Chapter I: Part 1

Transcriber’s Notes

Obvious typographical errors have been silently corrected. Variations in hyphenation and spelling and punctuation remain unchanged.

Italics are represented thus _italic_.

All Chapter headings are within illustrations in the original. This has been ignored.

In The vegetarian song, (page 93) each verse is accompanied with a small relevant illustration. These have been ignored.

Standalone illustrations have either been accompanied by their caption (if any) in _italics_, or a brief description by the transcriber (in plain text).

THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN

THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN

OR

The Making of the Body

_A Book for Home Reading, intended to Assist
Mothers in Teaching their Children
How to Care for their Bodies,
and the Evil Effects
of Narcotics and
Stimulants._

_VESTA J. FARNSWORTH_

“For we know that if our _earthly house_ ... were dissolved,
we have a building of God, an house not made with hands,
eternal in the heavens.” 2 Cor. 5:1

“What? know ye not that your body is _the temple_ of the
Holy Ghost which is in you, ... and ye are not your own?”
1 Cor. 6:19

Pacific Press Publishing Company

OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA
SAN FRANCISCO KANSAS CITY NEW YORK

Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1900, by
PACIFIC PRESS PUBLISHING COMPANY
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington

Entered at Stationers’ Hall, London, England

To

MY DEAR FRIENDS THE CHILDREN

and

To All Who See the Creator
in His Creative Work

CONTENTS

PAGE

HOUSES AND TEMPLES 11

THE OUTSIDE OF THE BODY 17

SUBSTANCES IN THE BODY 23

OUR FRAME 27

PROPER CARE OF THE BONES 35

THE WALLS OF OUR HOUSE 40

WEATHERBOARDS AND ROOFING 49

THE CUPOLA 57

OUR TELEPHONE SYSTEM 63

THE HALL OR PASSAGE 71

OUR KITCHEN 77

THE EATING ROOM 84

FOOD AND FUEL 89

A PUMPING ENGINE 109

THE CARETAKER 118

THE BATH ROOM 129

HOW THE HOUSE IS HEATED 138

THE MUSIC ROOM 147

THE HEARING PASSAGE 151

SOME WONDERFUL WINDOWS 157

A GOOD SERVANT 165

A FAITHFUL WATCHMAN 173

A GENTLE NURSE 178

A WICKED THIEF 183

A CRUEL MURDERER 195

CHARACTER OF THE MASTER 207

THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN

HOUSES AND TEMPLES

HELEN: See this picture, mother. How pretty the house looks, with its wide windows and porches!

MOTHER: Yes, it is a fine picture, and such a house would make a lovely home. Men build better dwellings now than they did many years ago.

PERCY: Do people build the same kind of houses in all countries?

MOTHER: Oh, no! If we should visit the Indians, we would find them living in rude tents called wigwams, or _teepees_, made of mats and the bark of trees. In some countries people live in tents. Where it is very warm they build so they may keep cool. In cold climates they make their houses warm. Can you tell me some things which are used in building houses?

ELMER: Stone, brick, iron, wood, paper, earth, and straw. The Esquimau lives in a house made of large blocks of snow and ice.

MOTHER: You would not think such a house very warm, but it is the best he can make. Perhaps you have noticed that some houses are large and some are small. Some have many rooms, others but few. They are made in many shapes and colors, and in some countries there are hardly two which look alike.

AMY: Here is another picture. What kind of a house is this, mother?

MOTHER: That is called a temple. It is built for the purpose of worship.

HELEN: Is a meeting-house a temple?

MOTHER: It might be called by that name, for it is the house of God, where His people worship Him. But as we were looking at these pictures I have been thinking of another kind of house in which we all live, which is more wonderful than any building ever made by men. There are a great number of these houses. All are made of the same things, all have the same kind of frame, all have the same number of rooms, and, though there are thousands of them in every country, they are all lighted, heated, finished, and furnished the same way.

PERCY: Oh, I know what you mean! You are thinking of our bodies.

MOTHER: Yes; and if you study this house God made for you to live in, you will be ready to say, with King David, “I will praise Thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.” The more men study this body of ours, the more they find to make them wonder at the wisdom of its Maker. If a man invents a useful machine, such as a watch or an engine, he is praised and called a great man. But how few ever praise and thank the Lord for the body He has given them, and try to learn the best way to care for it!

HELEN: I should like to know how to care for mine, but I never thought of my body as a house before.

MOTHER: We may call it a house, because the Bible calls it so; and, more than that, it says it is a temple. Listen to this verse: “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?”

AMY: Then this house or temple of the body does not belong to us, mother, for it says, “Ye are not your own.”

PERCY: I see how it is. You know people sometimes build houses to rent, and the One who made the house we live in gives it to us for a home as long as we live, and He wants us to take good care of it.

