THE HEALTH SERIES 
OF 
PHYSIOLOGY AND HYGIENE 
HEALTH HABITS THE HEALTH SERIES 
OF 
PHYSIOLOGY AND HYGIENE 
HEALTH HABITS 
HEALTH AND CLEANLINESS 
THE BODY IN HEALTH 
MAKING THE MOST OF LIFE THE HEALTH SERIES 
OF 
PHYSIOLOGY AND HYGIENE 
HEALTH HABITS 
BY 
M. V. O'SHEA 
ff 
PROFESSOR OF EDUCATION, UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN 
AUTHOR OF "DYNAMIC FACTORS IN EDUCATION," ETC. 
AND 
J. H. KELLOGG 
SUPERINTENDENT OF THE BATTLE CREEK SANITARIUM 
AUTHOR OF "MAN, THE MASTERPIECE," ETC. 
Neto gorfe 
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 
1918 
All rights reserved Copyright, 1915, 
By THE MACMILLAN COMPANY. 
Set up and electrotyped. Published January, 1915. Reprinted 
April, June, August, 1915; April, August, October, December, 1916; 
August, December, 1917. 
Ncrtoooh JBrraa 
J. 8. Cushing Co. - Berwick & Smith Co. 
Norwood, Mass., U.S.A. INTRODUCTION 
It is the aim in " The Health Series of Physiology and 
Hygiene " to present in an attractive form for pupils in the 
elementary school the latest and most accurate knowledge 
relating to physiology, and especially to the hygiene of 
daily life. The constant effort of the authors has been to 
make scientific knowledge so simple, so concrete, and so 
captivating that pupils can hardly fail to take an interest 
in the problems of preserving health for the purpose of 
making the most of life. 
Throughout the series, the aim has been kept in view 
of awakening in the young a normal desire to live in 
such a manner as to develop strength and preserve health, 
because in this way the individual will have the greatest 
success in securing the things which he desires, and in 
avoiding the disabilities and pains which otherwise are 
likely to occupy a considerable part of his life. Compara- 
tively little attention is given to anatomy, and only suffi- 
cient physiology is presented to constitute a basis for the 
facts of health which are discussed. 
Very extensive use is made of photographs and diagrams 
illustrating every-day life in the city and in the country. 
There is at least one interesting and practical original 
exercise suggested for every principle of health presented 
V VI 
INTRODUCTION 
in any lesson, and it is the plan that each pupil should 
work out each exercise and report upon it during the reci- 
tation period. In order further to assist the teacher and 
the pupil, a list of questions, fully covering the text, has 
been given at the end of each chapter. PREFACE 
This first book of the "Health Series of Physiology 
and Hygiene " will not be found too difficult for children in 
the lower intermediate grades of the elementary school. 
The purpose of the book is to lead young pupils to see 
that their habits of living determine whether they shall be 
sick or well much of the time and whether or not they will 
have strength to do the various things which they want to 
accomplish. 
In the preparation of the book, the authors have studied 
the typical child from nine to twelve years of age in his 
daily life. They have noted his tendencies in matters in- 
volving health, and they have studied particularly his prob- 
lems in adapting himself to present-day conditions in the 
country and in the city. These observations have suggested 
the subjects pertaining to health which will interest a child 
and which will be of practical value for him in every-day 
life. These are the subjects which are discussed in this book. 
The authors have further studied children in respect to 
their attitude toward different methods of presenting facts 
of health, with a view to determining the child's habits. They 
have found that the typical child is not much influenced by 
exhortations simply to live in a healthful way ; but he is 
deeply influenced by everything which promises to increase 
his energy for his games and plays and which will help him 
VII VIII 
PREFACE 
to avoid the pains and sickness. These, he knows, deprive 
him of the opportunities he craves to be in action all the time 
and to succeed as well as his rivals in all his undertakings. 
These traits of children have determined the manner in which 
the facts and principles in this book have been treated. 
The aim throughout has been (i) to use the simplest 
and most concrete terms ; (2) to develop the meaning for 
any new term before it is given ; (3) to illustrate every prin- 
ciple of health by familiar examples and by photographs 
and drawings; and (4) to have the young become self- 
helpful in solving practical problems relating to health 
habits. In order to assist the pupil to keep the points 
being discussed in mind, marginal headings have been 
freely used. Lists of questions have been appended to each 
chapter for the use both of the pupil and the teacher. 
Hard words are pronounced at the end of the book, and an 
index has been added so that any one may quickly find any 
topic in which he may be interested. CONTENTS 
CHAPTER PAGE 
I. What Good Health Means i 
II. Health Habits 7 
HI. Good Posture in Standing . . . .13 
IV. Good Posture in Sitting 24 
V. Good Posture in Exercise and Work . . 33 
VI. Health and Exercise 41 
VII. Health and Play 48 
VIII. Sound Hearts and Good Blood ... 59 
IX. Outdoor Life 74 
X. Fresh Air Indoors ...... 82 
XI. Health Habits in Breathing .... 93 
XII. Health Habits in Sleeping .... 106 
XIII. Health Habits in Eating 117 
XIV. Health Habits in Drinking .... 130 
XV. The Choice and Preparation of Food . . 141 
XVI. The Care of the Mouth 151 
XVII. The Care of the Skin 162 
XVIII. Clothing the Body 181 
XIX. Protecting the Body's Health . . . 192 
IX HEALTH HABITS Good health and good feeling go together HEALTH HABITS 
CHAPTER I 
What Good Health Means 
When a person is in good health, his whole body is 
in fine working order. He feels no pains, 
aches, lameness, or laziness. He feels full of 
life and vigor. A boy I know said recently 
that he felt "fine and good all over, and ready for 
anything that came along." 
When one does not have good health, the trouble 
is generally due to lack of proper care of the body, 
either on the person's own part, or on the part of some 
one else. 
The rose gardener, who every week in the warm 
weather loosens the soil about his plants, waters them, 
weeds them, and keeps them free from insects, will 
have larger and more beautiful blossoms than if he 
simply left the roses to do the best they could without 
any care. His bushes will become so strong and 
hardy that they can endure the frost and the cold 
when the winter season comes round. But if they 
were neglected, they would die rapidly. 
Any one who takes pains to give his body the right 
It pays to 
have good 
health. 
1 2 
HEALTH HABITS 
kind of care every day can be strong and hardy, just 
as with the gardener's rose bushes. Having good health, 
one's body may become so full of life and force that 
it can resist disease, as the strong rose plant can resist 
the frost. 
It pays to have good health. The person who has 
It pays to have good health. 
it will build up a body able to avoid sickness. He 
will not have to suffer with headache, toothache, 
earache, boils, coughs, colds, and other ills. When a 
boy has something the matter with him every now and 
again, he will miss many pleasures and will fall behind 
in his work. Think of two people you know, one of WHAT GOOD HEALTH MEANS 
3 
whom has poor health (that is, he has pains or aches 
of some kind, or he cannot eat or sleep well) while the 
other has good health. Surely you will find that the 
latter gets more fun out of life than the former. He can 
accomplish more with his mind and body. He can do his 
work with greater ease. He can earn more money. 
He will probably live longer. He will be more cheerful 
Mary- 
sick 
Mary 
well 
Which Mary would you rather be ? 
and happy. He can therefore give more pleasure to the 
people around him, and he will be more popular with them. 
How many of the people you know have perfect 
health ? I once asked eight hundred young 
women, students in a college, "How many of 
you feel well all the time ?" Only a few were 
found who did not have some kind of ache or pain. 
Good 
health is 
possible. 4 
HEALTH HABITS 
What do you think about the health habits of these 
girls ? 
Some people have good health much of the time. 
Many of us have only a fair average. Ought not 
every one aim for a too % 
mark in health, as well as in 
other things ? It is quite 
possible to live so as to keep 
our health good. When Mr. 
Roosevelt was President, he 
asked Professor Irving Fisher, 
a teacher in Yale University, 
to find out how many people 
in the United States were sick 
from diseasesthat might have 
been prevented. Investiga- 
tion showed that there were 
three million people in the 
United States sick all of the 
time: and that one half of 
this number (1,500,000) need 
not have become ill if they, or some one else, had not 
carelessly broken the laws of health. 
Henry's father made him a present of a fine new 
bicycle. Its wheels spun round like a top. It did not 
rattle or creak. So long as Henry took good 
care of his bicycle, it looked new and fine, 
and was always ready to give him a good time when 
he rode it. By and by, he began to neglect his 
Good health and good feeling 
GO TOGETHER. 
The valu- 
able gift. WHAT GOOD HEALTH MEANS 
5 
bicycle. He forgot to clean and oil it. It became 
rusty and dirty. It rattled as it ran. Its wheels 
turned with such difficulty that it was no longer any 
fun for Henry to ride it. 
Our bodies are in some ways like bicycles. With 
good care they serve us well, and are so full of vigor 
that it is not hard to do our best in whatever we 
undertake. 
If some one gave you a valuable gift, would you treat 
it carelessly and spoil it, as Henry did his bicycle ? 
Or would you take good care of it, and keep it nice as 
long as possible ? Do you not think every one ought 
to take such care of his body that it will always be in 
good working condition ? 
Remember : It is not the weak and the sickly people 
who win the race, or who have the best time, or who 
do the most things that are worth while. 
HEALTH PROBLEMS 
I. Think over what you did during the last summer vacation. 
Count up the number of days on which no pain or ache interfered 
with your work or pleasure. 
2. Can you tell why you were in good health on those days ? 
3. Looking forward to next summer, would you like to have 
some "off" days mixed in with the others ? Why ? Give all 
the reasons you can. 
4. Look at the pictures of strong and of sickly children. Which 
would you rather be ? Why ? 
5. Do you hear people you know say sometimes that they have 
a headache or toothache or earache or something of the kind? 
Could these aches be avoided, do you think? 6 
HEALTH HABITS 
REVIEW QUESTIONS 
I. How does good health make the body feel ? 
2. What will good care do for the body ? 
3. Will it pay any one to keep good health ? In what ways 
will it pay ? 
4. What loss does bad health cause ? 
5. Do most people seem to have good health ? 
6. Why are so many people sick much of the time ? CHAPTER II 
Health Habits 
Of course you have often watched the building of 
houses. Have you noticed that the foundations are 
usually made of many separate blocks of 
cement or stone, well fitted together ? Have 
you ever thought that if some of these blocks 
were left out in places, here and there, or were carelessly 
laid in, the foundation would be so weakened that the 
house would be in constant danger of falling down ? 
One's habits of living are the foundation of good 
or poor health. Like the well-placed stones in the wall, 
right habits strengthen and harden the body, while 
wrong habits weaken it and break it down. Even a 
single bad habit may keep one in poor health much 
of the time. 
Ten-year-old Bertha loved to read stories. Nearly 
every night she took papers and books to bed with her, 
and read for a long time, often for hours after every one 
else in the house was asleep. Her mother, who knew 
nothing of this bad habit, awoke her at five o'clock each 
morning. Thus Bertha, who needed nine hours' sleep 
each night to keep her in good health, often slept no 
The foun- 
dations of 
health. 
7 8 
HEALTH HABITS 
more than five hours. After a time Bertha began to 
grow thin, to lose her appetite, to have a pain in the 
back of her head, and to feel irritable and unhappy. 
Instead of being a help she now became a care to her 
mother, and an extra expense to her father. Besides, 
the people around her grew to dislike her, because she 
was peevish and disagreeable. 
Health habits have to do with just such everyday 
things as sleeping, breathing, eating, thinking, and so 
on. They have to do also with the way we sit, stand, 
and move about; with our clothing, and our exercise, 
and the way we treat the skin, the hands, the teeth, 
the eyes, and other organs. 
We form a habit by doing a thing over and over 
until it can be done without our having to think about 
it. What has been done once is done more 
easily the second time. If one starts right, 
it is quite as easy to form a habit which will count on 
the side of health, as one which will count against it. 
To form a habit, one must stick to an action until 
he can do it without thinking about it. Doing the 
right thing one day, and omitting to do it the next 
day, is about as bad a way to live as can be thought of. 
If a boy every now and then drops a ball of string he is 
winding, so much string unwinds that he may never 
get it wound up. So it is with acquiring habits that 
will make the body strong and hardy and well. We 
must not forget them until we have so fixed them that 
they will work whether we think of them or not. 
Making 
habits. HEALTH HABITS 
9 
It is important, too, that we start to form good 
health habits while young. The earlier we begin, 
the stronger and more powerful the habits will become 
as we grow in years. If you start a cannon ball rolling 
down a hill, it will be harder and harder to stop the 
farther it gets from the starting point. So it is with a 
What will happen if you drop a good habit before it is well fixed ? 
good habit. Is it any different, do you think, with a 
bad habit ? Mention a habit you have observed which 
ought to be broken, but which the person who has it 
keeps making stronger ? 
Roland and Ruth lived with their parents in a beauti- 
ful country home, around which grew many fine trees. 
The children loved to play in the shade of these trees 10 
HEALTH HABITS 
(luring the summer time. In the winter, when the 
leafless branches were covered with icicles or tufts 
of snow, they thought no fairyland was ever quite so 
lovely. 
Being observant children, they had noticed with 
regret that while most of the trees were straight and 
graceful, there were two, a rather large one 
and a smaller one, that were so bent they were 
ugly. The children were delighted one morning when 
they saw some men preparing to straighten the trees. 
The men drove strong stakes on one side of the smaller 
tree in such a way that they could use the stakes to 
pull it up straight. After much hard work they were 
able to bring the tree up nearly straight, and then 
they braced it so that it could not fall back into its 
old habits. They tried the same plan with the larger 
tree, but although they worked over it with all their 
might in every way they knew how, the tree would 
not yield. 
The mother of the children, who was also watching 
the work on the trees, at last said to the children, "The 
tree has grown crooked for so long that it cannot be 
changed now. It is much like a person who has formed 
a good or a bad habit. When he has got into the habit 
of doing anything either right or wrong, it is about as 
hard for him to change as it is for the tree to be 
straightened. At first those crooked trees were as 
straight as any of the others, but something bent them 
just a little, and everytime the wind blew, it bent them 
Correcting 
a habit. HEALTH HABITS 
11 
a little more, until they became very crooked, If 
when they were young an attempt had been made to 
straighten them, it could then have been done easily. 
"You should notice too that the strong, straight 
Bad health habits must be corrected before they become fixed. 
oaks or maples cannot be bent when they are grown. 
They have always kept themselves straight, and their 
habit of straightness is so firmly fixed that they will 
always remain so." 12 
HEALTH HABITS 
Remember: When a boy or a girl gets any habit 
fixed, whether it be a good or a bad one, it is very 
hard ever to change it. It is easy to change the course 
of a small stream, but it is not easy when the stream has 
become a great river. 
HEALTH PROBLEMS 
1. Describe five acts you can perform without thinking about 
them while performing them. Why are you able to do them so 
easily ? 
2. Describe a habit of your dog or kitten that counts for its 
health. One that counts against its health. 
3. Describe three habits in any person you know (but you 
need not give the person's name) that count for health. Also 
three habits that count against health. 
4. Do you know of any one who sometimes does something 
he would rather not do ? Why does he do it ? 
REVIEW QUESTIONS 
I. What are the foundations of good health ? 
2. Mention some things which health habits have to do with. 
3. How does one form a habit ? 
4. How can one keep from forming any habit ? 
5. When should one begin to form health habits ? 
6. Is it hard to break a bad habit ? Why ? 
7. Is it as hard to change good habits as bad ones ? 
8. Do one's habits depend somewhat on the kind of com- 
panions he chooses ? Why? CHAPTER III 
Good Posture in Standing 
What do you think it is that makes such a difference 
in the appearance of these two boys ? Is it their 
posture, the way they stand ? Notice that 
John stands squarely on both feet. He seems 
to keep his body erect without trying. He holds his 
head up, and his chest out. Both his shoulders are on 
the same level. 
At times, he 
enjoys expand- 
ing his chest as 
far as he can 
with long, deep 
breaths. His 
strong, fine car- 
riage makes him 
look full of vigor, 
and ready for 
any game or any 
task. When I 
look at him, I 
feel sure that he is the kind of young man who will do 
with his might and with pleasure whatever he has 
standing 
habits- 
John. 
Alfred. 
13 14 
HEALTH HABITS 
to do. Notice how easily and naturally he holds him- 
self in this good position. How is he able to keep it 
without an effort ? 
Alfred stoops as he stands. His head droops for- 
ward. His back curves outward, and his chest 
curves inward. One would almost think his chest 
was behind instead of in front of him. He walks 
with a careless, shambling gait. Although he is an 
active lad, he lacks the "ready-for-business" air which 
John has. 
If the two boys were seeking a job, which would 
stand the better chance ? Do you think John's bearing 
makes him appear more manly than Alfred ? Do you 
think he could play a better game, or work harder 
without getting tired ? Why ? If they should have a 
contest of good looks, who would get the prize ? The 
way we hold our body has much to do with our appear- 
ance and health. Why ? 
At a factory where watches are made, one may see 
timepieces in great variety. The case of each watch 
is made exactly the right size and shape to 
hold its working parts, or machinery. To 
each part is allowed just enough space for 
its own movement. All the parts working together 
move the hands around the dial. If by some accident 
the case of a watch should become indented or bent, 
it might so decrease the working space of some of the 
wheels that they could not turn easily, or could run 
only part way around. As a result, the whole ma- 
Cramping 
the ma- 
chinery. GOOD POSTURE IN STANDING 
15 
chinery would be put out of order, and the watch would 
no longer keep good time, and probably it would stop 
for good. 
The body in some ways resembles a watch. Within 
its frame are many delicate working parts with which 
we breathe, digest our food, and 
perform other acts which keep 
us alive and well, and enable us 
to play, to work, and to enjoy 
living. Whether the body be 
that of a baby or of a grown 
man, Nature has provided it 
with just enough room for each 
of these vital parts to do its 
work properly when the body 
maintains the correct position. 
Then if we get into a bad posi- 
tion, with stooping shotriders 
and a flat chest (our frame 
pressing in as dents in a watch- 
case), then these vital parts may become so crowded 
that it will be impossible for them to work well, and 
the whole body will suffer as a result. 
When you take hold of your arm, it feels soft. But if 
you press upon it, you then feel something hard inside. 
The soft portion we call flesh; the hard 
substance within is bone. The framework, or 
skeleton, as it is called, by which the whole body is 
supported is made up of bones, together with two other 
Suppose you should bend 
THE CASE IN ON THE WORKS; 
WHAT WOULD HAPPEN TO THE 
WATCH ? 
The body's 
framework. HEALTH HABITS 
16 
Skull 
Trunk- 
Arm 
Trunk 
Leg 
■Leg 
The skeleton. GOOD POSTURE IN STANDING 
17 
kinds of materials - cartilages and ligaments. Cartilage 
is another name for gristle, a tough substance which 
you have probably seen in meat. You can feel the 
difference between bone and cartilage in the upper 
and the lower part of your nose. Ligaments are living 
cords or bands which hold the separate bones to- 
gether. These, too, you may have found in meat. 
The skeleton is composed of not one, but a great many 
bones, - in all, just two hundred and six. The points 
at which the bones join are called joints. 
The skeleton has four divisions, the skull (the bones of 
the head), the trunk, the arms, and the legs. The trunk 
forms a bony case to contain and protect some of 
the most important parts 
of the body. These parts 
are called organs, as is each 
other part of the body 
which does a special work. 
The bones are the hard- 
est parts of the body. When 
a person is full grown, the 
bones are very firm and 
stiff, but in the young child 
they consist mostly of car- 
tilage. Cartilage is very 
yielding, and makes it pos- 
sible for young bones to 
bend easily. 
People often do a baby 
This boy was not permitted to 
STAND OR WALK TOO EARLY. 18 
HEALTH HABITS 
great injury by trying to make it sit alone, or stand, 
before its bones have become firm enough to support the 
weight of its body. Bow legs are often caused by letting 
a child walk while the bones in the legs are still soft. 
From year to year, as the child grows, the cartilage 
hardens to bone, until when growth is complete, the 
skeleton is mostly firm bone. If bad positions 
become a habit with growing boys and girls, 
the bones as they harden will become mis- 
shapen and deformed. Such bones may have 
to go through life crooked. Do you know any crooked 
men or women, people with stooped shoulders, or one 
shoulder higher than the other, bow legs, and so on ? 
There is in the skeleton a long bony column upon 
which the head is carried. This is called the spinal col- 
umn or backbone. It is not a single bone, but is made 
up of a row of separate, oddly shaped bones arranged 
one above the other, with cushions of cartilage between. 
These bones are so nicely connected that the spinal 
column can be made to bend with ease in any direc- 
tion, as the movements of the body make necessary. 
Because it can be bent so easily, the spinal column 
is often made to bend when it should not, or to bend in 
a wrong way so often, that it becomes crooked. Stand- 
ing on one leg, standing with the body bent forward 
when at work or play, sleeping with the head raised 
high upon thick pillows, are ways through which 
children often grow out of shape. Girls who take 
care of a baby often cause their backbones to become 
The frame- 
work 
shaping 
habits. GOOD POSTURE IN STANDING 
19 
curved, because they carry the child on one arm oftener 
than on the other. Do you carry with one arm a 
heavy load of books to and from school every day ? 
If you do, what may be the result of this on your own 
spinal column ? Doing so a few times will result in no 
injury. But when the strain from wrong 
positions becomes an everyday thing, 
lasting hours at a time, or when it is 
often repeated for even a short time 
each day, then the soft young bones may 
yield, and deformity may result. 
The boy or girl who wants to take the 
right standing poise may try 
this plan : Stand against a wall 
where there is no baseboard, the heels, 
hips, fingers, and back of the head 
touching the wall. Now roll the head 
backward so that you can look directly 
up at the ceiling,1 but keep the fingers, 
hips, and heels hard against the wall. 
Draw the chin downward and inward 
till looking directly forward, moving the 
head without changing the position of the shoulders. 
You are now nicely balanced on the balls of the feet, 
and you have the poise which, with slight modifica- 
tions, one should keep when standing or walking. 
Note how you feel when you are standing in a correct 
position. Observe that the chest is held well up, 
while the abdomen is drawn in. 
To stand 
correctly. 
How TO GET AN 
UPRIGHT STAND- 
ING POSTURE. 20 
HEALTH HABITS 
If a person must stand for a long time in one place, 
he should support the body with one leg while the other 
is relaxed and thrust forward as in walking, or sidewise, 
as shown in the pictures. At the same time he should 
keep the correct poise, instead of allowing the body to 
settle down into a bad 
position. He should 
make frequent changes, 
letting one leg rest the 
other. If he hastocarry 
heavy things, he should 
make each arm do its 
share of the work. 
The weight of the 
body should rest on 
the balls of the feet 
and not on the heels. 
When a person looks 
at his reflection in a 
mirror, he should see 
himself standing with- 
out effort squarely on 
both feet, with heels 
well in line, and toes turned slightly outward. The 
arms should be hanging easily at the sides, and the 
body should be held up straight to its full height. 
The shoulders should be held easily on the same level 
and just a little backward. The chest should be high, 
and the chin drawn inward. 
Notice how the soldier stands. Does 
THIS POSITION MAKE HIM LOOK BRAVE 
AND STRONG ? WHY ? GOOD POSTURE IN STANDING 
21 
No matter what you may have to do, try to keep in 
the upright attitude. If you stand on the street talking 
to a friend, or if you stand for recitation in the school- 
room, try to have the feeling of being erect. You will 
soon get yourself so used to sitting and standing erect 
that you will estab- 
lishthis healthhabit, 
and then constant 
attention will be un- 
necessary. 
In a military 
school where all of 
the boys 
must a c- 
quire good 
carriage, 
the new student is 
watched all day 
long. He is not al- 
lowed to stand, sit, 
or walk in a bad 
position. With such attention he soon forms the habit 
of an erect attitude at all times, and so thoroughly 
is he trained that the habit stays by him all his life. 
If you will watch yourself as closely as a military 
student is watched, you, too, may soon become 
straight and well poised. 
Children in some lands are often more erect than 
children in this country, because almost from babyhood 
_ .. 
Be the 
watchman 
ofy°ur 
habits. 
Which of these two positions is the better 
for health ? Why ? 22 
HEALTH HABITS 
they carry bundles and baskets on their heads. Carry- 
ing a book balanced on the head is a good way for a 
child to learn to stand straight, and to walk erect. 
It is as easy to keep the body erect as to let it grow into bad 
SLOUCHING HABITS, AND IT IS MUCH MORE COMFORTABLE. 
Remember : That if any one wishes to have a straight 
strong body, he must, while he is young, get the habit of 
carrying himself easily erect. 
HEALTH PROBLEMS 
I. Pick out some one of about your own age who has a very 
good position when standing. Describe just how this person 
appears to you. Speak of the way shoulders, head, chest, etc., 
are carried. GOOD POSTURE IN STANDING 
23 
2. Try to see for how many seconds you can continue drawing 
in your breath when you are standing erect. Try this again 
when your chest is contracted as is shown in the picture of Alfred 
on page 13. 
3. See how many bones you can count by feeling the various 
parts of your body. 
