidenote: Why teeth decay]

When a little piece is chipped off a tooth, an opening is made

through the enamel. Through this opening germs may lodge in the

inner part of the tooth, which is soft. When this happens, a little

black speck appears on the tooth, and after a while the tooth

begins to ache. If you have a toothache, you go to a dentist, and

he probably finds that germs have caused the tooth to decay until

there is a hole extending into the very center of it.

Teeth grow very close together, but there is always a little space

between them. Whenever you eat anything, particles of the food get

into these spaces and if allowed to remain there, soon decompose.

These decomposing particles of food between the teeth will

gradually soften even the enamel, and in this way little openings

are made for germs to get into the teeth.

[Sidenote: How to care for the teeth]

Never pick the teeth. You cannot make them clean by picking them.

Every morning and night brush your teeth with a stiff toothbrush

and a little tooth powder. Brush them both crosswise and up and

down, to get out everything from between them. Do not think you

have done your duty if you brush only your front teeth, the ones

that show. Brush the back teeth just as thoroughly as you do the

front teeth. Very few people will see your back teeth, but these

decay just as fast as your front teeth, if they are not kept clean.

[Illustration: FIG. 24. A sanitary wash-basin with a separate bowl

for washing the teeth.]

[Sidenote: How often one should go to the dentist]

Twice each year you should have a dentist examine your teeth, to

see if there are any little spots where decay has started. If you

have kept your teeth perfectly clean all the time, and have not

chipped off little pieces, there will be none of these decayed

spots. But it is a safe plan to have the teeth looked over at least

twice a year, for you may have broken a tooth without knowing it,

and by the time a decayed spot is large enough to cause pain, or

has made a hole that you can feel with your tongue, it has advanced

much farther than it should have been permitted to do.

=Questions.= 1. Why should you chew your food thoroughly? 2.

Why is it necessary to have baby teeth? 3. How are teeth easily

broken? 4. Why do teeth decay? 5. What must you avoid in order to

protect your teeth? 6. How should your teeth be brushed? 7. Why

should you have your teeth examined twice each year by a dentist?

=Remember.= 1. Take care of your teeth and they will last you as

long as you live. 2. Do not pick them with pins, or toothpicks

of any kind. 3. Do not use them for nutcrackers or wire-cutters.

4. Do not use them for tack pullers. 5. Keep them clean at all

times. 6. Brush them up and down as well as crosswise.

CHAPTER XI

NECESSITY FOR PURE AIR AND HOW TO SECURE IT

We have learned how the cells of the body are killed by starvation.

Now let us learn how they are choked to death, or killed by lack of

air.

[Sidenote: How air is changed in the body]

The cells of the body need _oxygen_, and the only way we can give

it to them is by means of air. Every time we take air into our

lungs we are giving oxygen to the red corpuscles or cells in the

blood, which distribute it to the other cells in the body. The air

that goes into our lungs, if it is fresh and pure, contains a great

deal of oxygen and a very little of another gas called _carbon

dioxid_. The air that comes out of the lungs contains a very little

oxygen and a great deal of carbon dioxid. The blood not only takes

the oxygen out of the air, but gives carbon dioxid to the air. This

carbon dioxid is very poisonous, and would kill the cells if it

remained in the blood; hence we should never breathe the same air

twice. There is no lack of fresh air in the world, and no excuse

for anyone's ever breathing air that is not pure.

[Sidenote: Effects of impure air]

If you close all the windows and doors in the schoolroom and shut

up the ventilators, you will soon find that you are not able to pay

close attention to your studies, and in a little while you will

begin to feel drowsy. This is because you have used up so much of

the oxygen in the air that there is no longer enough to supply the

demands of the little cells, and because, in addition, you are

taking into your bodies the poisonous carbon dioxid that has been

breathed out into the room. It takes a great deal of fresh air to

supply the body with oxygen--about 1,250 cubic feet of air each

hour. With thirty or forty children in a room, it does not take

long to use up all the oxygen. So there should be a constant supply

of fresh air coming into the room.

[Illustration: FIG. 25. Results of breathing good and bad air.]