MOTHER: That is right. The house is loaned or “rented” to us, as Percy says, for us to live in and care for. God cares for it too, and if it wasn’t for that it would have been destroyed long ago. Before any of us were old enough to know we had such a gift as our bodies, kind friends cared for them for us, and every moment our heavenly Father watches over us, for “in Him we live, and move, and have our being.” When we go to sleep He still keeps the heart engine pumping, and the parts which become worn out during the day are nicely mended without our thought or care.

ELMER: I want the house I live in to be like that pretty temple we saw in the picture.

MOTHER: Then my boy must be very careful to keep it clean, not only outside but inside as well. You know we sometimes see houses painted nicely outside, and we think what good homes they would make; but when once inside we find the rooms so dirty we want to get away. So boys and girls may be nicely dressed and look well outside, but if they do not eat good food and have good habits, their body-house is not fit to live in.

PERCY: Adam and Eve must have had fine, large houses.

HELEN: And they lasted a long time, too. Adam lived in his for over nine hundred years.

MOTHER: It is said that men keep building better houses all the time, but the first body-house God made was the best ever seen in this world.

AMY: But why are they not made good and lasting now, mother?

MOTHER: One reason is because we do not use them well. Many persons would do better in caring for themselves if they knew better how to do it. If I gave you a costly watch, Percy, what is the first thing you would want to know about it?

PERCY: How to take care of it.

MOTHER: Yes, you would find out how and when to wind it, and just how to use it so it would keep good time. We should be even more careful to learn all we can about our bodies. We should learn for what each part was made, and how to keep it in good order. Men have taken bodies like ours apart, just as a watchmaker takes out all the wheels of a watch, and they have found out many things about them in this way. We should learn all we can about how to keep well and strong. If we are ill we make much trouble for others, and must suffer ourselves. If we are well we shall be a help and blessing to all around us. Not long ago I read this prayer of a little girl for her body:—

“Dear God, bless my two little eyes, and make them twinkle happy. Bless my two ears, and help me to hear mother call me. Bless my two lips, and make them speak kind and true. Bless my two hands, and make them good and not touch what they mustn’t. Bless my two feet, and make them go where they ought to. Bless my heart, and make it love God and my father and mother and everybody. Please let ugly sin never get hold of me--never, never!”

“The Lord my body did prepare
My dwelling-place to be,
And still it is a temple where
He daily meets with me.

“My head, my hands, my heart are His;
He knows my being well;
And all its many mysteries
My Lord alone can tell.

“To walk in ways of wickedness
My feet can not afford;
For all the powers I possess
Are holy to the Lord.

“I’ll pray to Him from day to day
To lead my steps aright,
That I along His heavenly way
May be a shining light.

“And He will keep my temple free
From every touch of sin;
He truly saves and cleanses me,
That He may dwell within.

“My eyes must see the good and true;
My ears must hear His voice;
My hands be ever glad to do
My heavenly Father’s choice.”

—_C. M. Snow._

THE OUTSIDE OF THE BODY

MOTHER Let us look at the outside of our house before we try to see how it is made and furnished inside. I think you know now that when I am talking about a house or temple I mean the body. In some ways our bodies are like trees as well as houses. Look at this picture and tell me what you see.

PERCY: A tree with a straight stem or trunk. It also has branches, called limbs, and is covered with bark.

AMY: And it has roots, which hold it fast in the ground.

MOTHER: Yes, trees are made to stand in one place while they live, and so they have roots. We have limbs like the tree, but our lower limbs are used to carry us from place to place, for we were not made to stand still. Can you think of another way in which we are like the tree?

HELEN: Oh, I know! The middle part of the body is called the trunk.

MOTHER: Can you think of any other kind of trunk than the trunk of a tree or the trunk of the body?

AMY: A trunk in which to put clothes.

MOTHER: Yes, such trunks are useful to carry clothes. The upper part of the trunk of the body, or the part between the arms, is called “the chest.” Sometime we will try to learn what is packed away so nicely in the chest, or trunk, of the body, but we will only look outside now. What is on top of the trunk?

HELEN: A strong, shell-shaped box made of bones, called the head.

MOTHER: This is what we might call the jewel-case, or the best part of all, for without it all parts of the body would be useless. Here we find the eyes, nose, mouth, and ears; and the head is fastened to the trunk of the body by the neck. How many limbs have we?

PERCY: We have two arms and two legs, and these are called our limbs.

MOTHER: Now I think you can name the main parts of the body. What are they?

HELEN: The head, trunk, and limbs.

MOTHER: You said the tree was covered with bark. Look at your hand. With what is it covered?

AMY: With skin.