4. How many joints can you count ? 
5. Find a ligament somewhere in your body by feeling. 
REVIEW QUESTIONS 
I. What is meant by flesh, bone, skeleton, cartilage,' ligament, 
joint ?. 
2. What are the four divisions of the skeleton ? 
3. What happens to the parts inside the body when one keeps 
in a bad position? 
4. What will happen to a grown person if he gets into the habit 
of keeping a crooked position ? 
5. What is the backbone or spinal column? 
6. How do people get crooked backbones ? 
7. How should the weight of the body be supported on the legs ? CHAPTER IV 
Good Posture in Sitting 
If you were to make a visit to the home of some of the 
Fiji Island children, you would find no chairs, for the 
savage boy or girl when 
tired rests by lying full 
length upon a mat or 
upon the ground. The 
Arab boy crosses his legs 
in front of him, and sits 
upon the ground, holding 
his body as straight as 
a pine tree. It is the 
same way with the boys 
and girls in Japan, India, 
and many other Eastern 
lands. Only people of 
civilized countries use 
raised seats or chairs. 
When civilized people 
began to make furniture 
to sit on, they first used stools for seats. But it did not 
take them long to find out that their bodies became tired 
when their feet hung down unless they had something 
Notice how erect the body is kept 
WITHOUT EFFORT. 
24 GOOD POSTURE IN SITTING 
25 
to lean against. So they put a back to the stool, and 
it became a chair. 
The custom of sitting on raised seats is really not 
so easy and natural as sitting or reclining on the ground 
or on the floor. Often one sits so carelessly 
that his back curves backward, his head 
droops forward, his chest becomes flattened, 
and so cramped that he cannot breathe deep and full. 
Consequently, he does 
not breathe enough air 
to make him feel well, 
and to give him liveli- 
ness and vigor in all he 
attempts. Besides, his 
stomach and other vital 
organs are forced out of 
place, and are hindered 
in their work. 
It is quite as necessary 
to hold the body in an 
erect position when sit- 
ting as when standing, 
for, as we have already 
seen, the organs within the trunk of the body have 
just the right amount of room in which to do their 
work well when the body is held erect. When a 
person spends much of his time in any bent-over, 
doubled-up position, these organs are likely to get 
crowded out of place ; they must then do their work 
What a 
chair may 
do. 
What do you think of this position ? 
Why ? 26 
HEALTH HABITS 
in such cramped-up quarters that it cannot be well 
done, and their owner feels tired and all out of sorts. 
Bending the body does no harm, and often does good ; 
but if the bent position becomes a habit, the parts which 
hold the organs in place within the trunk become so 
A PERSON WHO SITS AT HIS DESK OR TABLE IN THIS POSITION WILL SOONER OR 
LATER GET A CROOKED SPINAL COLUMN. 
stretched and weakened, that the body may be injured 
for all time, and serious disease may result. The 
bones, too, are in danger of becoming misshapen from 
the bad posture. 
Many persons have ugly curves in their backbones, 
caused by sitting at high desks with one elbow on the 
desk. This raises one shoulder so high that the spine 
becomes crooked. GOOD POSTURE IN SITTING 
27 
Try these exercises for getting a good sitting position. Notice how 
THE BOY IN THE LAST POSITION HOLDS THE BODY ERECT IN A VERY EASY 
AND NATURAL MANNER. 28 
HEALTH HABITS 
Il a young person sits much of the time with the body 
bent forward, he will after a while become round- 
shouldered and flat-chested. Why ? 
When one is read- 
ing or sewing or 
doing any other 
work of this sort, he 
is likely to sit bent 
forward. Is it espe- 
cially hard to keep a 
proper attitude in 
a rocking chair ? 
Why ? 
Be careful not to 
slide down in your 
chair if the spine rests 
against the back of 
the chair. The far- 
ther the hips are from 
the back of the chair 
the more out of shape 
the body becomes. "When sitting, never lie down,'' 
is advice we all should heed. 
A correct sitting position requires a seat of such a 
height that the feet can rest easily upon the floor, and 
of such a width that both hips may touch the 
back of the chair. A seat that is too low will 
cramp the legs. With a seat that is too high, 
the feet cannot reach the floor, and so cannot assist in 
Pupils in school often have bad positions. 
What trouble is this girl likely to 
BRING UPON HERSELF, IF SHE HAS THIS 
POSITION IN SCHOOL MUCH OF THE TIME ? 
The right 
kind of 
ehjur. GOOD POSTURE IN SITTING 
29 
supporting the body. Besides, the pressure on the 
soft flesh of the under part of the legs causes them to 
become numb ("to go to sleep," as we sometimes say). 
Moreover, the body will slip down in the seat. We have 
said that this is a bad 
position. Look at the 
picture, and you will see 
it for yourself. Why, 
then, should all chairs 
and seats be made to fit 
the height of the persons 
who are to use them ? 
To get a good sitting 
position, try this plan: 
Seat yourself 
with the hips 
touching the 
back of the chair. Place 
the hands upon the hips 
with the thumbs on the 
back as far as possible. 
Look toward the ceiling, 
carrying the head back 
until you are looking straight up. Press the thumbs as 
hard as you can upon the back, and draw down the chin. 
You will then have a good position. It will be worth 
your while to practice this occasionally. Perhaps if 
you ask your teacher, she will have all the pupils do 
this once in a while for relief and exercise. 
A good 
sitting posi- 
tion. 
This chair is too high. Notice the 
POSITION OF THE FEET. 30 
HEALTH HABITS 
To keep the right sitting poise, the chest must be 
held high. If the hips and shoulders touch the back of 
the chair as they ought, the spine will of necessity curve 
inward, as is the case with the boy in the picture. 
When one sits in a chair with a straight back, he will 
Which of these chairs is the better for helping one to keep a 
GOOD POSTURE IN SITTING ? Why ? 
find it tiresome to keep the correct posture without 
using a pad or cushion fastened to the chair to support 
the back. Yet it is better that the chair be made to 
fit the back when in proper poise. 
When one must work for several hours at a task 
requiring him to sit, it is important that he change his 
position frequently. Occasionally he should stand, 
move about for a few minutes, and relax his muscles. GOOD POSTURE IN SITTING 
31 
Remember : It will pay in good health, comfort, 
and efficiency to get the habit of sitting up straight 
and holding the chest high. 
In youth. 
In middle age 
As THE TWIG IS BENT THE TREE IS INCLINED. 
HEALTH PROBLEMS 
I. Measure the height of your seat in the schoolroom. Is 
it just the right height for you ? 
2. Try this: While sitting, bend forward as far as you can 32 
HEALTH HABITS 
conveniently, and see how deeply you can breathe. Then sit 
erect, and see if you can breathe more deeply. Explain. 
3. Do the pupils in your room keep their feet squarely on the 
floor when they are seated ? If not, why not ? 
4. Are there children of different heights in your home ? If so, 
do they use chairs of different sizes ? 
5. Notice the positions of your classmates at their seats. Do 
they sit erect, or do they bend over their desks ? 
6. Describe the position, mentioning his shoulders, his head, 
his chest, and so on, of a person sitting badly in a rocking chair. 
7. Study the pictures in this chapter which show different 
positions in sitting, and be ready to tell what you think of each 
one, and why. 
REVIEW QUESTIONS 
I. What bad positions are we liable to get into when sitting, 
reading, or sewing ? 
2. Is it as necessary to have good poise in sitting as in stand- 
ing ? Why ? 
3. How is one likely to feel when he has a bad poise in sitting ? 
4. What is a good sitting position ? What exercise will help 
in getting it ? CHAPTER V 
Good Posture in Exercise and Work 
As you watch an automobile roll along the street, 
you know it is the machinery inside that makes it go. 
Have you ever wondered at what it is that moves the 
body along when we are walking or running ? 
If the skin were removed from your arm so that you 
could see the flesh underneath, some of it would look 
yellowish white, and some of it red. The 
yellow flesh is fat, while the red flesh is muscle. 
The muscle of all animals looks alike. The 
"lean meat" of beefsteak is muscle, so most of you 
know what dead muscle is like. Living muscle is the 
machinery which moves all the parts of the body. 
Without our muscles, we could not move. It is by 
their action that we walk, run, jump, climb, throw a 
ball, and perform all other movements of which any 
one of us is capable. 
Each of us has in his body about five hundred 
muscles of various forms and sizes. They are arranged 
over the bones in such a way as to cover them and 
make the body plump and shapely. Most of the mus- 
cles are in pairs ; that is, there are two alike, one on 
each arm, for instance. 
Muscle, 
the moving 
power. 
33 34 
HEALTH HABITS 
Names of Muscles 
a Occipito Frontal is 
b Temporal 
c-Masseter 
d Stemo-Cleido-Mastoid 
e- Deltoid 
f - Pectoral is Major 
g- Pectoral is Minor 
h - Ob!iquus Extern us 
i - Rectus AbdominaI is 
y Biceps 
k - Triceps 
I - Gluteal Muscle 
m-Rectus Femoris 
n-Eartorius 
o-Abductor Muscles 
^-Biceps Femoris 
q - Vastus Externus 
r- Tibial is Anticus 
s- Extensors oFthe Toes 
Notice how completely the skeleton is covered with the muscles. 
See if you can tell what movement is made by the muscles of the 
arms, the trunk, and the legs. GOOD POSTURE IN EXERCISE AND WORK 
35 
Usually, the muscles are made fast to bones. Be- 
tween the two bones to which a muscle is tied, there is 
a joint. One end of the muscle is attached to one bone, 
the other end to the other bone. Why this arrange- 
ment, do you think ? But sometimes one end of a 
muscle is made fast to a bone, and the other end to the 
skin or to another muscle. 
Many of the muscles are not 
joined to the bones directly, but 
are made fast to them by means 
of firm cords, called tendons. If 
you will place the fingers of one 
hand on the wrist of the other, 
at the same time working the 
fingers of the latter, you can feel 
these tendons moving under- 
neath the skin. 
All muscles have the power 
to become shorter, to contract. 
With your left hand grasp your 
right arm just in front of the 
elbow. Close the right hand 
tightly, then open it several 
times. You will feel something 
moving. It is the working of 
the muscles which shorten and 
harden when they act, thereby causing the move- 
ment which you feel. 
Each muscle is a sort of living machine. And one 
By keeping the body erect 
IN WALKING, A HABIT WILL 
SOON BE FORMED SO THE 
ERECT POSTURE CAN BE KEPT 
WITHOUT ANY EFFORT. 36 
HEALTH HABITS 
curious thing about the machine is that generally 
the more it works the stronger it grows. 
It needs rest, of course. But if we would 
keep a muscle healthy, we must put it to use. 
Brisk walking makes a great many of the muscles of 
the body work. Walking is a splendid health habit, 
when one walks correctly. But one must keep an 
erect poise. Let the arms swing 
easily by the side. Walk with- 
out bending the knees. In step- 
ping forward, the heel should go 
down first and the toes point 
straight ahead like those shown 
in the illustration. If you will 
walk on snow or on sand, you 
can easily make a test of your 
own way of walking. Many 
persons walk with their knees 
bent, but this is neither natural 
nor graceful. When walking, 
the strides should not be too 
long. Each step should have 
spring in it, as though one felt 
a joy in every movement. One 
ought to be as light on his feet 
as the lamb, the fawn, or the kitten. 
One day Harold, a boy I knew, who was very careless 
in his walking, was slouching along with his shoulders 
thrown forward and his head drooping. His cousin, 
Use makes 
a muscle 
healthy. 
Harold. GOOD POSTURE IN EXERCISE AND WORK 
37 
who owned a kodak, took a snap- 
shot of him. Later the cousin sent 
this to Harold. Harold could hardly 
believe it was himself. He made up 
his mind that he would correct his 
bad posture, but this he found was 
by no means an easy thing to do. 
At first he tried wearing a stiff collar 
of pasteboard an inch high in the 
back, and three inches high in front, 
to make him keep his chin up. The 
plan he liked better, though, was to 
walk a mile every day carrying a 
tray or a basket balanced upon his 
head. 
Running, leaping, and skipping are 
other modes of using the limbs in 
moving from one place to another. 
Running differs from walking in that 
both feet may be off the ground at 
the same time, but one is in advance 
of the other. In leaping, the two 
feet are off the ground at the same 
time. 
Sometimes, when boys saw wood or 
shovel snow, they make their backs 
bend too much. This cramps the 
organs within the trunk so that they 
cannot do their work well. Then 
Steps in running. 38 
HEALTH HABITS 
the worker gets tired much quicker than if he kept 
the body in good poise and bent only at the hips. A 
glance at the pictures will remind you of 
various ways in which boys and girls, as 
well as men and women, frequently assume 
wrong postures. Can you call to mind other 
ways ? If you will test the matter, you will always 
Body 
posture 
affects 
work or 
exercise, 
In which position will Mary be the more tired after an hour's 
work ? Why ? 
find it is easier for the body to do whatever you need 
to have it do when you keep it in a correct posture. 
Remember: You can walk, run, jump, climb, or do 
any kind of work easiest and best if you cultivate the GOOD POSTURE IN EXERCISE AND WORK 
39 
habit of holding the body so that all its organs can do 
their work without being cramped. 
Has Fred a good position in 
his work ? Why ? 
Is THIS BETTER ? 
HEALTH PROBLEMS 
I. Count the number of muscles you can make out by feeling 
the different parts of your body. What must one do to find 
some of the smaller muscles that move the fingers, toes, jaws, and 
so on ? 
2. Show where the muscles are that are used when you throw 
a ball. When you pull a rope in a tug of war. When you run. 
When you jump. When you chew your food. When you rise 
from your bed in the morning. 
3. How many different tendons can you count on your body ? 
4. What would happen to the muscle in your right arm if you 
should tie up the arm for one month ? Why ? 40 
HEALTH HABITS 
REVIEW QUESTIONS 
I. What is it that moves the body when one is walking or 
running ? 
2. How many different muscles are there in the body ? 
3. How are the muscles arranged in thezbody ? 
4. What is the arrangement by which the muscles move the 
bones ? 
Which of these children will walk the farthest without getting tired ? 
Why ? 
5. What is meant by tendons? 
6. What is meant when it is said that a muscle has the power 
to contract ? 
7. What is necessary in order to make a muscle stronger ? 
8. What is the best position in carrying a pail of water ? In 
climbing a hill or stairs ? CHAPTER VI 
Health and Exercise 
A man once made a wager that he could stay still in 
bed a month, and .no harm would come to his health. 
At the end of the month he found that he had 
hardly strength enough to stand on his feet. 
He had thought that lying in bed would rest 
him, but he found instead that it made him weak. 
What would happen to one's body if he were to lie in 
bed all the time ? 
What will happen to any part of the body that is 
not used ? If a boy should carry one of his hands in 
his pocket all the time and never use it, it would be- 
come much smaller and weaker than the hand used for 
all kinds of work. A man I know had to carry his arm 
in a sling for three months. The skin became shriveled, 
and the flesh flabby. The bone of the arm, too, be- 
came stiff. 
A mother who had a baby just old enough to walk 
lived in a house which was very cold in winter. To keep 
the baby warm, she wrapped up the child's feet and legs 
tightly with a blanket, put a warm jacket on her, and 
kept her much of the time in her carriage. The baby 
Why exer- 
cise is 
necessary. 
41 42 
HEALTH HABITS 
could use her arms and hands, but not her legs and 
feet. When warmer weather came, it was found that 
the baby's feet and legs had not grown so much as the 
rest of her body. It was a long time before the baby 
could walk without difficulty. 
To keep the muscles strong so that they can do us 
good service we must use them. In other words, we 
must exercise. If you will look at the picture of the 
muscles, on page 34, you will notice that every part of 
the body is covered by them. Every part of the body, 
then, must have exercise that it may be kept strong. 
If we exercise but one part of the body, only that 
part becomes strong. Most persons can lift more with 
their right arm than with the left one. How do you 
explain this ? Has a blacksmith a strong right arm ? 
Why ? People who do not take enough exercise are 
pale and puny. 
Besides those muscles which make the 
fleshy part of the body, and which we are 
able to use at will, there is another kind of 
muscle which is self-acting. 
Sneezing and hiccoughing are caused by this kind 
of muscle, and that is the reason we cannot stop them, 
however hard we try. The self-acting muscles act 
when it is necessary that they should, and not when 
we wish them to. 
All the movements of the body are made by means of 
muscles. The food we eat is moved along from one 
part of the body to another by means of muscles, and 
The self- 
acting mus- 
cles and 
exercise. HEALTH AND EXERCISE 
43 
the blood into which it is finally made is carried to all 
parts of the body by means of muscles. This occurs 
when we are asleep, as well as when we are awake, 
because the muscles which do the work keep right on, 
even when we do not think about them. The work of 
the self-acting muscles is wonderful indeed. We shall 
learn more about them later on. 
Exercise benefits both kinds of muscles. It makes 
the whole body feel fresh, and every part of it tingle 
with new vigor and power. It gives one a good appetite. 
It gives him refreshing sleep. He can study better, 
and he will feel better natured, when he has enough 
of the right kind of exercise. 
One may exercise alike in work and in play. Active 
play and almost all kinds of work which children have 
to do, such as chores about the house and 
garden, are good forms of exercise. Brisk 
walking, jumping, skipping, mountain climbing, are 
good ways in which to take exercise. Swimming is 
splendid exercise. Bicycle riding, when one keeps 
good body poise, and does not overdo it, is healthful 
exercise. The joy of moving rapidly over the ground 
on a wheel often tempts the bicyclist to ride too fast 
or too long. He may thus be injured instead of 
helped. 
Exercise must be taken daily. We need it just as 
we need food and drink, every day. Long walks 
once or twice a week are good, but are not so good as 
regular exercise daily. Why ? Suppose you should 
Howto 
exercise, 44 
HEALTH HABITS 
try to eat in one day all of the food needed for a week. 
What would the result be ? 
We may say there are three kinds of exercise : gentle, 
moderate, and violent. 
Gentle exercise does not make one very tired or out 
This is good exercise for any one. 
of breath. It is best for weak, sickly, or very old 
people. Carriage riding and slow walking are gentle 
exercises. 
Moderate exercise, if kept up long, makes one tired 
but not out of breath. Walking at the rate of three 
or four miles an hour, light gymnastics, and nearly all 
kinds of ordinary work in the house, on the farm, in 
the factory, are examples of moderate exercise. 
Violent exercise puts one out of breath and greatly 
tires him. This kind of exercise should not be over- 
done. Moderate exercise is best as a rule. Hard HEALTH AND EXERCISE 
45 
running, hard rowing, fast bicycle riding, hill climbing, 
most competitive games and athletic exercises are 
generally violent and should not be indulged in to the 
point of utter weariness or exhaustion. 
If one begins at first with something easy, and 
every day does a little 
more, he may after a 
time be able to stand a 
great test. 
There is an old story 
of a Roman who one day 
found a little calf. He 
took it upon his shoulder 
and carried it around the 
ring of a great amphi- 
theater. The next day 
he carried it again, and 
so on every day for 
months. The calf grew 
in size, but his strength 
also grew each day. At 
last he was able to 
shoulder the full-grown 
ox, and carry it as easily 
as he did the little calf. This he could not have done 
without the daily practice. How does the point here 
apply to your own work and play ? 
To make the muscles grow, we must give them a 
chance at times to work as hard as they can. Then 
By lifting a little heavier weight 
EACH DAY, ONE WILL IN TIME BE- 
COME SO THAT HE CAN LIFT A GREAT 
WEIGHT WELL. 46 
HEALTH HABITS 
they will grow stronger and be able to do things yet 
harder. People who use their muscles vigorously in 
work out of doors or in playing out-of-door games 
grow faster and become larger and stronger than those 
who sit or loaf about indoors most of the time. 
Violent exercises, such as running, climbing, jump- 
ing the rope, and rapid bicycle riding, do no harm if 
not continued so long as to make one very much 
out of breath. Such exercises should be very brief, 
and should never be continued more than a few minutes 
at a time without an interval of rest. Moderate 
exercises, such as walking, simple games, swimming, 
and out-of-door work, are the best means of developing 
a strong and vigorous body. 
Certain drinks affect the muscles injuriously. When 
a man takes a drink of beer or whisky, he fancies he is 
stronger than he was before. But when his 
strength is tested, it is found that he cannot 
lift such heavy weights, and cannot do as hard 
work as he could before drinking the liquor. He cannot 
play any accurate game, such as golf or tennis, as well. 
When a man is drunk, his muscles will not work at all, 
and he seems almost like a dead man, unable often to 
speak or to move. Why ? Because these drinks con- 
tain alcohol, which poisons the muscles. 
Smoking cigarettes and chewing tobacco also do 
harm, sooner or later, to the muscles. When a man is 
training for an athletic team, he is not allowed to 
smoke or drink beer, wine, or whisky. A boy found 
Poisoning 
the mus- HEALTH AND EXERCISE 
47 
smoking upon the streets in Switzerland is arrested, 
just as though he had been caught stealing. 
Remember : The body grows best by daily exercise 
in which all the muscles are tested vigorously but not 
so hard or so long as to injure them. With right 
practice, harder exercise may be taken each succeed- 
ing day. 
HEALTH PROBLEMS 
I. Find out as many things as you can that are done by your 
body or within your body which you do not or cannot control by 
trying to do so. Explain how these acts are possible, though you 
do not knowingly perform them. 
2. Mention ten good ways in which boys and girls from nine 
or ten to fifteen or sixteen years of age might take exercise in your 
neighborhood. 
3. Make a record of your work during the day. Show when 
you take exercise. 
REVIEW QUESTIONS 
I. Why is exercise necessary ? 
2. Do all parts of the body need to be exercised ? Why ? 
3. What would happen to a baby's arms or legs if they were 
tied up so they could not be used ? 
4. What is meant by the self-acting muscles ? 
5. Do any of the muscles act while we are asleep ? Mention 
some acts they perform. 
6. What are some good forms of exercise ? 
7. How frequently should exercise be taken ? 
8. What kinds of exercise should be avoided ? 
9. How can one increase his strength so that he can do more 
work every day ? 
10. What things injure the muscles ? CHAPTER VII 
Health and Play 
It is natural and right for people to play. The 
young of creatures all along the line from birds, fishes, 
and animals to mankind play together. With 
animals, play is the means by which they pre- 
pare for life. It is nature's school for them. 
Watch a kitten at play. See it lie in wait, then spring 
to catch the spool rolling along the floor in just the 
manner that the full-grown cat leaps upon its prey. 
Of course you have seen squirrels chase one another 
'round and 'round a tree, playing a game that looks 
like hide and seek. 
If games and sports are not played to excess, they 
are good for every one. Even grown-up people will 
be helped if they spend some time daily in play. 
Active play sets the living machinery, the muscles 
and all the organs, to work. It helps make the body 
healthy and strong. Everybody should play, not all 
of the time, of course, but some every day. He should 
play just for the fun of it. 
One should be reasonable in his play. Do you think 
one should go to excess in his games just for the sake 
Play is a 
health 
habit. 
48 HEALTH AND PLAY 
49 
of winning ? The benefit of play comes not so much 
in winning a contest, as in playing the game for the 
pleasure of playing it. 
With training, the human body can be made to do 
remarkable feats. But it is unwise to attempt great 
"stunts" without special training from some 
one who understands all about the body, and 
knows just how much yours can safely do. Great 
injury is often done by overdoing in sports. 
Boys not infrequently injure themselves by too 
violent exertion when they play. Violent running, if 
long continued, may permanently injure the heart. 
The writer knew a boy who became so sick as a result of 
running until he was completely out of breath, that he 
was confined to bed for several months, and was quite 
ill for nearly two years. Race horses and even wild 
animals, when pressed by hunters to violent running, 
sometimes fall exhausted, and die in a few minutes. 
It does no harm to exercise hard enough to make the 
lungs work vigorously; but when one gets so out of 
breath that he feels through the chest a sense of tight- 
ness and pressure which does not quickly pass, the 
heart and lungs are overtaxed, and injury may be done. 
Some of the games so popular among school children 
do harm when played too hard, because in the excite- 
ment of the sport the players overdo. We said in the 
chapter before this that hard bicycle riding and racing 
are likely to be injurious, as are long and hard running, 
rowing, relay races, and similar sports. 
injurious 
Play- 50 
HEALTH HABITS 
The rule is, play healthfully. When tired, stop. 
If you are perspiring at the close of a game, take care 
not to take cold. A good thing to do is to 
put on another coat, a cloak, or to wrap a 
blanket about you to prevent the air from chilling the 
body. If no extra wrap of any 
sort is to be had, it is best to 
keep moving, walking at a mod- 
erate pace until the sweating 
ceases. Washing the hands and 
face in cold water will help you 
to cool off. The very best thing 
is an all-over bath with cool, not 
cold, water. A brisk rub with a 
wet towel, a spray, a shower, or 
a plunge, followed by a thorough 
drying of the skin with a coarse 
towel, will usually keep you in 
good health. 
Remember that you must use 
care not to get chilled before 
beginning the cool bath, and 
always while drying rub the skin until it looks red. 