[Sidenote: Methods of ventilation]

It is not only in the schoolroom that you need oxygen. When you

are out-of-doors you get an abundance of fresh air, but from a

great many houses every bit of fresh air is shut out. It is always

possible to let an abundance of fresh air into any house without

causing a draft. A piece of board can be made to fit into a window

frame so that when the window is raised, the air will be directed

upward and will not cause a draft. Hot-air furnaces are made with

cold-air pipes. The fresh air from outdoors comes through these

cold-air pipes and, after being heated, is driven into the rooms of

the house. Some people think they will save coal by closing these

drafts. Not only do they not save coal (for the furnace does not

give as much heat when this draft is closed), but they kill their

body cells by refusing to give them oxygen. The cold-air pipe in a

hot-air furnace should always be kept wide open.

In houses heated with steam or hot water, either the windows must

be kept open, or some other way must be provided for admitting

fresh air and taking out foul air. These arrangements constitute

a system of ventilation. Houses heated with stoves must also be

provided with some means of ventilation. The stove, by its draft,

takes out a little of the foul air, but it will not take out more

air than one person poisons.

[Illustration: FIG. 26. Restfulness: Effect of good ventilation in

a sleeping-room, with the right position for sleeping.]

[Illustration: FIG. 27. Restlessness: Effect of poor ventilation in

a sleeping-room, with the wrong position for sleeping.]

[Sidenote: Why windows should be kept open at night]

Many people seem to think that they do not need fresh air at night,

and they close their bedroom windows as tight as they can. Those

people do not sleep well and often have bad colds. You should

always sleep with your windows open. If it is impossible for you

to have your windows open without having a draft, choose the

draft; it will do you no harm if you are well covered, and under

no circumstances will it do you as much harm as the foul air that

you breathe if your window is closed. Some persons (fortunately

they are few nowadays) will tell you that night air is dangerous.

I wonder what kind of air these people expect to breathe at night.

Do they expect to fill the room in the daytime with enough air for

use at night? Such air would certainly not be very fresh. Night air

is the only kind of air that it is possible to breathe at night.

[Sidenote: The ventilation of public assembly rooms]

Churches, theaters, and ten-cent shows are often very poorly

ventilated. You can always tell a poorly ventilated room by the

foul odor when you go into it from the fresh air, and it is not

wise to stay in such a room. You are killing the cells in your body

when you do so, and you will very probably come out of it with a

bad cold. When the fresh air strikes you, you feel chilly and you

may think you are taking cold then, but in reality you took cold in

that room full of foul air.

[Sidenote: Ventilation of workshops]

Workshops are often poorly ventilated. No person should ever work

in a badly ventilated place. The labor unions frequently strike for

higher wages, but until recently a strike for better ventilation

was rarely heard of. Better ventilation would be practically equal

to an increase in wages, because there would be fewer doctors'

bills to pay, and less likelihood of losing work through illness.

Always have plenty of pure, fresh air wherever you are--in school,

in bed, at work, or at play.

[Sidenote: Why we should breathe through the nose]

The cells in the skin of the nose secrete a watery fluid, and this

fluid serves to moisten the air as it passes through the nose. Dry

air irritates the mucous membrane which lines the nose, throat, and

lungs, and it is very important that the air be moistened before

it reaches the throat. Air is also warmed as it passes through the

nose. Cold air is irritating to the throat and lungs. The small

hairs in the nose catch the dust and dirt in the air and prevent it

from going into the lungs.

The nose was made to breathe through, and all the air that goes

into your lungs should pass through your nose, in order that it may

be moistened, warmed, and cleansed.

[Illustration: FIG. 28. Showing position of adenoids and tonsils in

the throat.]

[Sidenote: Why some children breathe through the mouth]

Frequently we see boys and girls breathing through the mouth. They

do this because there is something in the nose that prevents the

air from passing freely through it. If there were nothing in the

way, the child would breathe through the nose instead of the mouth,

because the natural way of breathing is through the nose.

The most common reason for mouth-breathing is the growth of small

lumps in the throat just behind the nose. These little lumps are

called adenoids. They are not natural, and should be taken out.

We do not know why they grow in some children and not in others,

but we do know that they should be taken out so that the child can

breathe easily through the nose. Large tonsils also cause boys and

girls to breathe through the mouth. Tonsils that are large enough

to cause the child to breathe through the mouth ought always to be

taken out. Large tonsils and adenoids are often found in the same

child.