MOTHER: Yes; we will talk more about this soft covering of the body at another time. We found these body-houses of ours are made to walk, work, run, jump, and do many other things. How are our limbs different from those of a tree?

PERCY: They have joints so they can move many ways.

MOTHER: You may all put your arms out straight. Now raise them above your head and then touch your head without bending them.

HELEN: We can’t do it, mother.

MOTHER: Let us see, then, how many joints, or bending-places, we have. We will call them the hinges of our house, for they help us to use our limbs, just as the hinges of a door help us to open or close the door. Please bend your arm and tell me how many parts it has.

PERCY: My arm has two parts.

MOTHER: What do you think would be a good name for the part near your shoulder?

AMY: The top arm, or upper arm.

MOTHER: I think upper arm is best. Now if that part is the _upper_ arm, what would you call the other part?

ELMER: The lower arm.

MOTHER: It is also called the forearm. Now move your elbow joint backward and forward, and tell me what kind of joint it is.

HELEN: It is like a door hinge, for I can move it only two ways.

MOTHER: Yes, the elbow joint unites the upper and lower arm, and it can swing only one way. What shall we call the joint that joins the upper arm to the shoulder?

PERCY: The shoulder joint.

MOTHER: Is this joint like the one in your elbow?

HELEN: No, for I can swing my arm backward or forward or any way I like.

MOTHER: That is because it has a different joint than your elbow. It is called a “ball-and-socket” joint; that is, one end of the bone is shaped like a ball, and this fits into a hole shaped like a cup in another bone, like the one you see in the picture. This shows the hip joint, which is also a ball-and-socket joint, the same as we found in the shoulder. Now what is the joint called at the lower end of the forearm?

AMY: It is called the wrist.

MOTHER: The wrist is a joint that moves very easily in many different ways. Now how many joints, or bending-places, have we found in the arm?

PERCY: The arm has three joints.

MOTHER: Elmer, you may take this ball. With what do you hold it?

ELMER: With my hand.

MOTHER: Tell me some ways in which we use our hands.

HELEN: We hold, push, pull, lift, catch, and feel with our hands.

MOTHER: The inside is called the palm of the hand. What do you find at the ends of your hands?

AMY: Fingers.

MOTHER: Look at your fingers. Are they all alike?

PERCY: One is much shorter than the others; all are different in length, and one is very small.

MOTHER: What do you call your short finger?

ELMER: My thumb.

MOTHER: You would find it hard to button your clothes and do many other things if you had no thumbs. A dog has no fingers, and if he wishes to hold or carry anything, he does it with his teeth. The first finger is called the forefinger, or index finger, because it comes first, and we use it to point with. The second is the middle finger; then we have the third finger; and the fourth is called the little finger, because it is the wee, tiny one of all. Open and shut your hands quickly. What do you call the parts of your fingers where you bend them?

HELEN: Finger joints and knuckles.

MOTHER: You see there are many joints in the hands, so we can move them easily and quickly. What do you find on the ends of your fingers?

AMY: Finger-nails.

MOTHER: These hard, horny nails protect the ends of the fingers, and give them strength. Our hands were given us to help ourselves and others, and we should keep them neat and clean. They were not made to strike or steal.

AMY: I read this verse about our hands not long ago:—

“Hands were made to be useful,
If you teach them the way;
Therefore for yourself or neighbor
Make them useful every day.”

PERCY: You haven’t told us about the lower limbs yet, mother.

MOTHER: No; and any boy or girl who enjoys running and jumping would think theirs a hard lot if they had no legs.

ELMER: I saw a boy with only one not long ago.

MOTHER: It is a great loss when a person loses an arm or a leg. Such people are called cripples. How many parts has each leg?

AMY: Each one has two parts.

MOTHER: And how many joints has the leg?

HELEN: Three joints.

MOTHER: That is right. The one at the hip, as I have said, is a ball-and-socket joint; the one at the knee is a hinge joint, and the ankle is quite like the wrist. Then we have the foot, with a number of small joints, like the hand.

PERCY: But we have toes on our feet instead of fingers; still there is the same number.

MOTHER: Yes, and some people can use their toes to draw pictures, write, and do many other things. Now we have found what our body-house is like on the outside, and we see how well each part is made for the work given it to do.

SUBSTANCES IN THE BODY

MOTHER: Percy, do you remember what men use in building houses?

PERCY: They use stone, wood, brick, iron, glass, lime, and paper.

HELEN: And some houses are made of earth and straw.

MOTHER: Yes, and some of these things are found in the body-house.

AMY: Why, mother, we are not made of wood, stone, glass, or lime!

MOTHER: That is true; yet some of these very things are in your body. Those who have studied the blood tell us it is iron, partly, that gives it its rich red color. You saw what a pretty red it is when you cut your finger to-day, Helen. Some of the things of which glass is made are in our hair and finger-nails, and our bones would soon become useless if we did not give them plenty of lime.