Such active sports as can be enjoyed in the open air 
are best. The outdoor air is better to breathe than 
the air indoors. In winter, skating, snow- 
balling, tobogganing, afford boys and girls 
fine sport in the open air. During the warmer season 
hoop rolling, kite flying, and a great variety of games 
Rules for 
Play. 
Sailing boats is fine sport. 
Outdoor 
sports. HEALTH AND PLAY 
51 
with the ball, when not played to excess, furnish good 
sport. One of the best sports is swimming. Every 
person should learn to swim. It is not only fine sport 
and a good way to make the body strong and to help 
keep it in health, but knowing how to swim may some- 
time be of great service to a person in saving his own 
life or the lives of others. Learning to swim, like learn- 
ing to walk, may be a little hard at first, but if we perse- 
vere, we shall soon find that our bodies will glide in the 
water with almost as great ease as we can run on land. 
When running, or otherwise exercising vigorously, 
one easily becomes overheated, especially in hot 
weather; but in swimming the body is cooled by the 
water, and so very vigorous exercise may be continued 
for a considerable time without injury. 
One can swim in various positions, upon the front, 
the back, or the side of the body, and can use a variety 
of arm and leg movements in so doing. Some ways 
are best for speed, others are better when one must 
swim a long distance. Ought one to learn and prac- 
tice as many of these as possible ? Why ? 
There are various forms of swimming. One of the 
best is the so-called breast stroke, in which the swimmer 
lies flat upon his breast in the water. The hands are 
placed together in front and spread out at the side with 
a backward and downward movement. At the same 
time the knees are drawn up and then thrown down- 
ward while the hands are being brought forward in 
position for the next stroke as in the picture. It is 52 
HEALTH HABITS 
easy to learn to swim by the aid of an inflated rubber 
belt or a cork belt which supports the weight of the 
body, thus keeping the head out of the water while the 
proper movements are being learned. 
The first thing, of course, is to learn how to keep 
afloat. You cannot swim without keeping afloat, 
but you can float without swimming. There are 
ways and ways of learning to keep afloat, but the chief 
thing to do is to breathe deep, to have no fear of the 
Movements in swimming. 
water, and to believe that it will hold you up. One 
should never hold the breath when learning to swim. 
It is the air we take in which keeps us afloat. It is 
best to begin in water not more than waist deep. One 
should not venture much beyond his depth until he 
has had considerable practice, and even then it is wise 
to have a good boat at hand in case of need. But do 
not be afraid of the water, and with a teacher you will 
learn to swim readily enough. 
After one has the art of swimming well learned, he 
may turn somersaults in the water, spin around like 
a top, dive, swim under water, march on the water, 
undress in the water, and do many other things to 
add zest to the sport. HEALTH AND PLAY 
53 
There are numerous playground games and sports, 
more than a hundred in all, many of which all boys 
and girls should learn and practice, not merely for 
pleasure, but also for the benefit which the body derives 
from these forms of exercise. 
Interesting gymnasium exercises. 
There are also various gymnasium exercises per- 
formed with swinging rings, bars, and other apparatus, 
which may be learned through practice with 
advantage as a means of developing the mus- 
cles and training them to obey the command 
of the will. 
Many hundred years ago the boys of Greece and 
Gymna- 
sium exer- 
cise. 54 
HEALTH HABITS 
Fine games can be played with a football, or better still a volley ball. Pere is one such game. HEALTH AND PLAY 
55 
Rome played at games in contest. Running, jumping, 
wrestling, boxing, and throwing the discus 
were their common sports. To gain a prize 
meant much practice, much trying the same 
thing over and over. No doubt they often 
tired of it, but even though they might not win the 
prize, they gained in health and vigor of body - really a 
Good mus 
cie is bunt 
by s°od 
Here is another game that can be played with the volley ball. 
gain of greater worth. To make their arms strong 
enough to box they had to practice digging in the soil. 
Their training was particularly strict in regard to food. 
At one time nothing was allowed but bread, fresh 
cheese, and figs. These simple foods had in them 
excellent material for body building, and quite enough 
of it. On such fare those boys became so strong and 56 
HEALTH HABITS 
able that the things they could do, the height to which 
they could vault, the time in which they could make a 
hundred-yard dash quite surpassed what boys can do 
to-day. You see that what the body is made of makes 
a difference in what it can do. 
When one is growing, it is especially important to 
take nothing into 
the body but what 
is useful to it. To 
eat or drink or 
breathe in what is 
in any way harm- 
ful, is plainly un- 
wise. 
Alcoholic drinks, 
opium, tea, coffee, 
and tobacco in 
every form are 
things of this sort. 
There are others 
too. Can you 
think of any? 
They are poisons 
and their use checks 
development, hinders growth, and harms the body in 
many ways. How many such ways can you think of ? 
Probably what does the most harm, because it is most 
commonly used, is the cigarette. The boys of ancient 
Greece and Rome did not use cigarettes; if they had, 
One should play games for health and 
PLEASURE, NOT MERELY TO WIN. HEALTH AND PLAY 
57 
they could not have performed the feats they did in 
their famous games. One cannot do his best at any- 
thing while smoking cigarettes. A boy who smokes is 
like a swimmer who has a stone tied to his neck. 
Nature has planned just the right amount of work 
each organ needs to do to keep the body in health. If 
in addition to its proper task, an organ is obliged to 
work to get rid of useless matter like the poison of 
tobacco smoke or of beer or wine, it is much like making 
a single engine pull two heavy trains. 
A young man who had been a champion tennis 
player began to smoke tobacco. In a short time he 
found that persons whom he once excelled with ease 
could beat him. Tobacco affects the accuracy of the 
eye and hand, and harms the breathing power, so 
that one gets "winded" more quickly. It is a poison, 
a most useless and harmful drug. 
This is why the training rules for those on college 
teams always forbid the use of tobacco for a certain 
time before the contest. 
You can see that by letting tobacco alone one has a 
good deal to gain and nothing to lose. There is really 
no good thing that can be said for it. 
Remember : Plays, games, and sports are good for 
the mind and the body, but when they are carried to 
excess so that they overtax the muscles, heart, and 
other organs, they are bad for both the mind and the 
body. 58 
HEALTH HABITS 
HEALTH PROBLEMS 
1. What games do you like best ? Why ? 
2. Have you ever known any one to play too hard ? If so, 
at what game ? Why did he play to excess ? How could you 
tell that he played too hard ? 
3. When you play hard and for a long time, what do you do 
when you stop ? 
4. Do you ever feel chilly, or have pain a half hour after you 
have been playing hard ? If so, what is the trouble ? How 
could you avoid your discomfort ? 
REVIEW QUESTIONS 
i. Is it natural for the young to play ? Why ? 
2. What good may come from a fait amount of play every day ? 
3. What dangers should be avoided in games and sports ? 
4. What may happen from too hard running ? 
5. When should one stop in a game or sport ? 
6. What should be done if one is heated after a game ? 
7. What are good games for winter ? For summer ? 
8. Why is swimming good exercise ? 
9. What dangers should be avoided in learning to swim ? CHAPTER VIII 
Sound Hearts and Good Blood 
After you have been walking fast or running, if you 
place your hand on the left side of your chest you 
will feel something beating inside. No doubt 
you know this is your heart. It beats all the 
time, although you may not always be able to feel it. 
During your whole lifetime, your heart never stops 
beating. If it should cease its 
work even for a minute, you 
would die. It does not always 
beat at the same rate. When 
you run or jump, the heart 
beats much harder and faster 
than when you are sitting down 
or standing still. It beats most 
slowly when you are lying down. 
Place your hand over your 
heart, and count its beats for 
exactly one minute. Quite likely 
you will find that it beats from 
seventy-five to eighty times. A 
baby's heart works very fast, perhaps beating one 
hundred and forty times a minute. As a person grows 
The heart's 
work. 
The heart. 
59 60 
HEALTH HABITS 
older, the heart beats more slowly; and in adults the 
average is about seventy-two beats a minute. Excite- 
ment makes the heart beat faster; so does fright or 
anger. What other things will make it beat faster 
than usual ? 
Why does one's heart beat on and on so steadily, 
every minute, so long as he lives ? 
We have already learned that the body is all the time 
needing building material either for growth or for 
repairs. To provide this material we eat and drink, 
and breathe in air. 
But our eating and drinking and breathing would do 
us very little good if it were not for the wonderful 
living stream, the blood, which gathers and 
distributes to the body the material which 
builds it up, just when and where the material 
is needed. This vital stream, besides carrying around 
the new building materials, also washes away the old 
and worn-out particles wherever they are found. 
Could any creature exist without blood ? Why ? 
But this wonderful living stream does not flow on 
just like a brook or a river. It flows 'round and 'round, 
or circulates, in the body. It is kept moving like the 
water in the fire hose, - by the action of a force pump. 
The beating heart is this wonderful force pump. At 
each stroke or beat it forces twelve ounces of blood 
into the channels nature has provided for carrying the 
blood through the body. In one day the heart pumps 
blood equal to one hundred and fifty barrels. Of course, 
The blood 
and its 
work- SOUND HEARTS AND GOOD BLOOD 
61 
no one has that much blood in his body. Only about 
one thirteenth of a person's whole weight is blood. 
How much, then, does your blood weigh ? 
Only about of a person's weight is blood. 
In its round of service the blood always starts from 
the heart. The circuit is completed by its return to 
the heart. The circulation is so rapid that a quantity 
of blood equal to all there is in the body passes through 
the heart every half minute. 62 
HEALTH HABITS 
The heart is a hollow muscle shaped like a cone. 
Each person's heart is about the size of his fist. The 
heart of a little babe, then, is quite tiny. A 
man with a big fist usually has a large heart, 
because his body is a large one, and it needs a good deal 
of blood service to keep it in working trim. The heart 
of a whale is as large as a washtub, while that of some 
small creatures can be seen only through a microscope. 
The heart is double ; or rather there are two halves, 
separate, yet bound together, each beating at the same 
time, like two boys walking and 
keeping step. Each part of the 
heart has an upper and a lower 
reservoir. Into the two upper 
reservoirs the blood is all the 
time pouring on its return to the 
heart. From the two lower ones 
it is as constantly being sent forth 
on its course through the body. 
The blood travels about in 
three different kinds of tubes or 
blood vessels. The set that take 
the blood from the heart are called arteries. Those 
which bring it back to the heart are the 
veins. These two sets of tubes run side by side 
through all parts of the body. At the ends 
farthest from the heart they are connected by many 
tiny tubes called capillaries. So numerous and so close 
together are these capillaries that one cannot stick a pin 
What the 
heart is. 
The inside of the heart. 
The circu- 
lation of 
the blood. SOUND HEARTS AND GOOD BLOOD 
63 
The circulation of the blood. The heavy black lines 
SHOW THE ARTERIES. 64 
HEALTH HABITS 
through the skin anywhere without tearing many of 
them, and letting out blood. 
My little neighbor, talking to a schoolmate just 
outside my open window, said, "I used to think blood 
was red fluid, just as ink is a black fluid." "Well, 
isn't it ?" asked the other. "It surely looks red." 
"Oh, that's because we can't see it plainly with our 
eyes," she replied. "The other day I looked at a drop 
of blood through the microscope, and the liquid had no 
more color than water, but there were many little 
round, flat things floating in it. They made me think 
of reddish colored fish, only they looked more like tiny 
red plates, or discs, thinner in the middle than at the 
edge. Part of the time they formed themselves into 
rows with their sides together, and then they looked 
like a roll of pennies floating along. They moved 
around so much I though they were alive." 
The little girl was right. What she saw were red blood 
cells and they were alive. Each one of them leads as 
separate a life as do the fishes that swim in the 
water or the birds that fly in the air. There 
are more than a million of them in a single 
drop of blood. It is their business to take up oxygen, 
which they find in the lungs, and to carry it around the 
body. Each cell can carry a load of oxygen much 
larger than itself. These red cells give the blood its 
color. Yet, it is only when they are laden with oxygen 
that they are really red. When they have given up 
their oxygen and are returning through the veins to the 
The red 
ceils in the 
blood. SOUND HEARTS AND GOOD BLOOD 
65 
heart, they have a dark purplish color. Why this 
change in color ? 
If my little neighbor's eyes had been keen enough, 
she would have seen a few larger white cells, perhaps 
somewhat differ- 
ent in shape. 
They are not so 
easily seen and not nearly 
so numerous as the red 
cells, - only about one 
white to every seven 
hundred red ones. 
The white cells have 
something to do with keep- 
ing up repairs in the body. 
As they speed along with the blood they are on the 
watch, and stop just where they are needed to do any 
kind of repair work. And there is another thing the 
white cells do. When, by any chance, disease germs 
get into the blood, the little white cells capture and 
destroy them. If the white cells are healthy, and if 
there are enough of them, they are always victorious 
in their struggles with germs. Sometimes these brave 
little body defenders have to battle with such a host 
that they are overwhelmed, and then the germs may 
make a person very ill. Whenever the white cells are 
so weakened they cannot overcome the germs, the body 
must fall an easy prey to these dangerous foes of life. 
The health habits about which we are learning 
Thewar_ 
nor white 
cells' 
Blood corpuscles. 
B, red cells seen from the side; D, red 
cells seen on edge; F, G, white blood 
cells. 66 
HEALTH HABITS 
greatly aid in keeping these watchful little body guards, 
the white cells, in condition to protect us from disease. 
The fluid portion of the blood, in which the white 
cells and the red cells move, is made up of the water 
we drink and the food we digest. These are the things 
which nourish the body. The blood has in it, too, 
some special substances which when one is in health 
destroy disease germs. These substances so weaken 
the disease germs that the white cells can quickly over- 
power them. 
When the body is injured, as when the flesh is cut or 
crushed, the blood must repair the injury. An injured 
part is red because it is filled with the blood which has 
come to repair it. 
With all there is for the blood to do we can under- 
stand why it serves us best when it is made out of 
wholesome food, pure water, fresh air, and 
life-giving materials. Poor food makes poor 
blood, which in turn does poor work for the 
body. Not enough of food brings about the 
same result. If the blood is loaded with useless 
materials, with poisons or unhealthful things, good 
work is out of the question. 
If we should take a drop of blood from the finger of a 
person who was getting too little sleep, we should find 
the red blood cells far too few in number. This is one 
reason why loss of sleep makes a person look pale. 
Not very long ago some very interesting experiments 
were made by a physician upon four young men. From 
tance of 
good blood, SOUND HEARTS AND GOOD BLOOD 
67 
the finger of each a drop of blood was drawn and care- 
fully examined. All were found to have good, healthy 
blood. These young men commonly drank only pure 
water ; but on this day they were each given two ounces 
Getting a drop of blood to see in what condition the blood cells are. 
of port wine. Two hours later another blood test was 
made. The result showed that the blood had lost 
nearly half its power to defend the body against the 
germs of disease. Another experiment, using two 
ounces of a patent medicine containing alcohol, with a 
test four hours after taking it, showed that the blood 
was injured to a still greater extent. 68 
HEALTH HABITS 
It has long been observed that persons in the habit of 
using drinks containing alcohol are usually the first 
to take such dread diseases as cholera and yellow fever. 
Another thing has been noticed, that such persons do 
not recover from accidents and surgical operations so 
readily as do persons who drink only water. 
If a drop of alcohol be added to a drop of blood, it 
will almost instantly destroy the blood cells. While 
ordinary alcoholic drinks, such as beer and wine, do not 
destroy the blood cells so quickly, these drinks injure 
the cells, and make 
impossible the 
proper work of the 
blood. The body 
of a person who is 
in the habit of 
using strong drink 
or other narcotics 
is like a city whose 
policemen are all 
asleep on duty. 
The enemy is 
likely to come in 
without resistance. Tobacco, too, unfits the blood for 
doing its very best work. 
The heart is an especially strong muscle. 
It has need to be strong, for though it is small, 
it must do a great amount of work. In twenty-four 
hours it does as much work as would be done by a man 
Examining the action of the heart as shown 
IN THE PULSE. 
Take care 
of the 
heart! SOUND HEARTS AND GOOD BLOOD 
69 
in lifting five hundred stones weighing fifty pounds each. 
Think of it ! and it works at that rate for a lifetime. 
Never for a moment can its work be laid aside. The 
small pause between beats gives it some rest. It rests 
most when we are asleep. Why ? 
Exercise makes the heart send the blood surging to 
every part of the body, nourishing it and washing 
away its waste. This of course is good for the body. 
But care must be taken to avoid injury to the heart 
by too violent exercise. We have read that violent 
exercise, as running so hard or riding a wheel so fast as 
to get very much out of breath, may injure the heart 
by overworking it. 
It is unwise to overtax the heart in any way. Things 
other than exercise may strain it. Doctor Parkes, a 
very learned English physician, took the pains to ob- 
serve well the effects of alcohol upon the heart of a 
soldier. He made tests on days when the soldier used 
no liquor, and again after he had been drinking gin and 
other strong drinks. 'He found that when the soldier 
took a pint of gin a day his heart had to do one fourth 
more work than it ought to do. 
Careful experiments have shown that even a small 
amount of alcohol may make the heart beat four or 
five times more a minute than it otherwise would; 
that is, 6000 or 7000 extra beats in twenty-four hours. 
This is as much work as would be required to raise a 
fifty-pound weight one foot, two hundred and eight 
times. Besides, the heart has to beat so much more 70 
HEALTH HABITS 
rapidly to do this extra work that its rest pauses are 
shorter. Thus it has to do more work even while it has 
less time for rest. 
Is it any wonder that when the use of alcohol gets to 
be a habit with a person, his heart soon begins to 
weaken and wear out ? Alcohol is a heart poison. 
It does not strengthen the heart, as was once sup- 
posed. It weakens it. 
Pulse beat of healthy person. 
Pulse beat of tobacco user. 
Pulse beat of drunkard. 
Notice how weak and irregular is the heart beat of the tobacco 
USER AND THE DRUNKARD. 
You can feel the beat of the heart by placing your 
finger over the large blood vessel on the thumb side of 
your wrist. We call this beating the -pulse. If you could 
feel the pulse of a boy who smokes tobacco for the first 
time, you would find his heart beating very weakly. 
This is because he is poisoned. The tobacco plant is 
one of a family of very poisonous plants. One tenth of 
a grain of the poison (nicotine) is enough to kill a kitten. 
Just a small drop under the skin of a rabbit will 
cause death. SOUND HEARTS AND GOOD BLOOD 
71 
When a person has the habit of smoking any form 
of tobacco in excess, his heart is weakened, and beats 
a good many more times a minute than the proper 
number. It may beat even so rapidly as 112 times a 
minute. Think what a lot of extra work such a heart 
must do. The extra beats are labor lost, and tend to 
wear out the heart. After a while it gets so tired 
that it cannot force all the blood needed to every 
portion of the body. Then the whole body rapidly 
becomes diseased. 
You would think it rather funny to see a rabbit 
smoking. A learned Russian man fixed up an ap- 
paratus by means of which he compelled rabbits to 
breathe the smoke of cigarettes for six or eight hours 
every day. Some of them died within a month, while 
others seemed to get used to it, just as human beings 
do, and did not die at once. But at the end of five 
months it was found that their blood vessels, which in 
health are soft and elastic, had become hard as pipe 
stems. When the arteries harden they become 
shriveled, and many of the small ones are thus closed. 
This is what occurs in very old age. A boy of seventeen 
who died from cigarette smoking had arteries as hard 
as those of a man a hundred years old. Tobacco causes 
the body to become old while it is still young in years. 
Other poisons, among which are opium, morphine, 
caffein, and cocaine, do similar damage to the heart, 
blood vessels, and blood. Do you think it wise to 
avoid the use of all such things ? 72 
HEALTH HABITS 
A sound heart is necessary to a healthy and a long 
life. A person without a strong, vigorous heart is as 
poorly fitted for the voyage of life as a ship 
would be to cross the Atlantic with a disabled 
engine. Any one who knowingly weakens his 
heart is like a captain who purposely disables his 
engines when he knows he has to make a long ocean 
voyage. 
Remember: The heart is to the body as the main- 
spring is to a watch. Every organ depends upon its 
healthy action. Do not overtax it or weaken it by 
alcohol or tobacco. 
Th* main- 
spring of 
the body, 
HEALTH PROBLEMS 
i. Does your heart beat while you are asleep ? How can you 
tell ? 
2. Can you tell whether the stream of blood goes up into your 
head, out into your hands, and down into your feet ? How ? 
3. Put your finger on an artery and then on a vein in your 
wrist. What is the difference, in the way both feel to you, between 
a vein and an artery ? 
4. Why do the blood cells carry oxygen ? Where do they 
get it ? 
5. Have you noticed that when you hurt any part of the body, 
or when any part of it is sore, there is usually a swelling about 
the place ? Explain this. 
6. Why does the heart beat more rapidly after a man takes 
a stimulant than it did before ? 
7. Why does it beat so rapidly w'hen one has a fever ' 
8. Why does the doctor always feel your pulse when he is 
called to visit you because you are sick ? SOUND HEARTS AND GOOD BLOOD 
73 
REVIEW QUESTIONS 
I. On what side of the body can you feel the heart beat ? 
2. How can you make the heart beat hard and fast ? 
3. When does the heart beat slowest ? 
4. How are the materials needed for building and repairing 
the body carried around to different parts ? 
5. How are the worn-out materials removed from the body ? 
6. How much blood does the heart pump in one day ? 
7. What part by weight of one's body is his blood ? 
8. How is the heart constructed ? 
9. Describe the reservoirs in the heart. 
10. What is the use of the capillaries ? the veins ? the arteries ? 
11. What gives the red color to the blood ? 
12. What do the red blood cells do for the body ? the white 
cells ? 
13. How does the blood get the fluid in which the cells are 
carried about ? 
14. How can one best keep his blood good, so that it can do its 
work ? 
15. How does too little sleep affect the blood cells ? 
16. How does alcohol affect the blood cells ? tobacco ? CHAPTER IX 
Outdoor Life 
Most people like to be outdoors. This is natural, 
for we were made to live out-of-doors. Man's first 
home was a garden, and his first occupation 
was outdoor work. Out-of-doors the air is 
fresh, it is cleaner and there is plenty of it. Indoors 
there is only as much air as the house, with all the 
other things it contains, can hold, and so the air is not 
usually fresh nor very clean. 
There is always some dust in the air, but indoor *air 
contains several times as much dust as does that out- 
of-doors. The leaves and grass and plants, because 
they are moist, catch and hold much dust so that it 
cannot fly about. The snow and the rain wash the 
dust to the earth, and so clean the air. The winds, 
too, often help to make the air cleaner. Indoors we 
lack these aids in cleaning the air. And our carpets, 
rugs, curtains, and other household furnishings are so 
dry and fuzzy that dust clings to them. Then, when 
people move about the rooms, some dust is shaken off, 
and goes swirling into the air for us to breathe. 
Not all dust is harmful, but much of it is. And since 
we cannot tell beforehand whether or not it is harmful, 
p re ar 
74 OUTDOOR LIFE 
75 
it is important that we try to breathe the air which we 
know has the least dust in it. Men of science who have 
made a study of this matter have found that house dust 
is especially dangerous to health. It often helps to 
HOW MUCH BETTER IT IS TO STUDY, READ, AND PLAY OUT-OF-DOORS 
THAN IN THE HOUSE ! 
bring on those dreaded diseases, pneumonia and tuber- 
culosis, so often, indeed, that these diseases are called 
house diseases. It has been found that the very best 
way to cure them is to live out-of-doors, - to breathe 
outdoor air all the time. 
If breathing fresh air will often cure such diseases 
as pneumonia and tuberculosis, do you not think that 76 
HEALTH HABITS 
breathing this air would be one of the very best ways 
to keep from getting these diseases ? In the warmer 
seasons, one can play, work, and study out-of-doors. 
He can spend a good deal of time on the porch, or on the 
roof, or on the lawn. If we live in a village or in the 
country, this will be easy to do. But in a city it may 
Even in winter, one ought to be out-of-doors a good deal. 
be more difficult. This is one reason why the country 
is usually better for health and good spirits than the 
city. 
Even in winter we should each day spend an hour 
or two out-of-doors. Brisk and vigorous exercise will 
keep us from minding the cold. The cold, fresh air of 
winter is even better for good health than the warm air 
of summer. Why should this be so ? OUTDOOR LIFE 
77 
Of course one cannot neglect things indoors which 
must be done, but when one makes plans for it, he can 
take much that is commonly done indoors out into the 
open air. 
In some places there are open-air schools. In the 
cold season the pupils are kept comfortable by warm 
Which would be better, to play this game indoors, or to play it 
OUTDOORS ? 
over-garments, caps, and gloves, with their feet and 
legs in what is called a "sitting-out bag." In other 
schools, suits like those worn in the cold North by the 
Eskimo children are used. The children think it great 
fun to have school out-of-doors, and they seem often 78 
HEALTH HABITS 
to learn faster and easier than when they study indoors. 
Why, do you think ? 
If we cannot well go to such a school, there is at least 
a way for us to get a good supply of clean outdoor air, 
- and that is to sleep in the open air at night. 
To breathe fresh air while we are asleep is 
one of the greatest aids to keeping good health. 
Sleeping out-of-doors is a splendid health habit, and 
many people are now doing it in the city as well as in 
the country. These people always say they feel better 
when they sleep out-of-doors than when they have to 
sleep in bedrooms. Can you explain this ? 