[Sidenote: Effects of mouth-breathing]

When a child breathes through his mouth all the time, his face

takes on a peculiar shape. His upper lip grows long, his lower

jaw drops back, and his whole face looks flat. His voice has a

peculiar sound, and he finds it very hard to keep up in his classes

at school. Children with adenoids and large tonsils are always

backward in their school work, and may become deaf if the adenoids

and tonsils are not removed.

If you breathe through your mouth instead of through the nose,

go to the doctor and let him see if you have adenoids or large

tonsils; if you have, let him take them out. You cannot possibly

grow into a strong, healthy man or woman if you have adenoids and

do not have them removed.

=Questions.= 1. What does the body take out of the air? 2. What

does the body put into the air? 3. What effect does impure air

have on the body? 4. Why should one sleep with windows open? 5.

What causes the unpleasant odor in a crowded room? 6. How would

workmen benefit by properly ventilated workshops? 7. Name the

helpful ways in which the air is changed while passing through

the nose. 8. Why do some children breathe through the mouth? 9.

What effect comes from mouth-breathing?

=Remember.= 1. Impure air destroys health. 2. Never sleep in

a room where the window is closed. 3. Avoid going into public

places or workshops that are not well ventilated. 4. Air must

pass through the nose before it is fit for the lungs. 5.

Mouth-breathing is not natural and is usually due to some defect

that can easily be cured.

CHAPTER XII

REST ESSENTIAL TO HEALTH

[Sidenote: Why exercise is necessary]

Exercise is necessary to make our bodies grow and become strong.

If we stayed in bed all the time, our muscles would not grow and

we could not even walk. If we did not exercise them, the cells in

our brains would not grow and we should not know anything. Every

part of our body must have exercise, that is, each part must do

some work every day. If we used only one part of the body and did

not give the other parts any work to do, only the part that we used

would grow, while all the rest of the body would be small and weak.

[Sidenote: Proportion of rest required]

While every part should do some work each day, the whole body

needs also to have a proper amount of rest. Even the heart, which

seems to be working all the time, must rest. It rests between each

beat. The muscles with which we breathe rest between each breath.

Every person must have a certain amount of rest each day. A man

should have at least eight hours' sleep in every twenty-four hours;

boys and girls should have from nine to ten hours' sleep in every

twenty-four. It is only while we are sleeping that we have complete

rest.

[Sidenote: Effect of overwork]

Everybody should have some work to do. Boys and girls should learn

that work is a part of life, though they should not be expected to

do too much. They should not be required to get up at four o'clock

in the morning and work until eight, then go to school until four

in the afternoon, and then work again until dark. They cannot

do this and keep well. Such children will surely neglect their

lessons and will fail to keep up in their classes. It is not the

children's fault, but the fault of the people who give them so

much to do outside of school.

Sometimes bright children fall behind in their classes and seem to

be sleepy during school hours. Very often these children do not

have to do any work at home, but play all the time they are out of

school. We usually find that these children not only play all the

afternoon, but also go to parties at night and often stay up until

midnight.

[Illustration: FIG. 29. Children work when they play. The little

girl skipping rope is killing the body cells by overwork; she has

skipped more than one hundred times and is exhausted.]

[Sidenote: Ways in which children overwork their bodies]

You may think it is not work to go to a party, but it really is.

You are working the muscles and the cells of your brain when you

are playing games, and these get tired from play work just as they

do from working. It is more fun to do play work than to do real

work, but the cells are tired and need rest after either kind of

exercise. When you go to a party and stay up until midnight, you do

not get nine hours of sleep. How do you expect the cells of your

bodies to get enough rest when you treat them in this way?

Another thing you do at parties is to eat food that tastes good,

but which is not good building material or nourishing for the cells

of the body. These things eaten late at night stay in your stomach

long after you have gone to bed, and the cells of your stomach do

not have a chance to rest at all.

Children should have their parties in the afternoon. You can have

just as much fun at a party in the afternoon as you can at night,

and then your stomach will have time to dispose of the cake and

candies you have eaten, and will be ready to rest when you go to

bed.

Small children should be in bed by eight o'clock at night, and even

big girls and boys should be asleep by ten o'clock every night. If

you do not give your bodies rest, you can never grow into strong

men and women.

[Sidenote: The importance of regular meals]

We have learned that every part of the body needs regular rest.