PERCY: But how do the iron and lime get inside of us? That is what I would like to know.

MOTHER: It does seem strange, but the houses we live in are made of what we eat. I once knew a young lady who thought she needed more iron in her blood, so she put some nails in water and let them stay till it was full of iron rust, and then she drank it. Perhaps if she had thought her bones needed lime, she would have taken lime water; but this is not the proper way to get iron and lime “inside of us,” as Percy says. We can not eat iron and lime, but grains and fruits can, and we eat the grains and fruits. Iron is found in apples, tomatoes, and strawberries. We get lime in wheat, peas, beans, and other foods. Have you noticed how the men are building that brick house across the street?

AMY: They put one brick on top of another, till thousands of them are used in making one house.

MOTHER: Well, that is the way the house we live in is built, only instead of bricks it is made up of what are called “cells.” These cells are little bags filled with something that looks like jelly. They are so very small we can not see them at all unless we look through a glass which makes them seem much larger than they really are. Some of these powerful glasses make a speck of dust look as big as a large rock.

ELMER: I wish we could see some cells.

MOTHER: Here is a picture of some kinds. You see they are not all alike. Some are round, others are flat, or narrow, or long, or short; so you see they are of all shapes and sizes. Some are so very tiny it would take three or four thousand to make a row an inch in length. Others are large enough so we can almost see them without a glass. Some have no color at all; others are light colored, and some are quite black. There are millions of cells in one drop of blood. Your skin seems like one piece, yet it, too, is made of layers of cells. If we should look through a strong glass at a tiny piece of potato, wheat, and some oatmeal, we would find they are all made of cells.

PERCY: And do the cells last as long as we live, mother?

MOTHER: No, they keep changing all the time. When we walk, run, talk, think, or do anything, some of these cells die, and others take their places. The new ones are just like the old; for if they were not, our appearance would so change that our best friends would not know us. While boys and girls are growing, they are putting many new cells into the house they live in. This is the reason auntie said the other day that she hardly knew you when she had not seen you for a year.

AMY: What are the cells made of, mother?

MOTHER: They are made of the food we eat. This shows we should be careful to put the very best things we can get into our body-building--I mean such as the body can use, for what we _like_ best is not always what is needed to build up and strengthen us. When you get hungry, that is the call of the body for food to make more cells, just as the mason calls, “More mortar,” or, “More brick,” so he can build his wall higher and stronger. If his mortar has but little lime, or is badly mixed, or he has only broken, badly-shaped brick, the wall will not be strong or beautiful. So if we give the body wrong kinds of food, it can not build such a house as you and I wish to live in.

HELEN: If moving about kills the cells, will they live longer if we keep still?

MOTHER: No, they are made to live just so long, and will die anyway. If we should not work or play, the dead cells would stay in the body, and make no end of mischief; but when we move about, it helps to carry them away, and new ones take their places. So you need not be afraid to run and jump, play and work; for the cells will take care to keep the house you live in all right, if you only give them the right kind of food, and not too much of it.

OUR FRAME

MOTHER: Every building must have a foundation and a frame of some kind to make it strong and give it shape. It is the same with the house we call our body. The frames of houses which men build are made of wood or iron; but the framework of the body is built of bones. Perhaps you have noticed that in the frames of buildings some pieces of timber are short, and some are long, and they are cut into many different shapes and sizes. So it is with the bones of the body. How many do you think it takes to make our frame?

HELEN: About fifty.

PERCY: I guess one hundred.

MOTHER: Not quite right, for there are over two hundred. All the bones together are called the skeleton. The frame of a house divides it into rooms, and on it are fastened the boards, laths, and shingles. In the house in which we live the flesh is fastened to the bones, and the whole is covered with skin. This framework also protects the curious rooms inside the trunk of the body. The largest bone in our frame is the leg bone, which reaches from the hip to the knee. It is called the _femur_, or thigh bone.

ELMER: Are the bones solid, mother?

MOTHER: No; I have brought some pictures to show you how they look, for we can not see our own bones. One of them shows a bone that is sawed through lengthwise. You see the larger part at the end is full of little holes, like a sponge. This makes it light and strong. There is a hollow place in long bones filled with marrow. It also fills the spongy parts. Marrow is made of fat and cells.

You must not think that live bones look like one which has been lying out-of-doors a long time. Live bones are full of blood and have a pinkish color. They also have an outside skin, which can be peeled off, as you see in this picture.

AMY: What are the bones made of?