Many people have sleeping porches on their houses, 
while others sleep in screened tents in the yard, or on 
the roof. Many who cannot do this use a window 
tent or a fresh-air tube. One can at least sleep with 
windows open, and thus get a good deal of fresh air. 
Any one who has tried it knows it is a joy to sleep in the 
open air in summer. 
It is great fun in winter, too, if one goes about it 
right. For winter the night garments must be light 
in weight, but very warm, and must fit somewhat snug, 
so the cold air cannot get near the body to chill it. 
The cold air is for the lungs only; the rest of the body 
should be warm while we sleep. We cannot depend for 
warmth upon bedclothes laid on in the usual way. It 
would take so many to keep the body warm that their 
weight would tire the sleeper. 
The best way to do is to have a sleeping outfit to put 
Sleeping 
in the 
outdoor air. OUTDOOR LIFE 
79 
on each night, just as we have overcoats, caps, and 
mittens, when we go skating. This may cover the body 
all over, except the nose, if desired. The nose needs to 
be left out, of course, so that one can breathe the cold 
An outdoor sleeping porch; open on three sides. 
air. Most people enjoy leaving the whole face un- 
covered to the cold air. 
First, the bed should be warm. It can be made so by 
placing a jug of hot water upright, so that the covers 
form a sort of tent over it, and leaving it there for an 
hour before bedtime. 
There are electric blankets by which a bed may be 
made warm and kept warm for the outdoor sleeper, or 80 
HEALTH HABITS 
the bed clothing may be warmed indoors, and the bed 
made up when needed. 
Creep into a warm nest, prepared to sleep warm, and 
after a night spent thus in the cold air you will feel as 
The sick and the well, the young and the old should be out-of-doors 
AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE. 
fresh in the morning as you do when you have been out 
coasting, skating, or sleighriding. 
Remember: If we want to live long and keep our 
health good, we must spend much time out-of-doors 
while young, and when older choose for our life work if 
possible one that will keep us much in the open air. OUTDOOR LIFE 
81 
HEALTH PROBLEMS 
I. Is there very much dust floating in the air in your school- 
room ? Mention some way to find out whether there is much 
dust in the air of a room. 
2. Tell how dust can be kept out of the schoolroom, and out 
of rooms in your home. 
3. If you live in the city, tell how you would keep the streets 
from being dusty. If you live in the country, say whether the 
roads are very dusty, and if so, how the dust could be reduced. 
4. Do you know any one who sleeps in a room with the win- 
dows all closed ? If so, does he have good health all the time ? 
Does he have colds and coughs ? 
5. Ask some one you know who sleeps out-of-doors to tell you 
what he thinks of it, and give a report to the class. 
REVIEW QUESTIONS 
I. Is it natural for people to like to be out-of-doors ? Why ? 
2. Is the air better out-of-doors than indoors ? Why ? 
3. Why is there likely to be more dust in the air indoors than 
outdoors ? 
4. Is dust liable to harm good health ? Why ? 
5. What are the house diseases ? What may cause them ? 
6. How much time ought one to spend out-of-doors ? 
7. What could one gain by sleeping out in the open air ? 
8. If one sleeps out-of-doors in winter, how may he keep his 
body warm in the coldest weather ? CHAPTER X 
Fresh Air Indoors 
A person may go without eating for a month, or 
without drinking for several days, and still live ; but if 
a strong man were deprived of air, he would die in a few 
minutes. We have seen that the best air is outdoor 
air. What time we must be indoors we should try 
in some way to get enough pure out-of-door air to 
breathe. 
There are several ways in which air is made impure. 
We have seen that dust makes air unhealthful. 
Anything that rots or decays soon gives forth 
a bad odor. Some people have rotting pota- 
toes and other vegetables in their cellars, and 
swill barrels and garbage heaps at their back doors. 
All these spoil the air. Bad odors in the air from 
decaying stuffs are signs of danger, and we should see 
to it that rotting things, whatever they may be, are 
taken away from the house or yard as soon as possible. 
The chief reason why both dust and bad odors 
are harmful is that they generally carry with them little 
living things called microbes or germs. These are so 
small that they cannot be seen by the naked eye. It 
How air 
becomes 
impure. 
82 FRESH AIR INDOORS 
83 
takes a strong microscope to make them out. There are 
a good many kinds of them, and some of them are so 
powerful to do us harm that if we receive them into our 
bodies they are likely to make us ill, and they are often 
the cause of death. 
Another way in which the inside air is made impure 
is through a change which comes to it from the breath- 
The candle burns 
BRIGHTLY. 
It is dying down. 
It is gone. Why? 
ing of people and animals, and the burning of lamps and 
fires in the house. 
We can easily prove this fact by a simple experiment. 
For this we shall need a fruit jar, a candle, and a piece 
of wire about a foot long. The candle is fastened to the 
end of the wire and let down into the bottom of the jar. 
Now we will place the cover on the jar and see what 
happens. You notice that the candle soon begins to 
burn dimly, and before long it goes out altogether. 
Why will the candle not burn in the closed jar ? 84 
HEALTH HABITS 
Try the experiment again, and when the candle light 
begins to get dim, bring it out at once into the air. 
What do you find ? Explain the facts which your 
experiment shows you. 
What is the result when the stove draught is shut 
tight ? The fire soon burns low ; and if the draught is 
left closed, the fire will go out. The wood or coal in 
the stove needs air to keep it burning, just as the candle 
needs air. Why will fire not burn without air ? Why 
do animals need air to keep them alive ? 
If instead of a candle we should shut up a mouse in the 
fruit jar, it would live only a little while. Its life would 
go out, just as the light of the candle went out, for lack 
of air. A child shut up in an air-tight box or small 
space would soon die from the same cause. 
Something besides heat comes from the burning of 
wood or coal. The smoke escapes through the chimney, 
and the ashes remain in the stove ; these are the waste 
parts of the fuel. 
A kind of burning or combustion, as it is called, is 
all the time going on in our bodies. This burning pro- 
duces something quite like the smoke and ashes made 
by the fire in the stove. What is like the smoke is a 
gas called carbon dioxide, which escapes from our body 
into the air about us every time we breathe. In this 
gas is a kind of poison that spoils the air of the room, 
and makes it smell musty. 
We cannot see this gas, but we can make an experi- 
ment which will show us that it really does pass out of FRESH AIR INDOORS 
85 
the body. Get a drinking glass, and a glass tube or a 
good stout straw. Into the glass put limewater, such 
as you use for your teeth. Breathe two or three times 
through the tube or the straw into the limewater. 
You will notice that it begins to look milky. Soon it is 
YOU SEE WHAT CHANGE TAKES PLACE IN LIMEWATER WHEN YOU SEND YOUR 
BREATH THROUGH IT. EXPLAIN. 
almost as white as milk. This is because the limewater 
catches and holds the carbon dioxide which we breathe 
into it. 
Every time we draw in a breath of pure fresh air, 
the body keeps and uses some of the oxygen, and in its 
stead breathes out carbon dioxide. So each time we 86 
HEALTH HABITS 
breathe out we make the air around us impure by the 
breath we expel. If we are out-of-doors, fresh air is so 
plentiful that the foul air from the lungs is carried 
away. But if we have only a room full of air on hand, 
we shall soon be breathing poisoned air unless we have 
some means of getting a supply of fresh air all the time. 
We spoil at least half a barrelful of air at each breath. 
Count howmany times you breathe in a minute, and then 
reckon up how many barrelfuls of air you need. You 
breathe twenty times in a minute, and so you 
spoil ten barrelfuls of air each minute. Now 
see how many barrelfuls this would make in 
one hour. We need pure air to take the place 
of the spoiled air, ten barrels of fresh air every minute, 
or six hundred barrels every hour. To get the fresh air 
we need, the air about us must be in motion all the time. 
If one were in a closed room into which no fresh air 
could get, and the air were dead, as we say, it would 
become so impure that the person in the room would be 
poisoned to death. Many years ago when the British 
people were having war with India, one hundred and 
forty-six English soldiers were taken prisoners. Their 
captors thrust them into a room twenty feet square. 
It had two very small windows, but the amount of air 
that could trickle in through these did not begin to be 
enough for so many soldiers. In a very short time the 
oxygen had been used from the air, and the soldiers 
began to suffer great torture. By morning only 
twenty-three of the whole number were alive. This 
We spoil 
ten barrel- 
fuis of air a FRESH AIR INDOORS 
87 
room in which so many died for want of air is known 
in history as " the black hole of Calcutta." 
You might think that with so many people and ani- 
mals breathing out this poisonous gas into the air, the 
supply of air would all be used up after a time. Nature 
has provided a wonderful arrangement to prevent this. 
By means of the trees and plants, the carbon dioxide is 
taken out of the air so that it is purified, and is made 
ready for us to breathe again. The gas which is harm- 
ful to us is a most necessary food for the plants. They 
take it through their leaves, much as we do through 
our lungs. They keep the carbon dioxide that we 
breathe out, and send the oxygen back into the air for 
our use. 
The only way to obtain the fresh air needed when we 
live indoors, is to have some means provided by which 
the outdoor air may be brought in to us, and 
the air which has been used and has become 
impure within may be carried out. Changing 
the air in this way is called ventilation. Every house, 
schoolhouse, church, store, or other building where 
people work or play or live ought to be well ventilated. 
Many people ventilate their houses by leaving the doors 
and windows open. This serves well in warm weather. 
In cold weather it is not a very good way, as it causes 
drafts and makes the floor so cold that it is hard to 
keep the feet warm. It is much better to have the air 
brought fresh from the outdoors, then warmed by a 
heater before it enters the rooms. 
changing 
the stale 
311 indoors- 88 
HEALTH HABITS 
Air does not move of its own accord. There must 
be a wind, or something like a wind to force it in and out 
of rooms. To ventilate a room there must be both an 
inlet, a way for fresh air to get in, and an outlet, a route 
for the foul air to get out. 
Try this experiment: Take a tall glass jar. Attach 
a small piece of candle to the end of a long wire, as 
shown in the picture. Light the candle, and lower 
it into the jar. At first 
it burns brightly. By 
and by it grows dim and 
finally goes out, leaving 
just smoke. This hap- 
pens, as we have learned, 
because the carbon diox- 
ide which is made by the 
burningof the candle, and 
which is heavier than the 
air, settles in the bottom 
of the jar, and puts out 
the flame. Let us put in 
the jar a piece of paste- 
board, notched at the 
bottom, thus dividing it 
into halves. Light the 
candle and try again. Now the flame keeps bright and 
the candle continues to burn, because we have provided 
an inlet for fresh air and an outlet for foul air on the 
other side. 
Try this experiment. FRESH AIR INDOORS 
89 
Don t you see that people shut up in a room without 
ventilation will be poisoned in time just as you saw the 
candle was ? Their lives do not go out so quickly, but 
by degrees they will get sick and die, if they continue 
to live in unventilated rooms. 
If there is no way of ventilating a room except by 
windows, two openings of some sort must be provided. 
The upper sash may be 
lowered two inches for the 
spoiled air to get out, then 
the space between the upper 
and lower sashes where they 
overlap gives a chance for 
the fresh air to come in ; or 
we may have two windows 
on opposite sides of the 
room, each open a little way, 
one for the fresh air to come 
in, the other for the foul air 
to get out. 
How far they should be 
open must depend upon how 
many people there are in the 
room; also how many pet 
animals there are, whether 
there are gas jets or lamps 
burning, how large the room is, and how much furniture 
it has in it. When a strong wind is blowing, and in very 
cold weather, small openings may be sufficient, while 
If you ventilate through a win- 
dow, YOU MUST PUSH BACK THE 
CURTAINS SO THEY WILL NOT STOP 
THE AIR AS IT COMES IN OR LEAVES 
THE ROOM. 90 
HEALTH HABITS 
large ones are needed when the air is quiet. Each gas 
jet or lamp spoils as much air as a person. 
There are several ways by which houses are venti- 
lated, but the plan is the same for all, viz., an inlet for 
Is THIS BOY LAZY, OR IS HE POISONED BY BAD AIR ? 
fresh air, and an outlet for foul air, with something to 
make a draft so the air will move. If the air enters 
directly from out-of-doors, the outlet must be near the 
top of the room, because the warm air rises, and the air 
already in the room is warm air that has become foul. FRESH AIR INDOORS 
91 
If the air is warmed by a furnace, or some similar 
means, before it enters the rooms, the outlet should be 
placed at the floor, because when the pure air enters the 
room warm, it first rises to the upper part of the room, 
and then as it cools, and at the same time becomes im- 
pure, it settles to the floor, where it should be taken 
out. 
Air that has become foul through use has a musty 
odor, and when we first come in from outdoors we can 
smell it. After one has been in a badly ventilated 
room for a time, the nose gets used to the odor, and so 
he does not notice the bad air. It is a good thing to 
"follow our noses" when we detect the close, musty 
smell. If we mind this danger smell, and seek some way 
to change the air, we save ourselves much ill feeling and 
harm. When the air in a room gets musty, the people 
in it are likely to feel stupid or sick, or to get headaches. 
Remember: You cannot work or study well in bad 
air, and you cannot keep your good health unless you 
have a supply of fresh, unspoiled air all the time. 
Air that is not in motion - dead air - is especially 
harmful. 
HEALTH PROBLEMS 
I. If you live in the city, do you have a garbage man remove 
your garbage frequently ? Does the city require the removal 
of the garbage ? Why ? 
2. What is usually done with the garbage in a small village ? 
3. What arrangements should be made for garbage removal ? 
4. What decaying things about country homes spoil the air ? 
How can this evil be remedied ? 92 
HEALTH HABITS 
5. Name some disease that is caused by the microbes or germs 
carried about in dust or bad odors. 
6. What places in cities have many bad odors ? Are they 
places in which people have good health ? 
7. Why do you think we are so made that we dislike dust and 
bad smells ? 
8. How is your schoolroom ventilated ? How much air comes 
in every minute ? How can you find this out ? 
9. How is the used air taken out of your schoolroom ? 
10. How much fresh air is needed in your schoolroom every 
minute ? 
11. How are the living room and the dining room in your 
home ventilated ? 
REVIEW QUESTIONS 
i. If we must stay indoors a good deal, what should we try to 
do about the air we breathe ? 
2. In what ways may air be spoiled for our use ? 
3. What is the chief reason why dust and bad odors are harm- 
ful to health ? 
4. What happens to the air which is breathed in by people 
around us ? 
5. What is meant by the combustion that goes on in our bodies 
all the time ? 
6. What is meant by carbon dioxide thrown out from the lungs 
in breathing ? 
7. How could you show that carbon dioxide is in the air we 
breathe out ? 
8. How can we keep a supply of fresh air if we live much 
indoors ? 
9. What is meant by ventilating a house ? 
10. What is the proper way to have good ventilation in a 
house ? 
11. Can you tell spoiled air by the sense of smell ? CHAPTER XI 
Health Habits in Breathing 
Everything that lives must breathe. Plants breathe 
by means of their leaves, fishes by means of their gills, 
while earthworms breathe through their skins. But 
man has special organs designed solely for breathing. 
Why must every living thing breathe ? 
One day last spring Bertha was walking with her 
father along a stream, where she could hear the croak- 
ing of the frogs. " Watch," said her father, 
as a big one came to the top of the water, "and 
see how he drinks air. He swallows in a mouthful at 
a time, just as you drink water. That is the frog's 
way of breathing. If we could see the inside of his 
body, we should find there a queer-shaped bag with a 
tube running up to his throat. This is the frog's air 
bag, and when he comes to the surface he swallows 
enough air to fill it. Then he can dive down into the 
water or mud again, and stay under until his 
supply of air is used up." 
Every person has two air bags in his body. 
They are called lungs. Our lungs need to be emptied 
so often, however, that we could not live very long 
under water. 
Means of 
breathing. 
Our air 
bags, the 
lungs. 
93 94 
HEALTH HABITS 
If you look on page 97, you will see that the ribs 
and backbone together form a case about a space 
within the body. This case is for the protection of the 
delicate organs which belong inside. The space within 
is divided into two parts or cavities by a very strong 
muscle, called the diaphragm. The upper cavity is the 
chest, the lower is the 
abdomen. The lungs lie 
within the chest cavity. 
They appear somewhat 
like a sponge, being mas- 
ses of tiny sacs filled 
with air. 
Air enters the body 
through the nostrils 
(openings of the nose) 
and passesyto the lungs 
through a tube called 
the windpipe, which begins at the back part or root of 
the tongue. The windpipe divides like a tree into two 
main branches, then into a great many smaller ones, 
some not larger than a sewing needle, each of which 
conveys a portion of the air to one of the little sacs that 
make up the lungs. 
One can receive air into the body through the 
mouth, but it is not the right way nor the 
safe way. When air is breathed through the 
nose, it has to pass down behind the mouth 
through a moist, narrow canal. Here it becomes both 
The lungs. 
The right 
way to 
reathe. HEALTH HABITS IN BREATHING 
95 
damp and warm before passing on to the lungs. In 
the openings of the nose grow some stiff hairs that strain 
out much of the dust in the air we breathe. Finer dust 
and germs are caught and held by the moisture in the 
nose, as you 
can prove by 
blowing the 
nose after an 
hour's work in 
a dusty place. 
But when air 
is breathed 
through the 
mouth, it may 
reach the air 
passages and 
lungs cold, dry, 
and filled with 
dust; it may 
thus do much 
harm. 
When going 
from a warm 
room into cold air, should one be careful to breathe 
through the nose ? Why ? 
The reason why some children breathe through the 
mouth is because of. growths which occur in the nose, 
which either close up the passages for air, or make them 
so narrow that sufficient air cannot pass through. 
Voice-box 
Windpipe 
Air tubes and air cells. 96 
HEALTH HABITS 
This trouble is a very common one. Unless an exami- 
nation is made by a physician, one may go on for a long 
time before it is discovered. Quite recently it was 
found that in four hundred and fifteen New York State 
towns, one eighth of the children were "mouth breath- 
ers." The number in other places is no doubt as great. 
Some people who know it is harmful to make a prac- 
tice of breathing through the mouth keep the jaws 
closed and breathe through the nose during the day- 
time, but at night when asleep they drop the jaw open 
and unconsciously breathe through the mouth. In 
the morning when they awaken, the mouth is dry, the 
breath has a bad odor, and the voice is often hoarse. 
Such persons are likely to suffer from headache and a 
"dull" feeling in the head. 
If one keeps on breathing this way, the shape of his 
mouth and nose will be changed, and the expression of 
his face may be spoiled. 
If you have constant difficulty in breathing through 
your nose, you should ask your parents to take you to 
a physician to find the cause, and to have your trouble 
remedied. 
We require so much air all the time, and we need to 
have it changed so often in the lungs, that nature has 
made our breathing apparatus so that it works a good 
deal like a pair of bellows. But there is this difference : 
in the bellows the air enters by one opening and goes 
out through another, while the air enters and leaves the 
lungs by the same route. HEALTH HABITS IN BREATHING 
97 
The bellows action of the lungs is made possible by 
the ribs and diaphragm. The ribs are elastic, and the 
Position of the ribs when one 
BREATHES OUT. 
Position of the ribs when one 
BREATHES DEEPLY. 
space between each two is filled with muscle. One kind 
of muscle draws the ribs apart, and another draws 98 
HEALTH HABITS 
them together again. The diaphragm, which is fas- 
tened along the lower border of the ribs, is shaped like 
a dome rising into the chest cavity. When 
we start to take a deep breath, the muscles 
pull the ribs apart and at the same time the 
diaphragm flattens itself down. This causes the cavity 
of the chest to enlarge, and then air rushes in through 
the nose or mouth to fill up the space. When the 
muscles cease pulling, the ribs and diaphragm return to 
their former position, thus making the cavity of the 
chest small again, and forcing the air out through the 
nose or mouth. 
This process is repeated every time one breathes. 
In health we breathe eighteen or twenty times a minute. 
Children breathe faster than adults. Why, do you 
think ? We breathe faster when we run than when we 
walk. Why ? 
If very tight clothing is worn about the chest, the 
ribs cannot stretch apart as far as they should in 
breathing. The action of the diaphragm is also inter- 
fered with. And so not as much air can be taken into 
the lungs as should be. Cutting off the air supply in 
this way may result in harm to the body. So you see 
one should always wear his clothing loose enough to 
expand the chest fully with each breath. Why ? 
People who wear tight corsets or bands about their 
waists often deprive themselves in this manner of much 
of the air which they need. They are likely to get out 
of breath very quickly. 
The lungs 
work like a 
bellows. HEALTH HABITS IN BREATHING 
99 
About two thirds of 
a pint of air is taken 
in by a grown person, 
and the same quan- 
tity forced out, each 
time he breathes. 
The lungs are large 
enough, however, to 
hold almost a gallon 
and a half of air. 
Nature has provided 
us with much more 
lung room than we or- 
dinarily use in breath- 
ing, so that when we 
need to breathe much 
faster and fuller, as 
when we are climbing 
hills, running fast, 
playing ball, or other- 
wise exercising hard, 
we may have in stock 
enough air for the oc- 
casion. 
If any one wants to 
have strong lungs, he 
must exercise them. 
The best way to do 
this is to take full, 
Breathing exercise. 100 
HEALTH HABITS 
How TO SECURE ARTIFICIAL BREATHING. HEALTH HABITS IN BREATHING 
101 
deep breaths all the time when at work or at play. We 
should get into the habit of keeping in a good poise, 
because a bent and cramped position will prevent 
proper breathing. It is a good plan now and then 
to stop what we may be doing, and take the following 
exercise: Place the hands on the hips as the boy on 
page 99 is doing. Then bend the head back- 
ward, lift the chest as high as possible, and 
take in long, deep breaths of air, then force 
the air out slowly while bringing the head up 
again. If you feel cold at any time, several deep 
breaths in this way will help to warm you. 
Sometimes, when people are long under water, or are 
struck by lightning, they may temporarily cease to 
breathe. If they are still alive, they may some- 
times be made to breathe again by means of artificial 
respiration. This is one way it may be done : 
Turn the person face downward upon the 
ground or floor. Place a hard roll of some- 
thing- a large folded coat will do - under his chest as 
shown in the picture. Then standing astride of him 
with your face toward his head, place your hands one 
on either side over his lowest ribs. Bend your body 
slowly forward, then backward, pressing upon his ribs, 
and slightly lift him as you do so. Make the move- 
ment a dozen times a minute. This should be con- 
tinued until he breathes, which may sometimes require 
a half hour's work. 
Here is a simple method of employing artificial respi- 
Exercise 
makes 
strong 
lungs. 
First 
artificial 
breathing- 102 
HEALTH HABITS 
ration, which should be practiced until well understood : 
Have a person lie down upon a bench or a raised plat- 
form, with the face upward, and the head hanging over 
How TO SECURE ARTIFICIAL BREATHING. 
one end. The operator, standing above the person's 
head, should take hold of both arms below the elbows, 
and draw them steadily upward above the head, retain- HEALTH HABITS IN BREATHING 
103 
ing them in position two or three seconds ; then allow 
them to go back to position, and press the elbows 
firmly against the sides of the chest. Drawing the 
arms upward will cause the air to rush into the lungs, 
and returning them to position and pressing against 
the chest forces the air out of the lungs. By repeating 
this simple opera- 
tion twelve to 
sixteen times a 
minute, actual 
breathing may be 
very perfectly im- 
itated. 
Another very 
simple method of 
artificial respira- 
tion is this : Place 
the unconscious person upon the back. Kneeling be- 
side him, place one hand beneath the shoulder on the 
same side, the other hand just under the back lower 
down. Roll the patient over toward the opposite side 
until he is turned a little more than half way upon the 
face. Press upon the shoulder and side of the chest in 
such a way as to compress it. Then roll the body back 
to the first position. It is a good plan to place a sup- 
port of some sort between the shoulders. The patient's 
coat may be rolled up for this purpose. 
Best of all is a pulmotor or lung motor by which the 
lungs may be filled and emptied with regularity as in 
The pulmotor. 104 
HEALTH HABITS 
life. Many lives have been saved by the prompt use 
of these means. 
Remember : Any one who wishes to have good health 
must get in the habit of breathing through the nose 
always ; he must wear his clothing so loose that he can 
fill his lungs full of air at every breath, and he must get 
into the habit of breathing deep and full, no matter 
what he is doing. 
HEALTH PROBLEMS 
1. Show the class how it is that the lungs work somewhat like a 
sponge. 
2. Describe the movements of the ribs and chest when one 
breathes. 
3. Do you know any people who have the habit of breathing 
through the mouth ? Why do they do so ? 
4. How can any one form the habit of breathing through the 
nose, during sleep as well as during waking hours ? 
5. Try this experiment: Tie a scarf or rope tightly about 
the chest. Then see if you can run as fast or as far as you can 
ordinarily. Explain. 
6. Walking at ordinary speed, count the number of steps you 
take, while you draw as deep a breath as possible. Compare 
what you can do with what other members of the class can do. 