Your stomach is a part of your body. In the stomach and intestines

all the food is changed so that the little cells can make use of

it. Do you think the cook would serve good meals if she were kept

cooking all the time, both night and day? You know she would soon

stop cooking for you if you did not give her time to rest. Your

stomach does work that is even more important to you than cooking.

[Sidenote: Why meals should be at least four hours apart]

It takes about four hours for your stomach to dispose of what

you give it at a single meal. If you eat your breakfast at eight

o'clock, your stomach is going to be kept busy to get rid of it

by noon. Of course you expect to give it more work to do at noon;

that is, you expect to eat a good luncheon. It will be after four

o'clock by the time your stomach has finished the task you put on

it at noon, and there will be only about an hour and a half for

the stomach to rest before you will be ready to give it another

four hours' task, digesting your supper. This means that your

stomach cannot go to sleep until ten o'clock. If you eat three

meals a day, you will give your stomach just about two hours' rest

between eight in the morning and ten at night. If you let it rest

from ten at night until eight in the morning, it is not likely to

give you any trouble.

[Sidenote: When and why candy eating is harmful]

Some people will not let their stomachs rest at all. Often boys and

girls give their stomachs extra work to do by eating sweetmeats

in the middle of the morning while their stomachs are still busy

with breakfast. Then, as soon as school is out in the afternoon,

they want to eat more cake and candy, and thus take away from the

stomach the little rest it has a right to expect before it goes

to work on supper. Then suppose they go to a party and eat again

about midnight. How much time will the stomach have to rest before

breakfast?

[Sidenote: When candy eating is not harmful]

Now, I have not said that boys and girls must not eat candy; and

what is more, I am not going to say any such thing. You may go home

and tell your mother that candy is good for girls and boys and that

they like it so well they ought to have it--no, not all the time.

Here is the part that some of you will not like. Girls and boys

ought to have all they want just after eating luncheon or dinner.

If you have eaten a hearty meal, it is entirely safe for you to eat

candy then; you will not be giving extra work to your stomach, for

the candy will be taken care of along with the rest of the meal.

=Questions.= 1. Why should we all take exercise? 2. How much rest

is needed each day? 3. Name some of the effects of overwork. 4.

How do children overwork their bodies? 5. Why should children

have their parties in the afternoon? 6. Why should meal hours

be regular? 7. When and why is candy eating harmful? 8. When is

candy eating not harmful?

=Remember.= 1. Proper rest is necessary to health. 2. Rest from

play is as necessary as rest from work. 3. You must give the

stomach rest by having regular meal hours and by eating nothing

between meals.

CHAPTER XIII

CARE OF THE EYE AND EAR

[Sidenote: The loss of sight]

Sight is one of the greatest blessings we have. Think how dreadful

it is to be blind. If you take care of your eyes, there is no

reason why you should be blind; but if you do not take care of your

eyes, there is a possibility that you may lose your sight. Most of

the blind people in the world became blind because their eyes were

not given proper care, and most of this lack of care happened when

these people were babies.

[Illustration: FIGS. 30 and 31. The roller towel is a common source

of infection of eyes in schools; every school should have properly

constructed wash-rooms, with individual towels.]

[Sidenote: How germs get into the eyes]

Many of the diseases that affect the eyes are catching. They are

not carried through the air, but are transmitted by the use of a

towel or handkerchief used by someone who had the disease. Never

use the towel or handkerchief that another has used.

Germs may be rubbed into the eyes. Keep your hands away from your

eyes. Your hands may have disease germs on them, and when you rub

your eyes you may put the disease germs into them.

[Sidenote: How eyes are overworked]

Many boys and girls ruin their eyes by making them do too much

work. They do this by reading in a poor light, by reading where

the light strikes into the eyes, or by reading in a bad position,

as when in bed or lying down. When you are reading, drawing, or

doing any work with the eyes, always have the best light possible,

which means that the light should fall on your book or work over

your left shoulder. If you are only reading, it does not make much

difference which shoulder the light comes over, provided it comes

from behind. If you are writing or drawing, and the light comes

over your right shoulder, it makes the shadow of your hand fall

just where you want to see.

[Illustration: FIGS. 32 and 33. Correct positions for reading and

writing.]

Another way of working your eyes too much is by trying to see when

the eyes are not focused right. Sometimes people are said to be

near-sighted, because they cannot see very well at a distance.