MOTHER: Of animal and earthy matter. You can take the animal matter out of a bone by burning it in the fire. It will then be white and brittle. If you soak a bone in a kind of acid, the earthy matter will come out, and it will then be so soft you can tie it in a knot like this. When children are very young, their bones are soft and easily bent. This is because there is more animal than earthy matter. Children sometimes get hard falls, and their bones bend but do not break. Some, when very young, have legs that are bent like a bow. This is caused by standing and walking before the bones are strong enough to bear the weight of the body, or by disease.

In very old people the bones contain more earthy matter, and they break easily. Grand´fa-ther and grand´moth-er must be careful not to fall, for if they break a bone it will take a long time to heal.

When we take a baby, we should not lift him by his arms, and we must hold him so his bones will not grow out of shape. As he grows older, enough earthy matter will go into his bones to make them hard and strong.

PERCY: But you said there was lime in the bones, mother.

MOTHER: Yes, the earthy matter is partly lime. The blood goes into the bones through tiny blood-vessels, and at all times of day and night the bones keep eating their breakfasts, dinners, and suppers of lime, which they find in the blood.

HELEN: What kind of food is best for the bones?

MOTHER: Good whole-wheat bread will furnish them all they need. Peas and beans are also good.

We will now look at the largest bones of our body frame, and see if we can learn something of their size and shape. We will not try to learn their hard names now, but will leave that till we are older.

We will begin with the bones of the head. They form what is called the skull. It is made of a number of bones, joined like two saws with the teeth hooked together. The “chin bone,” or jaw bone, is one of the bones of the head.

Let me show you a picture of one of the most wonderful bones of the body. It is called the _spine_, or spinal column. Perhaps you can feel some little knobs or ridges in your back. The back-bone is made of twenty-four little bones piled one on top of another. Suppose you had twenty-four spools or reels of cotton, and you should run a string through them. When you hold them upright, you see you can bend them any way you wish, or keep them straight. Now if each spool had three wings like the one in the picture, they would be shaped very much like the bones that form the spine. The string is like the marrow, or “spinal cord,” which passes through the spinal column from top to bottom. The bones which make up the lower part of the spine are much larger than those at the top. Little soft cushions are placed between all these bones, something like India-rubber. These cushions are to keep the body and brain from being jarred, just as the springs in our carriage help you to ride easily. They also help us to bend the body backward or forward as we choose. You see if the spine was one long straight bone we could not bend at all. If we keep bending over while walking or working, after a time the cushions will get used to that position and we shall have a bad figure.

ELMER: The boy with his hands in his pockets does not have a good figure.

MOTHER: No; and if he were to go into the army, the first thing he would have to learn would be to “straighten up,” and give his spinal column a chance to grow the right way.

Now we will look at the ribs. They are fastened to the spinal column at the back, and all but four are fastened to the breast-bone in front. There are twelve ribs on each side. There are two bones on the upper part of the back, which seem to dance every time you move your arm. These are the “shoulder blades.” They are thin, flat bones, which help make the shoulder joint. You can feel two bones near your neck in front, which are called “collar bones.” They are shaped much like the letter _f_, and serve to preserve the shape of the shoulders.

AMY: How many bones do we have in our arms, mother?

MOTHER: There are three in each arm,--one from the shoulder to the elbow, and two from the elbow to the wrist. There are a large number of bones in the wrist and hand.

The middle part of the body below the spinal column is called the pelvis. In this picture we see two curious bones. These are the hip bones. They are like the sills of a house, which, you know, are large and strong. There is a deep hole in each one as large as a toy teacup, which holds the round head of the leg bone. There are three bones in each leg, the same as in the arm, one from the hip to the knee, and two from the knee to the ankle, besides a funny little bone or cap which covers the knee. Then we come to the ankle bones and bones of the feet.

HELEN: How do the bones stay in their proper places, mother? I should think they would fall apart.

MOTHER: They would if they were not tied together.

ELMER: But what are they tied with?

MOTHER: With strong white bands or cords called lig´a-ments. Perhaps you have seen them on the leg of a chicken. When a joint is “sprained,” that means the lig´a-ments are stretched or hurt in some way.

AMY: I should think the bones would get dry so they would squeak and rub hard against one another.

MOTHER: So they would if the Maker of the body-house had not put soft cushions of gristle or car´ti-lage between them. A soft, thin skin covers them, which pours “joint water” over the ends, and keeps them oiled just right, so they bend easily, and never squeak at all. You have seen the driver of an engine oiling it so it would run easily and not wear out; but think of a machine which will mend and oil itself for seventy years without wearing out! We have a most wonderful frame. The Bible says, “Thou hast fenced me with bones and sinews,” and, “He knoweth our frame.” Sometimes if we are ill a long time “the bones that were not seen stick out;” but when we are well, flesh covers them over so we hardly know we have any bones at all.