REVIEW QUESTIONS 
I. By means of what organs do human beings breathe ? 
2. Where is the chest? 
3. How is the chest cavity formed ? 
4. Why are the lungs said to be like a sponge in their action ? 
5. How does air enter the body ? HEALTH HABITS IN BREATHING 
105 
6. Why should one avoid the habit of breathing through the 
mouth ? 
7. What will happen to the shape of the mouth an^ chest 
if one breathes all the time through the mouth ? 
8. Why are the lungs said to work like a pair of bellows ? 
9. Why should one not wear tight clothing about the chest 
or over the diaphragm ? 
10. How much air is taken in at every breath ? How much 
can the lungs hold when they are taxed to their limit ? 
11. What is the best way to exercise the lungs ? CHAPTER XII 
Health Habits in Sleeping 
You know that sleep is necessary for good health. 
Children and grown people who fail to get enough sound 
sleep soon feel ill-humored and sick. 
While awake, we are active most of the time. All 
parts of the body are busy at work. Of course, this 
results in much wear and loss which has to be 
made up somehow. Whether we are awake 
or asleep, the body is all the time repairing 
itself; but while we are active, so much body material 
is worn out that the mending gets far behind. So 
there must be regular times when the body is quiet and 
in repose with all its machinery running at very low speed, 
if it is to catch up with its work of repair. 
In the springtime when the sweet peas are beginning 
to grow in the flower garden, if you will measure a plant 
early in the morning, and again at dusk, and then again 
the next morning, you will find that the plant grew a 
good deal more during the nighttime than it did during 
the daylight. This is true of other plants. During 
the daytime the plant is busy storing up food from 
various sources. During the night it uses this material 
to increase its growth. 
in sleep, 
the body is 
repaire . 
106 HEALTH HABITS IN SLEEPING 
107 
This is so with animals. Children grow during 
sleep more than they do when awake. Sleep is thus 
the best time for both growth and repair of the body. 
Healthy sleep is sound and dreamless. After a 
night of such sleep, one awakes feeling fresh, rested, and 
brim full of good spirits. He is ready then to take 
hold of any task. Even the things that looked hard 
the night before seem easier after a good night's rest. 
Give instances in your own life to illustrate this. 
The best time for sleep is during the darkness of the 
night. You have heard it said, perhaps, that sleep 
gained in the early hours before midnight refreshes one 
more than sleep after midnight. Why should this be 
so ? 
The old maxim "early to bed and early to rise" 
indicates an important health habit. Going to bed 
late and getting up late is by no means so 
good a habit. Every one must have a certain 
amount of sleep. The sleep we need depends 
upon our age and health. The younger one is, the 
more sleep he requires. Persons in ill health need more 
sleep than those who are well. The following program 
for people of different ages is a good one :- 
From four to seven years of age, twelve hours of 
sleep at night. 
From seven to nine years, eleven hours of sleep. 
From nine to twelve years, ten hours. 
From twelve to sixteen years, at least nine hours. 
How much 
sleep do we 
we need? 108 
HEALTH HABITS 
Most grown people require from seven to eight hours 
of sleep. 
To go to bed at a regular time each night is a most 
important health habit. If one gets into the custom 
of going to bed one night at one hour and 
another night at another hour, he will soon 
find it difficult to drop off to sleep at once. 
If one keeps up such an irregular plan, he is likely to 
lose much needed sleep, and illness may result. One 
cannot keep in health without his full requirement of 
sleep. What is the number of hours which you need 
to sleep to feel and keep well ? At what hour ought 
you to go to bed to get your full sleep and arise in 
season to be ready on time for school ? 
In the morning, when sleep is ended, we should arise 
promptly. To lie in bed and doze, half asleep, is a bad 
habit in which we ought not to indulge. 
Most people sleep soundly when they are somewhat 
tired. Why is this ? A very wise man once said: 
"The sleep of the laboring man is sweet." Have you 
observed that those who are active during the day sleep 
better at night than those who lounge about, and spend 
the daytime in idleness ? Why should work and 
exercise lead to sound sleep ? It is not best, however, 
to play very hard or to engage in exciting games just 
at bedtime, as this is likely to arouse one so that it 
will not be easy to get to sleep. The same is true of 
reading or listening to exciting tales near bedtime. 
Perhaps you have noticed that people who eat hearty 
Regular 
habits in 
sleeP- HEALTH HABITS IN SLEEPING 
109 
suppers late at night are likely to sleep poorly, and 
to have bad dreams. Those who use tea, coffee, or 
cocoa at supper are liable to wakefulness at night, for 
these drinks arouse one, or make him sleepless. Many 
people are wakeful if they drink coffee, tea, or cocoa 
any time during the day. 
If you cannot sleep in the open air, be sure to let the fresh air into 
YOUR SLEEPING ROOM. 
One sleeps best when breathing pure, fresh air. 
To sleep in the open air is most restful. If one cannot 
sleep out-of-doors, he at least should get plenty of out- 
door air into his sleeping room at all seasons. 
About one third of our whole life is spent in 
sleep. Not to have good air to breathe during so much 
of life may shorten it considerably. Besides, for the 
body to do its work of repair during sleep in a perfect 
manner, it needs the help of pure air. If one sleeps in 
„ , . 
Fresh air. 110 
HEALTH HABITS 
a close, warm room, the body will be unable to obtain 
this help, and so its work cannot be well done, and one 
may awake in the morning feeling dull, tired, and 
cross, and perhaps with a headache. You will remem- 
ber that in a previous chapter 
we saw how one can get an 
abundance of fresh air at 
night. You should try this 
plan if it is possible. 
To secure ease during sleep, 
it is the practice in this 
country to lie upon a bed of 
some kind. Many people 
think a soft bed is 
best, while others say 
a hard bed makes one sleep 
better. The custom in many 
lands is to sleep upon a rug 
placed on the ground or on 
the floor. 
The bed of the little Chinese 
boy or girl is often made of 
two narrow benches, across 
which are placed about seven 
boards covered with a piece of matting. That is all. 
Two hard queer-looking things, which you might think 
were stools but would never guess were pillows, lie on 
the bed. 
Many children in Mexico sleep in quite a similar 
Types of 
beds. 
Ready for a sound sleep in the 
COLD AIR. HEALTH HABITS IN SLEEPING 
111 
bed. They use a blanket to cover the boards. A little 
Mexican girl who was staying at the home of an 
American lady was so used to a hard bed that when 
the lady put her on a soft couch for the night she could 
not sleep at all; she was able to do so only by getting 
off the bed, and lying on the hard tile floor. 
What will happen to this girl if she continues to lie in this position? 
Many people think a pillow is not needed. If one 
be used, it should be firm and not large ; just high 
enough to bring the head on a level with the 
body. It should never be high enough to 
elevate the shoulders. The real use of a 
pillow is to support the head. The Japanese maiden 
who sleeps on a notched block of wood with a tiny 
The ques- 
tion of the 
pillow. 112 
HEALTH HABITS 
cushion placed under the neck has a better support than 
the big, fluffy cushions we use for pillows. The use of 
pillows while sleeping is a common cause of round 
shoulders. You will remember that while young the 
bones easily become crooked. To lie every night with 
Do YOU APPROVE OF THIS POSITION ? Why ? 
the head too high cramps the chest, and after a little 
changes the shape of the shoulders. » 
The most restful and healthful way to lie for sleep 
is with the body stretched out at full length, 
so the spine is straight. 
The body must always be comfortably warm while 
asleep. One cannot sleep well if cold. Even if the 
feet on going to bed are cold, this will keep one awake. 
For health- 
ful sleep. HEALTH HABITS IN SLEEPING 
113 
If at bedtime one's feet are cold, he should warm them 
well. A good way is to put the feet in hot water for 
five minutes, then dash a dipperful of cold water over 
them, and wipe them dry by rubbing them hard with 
a rough towel. 
The best thing to cover oneself with while asleep is 
soft, fleecy blankets, warm, but of light weight. All 
bed clothing, like all body clothing, should be porous; 
that is, it should allow air to pass through it. 
While we sleep, as when we are awake, waste and per- 
spiration are being thrown off by the skin. If the air 
cannot get through to cleanse them, the bed clothing 
will soon be filled with this waste. Under such cover- 
ings, sleep is likely to be restless. 
Big fluffy pillows. 114 
HEALTH HABITS 
Comforts and quilts filled with cotton make warm 
coverings, but they are not so healthful as blankets. 
Can you think why ? 
Clean beds are necessary for health. My neighbor 
Janie has been told this so often that she has formed 
an excellent health habit. Every morning when she is 
A CLEAN, CHEERY, AIRY SLEEPING ROOM. 
dressed she places two chairs at the foot of her bed. 
Then she takes off the covers one by one and throws 
them loosely over the chairs. She begins with the top 
one, and always takes pains that none of them rest on 
the floor to get soiled. Then she places the pillows 
on another chair. This done, she opens wide her 
windows, shuts the door, and leaves the bedding for HEALTH HABITS IN SLEEPING 
115 
the fresh air to cleanse while she goes to breakfast. 
Each week, on the day when the bed linen is changed, 
she carries her blankets out-of-doors and hangs them on 
the clothes line in the bright sunlight for a few hours 
to make them fresh and sweet. I need hardly tell you 
that Janie sleeps more soundly because of the good care 
she gives to her bed. 
HEALTH PROBLEMS 
1. Measure exactly your height just before you go to bed any 
night. Then measure it again in the morning just after arising. 
Do you find the heights are the same ? 
2. Why should one feel rested after a night of sound sleep ? 
What has taken place in the body during sleep ? 
>3. Do you ever lie awake in your bed at night wishing you 
oould get to sleep ? If you do, think over what you did for several 
hours before bedtime, and see if you can find the cause of your 
sleeplessness. Did you drink tea, coffee, or cocoa? 
Tsf. Why do people who live in the city like to go out in the 
country, and sleep in a tent or under the open sky ? 
Can one sleep as soundly when lying on the back as, when 
lying on the right side ? 
6. Can one sleep soundly with knees drawn up toward the 
chest, and with one hand under the head ? 
REVIEW QUESTIONS 
I. Why is sound sleep necessary for good health ? 
2. When does the repair of the body go on most actively ? 
3. When is the best time for sleep ? 
4. How much sleep should people have at various ages ? 
5. Does a person need more sleep when he is ill than when he 
is well ? Why ? 116 
HEALTH HABITS 
6. Should one go to bed at regular hours every night ? Why ? 
7. What habits may make one sleepless ? 
8. Should one have fresh air while sleeping ? Why ? 
9. How should one lie while sleeping ? 
10. How should one's bed be arranged for the most healthful 
sleep ? 
11. How should the bed be cared for in the morning ? CHAPTER XIII 
Health Habits in Eating 
Wood, glass, steel, and other materials are needed 
to build a house or a ship. So certain materials are 
needed with which to build our bodies. This 
building material we obtain chiefly from our 
food. Our bodies are made up of what we eat. If one 
eats poor food, he will not grow properly, and he may 
become ill, or feel half sick all the time. Wrong habits 
of eating are the cause of more sickness than any other 
one thing. To keep well, and to accomplish the most, 
we must choose good foods and eat them properly. 
Our bodies are in some respects like machines. 
For one thing, they are always wearing out, and needing 
to be repaired. So material is required for 
repairs in the body, as well as for building. 
How does a locomotive obtain the energy 
which enables it to pull a train ? How does the body 
get the energy which it needs for work and play ? 
If you put your hand into cold water it will soon 
become cold, but when it is removed it quickly becomes 
warm again. This is because the food we eat is some- 
how burned in the body, and in this way the body is 
kept warm. 
Building, 
material, 
The body 
resembles 
an engine. 
117 118 
HEALTH HABITS 
Food supplies three essential body needs: - 
i. Building material. 
2. Energy or power for play or work. 
3. Heat to warm the body. 
All good foods supply each of these three things. 
Very few foods contain just the right amount of each 
kind of food material. Some foods, such as 
eggs and meat, contain more building material 
than the body needs, while others, as butter 
and sugar, are composed wholly of energy and heat- 
making material. So we need to eat a variety of 
articles, such as bread, butter, milk, eggs, vegetables, 
and fruits, in order that the body workers may be 
able to get hold of plenty of each kind of material 
needed. Some articles of food, as whole-wheat bread, 
will by themselves supply the body's needs for a 
time. 
Children need more food in proportion to their 
size than do grown people, because they are building 
their bodies. They need material for making bones 
and muscles, and all the other growing organs. But 
children very often overeat. 
In manufacturing food into muscles, bone, and so on, 
we ourselves can do but little. We can put it into our 
mouths, grind it with our teeth, and swallow it. The 
body must do all the rest. But we can help or hinder 
the work in many ways. 
One way in which people often hinder the body's 
work is by eating too fast. Food as it is put into the 
The types 
of food 
matenal. HEALTH HABITS IN EATING 
119 
mouth is not in condition to be used by the body. It 
has all to be dissolved, and made into a liquid 
form before it can be used in the body. The 
process by which this is done is called digestion. 
The organ in which 
this work is carried on 
is a long tube, or canal 
as it is called, beginning 
with the mouth. If laid 
out straight and meas- 
ured, this canal would 
be about thirty feet 
long. In some parts it 
is narrow, while in other 
places it is much wider. 
One portion of it, the 
stomach, is large enough 
to serve as a sort of 
storehouse for the food 
eaten, until it can be 
worked over by the 
body. Some parts of 
the tube are straight, 
other parts are coiled. 
At different points along 
the canal are workers 
that do some special 
thing to the food till all 
material that is good for 
The work 
of diges- 
tion. 
Sa/waryg/amh 
Mouth 
<Sa/wary£ 
y/a/?as 
Pamaf/c 
auct ■ 
Famas 
^/penaf/x- 
The food canal. 120 
HEALTH HABITS 
the body's use has been culled out, and sent into the 
blood. There is such unity between these workers 
that when one begins to act all the others are called 
into action. The taste of food in the mouth is a signal 
to the workers of the stom- 
ach to be ready. In turn 
the word is passed along to 
every working station until 
all the workers are in read- 
iness for service. Even so 
small a thing as a wafer 
starts the entire force work- 
ing. 
When a person eats very 
fast, the food is swallowed 
before it can be crushed into 
fine pieces, and then the 
workers along the food canal have a hard time dissolv- 
ing it. 
Try this experiment. Take two glasses of water. 
Put a few hard lumps of sugar in one, and a spoonful 
of fine sugar in the other. Which dissolves 
first ? What you find true of the sugar is 
true of our food. The finer the particles 
into which it is divided before it is swallowed, 
the more readily it is digested. 
One way, then, in which we can help the body in its 
work is to eat slowly, and chew every morsel of food 
until it is fine like cream before it is swallowed. 
The "taste buds" (magnified). 
Health 
rules in 
eating, 
i. Eat 
slowly. HEALTH HABITS IN EATING 
121 
Some experiments which have been made have proven 
that two thirds of a pound of food well chewed supplies 
the body with just as good material to use as does a 
whole pound of the same food when chewed too rapidly. 
Did you ever look at your tongue in a mirror ? If 
so, you must have noticed that its surface is covered 
over with little points, some of them larger than others. 
These points are sometimes called "taste buds" be- 
cause it is by means of them that we are able to taste 
the different flavors in food and in other things we put 
into our mouths. One curious thing about these taste 
buds is that the points which give the best taste for 
sweet things are on the tip of the tongue. We taste 
some things best on the side of the tongue, while we 
taste bitter things on the back of the tongue. If our 
tongues are coated and furred, the taste buds do not 
work well, and our food seems to have no taste, so that 
we do not care about eating. These taste buds were 
meant to give us enjoyment while we eat. But if we 
hurry through our meals, swallowing our food almost 
as soon as we get it in our mouths, we miss most of 
the taste, and spoil Nature's plan for our pleasure, 
beside doing ourselves an injury. 
When people eat fast they are very likely to eat 
too much. The workers in the long food canal are 
able to do only a certain amount of work. When too 
much food is eaten, not any of it can be as well digested 
as it ought to be. If food is not well digested, then, 
of course, it does not make good material for building 122 
HEALTH HABITS 
or warming the body, or keeping it fit tor play or 
work. 
Do you think one should ever eat until he feels 
stuffed? How much one ought to eat depends upon 
his size, his age, the 
work he does, the 
weather, whether 
he lives indoors or 
outdoors, whether 
he is active or idle, 
and so on. 
Three meals 
each day are quite 
enough for 
boys and 
girls who are in 
health. These 
meals ought to be 
eaten regularly; 
that is, at the same 
hour every day. If 
we eat our break- 
fast every morning at seven o'clock, and our dinner 
each day at one o'clock, the body is on the lookout for 
the food at those hours, and has everything all ready 
in the stomach to receive it and make use of it. If, 
however, one gets so interested in his play that he comes 
to dinner an hour or two later than usual, then when 
he swallows his food the stomach is taken by surprise. 
2. Eat 
regularly. 
Gulping down his food. What does he 
MISS IN DOING THIS ? HEALTH HABITS IN EATING 
123 
If one is careless and eats his meals at different hours 
each day, he will be likely to upset Nature's orderly 
plan, and illness may follow. 
When children wait to take extra naps after they 
are called in the morning, it often happens that they 
have time only to eat hastily a few mouthfuls before 
going to school. This, too, interferes with Nature's 
plan. It is very likely that not enough food is eaten 
or that it is swallowed without being well tasted, and 
so the body has not enough material for all its needs. 
After you have eaten a meal, it takes the workers 
four or five hours to take care of the food you have 
swallowed. It has to be sorted over, churned 'round 
and 'round in the stomach, and a great deal of hard 
work must be done to it before it is disposed of. You 
know your food is used to make blood, and has to be 
taken to pieces and made over a great deal before it 
is ready for use. Now, as I said before, it takes four 
or five hours to make over your breakfast, and some- 
times even longer, according to the things you have 
eaten, for it is a good deal harder work to digest some 
foods than it is others. 
If we eat anything an hour or two after breakfast, 
when the work of making over the food is well under 
way, the workers, instead of being able to 
keep right on and finish their work, have 
to begin again at the very beginning of the 
process of digesting the new food that has been eaten. 
So it may happen that the breakfast material is kept 
3. Give the 
digestive 
organs rest. 124 
HEALTH HABITS 
much longer in the stomach than it should be, and too 
much acid is developed, causing sour stomach. The 
food workers, too, are obliged to work a great deal 
What Mary ate between 
meals 
SO SHE HAS NO APPETITE, AND "DOES NOT FEEL VERY WELL." 
more and a great deal longer than they ought to, and 
if we keep on eating between meals, they will get no 
rest, and by and by they will get so tired that they 
will not do good work at all, and the boy or girl who has 
kept them so busy will become sick. HEALTH HABITS IN EATING 
125 
If you have eaten too little food at a meal, and feel 
hungry before the next meal, you may eat an apple 
or orange or some other simple fruit; but cookies, 
candy, bread and butter, and similar foods should be 
avoided. Fruits, if ripe and if well chewed, give the 
stomach very little work to do, as they are already 
cooked and digested in the sun, and contain food- 
stuffs ready for the body to use ; so they do not tax 
the digestive organs heavily. 
When the stomach is abused, it becomes unable to 
digest, and then we lose our appetite. Pain in the 
stomach, vomiting, and sick headache are some of 
the ways in which the stomach complains when it 
has been abused. We never feel the working of a 
healthy stomach. 
The food workers, besides needing rest after their 
work on each meal has been done, need also to sleep 
at night with the rest of the body. Hence 
we should avoid eating food late at night. 
If one goes to bed with a stomach full of food, the 
workers will be very slow at their job, just as people 
work very slowly when they are sleepy. Getting the 
food out of the way at such a time makes so much 
extra trouble for the workers that our sleep is likely 
to be much disturbed, and we may awake in the morn- 
ing without feeling refreshed by it. Moreover, we 
may have bad dreams. 
Again, the food workers cannot serve well when 
the body is very tired. When we have been exercising 
4. Also 
sleep. 126 
HEALTH HABITS 
very hard at work or play, we should rest for a little 
while before eating. Why is this a good 
health habit ? 
It is best to avoid eating too many differ- 
ent kinds of .food at one meal. The workers can take 
care of five or six different foods easier than 
they can a dozen kinds. We need to eat 
a wide variety of foods, but it is better to have this 
variety from day to day than to have it all at one meal. 
A wise man once said, "We should eat to live, not 
live to eat." Do you think that every one should 
learn to choose foods that nourish the body, 
rather than such as merely please the taste ? 
Why ? Sometimes children do themselves 
much harm by eating only the pie or pudding, pickles, 
and other relishes on the table, leaving the bread and 
butter, potato, and other important foods untouched. 
Some parts of the food we eat cannot be used by 
the body. These portions -are indigestible. After 
the workers have sorted out and taken care of all that 
is usable, the waste that remains must be expelled 
from the body. If this is not promptly done, it acts 
like a poison to the body, and may be the cause of 
serious illness. The "call of Nature" to relieve the 
bowels should always receive prompt attention at a 
regular hour each day. This is a health habit of the 
utmost importance. 
Remember : Any one who wants to get the most 
out of life must eat slowly and chew his food thoroughly, 
5. Rest be- 
fore eat- 
ing. 
6. Avoid 
mixtures. 
7. Eat 
nourishing 
food. HEALTH HABITS IN EATING 
127 
so that he will get all the taste out of it, and prepare it 
as well as possible for the workers in the food canal. 
He must give the food workers time to rest. He 
If these boys should have a CONTEST IN racing, wrestling, or 
BOXING, WHICH WOULD WIN ? Why ? 
must not eat between meals, not even candy. He 
must be regular at meals. He must not make a meal 
of cake or pie alone, just because he likes it. He must 
not eat until he feels stuffed. He must not eat when 128 
HEALTH HABITS 
he is tired. He must not wash his food down with 
drink. He must at a regular hour every day expel 
the useless material from the body. 
HEALTH PROBLEMS 
I. How do you know that the food you eat is made into bones, 
muscles, hair, skin, lungs, and so on ? Be ready to tell the class 
some way to prove this. 
2. How can you tell that the food you eat warms your body ? 
See if you can find some good way to show this. 
3. How can you tell that the food you eat gives you energy 
for your play and your work ? 
4. How long does it take you to eat your breakfast ? Your 
luncheon ? Your dinner ? Is this long enough to get all your 
food into the finest condition before it is swallowed ? 
5. Who enjoys his food the more while he is eating it, the 
person who swallows it unchewed, or the one who chews it 
thoroughly ? Why ? 
6. Why does nothing taste good when one has a coated 
tongue ? What do you think Nature intended that one should do 
when he has a coated tongue ? 
7. You may know some one who sometimes makes a meal of 
cake or pie or cookies. Do you know how this person feels a 
few hours after such a meal ? 
8. Why shouldn't one eat just after he has been running 
hard ? 
9. After a meal at bedtime, have you ever had bad dreams ? 
Why, do you think ? 
10. Will it be better for one's body if he talks about pleasant 
things at the table, than if he talks about disagreeable things, or 
if he gets angry ? Why ? HEALTH HABITS IN EATING 
129 
REVIEW QUESTIONS 
I. From what do we obtain the materials with which to build 
and repair the body ? 
2. From what do we get the energy we need in play and in 
work ? 
3. From what do we get the heat with which the body is 
warmed ? 
4. Why do we need to eat a variety of foods ? 
5. What is meant by the term digestion? 
6. Where is the stomach? What is its work ? 
7. What are the food workers in the body ? 
8. Why is it necessary to chew food thoroughly ? 
9. What are the taste buds? Where are they located ? 
10. How often should one eat during the day ? 
11. Why should one not eat candy, cake, and such things be- 
tween meals ? 
12. Why do the food workers need to have rest ? 
13. Is it well to eat heartily immediately after hard work or 
play ? Why ? CHAPTER XIV 
Health Habits in Drinking 
If you wet your handkerchief in water and lay it 
aside in the open air, 
you will find that after a 
time it has become dry. 
Why? 
When you sit for a 
time in a close, hot 
room, your lips become 
parched, and your skin 
feels dry. The heat has 
made the air thirsty, and 
the air is trying to get 
moisture from your body. 
Although the body is 
more than half water, it 
is all the time losing moisture so rapidly that one 
needs to drink often to make good its losses. The 
body needs water also to supply the fluids 
which dissolve and change, or digest, the food 
we eat. Some of the fluids of the body help 
to carry the digested food where it is needed. Another 
need for water is to break up and wash out of the body 
More than one half the body is 
water. The shaded part of the 
PICTURE SHOWS THIS. 
The body's 
need for 
wider. 
130 HEALTH HABITS IN DRINKING 
131 
through the sweat and in other ways the waste products 
that are continually forming. These waste matters 
are poisonous ; if they are not expelled from the body 
promptly, illness will result. 
The body shows its need for drink by the "dry" or 
thirsty feeling, just as it shows when it needs food by 
the feeling of hunger. 
The best drink is pure water. Water is, in fact, 
the only substance which will quench thirst. That 
other drinks afford relief for thirst is due to the water 
they contain. 
Fruit juices, orangeade, and lemonade are flavored 
water. These are wholesome drinks. Tea, coffee, 
wine, cider, and beer are also largely composed of 
water; but these drinks contain harmful substances, 
and it is better not to use them. 