This is due to the fact that the eyeball is too long, so that the

lens does not cause the rays of light to focus on the retina. Some

people are called far-sighted. This means that they can see well

at a distance, but that it is hard for them to see things close to

them. Far-sighted children can usually see things near by, but they

do this by making the muscle that rules the lens of the eye work

too hard.

[Sidenote: Method of testing the eyes]

Probably your teacher has a test chart and can tell you whether

your eyes are properly focused. If your eyes are not focused right,

that is, if you cannot see the line of letters marked =20= when

you are twenty feet from this chart, there is something wrong with

your eyes. In that case, you are not only injuring them by trying

to study, but you are hurting the whole body by overworking a part

of it. If you cannot see the letters on the test card clearly

at a distance of twenty feet, ask your father to send you to a

specialist who will fit you with the proper glasses or will treat

your eyes so that you can see well.

[Sidenote: How to test the hearing]

Sometimes children are backward in their school work because they

cannot hear well. Your teacher can test your hearing by holding a

watch near your ear. If you cannot hear a watch tick when it is

held six feet from your ear, ask your father to take you to your

doctor, that he may treat your ears.

[Sidenote: How to care for the ears]

If your hearing is perfect, the best way to take care of the ears

is to let them alone. Never try to dig into the canal that leads

to the middle ear. The ears must of course be washed to keep them

clean, but in washing the ear you should not touch the delicate

canal leading to the drum. A great specialist once said, "Never put

anything smaller than your elbow into your ear," to which another

great specialist added, "And wrap a towel around your elbow."

Never try to dig the wax out of your ears; it belongs in your ears;

it is there for a purpose, so let it alone. If it becomes hardened,

you cannot get it out and will only injure your ears in trying to

do so. An ear spoon is a dangerous thing.

=Questions.= 1. State the chief cause of loss of sight. 2. How

can you keep germs out of your eyes? 3. Name three ways by which

you may overwork the eyes. 4. Tell how to take care of the ears.

=Remember.= 1. Overworking the eyes is as injurious as

overworking the stomach. 2. Keep your hands away from your eyes;

germs on your hands may get into your eyes and cause them to

become sore. 3. You overwork your eyes when you try to read or

write in a poor light or in a bad position, as when lying down.

4. You overwork your eyes when you try to study with eyes that

are not properly focused. 5. Keep your fingers out of your ears.

6. Take care of your ears by letting them alone.

CHAPTER XIV

CARE OF THE SKIN

If you break or cut the skin on your body, you make an opening

through which germs can get in. You cannot always help breaking

your skin, but you can always wash the break with soap and water,

and put a clean cloth over it to keep out germs.

[Sidenote: The work of the sweat glands]

The work of the little sweat glands is very important to your

health. These glands are just as important as the kidneys, and if

they did not do their work, you would die very quickly. If your

body is covered with dirt, the work of these glands is seriously

interfered with; and when the sweat glands are not doing their full

amount of work, the kidneys must do more than their share. It is

never right to make one part of your body do the work intended for

another part.

[Illustration: FIG. 34. A model bathroom.]

When the body is dirty, not only are the sweat glands interfered

with, but the little sebaceous (oil) glands become plugged up, and

blackheads appear on the face and body.

[Sidenote: Importance of bathing]

In order that the various glands of the skin may be kept in good

health, it is necessary for us to keep clean. To do this we wash

our faces and hands and bathe our bodies. Someone may ask, "How

often ought a person to take a bath?" The question cannot be

answered, except to say, "Just as often as may be necessary for

you to keep absolutely clean." Some people do not have to bathe as

often as others, but no one can keep clean unless he takes a bath

at least twice a week.

[Sidenote: Hot or cold baths]

Another question that is frequently asked is, "Is it better to

take a bath in cold or hot water?" This is another question that

cannot be answered in the same way for every person. A cold bath

is more stimulating than a warm bath. If, after you have taken a

cold bath and rubbed yourself briskly with a rough towel, the skin

becomes red and warm, a cold bath is best for you. But if, after

you have taken a cold bath and rubbed yourself for not more than

ten minutes, the skin appears bluish and cold, a cold bath is not

good for you, and you should not take it. A cold bath should always

be taken in the morning, just after getting out of bed, and a warm

bath should always be taken in the evening, just before going to

bed.

[Illustration: FIG. 35. A nail properly cared for, and a nail not

properly cared for. Which should you prefer to have?]