I once read a poem which I will repeat for you. It may help you to remember how many bones we have and where they are:—

“How many bones in the human head?
Eight, my child, as I’ve often said.
How many bones in the human spine?
Twenty-six, like a climbing vine.
How many bones in the human chest?
Twenty-four ribs, and four of the rest.
How many bones in the human arm?
In each one, two in each forearm.
How many bones in the human wrist?
Eight in each if none are missed.
How many bones in the fingers ten?
Twenty-eight, and by joints they bend.
How many bones in the human hip?
One in each; like a dish they dip.
How many bones in the human knees?
One in each, the knee-pan, please.
How many bones in the ankles strong?
Seven in each, but none are long.
How many bones in the toes, half a score?
Twenty-eight, and there are no more.
And now altogether these many bones fix,
And they count in the body two hundred and six.
And now and then a bone I should think
That forms on a joint, or to fill up a chink,
A ses´a-moid bone, or a wormian, we call,
And now we may rest, for we’ve told them all.”

PROPER CARE OF THE BONES

HELEN: What’s the matter with this house, mother? It seems to be all out of shape.

MOTHER: Perhaps it is very old and the frame has decayed so it leans far over to one side. It is unsafe to live in such houses, for they may tumble down if a strong wind comes along. I have seen some body-houses which look very much like this to me. Here is one of them. See how this boy’s shoulders are bent forward, and his whole body is wrong. If some disease, as consumption, should come along, like a strong wind, I fear his house would go down. Some one should say to him, “Straighten up, young man; throw your shoulders back, and you will look more manly and will live much longer.”

PERCY: I have seen some boys at school bending over their desk when studying and writing. Is that good for the bones?

MOTHER: No; boys and girls should sit straight, stand straight, and walk straight. If they do not, after a time the cushions between the bones in the spine will grow thicker on one side than on the other, and the back-bone will become crooked. You know soldiers stand erect and have fine forms. How much better this man looks than the one who bends over! Do not form the habit of bending forward while sitting or standing. The one who made the body “made man upright,” and in this he is different from the birds, beasts, or fishes.

ELMER: Can the bones be broken, mother?

MOTHER: Yes, and it is a sad thing for one to get broken, for it is very painful and takes a long time to heal. Children should be careful when jumping, when climbing trees, or when they go in any place where they may fall and break their bones.

Many persons give the bones of the feet a wrong shape by wearing tight boots or shoes. This causes “corns” to grow, which become very sore and painful. Perhaps you have heard how the Chinese women bind the feet of their little girls, and pinch them up, till they look more like clubs than like feet. The little one often cries and moans for days, but the mother and father pay no attention to her sufferings, for they think it would never do for _their_ girl to have big feet.

AMY: O, yes, mother; here is the picture of a woman with little feet! See her tiny shoes! They are no longer than a baby’s. In the other picture you see one of her feet with all the toes doubled under. I don’t see how she can walk at all.

HELEN: She must be silly. I think God knew how big to make our feet, as well as other parts of the body.

MOTHER: That is true, but the poor Chinese women do not know better, and they think Christian women are more foolish than Chinese women, and that they bind the bones in a way they themselves would never dream of doing.

HELEN: How, mother?

MOTHER: They say Christian women and girls squeeze the waist so tight it gives no room for some of the most important parts of the body-house. I think you said, Helen, that God knew how big to make our feet. Do you think He knew how big to make the waist?

HELEN: I suppose so, but a small waist looks so much better than a large one.

MOTHER: And the Chinese lady thinks her little feet are so much prettier than large ones, and she would rather suffer the pain, and hobble around all her life leaning on a servant, than be out of fashion. The Christian woman thinks a small waist is pretty, so she makes her clothes tight, and suffers all kinds of aches, rather than let the body remain as God made it. What is the difference? Here is a picture of the ribs as God made them, and here is one after the waist has been bound around with tight dresses.

If we saw a man putting iron bands around his house we would think the one who built it had made some mistake or it would not need anything to hold it together. If people feel as though they would “fall to pieces,” or if they have the backache, when their clothes are loose, it shows they have abused the muscles of the body and made weak that which God made strong.

AMY: Is it wrong to wear tight clothing, mother?

MOTHER: Yes; it is very hurtful for girls to wear their dresses even a _little_ tight, for the bones are soft and easily pressed out of place. We should wear warm, loose clothing on all parts of the body, and never, _never_ squeeze the feet, waist, or any other part out of shape. Your arm would be very painful with a tight band around it, but that would not do as much harm as tight shoes or tight bands around the waist. It is better to be healthy than to be in fashion.

You remember that the blood flows through the bones to feed and make them grow. Good blood will make them strong and healthy. Children sometimes have a disease called the “rickets.” This shows that their bones are soft and need more lime. They should eat plenty of good brown bread.