Water is needed by all living things. People can 
live much longer without food than without water. 
To meet such a need, nature provides a bountiful 
supply of pure, fresh water in springs, and in rain and 
snow. Often, but not always, pure water is found in 
lakes, rivers, and brooks. In addition, there are under- 
ground streams which may be reached by digging or bor- 
ing wells, from which we may draw as much as we wish. 
Pure water in this country is abundant and easily ob- 
tainable. In some countries, as in Mexico and Egypt, 
pure water is scarce, and is delivered from door to door 
on curious-looking wheel barrows, or in cans or skin 
bottles carried on the back of a man. 132 
HEALTH HABITS 
Most people do not drink enough water. It is rare 
that one drinks too much water. Many people drink 
a good deal of such drinks as tea and coffee, 
but not enough of pure water. Tea and 
coffee both contain in small quantities a 
substance known as an alkaloid which when used in 
pure form is so strong that it takes but a very small 
amount to kill a rabbit. 
Pure water 
the neces- 
sary drink. 
We need about ten glassfuls of water every day, but we get much of 
THIS IN OUR FOOD. 
The person who has the habit of drinking strong 
tea or coffee is often greatly harmed by these. So the 
regular use of tea or coffee is a habit we should avoid 
if we wish to have good health. 
A grown person needs from four to five pints (8 to 
io glassfuls) of water every day. A half-grown boy 
or girl needs about the same amount. Just how much 
of this he must drink depends upon the kind of food 
he eats. 
Much pure water is stored away in fruits and green HEALTH HABITS IN DRINKING 
133 
foods ; and those who make free use of these get in 
this way a large part of the water their bodies need. 
People who eat a great deal of meat and almost no 
fruit need to drink much more water. Why, do you 
think ? 
While we should drink freely of water, it is best to 
form a habit of taking small quantities often, 
rather than a large quantity at one time. 
Usually a person should not drink more than 
one glassful at a time. 
If the water is very cold, it should be taken in 
small sips. Hold each sip in the mouth until it is 
warmed before swallowing. This should be done with 
any very cold drink or food. Why ? 
When water is taken during a meal, it should be 
only after the food in the mouth has been swallowed. 
If food is half chewed and washed down with drinks 
of any sort, it will not have so good a chance of being 
digested as when it is thoroughly chewed and mois- 
tened by the juices in the mouth. 
We should drink only pure water. Because water 
is cool, clear, and sparkling is not a sure sign that it 
is pure. We must know its source in order to deter- 
mine whether it is safe to drink. A pleasant taste 
and appearance are not sufficient. Why can we not 
always detect impure water by its taste or its ap- 
pearance ? 
Water which comes from near the top of the ground 
is generally impure, because it contains impure sub- 
Good 
habits in 
dnnkins- 134 
HEALTH HABITS 
stances that soak into it from the soil. Filth is often 
emptied upon the ground, or buried just below the 
surface. When the rains come, they wash much of 
this through the soil into the underground sources of 
water. Dug wells usually furnish water of this sort. 
Such water is likely to cause, in those who drink it, 
typhoid fever or some other serious disease. 
When we are not sure that the water is pure, we 
may make it safe by boiling it for fifteen or twenty 
minutes. Boiling will give the water a "flat" taste, 
but its original flavor may be restored by pouring it 
many times from one vessel into another, so as to ex- 
pose it to the air. It is always wise when there is 
any doubt about the purity of water to boil it, and 
then to store it in corked bottles or fruit jars in the 
ice chest. 
Deep artesian wells usually furnish pure water. 
Rain water as it falls from the clouds is pure. If we 
could have a clean tank above the ground in which to 
catch the rain as it falls, we could keep it pure. But 
if it falls first upon a dirty roof, or through the dusty 
leaves of trees, it may be soiled by soot and dust which 
it collects from the air. 
Ice which is cut from lakes or rivers is generally 
not safe. Unless ice is known to be from a pure 
source it should never be put into water or other 
drinks to cool them. If we need to make water cold, 
it can be done best by placing the pitcher containing 
it on ice, and by packing ice around it. HEALTH HABITS IN DRINKING 
135 
If we think a water supply is not good, we should 
have it tested by an expert. But we can first try the 
following test: Fill a two-ounce bottle nearly full of 
the water. Add a small lump of pure white sugar. 
Cork the bottle and leave it in a warm place. If the 
contents become clouded within a few days, it is of 
very doubtful quality. Why, do you think ? 
The danger from the use of impure water is some- 
times made an excuse for using wine, beer, and similar 
drinks. While these are part water, yet such drinks 
cannot take the place of pure water for the body. 
These drinks all contain alcohol, a substance which 
robs the body of water. Their use does not quench 
the body's thirst. Instead, they are liable to create 
thirst. 
Wine is made from the juice of grapes. When the 
juices of most fruits are fresh, they make good drinks. 
While the juice remains in the fruit it keeps 
fresh for a long time, because the skin protects 
it. When the skin is broken, and the juice is pressed 
out and left open to the air, it soon begins to change. 
This is the work of tiny plants, called yeast plants. 
These drop into the juice from the air, in which they 
are always floating, seeking for a soil to grow in. There 
is fruit sugar in the juice, and these tiny plants are 
quite fond of sugar. It makes them grow very fast. 
Wherever the yeast plants are feeding and growing, 
two kinds of wastes are thrown off. One is a gas, the 
same gas we ourselves breathe out, carbon dioxide. 
Fermented 
drinks. 136 
HEALTH HABITS 
This forms in froth or bubbles on the top of the fruit 
juice, and finally passes off into the air. The other 
waste is alcohol. This remains in the liquid, giving 
it a peculiar taste. We may rid the juice of the 
alcohol by boiling it, but its first sweet flavor and 
freshness will have been lost through the activity of 
the yeast plants. The change which the yeast plants 
bring about is called fermentation. 
A food or drink in which this change has taken 
place is said to be fermented. All such 
foods or drinks contain alcohol. Some con- 
tain much more than others. The alcohol 
can be separated from any fermented liquid by 
a process called distillation. You can see how this 
is done by trying the following experiment: Put 
any fermented liquid, like strong wine, in a small 
tea kettle. Fit a piece of rubber tubing (about two 
feet long) over the spout of the kettle. Put the other 
end of the tube down the neck of the bottle. Place 
the kettle over a gas flame, turned so low that the 
liquid will heat slowly. Set the bottle in a dish with 
ice packed around it. The alcohol which the wine 
contains will boil sooner than the water in it. If then 
we heat the wine until it is above the boiling point of 
alcohol, but not hot enough to boil the water, nearly 
all the alcohol will pass as steam into the tube before 
the water is boiling. The chill of the ice makes the 
bottle and tube so cold that the steam will form into 
a new liquid. This is alcohol. It is clear like water. 
a L'L HEALTH HABITS IN DRINKING 
137 
We can see it drip from the tube into the bottle. If 
we put a few drops of it on a plate and touch it with a 
lighted match, it will burn with a pale blue flame. 
This is a test for alcohol. Pure alcohol is a deadly 
poison to everything which has life. If you should 
pour alcohol upon a plant, it would soon die. Put 
any living creature in alcohol, and it will die almost 
instantly. A man who did not think alcohol was 
harmful once gave some to his pet dog with its food ; 
very soon after, the dog died. 
If one should take pure alcohol into his mouth, 
it would raise a blister. Any drink which contains 
alcohol is hurtful to the body, and we should avoid 
its use. People seldom take enough alcohol to kill 
them outright; but whatever amount they take is 
likely to hurt them little by little. Hard cider, beer, 
ale, porter, wine, whisky, brandy, and rum all are 
alcoholic drinks. Many patent medicines and all 
"bitters" contain alcohol, and ought to be avoided. 
Sometimes people steep herbs, barks, and roots in 
water, add sugar and yeast, and brew a "home-made 
beer." This too, when it is fermented, contains alcohol. 
Some fermented drinks contain much more alcohol 
than do others. Whisky, brandy, and rum are 
"stronger" drinks than beer, wine, and cider. Why ? 
What would happen to a person if he should drink a 
big glassful of whisky, as people sometimes do a 
glassful of beer ? 
Alcohol in whatever drink or whatever quantity 138 
HEALTH HABITS 
it is found is liable to create thirst, so that anyone who 
drinks any alcoholic beverage is likely to keep wanting 
more to drink. After a short time he may actually 
crave a drink with alcohol in it. Alcohol is likely 
to make him feel that he must have it, and that he 
cannot stop using it. And all the while the drink is 
injuring his health and doing harm to his body. Per- 
sons who use fermented 
drinks are much more 
liable to suffer from dis- 
eases than those who do 
not use them, and as a 
rule they do not live as 
long. It has been noticed 
by physicians, too, that 
when such a person meets 
with an accident or be- 
comes sick he does not 
get well as fast as the one 
who drinks only pure 
water. It has been esti- 
mated that in our country every year over 60,000 
persons are killed by alcohol; that is, by the use 
of drink containing it. This number of people is 
enough to make a good-sized city. 
Most boys and girls love to visit a soda fountain 
for a cooling drink on a hot day. A glass 
of pure water charged with gas, and flavored 
with pure sirups or fruit juices is most pleasant. But 
People who eat much fresh fruit 
DO NOT NEED TO DRINK AS MUCH 
WATER AS PEOPLE WHO EAT BUT LIT- 
TLE FRUIT. YOU SEE THAT OVER 
THREE FOURTHS OF AN APPLE IS WATER. 
Soda foun- 
tain drinks. HEALTH HABITS IN DRINKING 
139 
there are many soda fountain drinks which are highly 
injurious, especially those which contain kola, a harm- 
ful drug. Then, many of the drinks at soda fountains 
are made harmful by the use of artificial sweets and 
poisonous coloring matter and flavors. Often the water 
used in making these drinks comes from an unsafe 
source. 
Remember: Pure water is the safest of all drinks. 
We may add to it various fruit juices if we choose, 
making many healthful beverages with which to quench 
our thirst. We shall enjoy life most if we early form 
the habit of-■ 
(1) Drinking an abundance of pure water, 
(2) Drinking it often in small quantities at a time, 
(3) If the water is very cold, taking it in sips, 
(4) Never drinking for the purpose of washing down 
food, 
(5) Avoiding tea, coffee, and all fermented drinks, 
(6) Eating an abundance of ripe fruits. 
HEALTH PROBLEMS 
I. Some people think they cannot swallow any food without 
taking water or milk or some other drink with it. Could you 
tell such a person what to do in order to be able to swallow food 
without washing it down with drink? 
2. Show by an experiment of some sort that the following 
articles contain water: apples, peaches, cherries, bananas, cab- 
bage, lettuce, potatoes. 
3. How much water do you drink in a day ? When do you 
drink it ? HEALTH HABITS 
140 
4- Find out where the water that you drink comes from. 
5. How do you cool the water you drink in summer ? 
6. When typhoid fever breaks out in a city or town, the officials 
at once have the drinking water examined. Why ? 
7. Examine a can of fruit which has been fermented, and de- 
scribe what you find. Take a little fresh fruit juice of any kind, 
and let it stand in the room uncovered for a few days. Describe 
the change which takes place in it. 
REVIEW QUESTIONS 
I. What proportion of the body is water ? 
2. Why does the body need water ? 
3. How does the body show that it needs water ? 
4. How much water does one need during a day ? 
5. How should one drink very cold water ? Why ? 
{From what sources is one likely to get the purest water ? 
What can we do with impure water to make it pure ? 
When is ice likely to be impure ? 
What is the best way to cool water ? 
10. What is the meaning of fermentation? 
11. What are some common fermented drinks ? 
12. Does the use of alcoholic drinks promote good health ? 
Why? 
13. Do all drinks to be found at soda fountains promote good 
health? Why? 
14. Does the regular use of tea and coffee promote good health ? CHAPTER XV 
The Choice and Preparation of Food 
Papa, exclaimed Mary and Henry in concert 
as their father was going with a basket toward the 
garden, "may we go with you ?" "Yes, 
indeed," said their father; "come right along, 
and I will tell you about the things that grow 
in the garden, while you help me gather some lettuce. 
And since it is a holiday, you may help me plant some 
of the new seeds I brought home with me last night." 
As they went to the garden together, their father said : 
"You know that food for all animals grows out of the 
earth. The sunshine makes it grow. There are many 
kinds of foods, to supply our various tastes and our 
many needs. 
"All of the fresh garden things are excellent for 
health. The peas are rich in building material for 
muscles and bones. They are especially good for 
growing boys and girls. The lettuce is rich in iron, 
which makes the blood red. An ox can live on green 
leaves alone, but we need other foods, although it is 
important that we should eat some fresh uncooked food, 
such as lettuce, celery, or fresh fruit, at least once a 
day, and at every meal, if possible. 
The food 
plants in 
the garden. 
141 142 
HEALTH HABITS 
"The asparagus, beets, and other vegetables which 
grow in the garden are useful both as body-building 
and heat-making foods. And they give a certain 
bulk to the food, which is necessary that the bowels 
may act often and promptly. When the bowels do 
not move often and promptly, the food remnants 
ferment and decay, and the poisons thus produced, 
when absorbed, cause headache, a coated tongue, a 
bad breath, a muddy complexion, colds, catarrh, and 
many other serious troubles. All fresh garden vege- 
tables are good to keep digestion active and the bowels 
regular. The potato is one of the best of foods. Its 
free use helps to keep the tissues free from poisons." 
The father told also of grain foods, such as wheat, 
of which bread is made, and oats, corn, and rice. One 
thing about wheat is important to remember: 
The millers, in making fine white flour, take 
out so much of the best of the wheat that graham 
bread, which is made of the whole-wheat flour, contains 
four times as much bone-building material as does fine 
white flour bread. Boys and girls who want to grow 
up sturdy and strong should eat a great deal of graham 
rather than fine flour bread. Graham bread also helps 
to keep the bowels active and regular. 
The father explained that garden soil is the home 
of a vast multitude of small forms of life. For 
the most part, these are harmless. But some- 
times there are among them certain kinds of 
germs or bacteria that cause disease. Sometimes, 
. 
The grains. 
clean fruit 
and vege- 
tables. THE CHOICE AND PREPARATION OF FOOD 
143 
too, the top-dressing used to enrich the soil contains 
eggs of minute creatures that do injury to any one who 
swallows them. These get on the leaves and fruit 
which grow near the ground. So it is wise always to 
give such foods as lettuce, celery, cress, and straw- 
berries a most thorough washing before using them. 
This is just as necessary if such foods are brought from 
the market. Cases of typhoid fever have been traced 
to lettuce eaten without cleansing. It is believed 
that other grave diseases come from the same lack of 
care. 
"Even those fruits that grow on bushes and trees," 
the father continued, "need washing, for they get 
covered with the dust that flies about in the air, and 
dust generally carries germs or bacteria along with it. 
"If we gather cherries and such fruit when the sun- 
shine has dried them off just after a good shower, we 
shall find them clean. But fruit which comes from 
the market must always be well washed before it is 
eaten." 
Dealers often keep stands of fruit for sale outside 
their door. There, the dust from the street gets to 
the fruit. Some people in the Institute of Hygiene 
in Strassburg, Germany, made a careful examination 
of small fruits purchased in such an open market, 
and found in the water, after washing strawberries, 
2,000,000 living germs; from the same amount of 
raspberries, 4,000,000; grapes, 8,000,000; currants, 
11,000,000; and cherries, 12,000,000. Quite probably 144 
HEALTH HABITS 
some of these were disease germs. At any rate, it is 
better to wash off the germs before eating the fruit. 
The other day while waiting at the bank, I saw a 
group of boys around a huckster's cart buying apples. 
As soon as each had received his purchase he began to 
take large bites, eating both skin and pulp. The boys 
seemed to enjoy the fruit so much, I thought I would 
bring some home. Those apples were 
so dirty that they had to be covered 
with water and soaked for five minutes, 
then rinsed, and rubbed with a drying 
cloth before they were fit for any one 
to eat. Fhe boys must have gotten 
more than their money's worth of 
dirt, but let us hope they got nothing 
worse. 
The common practice of picking up 
fallen fruit from the ground and eat- 
ing it out of hand, is also a habit 
fraught with danger. One can hardly 
be too careful always to eat clean food. 
Here is a good way to wash berries and small fruits. 
Put them in a colander, just a few at a time so they 
won't mash, and dip the colander lightly 
down and up several times in a basin of clean 
water. A lady I know always washes strawberries 
with their hulls on, and when it is cherries or grapes 
she wants to wash, or any firm fruit, she holds the 
colander under the faucet, and lets the water run over 
Dealers often 
LEAVE THEIR 
FRUIT UNCOVERED 
ON A DU STY 
STREET. 
Towash 
bemes,etc. THE CHOICE AND PREPARATION OF FOOD 
145 
the fruit for quite a while. She washes lettuce in 
running water. Celery she cleans by scrubbing each 
stalk separately with a small whisk brush. She says 
she always feels that she must wash huckleberries and 
cranberries especially clean, for one never knows 
whether the hands that picked them were clean or 
greasy and grimy with dirt. 
Late in the season when the corn 
has grown and is bearing ears, every 
one ought to gather some of 
the tender, juicy ears to eat 
fresh each day. May one eat 
corn raw ? Yes, it is delicious that way 
if gathered fresh from the stalk when 
each kernel is plump with the sweet 
juice. It is also very nice and whole- 
some when cooked in various ways. 
One excellent way is to pick nice fresh 
ears of as nearly equal size as possible. 
Open the husks and remove all the silk 
from the corn, then replace and tie the husks about 
the ears with a cord. Put the corn in a hot oven 
and bake for half an hour, or until it is tender and 
no longer has a raw taste. When boys go camping, 
they can cook corn in this way by burying it in hot 
ashes under live coals. 
It is most important that all foods should Refresh, 
whether milk, eggs, meat, vegetables, grains, or fruit. 
Any stale food is likely to be harmful. Nature has 
preparing 
foods for 
1116 table< 
Fruits should be 
WASHED BEFORE 
THEY ARE EATEN. 146 
HEALTH HABITS 
provided some foods, as celery, cabbage, and apples, 
which may with care be kept fresh and good for use 
during the winter season. Many roots and tubers 
which ripen in the fall, such as potatoes, beets, and 
parsnips, provide us during the winter with variety, 
and supply bulk for our food. 
I saw Ann canning some strawberries yesterday, 
and this is the way she did it. First, 
she cleaned a quart jar, then she filled 
it half full of water, fitted on the rub- 
ber and the top, and stood it bottom 
upwards on the table for a time to see 
if the water would leak out, because if 
it did, she would know the jar was not 
air-tight. 
Next, she made a sirup by heating 
together one cup of sugar and one and 
a half cups of water. Next, she filled 
the jar with perfect strawberries that 
had been well washed and stemmed. 
Over these she poured enough hot sirup to fill the jar 
to the neck. She placed the lid, but not the rubber, 
on the jar without screwing it down. Then putting 
the filled jar in a shallow pan in which was a little 
water, she set them in a cool oven. The heat was 
turned on very gradually so as not to crack the jar; 
at no time did she let it get so hot that the fruit juice 
boiled over the top of the jar. After the juice be- 
gan to bubble well in the jar, the fruit was cooked 
These apples are 
BEING PICKED 
WITH DIRTY HANDS 
PROBABLY. THE CHOICE AND PREPARATION OF FOOD 
147 
for twenty minutes. The jar was then removed from 
the oven, with care not to expose it to a draft, the 
lid was lifted quickly, and a clean rubber band, 
which had been dipped in hot water, was slipped over 
the jar. Ann filled it again to overflowing with boil- 
ing sirup and screwed the lid down (not quite tight), 
wiped it clean, and left it to cool for an hour. Then 
she screwed the lid as tight as she could. 
One time Ann canned some string 
beans. After she had washed the beans 
and had taken off the strings, she cooked 
them till just tender. Then she put 
them in a jar, just as she did the 
berries, filled it with the boiling water 
in which they were cooked, and finished 
them as she did the strawberries, ex- 
cept that, as they were already cooked, 
she left them in the oven only long 
enough for them to boil in the jar. 
This is such an easy way to can foods that any one 
who tries can do it successfully. 
Every home ought to have a garden. A garden 
not only gives an excellent chance for exercise of a 
most healthful sort, but it provides many fresh foods 
which furnish to the body material that is not provided 
by other foods. They encourage appetite and aid 
digestion. It is very necessary that food should be 
relished. When one has a keen appetite and a good 
relish for the food he eats, he is almost always able to 
Do NOT EAT FRUITS 
WITHOUT WASHING 
OR PARING THEM. 148 
HEALTH HABITS 
digest it and so he is benefited by it. Whereas, when 
one eats without an appetite, his food is not likely to 
be well digested, and it will not nourish him well. 
Professor Pawlow, the great Russian scientist, has 
made a number of wonderful discoveries by means of 
large and very intelligent dogs which he 
trained to assist him in the study of digestion. 
By experiments upon these dogs, Professor 
Pawlow learned, among other interesting things, tha£ 
the stomach prepares a digestive juice to act upon the 
food while it is still in the mouth, and before any 
portion of it has been swallowed. The simple taste 
of food causes an abundant outflow of this juice. The 
juice thus formed Pawlow calls appetite juice. In 
order that the proper amount of "appetite juice " should 
be produced, it is necessary that the food should be 
very thoroughly chewed. When food is swallowed 
hastily, it reaches the stomach before the latter is 
prepared to receive it and finds no juice ready to digest 
it. Professor Pawlow made many other wonderful 
discoveries about digestion, of which we shall learn in 
future lessons. 
Remember : All fresh garden vegetables are excellent 
for health, furnishing body-building and heat-making 
foods, and assisting the body to get rid of useless 
remnants of food. Fruits and grains also make ex- 
cellent foods. The fruits and vegetables should always 
be cleaned before eating; and the whole of the grain, 
except the hull, is better for food than the white part 
The "ap 
petite 
jmce. THE CHOICE AND PREPARATION OF FOOD 
149 
merely. A keen appetite and a good relish for food is 
always necessary. 
HEALTH PROBLEMS 
I. Many of the vegetables that grow in the garden may be 
eaten raw. Are they better when cooked ? Why ? 
2. Many of the common vegetables must always be cooked. 
3. Many of the common fruits you like better cooked than un- 
cooked. Why ? 
4. Are there any fruits that may be eaten when green ? Why 
not ? 
5. How may oats be used for food ? Corn ? 
6. In canning fruit, why must one be so careful to boil the 
fruit and the sirup, and seal the can air-tight while the contents 
are hot ? 
7. What is the best way to get a good appetite ? Do you 
have a good appetite when you lie around the house all day ? 
Why? 
8. What foods do you always have a keen relish for ? Would it 
be right for you to eat only those foods ? Tell why. 
REVIEW QUESTIONS 
I. What should be done to garden vegetables before eating 
them ? 
2. What grains are good for food ? 
<3. Why is graham bread better for growing boys and girls 
than white bread ? 
4. Why should fruits always be washed before they are eaten ? 
5. What is a good way to wash berries ? Celery ? 
6. Why does lemon juice sometimes purify water ? 150 
HEALTH HABITS' 
J. Is corn on the cob good for food ? How should it be 
cooked ? 
8. Is a potato good for food ? How should it be cooked ? 
9. Tell how fruits and vegetables may be kept in good con- 
dition for use during the winter. 
10. Why is a keen appetite necessary for good digestion ? CHAPTER XVI 
The Care of the Mouth 
School had closed for Easter vacation, and George 
was going to his uncle to spend a week in the country. 
He put his clothing and all the things he thought he 
should need in his satchel. With cap in hand, he stood 
waiting for his uncle to come for him. He could not 
help thinking how fine it was going to be to pick wild 
flowers in the woods, and play as much as he wanted 
to in the fresh out-of-doors, with no lessons to learn 
and no tasks for a whole week. 
His mother, coming in with Uncle Tom, to see if 
George was ready, asked him: "Sure you have 
everything ? Have you your toothbrush ?" "Why, 
no, mamma," said George; "I thought I was going 
on a vacation." "Certainly," replied his mother, 
" but whatever you do there is never a day when you 
can leave your toothbrush behind you." Was the 
mother right ? Why ? 
Teeth have a most important share in keeping the 
body in health. It is only through their aid 
that we can bite and crush all the solid foods 
we take into our mouths. In fact, their chief 
business is crushing and grinding food. If this is not 
Starting the 
food right. 
151 152 
HEALTH HABITS 
done well, then the very first work in getting the good 
out of food is left unfinished, and through all the rest 
of the process there will be trouble, because the food is 
not started off right at the beginning. 
Of course, one cannot chew his food properly unless 
he has good tools to do it with. Even if there be but 
one bad tooth, or a single one missing, the chewing of 
food is likely to be imperfect. To do the work in the 
best manner requires a full set of healthy teeth. 
Nature provides a young child with a set of twenty 
teeth, all that his little jaws are able to hold. These 
are for use only during the early years, and 
are called temporary teeth. As growth pro- 
ceeds, and the size of the jaws increases, these first 
teeth drop out from time to time, and a larger set of 
thirty-two teeth finally 
takes their place. These 
last are called the per- 
manent teeth. They are 
longer and stronger than 
the first set, and are in- 
tended for use during the 
remainder of one's life. 