[Sidenote: How to care for the nails]

The finger nails and toe nails are a part of the skin and they also

need to be taken care of. You will see at the root of your finger

nails a thin layer of skin that is inclined to grow out with the

nail. If this skin is not kept pushed back it becomes rough, breaks

into little shreds, and forms "hang nails." This little band of

skin should always be kept carefully pushed back. The finger nails

should be kept evenly and neatly trimmed, but they should not be

cut so close to the skin that the ends of the fingers project

beyond the nails. The nails are for the protection of the ends of

the fingers and toes. Nails that are trimmed unevenly and nails

that are bitten off are ugly and indicate untidy habits. The shape

of the nails should follow the outline of the ends of the finger.

Neither is it a sensible fashion to trim the nails to points or to

let them grow very long.

The toe nails need attention just as much as do the finger nails.

They should be trimmed to follow the shape of the toe. Failure to

trim the toe nails properly will result in ingrowing nails.

Dirt is very likely to collect under the nails. This should always

be carefully cleaned out. You cannot wash this dirt out unless you

use a stiff nail brush. If you clean your nails just after you wash

your hands, you will find that it will be much easier to get the

dirt out while the dirt and the nail are both softened by the soap

and water. In cleaning your nails, use a dull nail cleaner or a

smooth wooden stick. Do not scrape the inside of the nail with a

sharp knife. This scraping of the inside of the nails will cause

them to catch the dirt more easily, as well as to grow thicker and

thicker until they become very ugly. Neat, clean finger nails help

to make pretty hands; dirty, untidy nails spoil the prettiest hands.

=Questions.= 1. What are the uses of the sweat glands? 2. How

often should people take baths? 3. How can you tell whether a hot

or a cold bath is better for you? 4. Tell how finger nails should

be cared for. 5. How should toe nails be treated?

=Remember.= 1. If you do not keep your body clean, the glands of

the skin cannot do their work properly. 2. Every person should

take a bath at least twice a week; some persons need a bath

every day in order to keep clean. 3. If you take a bath in cold

water, and the skin does not become warm and pink when you rub

it with a rough towel, a cold bath is not good for you. 4. Cold

baths should be taken in the morning on getting up. 5. Warm baths

should be taken in the evening before going to bed. 6. Finger

nails should always be kept clean and neat; dirty, untidy nails

make ugly hands.

CHAPTER XV

COMMON POISONS TO BE AVOIDED

Many people are killing the cells of their bodies by taking certain

poisons into them. There are many kinds of poisons that can be

taken into the body, but we are going to learn now about only two.

These are tobacco and alcohol.

[Illustration: FIG. 36. Effect of cigarette smoking.]

[Sidenote: Proof that tobacco is a poison]

Tobacco is a poison. Those of you who have tried to smoke know

this, because it made you sick the first time you tried it. There

are many other indications that tobacco is a poison. We know that

it affects the red blood cells in such a way that they do not carry

the oxygen as well as do those of people who do not smoke. We know

that it has a very bad effect on the heart and that it interferes

with the action of the nervous system.

[Sidenote: The extra work caused by tobacco]

When certain poisons get into the body, the blood makes something

that will counteract the effects of those poisons. After one has

used tobacco for some time, the cells of the body will take care of

the tobacco poison by making an antidote for it. More than this,

they begin to want it all the time. The tobacco user forces the

cells of his body to make an antidote for this poison every time he

uses tobacco. Thus he makes the cells do work that is unnecessary,

and keeps them from doing work that is necessary.

[Sidenote: Other bad effects of tobacco: (_1_) On the nose and

throat]

Tobacco smoke irritates the cells that line the throat and nose

and causes inflammation. This is why so many smokers have catarrh.

Smoking is not the only cause of catarrh, for people who do not

smoke often have this trouble, but it is one of the most frequent

causes. Smoking also irritates the throat so badly that many of

those who smoke have "smoker's throat." This is a bad form of sore

throat that can be cured only by stopping the use of tobacco.

[Illustration: FIG. 37. The athlete knows that alcohol and tobacco

are foes to speed, strength, and nervous control. (_From photograph

of "The Sprinter," modelled by Dr. R. Tait McKenzie._)]

[Sidenote: (_2_) On the blood]

People who smoke a great deal have fewer red corpuscles (the little

red cells of the blood) than those who do not smoke. Especially is

this true of cigarette smokers. It is the lack of red blood cells

that causes the cigarette smoker to look pale and sallow.