No boy who wishes to grow large and strong should touch beer or tobacco. These poisons in the blood will make the bony framework of the body small and weak. The size of the man depends on his frame. Many boys are making their bodies and minds very small by smoking cigarettes. By using strong drink or tobacco the house we live in is defiled. The blood and all the body, inside and out, becomes soiled and filthy. “If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.” If one should go into a beautiful temple and break the windows, stain the white marble walls, and cover the floor with filth, we would think they did wrong. How much worse to destroy the wonderful, living temple which God Himself has built!

THE WALLS OF OUR HOUSE

ELMER: I don’t like to look at pictures of bones and skeletons, mother.

MOTHER: No; like the framework of a house, they are not pretty, and yet they give shape to what we _do_ like to see. When your father built this house, do you remember how he made the walls?

PERCY: The spaces between the timbers were filled with bricks, so there was a solid wall.

MOTHER: Well, it is that way in the body-house. The bones are all covered over and filled in between with muscles. It is these which make the cheeks so plump, and give the whole body its round, pleasing form. It is the muscles which move the bones.

AMY: But what is a muscle?

MOTHER: You have seen lean meat, have you not? That is muscle. When boiled it seems to be made up of little bundles of tiny threads of fibers, each wrapped in its own thin blanket. Here is a picture of a muscle. These small threads are not twisted together, but are laid side by side. It takes one thousand seven hundred of them to make a muscle an inch thick in children, but in grown people it takes only five hundred.

HELEN: Are the muscles fastened to the bones, mother?

MOTHER: Yes; many muscles are joined to the bones by strong cords, called tendons. The picture shows the muscles of the arm, with their tapering tendons at the wrist. You see our muscles end in these little ropes, or cords, to save room. What a large wrist we would have if the muscles were as large there as in the arm! Now grasp your right arm and open and shut the fingers of your right hand. What do you feel?

PERCY: The flesh moves.

MOTHER: That is because the muscles of your arm pull back when you shut your fingers, and stretch out when you open them. They are some like this piece of India rubber. If you pull it out, it gets thinner, and if you let go, it snaps back and becomes short and thick. Perhaps you have seen the leg of a fowl cut off at the joint, and know if you take hold of the strong cords you can move the toes up or down. So the muscles and tendons move in our feet and hands in the same way. Every step we take, one muscle lifts the toes in front, and another pulls up the heel behind.

If a person sits still much of the time, he will have weak, small muscles, because he does not use them. That is one reason why people are so very weak after being ill. When we use our muscles, they grow large and strong. You have seen the blacksmith’s arm and noticed how large and strong it is. To use our muscles does not wear them out, but does them good.

ELMER: I should think the muscles were our servants, to do whatever we wish done.

MOTHER: Yes; and better servants no person ever had. If the brain says, “I want a book,” the muscles of the legs carry the body where the book is; those of the eye look for it; those in the arm and hand lift it; and the master of the house gets what he wants. We can not move or do anything without these servants to help us.

AMY: It must take a good many to serve one who wants as many things as I do.

HELEN: I read not long ago there were about five hundred of them, big and little, and that they have many shapes and sizes.

MOTHER: That is true; and one who has so many servants as that, ought to be able to wait on himself, and help other people, too. Some of these servants, those in the feet, legs, arms, and hands, wait to be told what to do. Others go to work and keep at it without telling, and they will work even though the one living in the house should tell them to stop. When you wink, you do it without thinking, for the little muscles over the eye know it is their duty to keep the eye clean and bright, and they keep at their work even though you should tell them to keep still. Your heart is a hollow muscle, and it works faithfully night and day as long as you live. The stomach is made of muscles, which take care of your breakfast and dinner without a word from you; and there are many more of these faithful servants who work to keep our house in order.

PERCY: But don’t the muscles get tired, mother?

MOTHER: Yes; and when they ask for rest, we should give it to them. We do not need to sit still and do nothing in order to rest the muscles. If we have been studying, it rests them to sweep the floor, hoe in the garden, or work or play. If we have been playing or working hard, it rests us to sit down and read or study. Change of work is better than to be idle. Walking, running, or working makes the muscles grow large and strong.

We must also have plenty of sleep. A boy or girl who works and plays out in the fresh air and sunshine, will be strong and well, while those who sit in the house will be weak and sickly. But it is not best to work the muscles till they are “all tired out,” for using them too much is nearly as bad as not using them at all.

HELEN: I read a story not long ago about the king of a tribe in Africa. He did not move about or work, so he became ill. He sent for his doctor, who saw that all he needed was to use his muscles, but he did not dare tell him to go to work, so he made two large clubs, and told the king the medicine which would make him well was in the handles, and if he would swing the clubs each day till his body was moist, the medicine would go from the clubs into his hands, and make him strong and well. The king did as the doctor said. Each day he swung his clubs in the open air, and he soon became strong. He thought he had a very skilful doctor, and praised him for his great cure.