If any of these are lost, 
others will not come to 
replace them. 
When the teeth first appear in the mouth, they are 
sound, white, and beautiful, and with good care from 
the beginning they may be kept so till old age. Clean, 
The teeth. 
Clean sound teeth, standing like 
SOLDIERS ALL IN A ROW. THE CARE OF THE MOUTH 
153 
sound teeth, standing like soldiers all in a row, add 
much to a person's appearance. This is another 
reason why the teeth should receive the best care. 
When we see a person in whose mouth is a set of 
dirty, ill-kept teeth, we get much the same impression 
of him that we do of a person whose hands and face 
are dirty, or whose clothing is torn and soiled ; or of 
a farmer whose fences are tumbling down, and whose 
garden is full of weedsi 
The chewing surface of a tooth is called its crown. 
This is protected all over with enamel, the very hardest 
material in the body. The por- 
tion of the tooth within the gums 
is called its neck. To hold it in 
position, it is firmly fastened by 
a fang or root to the jaw bone. 
There are different shaped teeth 
for different uses, - some sharp 
for cutting the food, while others 
have broader surface for crushing 
and grinding. We have no teeth fortearing food, such 
as are found in the mouth of the dog, as we have no use 
for such teeth. See if you can locate these different 
shaped teeth in the mouth. 
All are made good and strong on purpose, so that 
they can readily crush hard foods like crackers 
and toast. One's teeth need exercise to keep 
them strong quite as much as do other parts 
of the body, so at every meal we should eat some hard 
Crown I 
Mec/f 
Ename/ 
fl///) cavity 
dentine 
floor 
Cement 
What is likely to happen 
WHEN THE ENAMEL DECAYS 
OR IS BROKEN SO THAT THE 
NERVE IS EXPOSED ? 
The teeth 
need exer- 
cise. HEALTH HABITS 
154 
foods which need much chewing. But the teeth are not 
so strong that they can be used to crack such things as 
hickory nuts. The enamel which covers the teeth is 
brittle, like china, and if the teeth 
are used to bite hard objects, such 
as steel or stone, it may be very 
easily cracked or chipped off. So 
long as the enamel remains sound, 
the tooth is well protected. 
You have already been told of 
the tiny colorless plants so small 
that six hundred millions (600,000,- 
000) of them could be packed in the 
space occupied by a grain of sugar. 
Men of science call these minute plants bacteria or germs. 
They abound in the air. They get into the water we 
drink and the food we eat. Some of them are harmless, 
but others do us much damage. Their chief business is 
to carry on the process of decay. They multiply very 
fast if they have a warm place and moist food. They 
cannot live in strong sunlight. When they 
get into our mouths, as they are always doing 
from the air or by means of our food and 
drink, they find just what they like best,-warmth 
and moisture. And if there be ever so tiny a crack 
or break in the enamel of a tooth, they seek a lodging 
there, and begin to grow, and to make trouble for us. 
Anything likely to injure the enamel, like biting wire, 
pulling out nails, or opening a knife blade with the 
The teeth. Which are 
USED FOR CUTTING ? 
Which for grinding ? 
Bacteria 
in the THE CARE OF THE MOUTH 
155 
teeth, or picking them with pins, should be avoided. 
Why ? Have you ever broken the enamel on one of 
your own teeth ? If so, how did you do it ? 
The teeth grow very close together, so each one can 
help the others in chewing. Still there is a space 
between them large enough for particles of the food 
we eat to collect in. If our teeth are not well cleaned 
after meals, these particles of food make a tempting 
banquet for germs. They are not slow in taking 
advantage of their chance ; and if there be some food 
left there every day for them to feed and live on, they 
may in time make holes for themselves in the enamel 
of the near-by teeth. When once they get inside, the 
work of decay will go on rapidly. If we are careless 
and neglect to keep the mouth and teeth clean, we 
need not be surprised to find some day that these 
little bacteria have begun to spoil some or all of our 
teeth. It has been found that nine out of ten of all 
the school children in the United States, England, and 
Germany have bad teeth. Why, do you think ? 
A decaying tooth is literally swarming with bacteria, 
and not a morsel of food can be chewed in the mouth 
but that some of them get mixed in with it, and pass 
into the stomach to do further harm to the body. 
You know that to be sound a horse must have good 
teeth. This is just as true of a man as of a horse. 
A man who does not have good teeth is not a sound 
man. 
Some people think it is not necessary to care for the 156 
HEALTH HABITS 
first set of teeth, since they will be shed after a time. 
But this is a mistake. A "baby" tooth that decays 
is very apt to harm the new tooth that comes in its 
place. One that is not pulled in time causes the 
second to be crowded and irregular. 
[road 70 
GOOD 
HEALTH 
Even the baby s teeth need to be kept clean. A 
swab of cotton on a toothpick is best for this, because 
the baby's gums are too tender to bear the 
use of a toothbrush. For older boys and 
girls a small, stiff brush is best, - one that 
will reach into every crevice. It should be 
used on every part of every tooth, outside, 
behind, on top, and between, brushing up on the 
lower teeth and down on the upper ones. Where the 
^Vmouth 
clean and 
the teeth THE CARE OE THE MOUTH 
157 
teeth are very close, soft silk thread or dental floss 
should be drawn around and between the teeth to 
clean out small bits of food. 
All persons, young and old, should make it a regular 
practice to finish every meal with a thorough cleaning 
of mouth and teeth. When the school bell rings before 
dinner is over, and one's toothbrush is in the bath- 
room up stairs, one should at least rinse his mouth well 
with a glassful of water, and not forget to clean his 
teeth at night thoroughly. In some countries the meal 
service is concluded by the passing of glasses and bowls 
for mouth washing, as well as finger bowls for finger 
washing. 
If it is one's misfortune to have a decayed tooth, he 
should at once visit a good dentist, who may be able 
to clean it out, and fill it with some lasting substance, 
which will prevent any further damage, and make the 
tooth still of service in chewing. One should not delay 
in attending to this, or the tooth may be wholly de- 
stroyed. And it is a serious thing to lose even one 
tooth. 
We cannot always ourselves see where the germs 
have started their work. The teeth, by aching most 
painfully, often make known to us that the bacteria 
are at work. But by this time much harm has already 
been done. It is wiser to make regular visits to some 
good dentist twice a year at least, and have him ex- 
amine the teeth and clean them. The high polish 
which he will give them makes it harder for the food 158 
HEALTH HABITS 
and germs to cling to them ; and if there be any places 
where the enamel is broken or decay begun, he can 
repair the tooth before great harm has been done. 
There are various routes, beside those already men- 
tioned, by which these bacteria reach the mouth. A 
not unusual way lies through the habit, so 
common among children, of holding in the 
mouth pins, pennies, pencils, marbles, and 
other articles liable to carry bacteria. The practice 
of swapping bites of candy, exchanging chewing gum, 
whistles, or anything that has been put in the mouth, 
wetting a lead pencil with the lips, tasting with another 
child's spoon, and drinking from a common cup are 
other ways of getting these dangerous germs into one's 
mouth. 
One very common harmful habit is that of putting 
the fingers in the mouth. The fingers more than any 
other part of the body are all the time coming in con- 
tact with things that are more or less unclean. Things 
handled by many people, as books, door knobs, the 
stair railing, the baseball or bat, may each or all have 
on them harmful bacteria which have come from some 
one's hands. These may get on your own hands. 
If you should then put your fingers in your mouth, 
what would probably happen ? 
Of two things we cannot be too careful: 
i. To wash the hands very often, 
2. To keep the fingers out of the mouth and also out 
of the nose and eyes. 
Bad habit 
andbac- 
tcna. THE CARE OF THE MOUTH 
159 
This is the safe way to get a drink. 
By some experiments made with a drinking cup in a 
city school, it was found that in a space no larger than 
the head of a pin on the brim of a cup which 
had been in use for nine days, there were 
over one thousand bacteria. It was esti- 
mated that the edge of the cup likely to be 
touched by the lips in drinking bore not less than five 
million germs. In one school twenty-four persons 
who drank from a cup that had been used by a pupil 
A .,.. 
Avoid the 
public 
drmking 
cup' 160 
HEALTH HABITS 
having diphtheria all took the disease. In another 
school the teacher and every pupil who used a cup 
from which a child with the measles had drunk became 
ill with measles. 
It will do us little 
good to drink pure 
water, if in doing 
so we offer to in- 
jurious germs a 
lodging place in 
the mouth. 
The public or 
common drinking 
cup is a deadly 
thing, and no one 
should use it. 
Every person 
should carry a 
pocket cup of his own. If one needs a drink when no 
cup is at hand, he may make one by folding a piece of 
paper, or he may use an envelope. A bubble fountain 
is an excellent and safe device for providing the public 
with drinking water. 
Remember: Sound teeth are necessary for good 
health. The teeth should be cleansed thorougly after 
each meal; and they should be examined regularly by 
a good dentist. The mouth is a door to the body. 
Keep it closed against germs. THE CARE OF THE MOUTH 
161 
HEALTH PROBLEMS 
I. If you can do so, look at the teeth of a three-year-old child 
and describe their appearance and their condition. 
2. Where in the mouth are the teeth used for cutting food ? 
Where are those used for crushing food ? 
3. What may happen to one's teeth if he uses them for biting 
wire or nails ? 
4. How many of the people you know have perfectly sound 
teeth ? How have they kept them in good condition ? 
5. Suppose one should always gulp down his food without 
grinding it, or should eat only mushes, what would happen to his 
teeth ? Why ? 
■6. Try to figure out which will take more time: to rinse or 
brush one's teeth after each meal, or to have one or two decaying 
teeth filled by a dentist each year. Which is more trouble and 
expense ? 
REVIEW QUESTIONS 
I. What part do the teeth play in keeping the body in health ? 
2. What are the "baby" or temporary teeth ? the permanent 
teeth ? 
3. What may cause teeth to decay ? 
4. What is the crown of a tooth ? 
5. What is the enamel ? What is its use ? 
6. What will happen to the teeth if the enamel is broken ? 
7. How may the teeth be exercised ? 
8. What is meant by bacteria or germs in the mouth ? 
9. What will help the growth of germs in the mouth ? 
10. How often should one clean the teeth ? 
11. How should the cleaning be done ? 
12. How often should one visit the dentist ? Why ? CHAPTER XVII 
The Care of the Skin 
Any one who has ever had the mishap to tear a piece 
of skin from a finger, toe, or other part of the body, 
knows how the tender flesh underneath smarts and 
stings until it is protected from the air by a bandage 
or plaster. One who has had the bad luck to get dust 
or dirt in such a raw place has probably had to endure a 
painful sore. 
It is plain that without a covering for the delicate 
flesh, the body would be in constant danger of injury 
from hurt and from germs. The skin, which 
clothes the whole body, protects the sensi- 
tive flesh. The skin is soft and smooth. It 
stretches enough for us to bend easily an arm or leg, 
and it is never too small, no matter how much we grow. 
It is so strong that it does not break easily when we 
come in contact with hard objects, and it never wears 
out. It fits so perfectly that it has the exact shape of 
the body. At the lips and nose it becomes finer and 
softer and is called the mucous membrane. This 
membrane lines the nose, mouth, throat, and all the 
inner portion of the body. 
The body's 
perfect gar- 
ment- 
162 THE CARE OF THE SKIN 
163 
Some people like to strip the spicy bark from a birch 
tree and chew it. If you have ever done this, or have 
peeled the bark from some other young tree, you have 
doubtless observed that on the outside there was first a 
very thin layer resembling paper, and under this a much 
thicker bark next to the wood. It would not do the 
tree much harm if you should re- 
move this outer bark. Indeed, the 
bark of white birch trees peels itself 
off little by little. The bark of the 
tree does not stretch enough to make 
room for the increase in size as the 
tree grows ; so the outer layer tears, 
is shed as the wood beneath it needs 
more room, and then the new bark 
grows to take its place. 
If you tear off the inner bark, it 
will injure the tree. It will make it 
"bleed"; that is, it will cause the 
sap to flow freely. The sap, we 
may say, is the blood of the tree. 
If the torn place is not too large, 
it may heal over, but an ugly scar 
will remain in its place. 
The skin covering our bodies, like 
the bark covering the tree, is made up of two layers. 
The outer layer is called the scarfskin or 
epidermis. It is thin, like the skin that lines 
an eggshell. There is no blood in this outer skin; 
The outer bark of the 
BIRCH TREE. 
The scarf- 
skin. 164 
HEALTH HABITS 
neither is it very sensitive. Using a very fine needle 
and thread, you can take a stitch in it without making 
it bleed or without causing pain. If you should ex- 
amine a bit of the scarfskin under a microscope, it 
would look like this picture. There are several thin 
A SECTION OF THE SCARFSKIN SEEN THROUGH THE MICROSCOPE. 
layers of small scales, joined at their edges. Those in 
the outside layer are no longer of use, and are all the 
time being shed or rubbed off. Every time the hands 
are washed with soap and water or rubbed with a towel 
some of these scales are rubbed off. It is a curious fact 
that new ones are all the time crowding the old scales 
upward to the top. 
On most of the body the outer skin is very thin. It is 
thickest usually on the palms of the hand and the soles THE CARE OF THE SKIN 
165 
of the feet, because these parts more often come in 
contact with hard objects, and hence need better pro- 
tection. Can you locate the tough parts on your hands 
and feet ? Is there some such thick skin on any other 
part of the body ? 
The underside of the first skin is colored, being spread 
over with tiny grains of coloring matter called pigment. 
In colored people this pigment is sometimes brown, 
and sometimes nearly black. White persons have very 
little of it. The heat of the sun increases the pigment, 
and this is why the skin tans when much exposed to the 
sunshine. If the coloring increases in spots, the skin 
appears freckled. 
The inner or second layer of skin on the body, like 
the inner bark of the tree, is much thicker than the 
outer layer; it is also more important, and 
so is called the true skin, or dermis. 
If we scratch or cut this skin, it bleeds and smarts. 
If we should meet with a mishap which destroyed a 
portion of it, there would be a scar when it healed, - 
a sort of patch by which Nature tries to remedy the 
defect. Have you a scar of this sort ? How did you 
get it ? 
Besides protecting the body from injury, the skin 
serves it in several other ways. We can tell by means 
of it whether objects are rough or smooth, whether 
hard or soft, and whether cold or hot. 
If we look through a magnifying glass at the palm of 
the hand, we shall find it covered with very fine ridges 
The true 
skin. 166 
HEALTH HABITS 
and furrows. Along the top of the ridges appear many 
little dark spots. These are very tiny holes called pores. 
Each pore is the 
opening fora very 
small tube which runs 
down through both layers 
of the skin. At the lower 
end it is rolled up in a coil, 
as you see in the picture. 
These coils are perspiratory 
glands, so called because 
they separate out from 
the blood the fluid we 
call sweat or perspiration. 
There are more than three 
millions of them in the 
skin, but they are most numerous on the palms of the 
hands and the soles of 
the feet. These glands 
are always busy at work 
sending out perspira- 
tion through the pores, 
although we usually do 
not notice it except 
when it flows so fast 
that it forms in drops. 
We can make sure 
that the skin secretes 
moisture by trying a simple experiment. Press the 
Our pores. 
Skin of the palm of hand 
(magnified). 
The sweat or perspiration glands. 
You CAN ALSO see an oil gland. THE CARE OF THE SKIN 
167 
finger tips or the whole hand for a moment on the dry 
surface of a mirror or some brightly polished metal. 
The place which the hand covers will look moist and 
dim. This is because perspiration oozed out of the 
pores of the hand while it was on the glass, though we 
could not see it by merely looking at the hand. 
When one is working or playing hard, or when he gets 
very warm, the perspiration flows so freely that it 
collects on the surface of the skin in big drops. But at 
other times it flows slowly and we do not see it. Yet 
during each twenty-four hours almost enough to fill 
a quart measure passes from the body of an adult. 
If one is working hard, the amount given out may be 
very much greater than this. 
As soon as the perspiration reaches the surface, it 
evaporates, and in so doing makes the body cool. This 
is another useful thing the skin does for us. 
It helps to keep us cool in hot weather; or, 
in other words, it regulates the heat of the 
body. When the perspiration pours out fast, 
we should take care not to sit in a wind or a 
draught, as we might be chilled by the rapid evapora- 
tion of the moisture. 
You can see how this happens by moistening the 
finger nail, and blowing upon it. Although the breath 
is warm, the nail will feel cool because of the rapid 
evaporation of moisture. 
The perspiration is mostly water, so the more we 
perspire the more water we need to drink in order to 
skin regu. 
lates tJ e 168 
HEALTH HABITS 
keep the proper supply of moisture in the body. It 
also contains a considerable amount of waste matter 
formed in the body. Thus the skin serves another 
purpose - it rids the body of waste. 
There are other glands in the skin besides the per- 
spiratory glands. These make oil, and pour it out 
upon the surface to keep the skin soft 
and smooth. Show in some way that 
the surface of the skin is oily. 
There are curious little pockets, too, 
from each of which grows a hair. Oil 
glands provide the hair with oil to keep 
it soft and glossy. Show in some manner 
that these oil glands supply oil for the 
hair. 
The nails of the fingers and toes grow 
out of other little pockets in the skin. 
Both hair and nails are only portions of 
the outer skin, which is curiously changed 
and hardened. The nails were intended 
to protect the ends of the fingers and 
toes, and to give them firmness. 
The appearance of the skin more than 
any other feature makes the face ugly or beautiful. 
In order to keep the skin in health it must be 
kept clean. The waste matter which forms a 
part of the perspiration does not evaporate 
along with the water, but dries upon the skin, making 
a sort of film all over the surface. If this is not re- 
Why do we feel 
THIRSTY IN HOT 
WEATHER ? 
a healthy 
skin must 
be clean. THE CARE OF THE SKIN 
169 
moved, the film begins to decompose, giving rise to a 
very unpleasant odor. But the offensive smell is not 
the worst thing. The poisons formed are absorbed into 
the body and produce various painful and disgusting 
diseases of the skin. 
Sometimes people try to hide a dingy skin on the face 
by covering it with paint or powder. This is a sham. 
It does not help the real trouble at all. The skin can- 
not be made soft and white by such means. Besides, 
these paints and powders sometimes contain poison. 
The really beautiful skin is the healthy skin. And 
as we saw above, to keep the skin healthy, it must be 
kept clean so that its perspiratory glands will be active, 
and its pores kept open. Indeed, the whole body must 
be kept clean, - clean on the outside and clean on the 
inside, - that the skin may be kept in health. A clean, 
moist, healthy skin is the sign Nature hangs on the 
outside to indicate that the whole body is in good health. 
Most children wash the face and hands every morn- 
ing upon rising. The rest of the body needs this care 
just as much or even more than do the hands 
and face. The air and sunshine bathe the 
face and keep its skin much freer from the body's waste 
than are the parts of the body which are covered with 
clothing. Why ? The entire skin should have a daily 
cleansing. A morning bath is an important health 
habit. For a person in health, a cool or cold bath is 
best, because it not only serves to cleanse the skin, but 
it makes one feel fresh and full of energy. Cold water, 
Bathing. 170 
HEALTH HABITS 
too, hardens and trains the skin and makes one less 
liable to colds. The person who makes it a habit to 
take a cool or cold rub regularly every 
morning will soon have his skin so 
trained that he will be protected 
against "colds." 
The temperature for what is called 
a cool bath ranges from 70° to 80°, 
the cold bath from 6o° to 70°. One 
should test the water with a bath 
thermometer. 
If one is not used to cold-water 
bathing, he should always begin with 
moderately cool water, and 
gradually make it colder. 
In this way one can, after a 
time, take a cold bath with no harm 
to himself. There are some points, 
though, which one should always 
bear in mind when taking a cold morning bath : 
i. The room in which the bath is to be taken must be warm 
(700 to 8o°). 
2. Always bathe the face and neck first with cold water before 
bathing the rest of the body. 
3. The cold bath should be taken at once upon rising, while 
the whole body is still warm. It is not safe to run about barefooted 
and in night garments after getting out of bed before taking a 
cold bath. A cold bath to a cold body is a dangerous thing. 
4. If on getting up in the morning the hands or feet are cold, 
or one feels at all shivery, a short (2 to 4 minutes) hot bath should 
Rules for 
the cold 
There should be a 
BATH THERMOMETER 
IN EVERY BATHROOM. THE CARE OF THE SKIN 
171 
first be taken to warm the body, and after that the cold bath 
may be taken. If there is no hot water, warm the body first by 
rubbing it with a towel; or by some brisk exercise, such as jump- 
ing up and down for a moment or two. 
5. Cool or cold baths should be of short duration. One minute 
is long enough. The colder the water the shorter should be the 
bath. 
6. After a cool or cold bath, every part of the body should be 
briskly rubbed over with a coarse towel until it looks red and feels 
warm. 
7. The drying should always be quickly and thoroughly done. 
Cool and cold baths may best be taken by a plunge 
in a tub full of water of the proper temperature, or by a 
shower or spray of water over the entire body, while 
standing with the feet in warm water. 
If one has no spray apparatus, a small tin watering 
can, such as the gardener uses to water flowers, filled 
with cool water will serve as well. 
A boy who wanted a shower bath each morning fixed 
one for himself by suspending from the ceiling just over 
a wash tub a large tin pan, the bottom of which he had 
punched full of holes. Above this he hung a tin can 
to be filled with water. A hole in the bottom of the 
can was stoppered with a large cork. To this cork he 
tied a long string so that when he stepped into the tub 
he could pull the string, thus draw out the cork, and 
let the water out into the pan to fall on him in a shower. 
One can take a cold rub with just a wash bowl full of 
water, and two coarse towels. Bathe first the face and 
neck, then the arms and chest, abdomen, back, limbs, 172 
HEALTH HABITS 
and feet in this order. Dash the water over the skin 
with the hands and rub fast and hard. Dry each part 
well before wetting another. For the back, wet one of 
the towels, fold it lengthwise and wring nearly dry. 
Then with one end over the left shoulder and the other 
under the right arm rub crosswise. Then change to 
the other shoulder. Dry in the same manner. 
When one has no conveniences for a cold-water bath, 
he may take a cold-air bath. A good way to do this is to 
sleep with one's windows open to the outer air. 
In the morning jump out of bed, disrobe 
quickly, and with a coarse towel, or better still, coarse 
mittens made of toweling worn upon the hands, rub 
every part of the body hard and fast while exposing it 
to the air for a half minute in winter time, and for three 
or four minutes or longer in warmer weather. 
One should always feel warm and in a glow at the end 
of a cold bath. If after any cold bath you feel shivery 
or cold when well dried, then something is wrong. 
Probably the bath was too long. Anyway, the thing 
to do is to exercise hard until you are warm. Next 
time make the bath shorter. 
If you feel giddy or faint in a warm bath, leave it at 
once, dash cold water over the body, lie down, sip cold 
water, and put cold water on the face and head. 
Besides the daily morning bath to exercise the skin, 
one needs a warm cleansing soap-and-water bath at 
least twice a week. In warm weather, cleansing baths 
are needed more often. 
a cold-air 
bath. THE CARE OF THE SKIN 
173 
The best time for warm (95°~98°) baths is at night 
just before going to bed. It should always be the rule 
to end the warm bath with an all-over dash of cooler 
water. 
Hot baths (above ioo°) need rarely to be taken ex- 
cept in illness. Most people like a tub bath pretty 
warm. Some children take hot baths so 
often or remain in such a bath so long that it 
gives them a weak and languid feeling, and makes the 
skin so sensitive that they take cold very easily. 
A hot bath, when one is in health, should be very 
brief; and always at its close the body should be cooled 
off in some quick or sudden manner, with a spray or 
shower, or with a dipperful of cold water dashed over 
the entire body. 
Should one bathe just before or soon after eating ? 
Why ? Should one exercise vigorously after a cold 
bath ? Why ? Should one rest after a warm bath ? 
Should one ever take a cold bath when very tired,, or 
when perspiring ? Why ? 
There are some races of people who, while living in a 
climate quite like ours, have such well-trained skins 
that they do not at all mind the cold, although 
they wear very little clothing. A gentleman 
who was traveling in the West recently met 
an American Indian working without either shirt or 
coat. It was a cold, chilly day, and the gentleman in 
surprise asked the Indian, "Are you not cold ?" The 
Indian replied by asking, "Is your face cold ?" "Why, 
The hot 
bath. 
The well- 
trained 
skin. 174 
HEALTH HABITS 
no," replied the man. "Well," said the red man, "the 
Indian all face." The skin of his body had become so 
used to the air it did not feel the cold any more than 
our faces do. 
Some parts of our body require more frequent cleans- 
ing than others. Our hands, which come in contact so 
often with dust and dirt, need to be washed 
several times a day. Should one always wash 
them before eating ? Why ? If possible to do so, it is 
best to wash them with soap in a running stream of 
water, as under a faucet. Water in a basin soon 
becomes foul. If we must wash in a basin, we should 
use a second or even a third basinful to rinse the hands. 
The hands ought always to be made very clean before 
using them in washing the face. In bathing the face, 
rub the eyelids from without inward toward the nose. 