It is probably not the direct effect of tobacco that causes the

loss of red blood cells, but something that is connected with the

act of smoking. When you take smoke into your mouth, you take in

at the same time a gas known as _carbon monoxid_. This gas is

very poisonous to the body, and combines with the red blood cells

in such a way that they cannot take up the oxygen in the lungs and

carry it to the rest of the cells in the body. The cigarette smoker

almost always inhales the smoke, and thus he absorbs a great deal

more of the carbon monoxid than the man who does not inhale the

smoke. Of course, the more of this gas he takes into his body, the

more red blood cells will be affected and the less oxygen will be

taken to the other cells.

[Sidenote: (_3_) On the nervous system]

We do not know just how tobacco affects the cells of the nervous

system. It may be that they are affected mostly by being deprived

of oxygen, or it may be that the tobacco affects them directly.

However the harm is done, we know that the cells of the nervous

system are affected by tobacco. One of the nerves that is most

commonly affected by the use of tobacco is the nerve of the eye,

the nerve that enables us to see. We know that when people use

tobacco a great deal they sometimes lose their sight. This does not

happen to everyone who uses tobacco, but you can never tell whom it

will affect in this way. The only safe thing to do is not to use

tobacco, and then you will know that you will not lose your sight

from this cause.

[Sidenote: (_4_) On the stomach]

The use of tobacco affects the stomach. People who use tobacco

a great deal are likely to have indigestion. The tobacco causes

this probably by depriving the stomach cells of oxygen through its

effect on the blood cells.

[Sidenote: (_5_) On the heart]

Tobacco has a very bad effect on the heart. People who use much

tobacco have what they call "palpitation of the heart," but doctors

call it "tobacco heart," because it is caused by the use of

tobacco. No insurance company will insure a person who has "tobacco

heart."

Most boys grow up to be men before they manage to use enough

tobacco to cause tobacco heart. However, long before they are

grown, they show that the tobacco has affected their hearts,

because they are short of breath and stand about as much chance of

winning a race as does a mouth-breather.

[Sidenote: Effects of alcohol:]

The effect of alcohol is a subject on which I want to speak very

plainly and frankly, because I do not want the boys and girls who

read this to get the same idea that I got when I was in school,

or to be affected by it as I was. When I was a little boy I was

taught that if a person drank alcohol in any form the lining of his

stomach would be eaten up. In proof of this statement I was shown

a picture of an ulcerated stomach that was said to have resulted

from drinking whisky. Naturally I expected to find that people who

drank whisky would not be able to eat anything at all, or would be

troubled a great deal with pain in their stomachs. To my surprise,

I found that many people had ulcers of the stomach who never took

an alcoholic drink, while many of those who drank a great deal

seemed to have the best of appetites and were never troubled

with their stomachs. As a result, I came to the conclusion that

all this talk about the evil effects of alcohol was foolishness.

Later I studied medicine, and learned that the effect of alcohol

on the stomach is, in reality, the least of its evils. But I want

to impress upon you that, as a result of forty years' study, I

consider alcohol the most dangerous thing in the world to-day. By

"alcohol" we mean any drink that contains alcohol, such as whisky,

wine, brandy, beer, etc.

[Sidenote: (_1_) On the stomach]

When alcohol is taken into the stomach, it first causes a

congestion; that is, it causes an increase in the quantity of

blood in the blood vessels of the stomach. It might seem that

this would aid digestion in the stomach, but it does not, because

alcohol affects the food in the stomach in such a way that it

prevents the gastric juice from acting on the food. If the use of

alcohol is persisted in, it causes the little cells in the stomach

that make the gastric juice to become filled with fat, and then

those cells cannot make the gastric juice. Thus, continued use of

alcohol causes a smaller supply of gastric juice, and the food

passes from the stomach into the intestines without having been

acted upon by the gastric juice, as it should have been. The result

is that the food decomposes in the intestines and a poison is

formed. This poison is taken up by the vessels that carry the food

from the intestines and kills a great many of the cells of the body.

Alcohol does not burn holes in the stomach, but it destroys the

usefulness of the stomach by its action on the cells that secrete

the gastric juice.