MOTHER: And yet it was only giving his muscles exercise which helped him so much. This shows the importance of using them.

ELMER: Do we need anything else to make the muscles strong, mother?

MOTHER: Yes; one of the best things to make them strong is plenty of good, plain food. As the muscles are used, they wear out, and must have new timber to build themselves up. You would think it strange if a carpenter brought brick, mortar, glass, and timber to mend a house, and without his help each part should take just what it needed, putting in half a dozen bricks in the chimney, a board in the floor, a new pane of glass in the window, and some mortar in the right place. But this is what the house we live in is doing day and night. When we sleep, the mending goes on better than when we are awake, and it is done so well we do not hear or think of the busy little workmen inside. All they ask is the right kind of food, not too much or too little of it, and they will take the right thing to the right place, and keep the house in good order.

HELEN: I have read of some men “training” their muscles. What did they do to train them?

MOTHER: They were very careful to take only that kind of food which is good for the muscles. They can not use wine, beer, whisky, or tobacco, for these make bad blood and weak muscles. Then they work all they can bear, but not too much.

PERCY: But Mr. Blank says it makes him strong to have a glass of beer or whisky.

AMY: And Mr. Blank is such a big man he must have strong muscles.

MOTHER: To be big is not to be strong. It is well to have some soft cushions of fat between the muscles, but, as a rule, those who have much fat are not as strong and well as those who have less fat and more muscle. Whisky does not make the muscles grow, nor does it make any one strong. Would you like to have me tell you why this is so?

ELMER: Please do, mother.

MOTHER: Do you remember when we were driving up that long hill yesterday how tired the horse seemed till he was struck with a whip? After that he went much faster, and did not seem tired at all for a little while. The whip was a stim´u-lant to the horse. Whisky and beer are stim´u-lants, too. Mr. Blank works till his muscles are tired, and then, instead of giving them food and rest, he gives them beer, which makes him think he is stronger when he is really weaker. The whip made the horse forget he was tired, but don’t you think if he had rested an hour and eaten some good oats and sweet hay, he would have had more strength than he had after he was struck with the whip?

PERCY: I think so; for if we had given the horse no rest and had kept whipping him, after a time he could not work at all.

MOTHER: And that is just what happens to the man who drinks beer. Perhaps you have seen a man stumbling along the sidewalk. He is first on one side and then on the other, and we say he is drunk. This means that the alcohol he has taken has poisoned his body so the muscles will not do their work properly. The man can not make his servants do as he tells them; for he has made them all sick, and _he_ is sick. It is a sad sight to see any one drink this poison, and make himself helpless.

AMY: I never knew before that strong drink hurt the muscles.

MOTHER: And there is another poison about as bad for them, and that is tobacco. If a boy wishes to grow to be a large, noble man, with an active mind, a clean mouth, sweet breath, clear eyes, and strong muscles, he will not touch tobacco. In some countries there is a law against boys using it, because it does them so much harm. Tobacco makes the muscles weak and unsteady. Like alcohol, it makes a person _feel_ stronger when he is really weaker.

WEATHER-BOARDS AND ROOFING

MOTHER: After your father had filled the framework of his house with bricks, can you tell me, Elmer, how the outside was covered?

ELMER: The walls were covered on the outside with boards, and the roof with shingles.

MOTHER: That would do very well for a wooden house, but for one that can walk, run, jump, and skip about, such a stiff covering would be sadly out of place. We sometimes smile because the snail carries his house around on his back; but the house we live in must move itself and carry the one who lives in it. How are boards and shingles fastened onto common houses so they will stay?

PERCY: With nails.

MOTHER: Just think of driving nails into muscles! Yet you see our body-houses must have some kind of a covering. It must be thin and strong and one that will stretch. Look at your hands and see if they do not have the very best covering that could be made. Pinch up the skin, and see how thin it is, and yet how well it fits every part of the body.

AMY: And the skin stretches, mother. See, I can bend my knee and elbow, and move my fingers as I please.

MOTHER: Yes, it is like a close-fitting garment. What we call the skin is really _two_ skins. You see I can put a pin through the outer skin in the palm of my hand, and I feel no pain, and you see no blood.

HELEN: Isn’t that all the skin we have?

MOTHER: No; for under this thick, outer skin is what is called the true skin. It has such fine blood-vessels that if you could see them, they would look like fine network. If you should prick this _inner_ skin it would hurt, and the blood would flow. This shows it has nerves as well as blood. Under the true skin is a layer of fat. This is like a warm woolen garment to keep the body warm. Between the outer skin and the true skin there is some jelly-like coloring matter, which gives it color.

HELEN: Is that why some persons are very dark and others are light, mother?