[Sidenote: (_2_) On the liver]

When alcohol is taken into the stomach, very little of it reaches

the intestines. It is rapidly absorbed by the lining of the stomach

and passes into the blood. The blood from the stomach goes directly

to the liver. The alcohol makes the cells of the liver hard and

causes them to become filled with fat, as it does the cells of the

stomach. In this way it destroys the action of these cells and

prevents their doing the work for which they are intended. From the

liver the alcohol goes with the blood to all parts of the body, and

it has its influence on all the cells in the body. This influence

is always harmful.

[Sidenote: (_3_) On the body's powers of resistance]

We know that when a man who is in the habit of drinking gets

pneumonia, he is far more likely to die than is one who is not

in the habit of using alcoholic drinks. The man who drinks cannot

resist the effects of disease as can one who does not drink.

This shows that the use of alcohol reduces our resisting powers,

and puts our cells in such condition that we cannot overcome the

effects of disease.

People who are sick with a slow disease like consumption are often

advised by their friends to take whisky to brace them up. It is

true that the immediate effect of the whisky is to make the patient

feel a little better, but the final effect is to leave him in a

much weaker condition than before. More than this, the cells are

much less able to resist the disease germs than they were before

the alcohol was taken. When people are exposed to such diseases

as scarlet fever and smallpox, they may think that if they take a

drink of whisky they will not be so liable to contract the disease.

It is just the other way. The alcohol reduces the resisting powers

of the cells of the body, and anything that does this renders a

person more liable to contract any disease to which he is exposed.

[Sidenote: (_4_) On the nervous system]

The effect of alcohol on the cells of the nervous system is very

marked. Continued use will injure the nervous system and result

in a kind of insanity called delirium tremens. It will also cause

other forms of insanity. The effect of alcohol on the parent is

passed on to the children of the next generation, and even beyond

this. A large percentage of idiotic children are the offspring of

alcoholic parents.

[Sidenote: (_5_) On the morals]

The use of alcohol numbs the sense of right and wrong. More young

men have become criminals from the use of alcohol than from any

other one cause. Anyone who reads the daily papers can see that

many criminals give the use of alcohol as an excuse for having

committed a crime.

[Sidenote: (_6_) On brain work]

Some people will tell you that alcohol stimulates the brain, so

that one can work faster and better. This is not true. Tests have

been made in this matter, and it has been found that men doing

mental work will work about one tenth slower and make one fourth

more mistakes when given one drink of whisky a day, than they will

when not given any whisky. If _one_ drink of whisky a day thus

reduces a man's power and accuracy in doing mental work, what do

you think three drinks, or ten drinks will do?

[Illustration: FIG. 38. The mind not clouded by alcohol works

quickly and makes few mistakes.]

[Illustration: FIG. 39. The mind clouded by alcohol works slowly

and makes many mistakes.]

[Sidenote: What business men think of men who drink]

Many business men drink, and they know the results of alcohol not

only from the effects they have observed in others, but also from

the effect they know it to have on themselves. When a man applies

to them for a position, these business men almost invariably ask

him if he drinks. The man who does not drink stands nine chances

in ten of securing the position, while the man who drinks stands

only one chance in ten. This shows what business men think of the

effect of alcohol, even when taken in moderate quantities. They

know that it reduces a man's power to do mental as well as physical

work, that it causes him to make mistakes, and that it may finally

destroy his morals and result in his becoming a thief or a criminal.

=Questions.= 1. How do we know that tobacco is a poison? 2. How

does tobacco make extra work for the body? 3. What effect does

tobacco have on the nose and throat? 4. What is the effect of

tobacco on the blood? 5. On the nervous system? 6. On the heart?

7. Mention some of the false ideas about the effect of alcohol.

8. How does alcohol affect the stomach? 9. The liver? 10. In

what ways does alcohol reduce the resisting powers of the body?

11. How does alcohol affect the nervous system? 12. How does

it influence mental work? 13. What do business men think of

drinkers? 14. What influence has alcohol on the next generation?

=Remember.= 1. Tobacco is a poison that has a very bad effect on

the nervous system, the blood, the heart, the stomach, the nose,

and the throat. 2. Alcohol is a poison and not a food. 3. Alcohol

injures the stomach, the liver, and the nervous system. 4.

Alcohol reduces the power to do accurate mental work. 5. Alcohol

numbs the sense of right and wrong, and encourages crime.

PART II

THE ENEMIES OF HEALTH