Wash cloths and nail brushes must be clean and not 
too coarse. A sour-smelling or musty wash cloth must 
be washed with soap and water before it can be safely 
used. 
Pure soap is also important. Most children prefer a 
scented soap, but they should know it to be pure. Very 
poor soap often has a pleasant smell. Mottled castile 
soap is safe and pure. Soap used on the skin should 
always be thoroughly rinsed off with clean water, and 
then the skin should be well dried with a clean towel. 
Lack of care in this respect often causes the skin to chap. 
Never dry hands or face on public towels which some 
other person has used. If your school is not provided 
Hygienic 
working. THE CARE OF THE SKIN 
175 
with individual towels, you should bring your own 
from home just as you do your drinking cup. Even 
in one's home, each person should have a separate 
towel. Some most loathsome diseases may be con- 
Very bad diseases are sometimes caught by using towels which have 
BEEN USED BY OTHER PERSONS. 
veyed from one person to another through the use of 
towels. It is best always for each person to have his 
own toilet articles. 
The hair and scalp (that portion of the head upon 
which the hair grows) need to be kept clean. A 
thorough brushing of the hair for five minutes every 176 
HEALTH HABITS 
day aids in keeping it clean, and makes it grow. Do 
you know why ? 
There are no set rules as to how often to wash the 
hair. It should be cleaned whenever it is 
dirty. When one lives much amid dust and 
dirt, the hair as well as the body will need washing often. 
As we have seen, nature provides the hair with oil 
from little glands in the skin. If the hair be kept clean 
and healthy, no other 
oil will be needed. Hair 
oils used on the scalp are 
likely to become rancid 
or foul in the hair, and 
they gather dust; they 
should therefore be 
avoided. Rubbing the 
scalp briskly with the 
fingers, which have been 
dipped in cold water, for 
two or three minutes 
every day will help to 
keep it healthy. 
To wash the hair, a 
bowl, a pitcher of tepid 
water, one of cold water, some pure soap, and plenty of 
fluffy towels will be needed. Begin by brushing the hair 
upwards towards the top of the head (it is easier to 
handle from the front) and make sure that it is straight. 
If the hair is tangled when it goes into the water, it will 
Washing 
the hair. 
YOU CANNOT HAVE A GOOD HEAD OF HAIR 
UNLESS YOU TAKE CARE OF IT. THE CARE OF THE SKIN 
177 
come out tangled. When well brushed out, oil the free 
ends. Make a good lather with the soap. Rub this 
well through the hair and over the scalp with the ends 
of the fingers. Afterwards, the soap must be wholly 
rinsed off. A warm spray is best for this, but the 
hair may be dipped in and out of a bowl of water, 
changing the water two or three times. Finish with a 
gentle dash of cold water to prevent taking cold. Dry 
by rubbing the hair between soft towels, gently shaking 
it in the outdoor air and sunshine in warm weather. 
In cold weather the heated air rising from the furnace 
will help to dry the hair. Always brush the hair out 
while damp, as it is then easier to straighten. 
Hair needs sunshine and fresh air, so that the less it 
is covered the better. Hats and caps should be worn 
only out of doors. Combs and brushes for use on the 
hair should be kept clean. A lady I know makes her 
brushes clean in this way: she puts a dessert spoonful of 
ammonia into a quart of water, then dips the brushes up 
and down in it, taking care not to wet the backs. In 
two or three minutes the dirt comes out. Then in the 
same way she dips them in clean water to rinse them, 
shakes the water out, and dries them on a rack. 
Finger nails need special attention, not only be- 
cause dirty nails appear untidy, but because the dirt 
which collects underneath them often has 
mixed with it some of the worst kind of 
disease germs. The nails may be kept clean very 
easily. When washing the hands, scrub the finger 
Caring for 
the nails. 178 
HEALTH HABITS 
nails with a brush, and clean with an orange-wood 
stick. 
It is not wise to clean the nails while dry with a knife 
or other sharp metal instrument which will scrape the 
nail. Such treatment will make the nail rough, and 
Nails " in mourning." 
Clean nails add much 
to one's looks. 
harder to clean the next time. The nails should never 
be bitten or torn off. Trim them carefully and evenly 
with sharp nail scissors. 
When a person walks much in dust and dirt, his 
feet should have a daily bath at bedtime, whether he 
takes a full bath or not. If one goes barefoot or if 
the feet sweat much, nothing will answer except a 
tepid water-and-soap bath, with careful rinsing after- 
ward in cold water. When the feet are thoroughly THE CARE OF THE SKIN 
179 
dried with a soft towel, it is a good time to attend to the 
toe nails, which like those of the fingers should be kept 
clean and well trimmed. Cut them straight across, 
never round or pointed, as this is liable to make them 
grow into the flesh. 
Remember: Every machine needs to be made clean 
before it can do good work- The person who takes care 
to keep all parts of the body clean can work better, 
study better, and will feel better than one who is care- 
less in this respect. 
HEALTH PROBLEMS 
I. Compare the inside of the lips with the skin covering the 
hands as to fineness and delicacy. Explain the difference. 
2. Why should the scarf skin or epidermis not be very sensitive ? 
What would happen to us if it were very sensitive ? 
3. Have you ever had callous places on your hands or feet ? 
What are they ? Do they hurt when you pinch them ? Why ? 
4. Rub your hands or fingers over a piece of writing paper 
a number of times, and then see whether you can make a clear 
mark on it with pencil or pen. Explain. 
5. What would happen if one should smear his skin all over 
with a paint which would stop every pore ? Why ? 
6. Which would use up more time, do you think, to take a 
cold rub every morning, or to be laid up with a "cold" for two 
or three weeks every winter ? 
7. Should a person use on his hair a brush or comb which has 
been used by other persons ? Why ? 
REVIEW QUESTIONS 
T. What is scarf skin or epidermis? What is its use ? 
2. What is the true skin, or dermis? What is its use ? 180 
HEALTH HABITS 
3. What is the pigment and where is it located ? 
4. What is the meaning of "getting tanned ? " What causes 
freckles ? 
5. What is sweat or perspiration? 
6. Js perspiration good for the body ? Why ? 
7. Why should not one sit in a cold draught just after per- 
spiring freely ? 
8. How must the skin be cared for in order to keep it smooth 
and beautiful ? 
9. How does the skin get the oil needed to keep it soft and 
elastic ? 
to. How often should one bathe the entire body ? What is 
the best time for this bath ? 
11. What should be the temperature of the bath at night? 
In the morning ? 
12. How should one take his morning rub ? 
13. What dangers should be avoided in taking a cold or a 
warm bath ? 
14. How should one finish a hot bath ? 
15. How should ong^are for the hair ? for the nails ? 
16. How can one (fivoid;" liana nails" ? CHAPTER XVIII 
Clothing the Body 
Do you know that all machinery when at work makes 
heat ? The working of the living machinery within 
the body creates heat. The harder it works the more 
heat it produces. If all the heat remained in the body, 
we should feel much too warm, as one does when he has 
a fever. So Nature has arranged for the skin to carry 
off some of it through the perspiration, and in other 
ways of which we shall learn later. It happens then 
that almost all the surplus heat of the body escapes 
from the skin. 
One of the chief reasons for wearing clothes is to 
prevent the too rapid loss of this heat. Clothes in 
themselves furnish us no heat. They keep 
us warm, but they do so by helping to retain 
the heat of the body. The kinds of .cloth 
which do this best make what we call the warmest 
clothing. For this reason we choose woolens for cold- 
weather wear. Linen, cotton, and silk, which permit 
the heat to pass away from the body much faster than 
wool, make cooler garments for summer use. Too 
much clothing makes the skin very sensitive, and in this 
way one becomes subject to colds. 
Clothes 
prevent 
loss of heat. 
181 182 
HEALTH HABITS 
Some years ago I visited a school for Indian children 
in New Mexico. The boys and girls who attended it 
had, while living with their parents, worn no clothing. 
They were used to plunging into water and swimming 
like ducks, even in the coldest weather found in New 
Mexico. So active had their skin become that they 
did not at all mind weather changes. When they 
came to school, they adopted the fashion of wearing 
clothes like other children. In a short time they began 
to suffer with the colds, coughs, and sore throats from 
which they had before been free. 
Just how much clothing one ought towear depends 
upon several things: 
i. How the skin has been trained. A skin that is 
kept healthy by cleanliness, and the use of 
the daily cold bath requires less clothing 
than a neglected skin. 
2. Age and health. Old people, babies, and persons 
in ill health, being less able to resist cold than others, 
require more protection by clothing. 
3. One's habits of living. Those who live in warm 
rooms during cold weather need little if any more 
clothing while indoors than they wear in summer. 
Upon going out-of-doors, even if it be but for a few 
minutes stay, additional garments should be put on. 
We require while exercising less clothing than when 
inactive. Why ? 
4. The weather. We must vary our clothing to 
suit the weather. We ought not to make a rule that 
The proper 
amount of 
clothing. CLOTHING THE BODY 
183 
because it is summer we will wear thin clothing all the 
time, or that since it is April, we will leave off our winter 
underclothing. Cold days occur in summer and warm 
ones in winter. Even the warmest day of summer 
may be changed to a cool one in a few hours by a 
thunder shower. One ought to adapt his 
clothing to the weather regardless of the 
season. 
When going out-of-doors in cold or wet 
weather, one should wear extra garments 
on the feet and limbs as well as 
the upper part of the body. These 
should at once be removed on 
coming into the house. Outdoor wraps 
should not be so heavy as to tire one in 
wearing them, nor so warm as to cause per- 
spiration. Several thin layers of cloth keep 
us warmer than one thick one of equal 
weight, because between each two gar- 
ments is a layer of air which helps to hold 
the warmth. 
All kinds of clothing should be porous, that is, should 
permit the air to pass through. Chamois, jackets and 
rubber raincoats which we sometimes need to protect 
us from wet and cold are air-proof, and not suited for 
constant use. With no air to evaporate it, the per- 
spiration from the skin clings to the body and the 
clothing. After taking off a raincoat which has been 
worn for some time, the clothing is often so wet 
clothing 
for cold 
weather- 
Why is Mary 
SHIVERING WITH 
COLD ? 184 
HEALTH HABITS 
that the air will soon chill one. Unless one changes 
his clothing quickly or exercises until his clothing 
becomes dry, he may get a severe cold. Rubbers 
make the shoes and stockings damp in the same 
way. They should not be worn indoors. It is a 
good plan on taking them off to change to dry shoes 
and stockings. Rubbers after being worn should be 
dried before wearing them again. 
If on the way to school you should be caught in a 
shower and get your clothing wet, ask your teacher to 
allow you to go home and make a change, 
or to permit you to keep exercising until your 
clothes are dry. Even when sitting or standing, one 
may exercise vigorously by contracting the muscles so 
as to make them tense and hard. 
If the feet get wet, the shoes and stockings should be 
changed as soon as possible. But first, if the feet have 
been wet for some time and are cold, put them in a bath 
of hot water for a few minutes, until warm and well 
reddened. Lift the feet from the hot water, and dash 
a dipperful of cold water over them ; then rub them dry 
with a coarse towel. Cold feet may also be warmed by 
first rubbing with cold water then with a dry towel. 
Woodsmen sometimes warm their freezing feet by 
rubbing them with snow. 
Quite likely you have never thought that the color 
of a garment makes any difference in its 
warmth, but it does. If you have ever seen a 
polar bear you know that its coat is white ; and white is 
Wet 
clothing. 
The color 
important, CLOTHING THE BODY 
185 
the color of the fur of many other animals in the cold 
North. This is no doubt for a purpose, as white gar- 
ments are warmer in cold weather, except in the bright 
sunshine, than those of darker color. White and light- 
colored clothing is also cooler in summer. People 
living in hot countries have learned this and most 
commonly wear white. Light-colored clothing is 
warmer in winter and cooler in summer than dark 
clothing for the reason that white or light colors reflect 
or turn away the heat of the sun and so protect us 
from overheating in summer, and also protect us from 
cold in the winter by preventing the escape of the 
body heat. 
We should be able to move as freely with our clothes 
on as without them. Clothing which is too tight to 
permit the body to bend with ease in all ways 
is too tight to be worn. When children grow 
fast, it often happens that their clothing, which of 
course does not grow with them as does the skin, gets 
so tight and small that it binds and squeezes the body 
most uncomfortably. Tight belts, tight collars, tight 
bands, tight waists, tight corsets, tight garters, all do 
great harm. If one wants his body to serve him well, 
he must provide it ample room in which to work. 
The strong bones of the shoulders can bear the weight 
of one's clothing better than any other part of 
the body. To have one's clothing hang from the 
shoulders is the best plan. To fasten it about 
the waist merely is hard on the body, for its weight thus 
Tight cloth- 
ing harmful. 
The weight 
of the 
clothes. 186 
HEALTH HABITS 
becomes a constant drag upon the delicate organs 
within the body in the vicinity of the waist. Sooner 
or later they will get so pushed out of place that harm 
will result. 
In order to keep the body clean one must, of course, 
wear clean clothing. Garments worn next to the skin 
are very soon soiled by the perspiration. On 
this account there should be frequent changes 
of underclothing, even when it looks clean. Garments 
that can stand boiling can easily be made clean. For 
this reason cotton and linen underclothes are to be pre- 
ferred. In cold weather, a thin cotton or linen suit 
with a light one of wool worn over it makes a good 
combination. Heavy, closely woven fabrics afford less 
warmth than light porous underwear, besides being less 
healthful and comfortable. 
Daytime clothing should be taken off at night and 
hung open to the air, so that the moisture received from 
the body may dry out. Would it be best to hang it in 
a room other than the one used to sleep in ? Would 
it be proper to hang it in a closed wardrobe or closet 
where air cannot reach it ? 
Garments worn at night should be aired every 
day, and so also should the bed coverings, which are 
really a part of our night clothing. What do you 
think of the practice of rolling up the clothing worn 
at night, and tucking it under the pillow during the 
day ? 
Underclothing absorbs more or less of the waste 
clean 
clothing. CLOTHING THE BODY 
187 
matter thrown oft from the body; and even though 
aired daily, it becomes in a few days too soiled to be 
used again until made clean. When we lay such gar- 
ments aside to await wash day, we should not leave 
them in heaps on the floor of the bedroom or clothes 
closet. Soiled clothing spoils the air of a room. It 
should be spread out or hung in some well-aired vacant 
room. Dresses and coats of cloth that hold dust should 
first be brushed and shaken out-of-doors before being 
hung in the clothes closet. Clean the shoes and rubbers 
out-of-doors before putting them away. 
One depends so much upon his feet to support his 
body, when he walks, runs, jumps, skips, skates, and 
climbs that he cannot afford to cripple their usefulness. 
So he must be careful how he clothes them. Many 
children prefer to go barefoot in summer. Would 
they go barefoot in winter, too, were it not for the cold ? 
There are many people in warm countries who go bare- 
foot all the time. They can walk very fast, and the 
soles of their feet become so hardened that they do 
not mind the rough roads. In Porto Rico, Mexico, and 
Egypt I have seen many old persons who had never 
worn a shoe ; but these are warm countries. 
The feet feel most comfortable when unshod. It is 
well to go barefoot indoors so long as our feet are not 
cold. But it is not always safe to go out-of- 
doors without some kind of foot covering. 
In certain parts of the country the soil is unclean, and 
full of the tiny hookworms that enter the body through 
shoeg 188 
HEALTH HABITS 
the skin of the feet, and cause a serious disease. In 
many places where children love to go, there is danger 
to bare feet from germs, and from rusty nails and 
pieces of glass, so that it often seems wisest to pro- 
tect the soles with sandals, which is next best to going 
barefoot. 
The proper shoe to wear is one that has the shape of 
the natural foot. People often wear shoes that are 
too narrow or too short. Do you think it is sensible to 
do this ? With high and narrow heels one cannot walk 
or stand gracefully, and the muscles are strained and 
injured. Shoes with very thin soles ought not to be 
worn in cold or wet weather. Why ? Tight shoes 
cause cold feet. They also make corns, and other- 
wise harm the feet. 
The shoe should fit the foot. A too common way is 
to try to make the foot fit the shoe. You have perhaps 
heard how it used to be the fashion in China for the rich 
ladies to have small feet, and that to make them so they 
began when a girl was small, and her bones soft, to bend 
the toes under the foot. At the same time the foot was 
wrapped in so tight a bandage that it could not grow. 
The process was a very painful one, and it took a long 
time. In the end the foot was too deformed for use, 
and the unfortunate lady could only hobble ; she could 
never move about freely as you do. 
It is a good plan to use two pairs of shoes, wearing 
one pair one day and the other the next day. It costs 
no more to do this than to have but one pair. Shoes, CLOTHING THE BODY 
189 
like other clothing, get foul with body waste ; and they 
should be given a chance to air and dry, so that they 
may be kept clean for wear. The stockings should be 
changed often, and always dried and aired at night. 
Young Theodore, a friend of mine, had a hard experi- 
ence with shoes. When he was ten years old, he 
coaxed his father to let him buy his own shoes for a 
year. After making him an allowance to spend for 
shoes for one year, his father told him he might buy 
them for himself. Now, Theodore had for some days 
envied a playmate who had a new pair of tan oxfords, 
and he wanted to get for himself a pair just like them. 
This he did as soon as he could. The tan shoes had 
pointed toes and somewhat higher heels than he had 
worn before. The high heels made him look taller, 
but they made his foot slide into the point of the shoe, 
which was narrow, and his toes were so cramped and 
pressed he found it almost impossible to walk, and his 
feet hurt him so he did not care to play. But they were 
pretty shoes, and they gave his feet so much style that 
he was quite proud of them. At times he was tempted 
to take them off because they pinched his feet so badly, 
but he was afraid his sister would laugh at him. So 
he wore them until night, although he suffered from 
them. When he took them off, his toes looked red and 
bruised. There was a sore spot on one foot and a 
blister on the other. 
You might suppose that after one day's trial he 
would not again try wearing those shoes ; but he did. 190 
HEALTH HABITS 
Some one told him that new shoes always hurt the 
feet, and that they had to be worn a few days to get 
them "broken in." So he kept wearing the shoes and 
suffering. By and by he got his feet squeezed into the 
shape of his shoes - you see it was his feet that had 
to be "broken in" - and after a time he got some 
corns on his feet and an ingrowing toe nail that were 
painful. 
Remember: Health and comfort demand that one 
should wear clean, dry, porous, and loose-fitting gar- 
ments. Very tight-fitting shoes, collars, and the like 
should be avoided. 
HEALTH PROBLEMS 
I. Take a thermometer which registers about 32° outdoors. 
Put it next to the body, inside the clothing, and notice how 
quickly it rises. Where does the heat come from ? Why does 
one get so warm when he works hard or runs fast ? 
2. Put a piece of woolen and of cotton cloth against the face 
or any part of the body. Which feels the warmer ? Why ? 
3. Do you think people who wear heavy mufflers about the 
throat in winter avoid having sore throat ? Why ? 
4. Is it well to wear heavy ear mufflers in moderately cold 
weather ? Why ? 
5. Why do people use storm windows in winter - to keep 
out the cold or to keep in the heat ? 
6. Why do people use hollow tile in the walls of their houses 
when they build them ? 
7. On a very hot day, people often put water on the face, 
hands, and neck, and let it dry in the air. Why ? 
8. Why do we so often speak of wet days as cold days ? CLOTHING THE BODY 
191 
9. Feel a thick, hard-woven suit of underwear and a loosely 
woven, fluffy one; which feels the warmer ? Explain. 
10. Which is warmer, a heavy, hard quilt, or a light, fluffy one ? 
Why? 
REVIEW QUESTIONS 
I. Where does the heat which makes the body warm come 
from ? Is it all kept in the body ? 
2. What is the chief reason for wearing clothes ? 
'3. What kinds of material best keep the heat of the body 
from escaping ? What kinds permit the heat to escape readily ? 
4. Can the skin be trained to endure a good deal of cold ? 
How ? 
5. Why do many people take "cold" easily in winter ? 
6. How should one dress when going out in cold or wet 
weather ? 
7. What is the objection to wearing raincoats, rubbers, and 
very thick, heavy clothing all the time ? 
8. Does the color of clothing make any difference in regard 
to its warmth or coolness ? 
9. What is the objection to wearing tight belts or collars or 
bands ? 
10. What is the best cold-weather combination in under- 
clothing ? 
11. What should be done with daytime clothing at night ? 
12. Why should one be careful to clothe the feet properly ? CHAPTER XIX 
Protecting the Body's Health 
We have seen that people become sick from many 
causes. One person may become ill from eating too 
much, or from wearing clothes too tight, or 
from abusing his body in some other way. 
Another becomes sick from not keeping his body clean 
or from not keeping it in good poise ; still others may 
become sick from bacteria or germs that get into the 
body and live there. 
Nearly all these bacteria come from the bodies of the 
sick. They get into the air, and into the water and 
food in various ways. If one then breathes 
this air, or drinks the water or eats the food 
that contains bacteria, he too may become sick with the 
kind of disease they cause. Diphtheria, typhoid fever, 
smallpox, measles, whooping cough, infantile paralysis, 
pneumonia, tuberculosis, cholera, and grippe are the 
names of some of these diseases. They are all catch- 
ing. Each is produced by a special sort of bacteria. 
The kind that causes one disease will not make a person 
sick with any other disease. 
All these diseases are dangerous, and they should 
be avoided as one would avoid a lion or any other 
The causes 
of sickness. 
Germs 
192 PROTECTING THE BODY'S HEALTH 
193 
ferocious animal. When any one is sick with a catch- 
ing disease, all persons who are not needed to give 
him proper care should keep away from him. 
Most towns and cities have one or more persons, 
called health officers, whose business it is to try to pre- 
vent these catching diseases. When any one is ill with 
a dangerous disease like diphtheria, measles, scarlet 
fever, typhoid fever, or smallpox, the health officer puts 
a sign on the house. When people see that sign, they 
know it to be a warning, and they should keep away. 
A lady whose little daughter had scarlet fever did 
not want a sign put on her house, so she told no one 
Marv is very sick with a disease she caught from a playmate. 194 
HEALTH HABITS 
what ailed the child. Other children came to the house. 
The little girl, not being very ill, was permitted to play 
with them. A few days afterward several of these 
children became very sick with scarlet fever. It cost 
their parents much money to provide the care their 
illness required. They missed school and all the good 
times their playmates were having. One child lost his 
hearing as a result of his illness, and each one suffered 
to a greater or less degree. All for the lack of a card 
which would warn people that there was a dangerous 
disease in the house ! 
It is our duty to do all we can to protect others as 
well as ourselves from disease. When a case of catching 
disease occurs in a home or school, it should be promptly 
reported to the health officer. In many places there 
are laws which make it a crime not to do this. Is this 
the case in your town ? 
Scarlet fever, measles, whooping cough, mumps, and 
chicken pox are often called " children's diseases." 
When once a child has recovered from one of these 
diseases, he rarely has it a second time. 
Scarlet fever is the most dangerous disease of child- 
hood. It is very apt so to weaken the body that other 
serious diseases follow it either at once or later in life. 
Injuries which result from it often last the person all 
his lifetime. The eyes or ears are often so seriously 
injured that partial or complete blindness or deafness 
is produced. Even mild cases are dangerous. One who 
has it must be given the best of care. This is not always PROTECTING THE BODY'S HEALTH 
195 
possible at the child's own home. In many places 
special hospitals are provided for the care of those ill 
with catching diseases. This is a boon to the sick one, 
and likewise a means of protection for well people. 
Scarlet fever is spread by discharges from the throat 
and nose and by scales which fall from the skin. Gen- 
erally it takes six weeks for the person to get so well 
that there is no danger of giving the disease to 
others. Even though the patient feels quite well, it 
may not be safe to allow him to mingle with his play- 
mates because he may still carry with him some living 
scarlet fever germs which might give rise to the disease 
in others. So a person who has had scarlet fever must 
wait until he is released by the health officer. 
Scarlet fever germs may be carried from the sick to 
the well on clothing, books, papers, and things worn or 
handled ; they may lodge too in the room where the 
sick one has been. To prevent other cases these germs 
must be completely destroyed. 
Measles is another dangerous disease against which 
the same precautions as with scarlet fever are necessary. 
It is communicated in a similar manner. It may leave 
behind it also a whole train of dread diseases. 
It is most important that children avoid all catching 
diseases. A sore throat is apt to be the first bad feeling 
in the case of scarlet fever and some other serious dis- 
eases. It is wise to beware of any person with a sore 
throat. 
The mouth is the gateway through which many 196 
HEALTH HABITS 
germs get into the body. Many germs leave the bodies 
of the sick through this same gateway. Do 
you think it a wise thing for people to kiss 
one another on the mouth ? Do you think it 
right to allow all sorts of people to kiss a baby ? 
A sick man drinks from a public drinking cup. He 
may leave disease germs from his mouth on the rim of 
the cup. Then a little girl comes for a drink, and the 
germs get a fine chance to slip into her mouth while 
she is drinking. 
If you are thirsty when at play, go to one of the 
bubble fountains that you can drink from without a 
cup. If you must use a public drinking cup, put both 
lips into it, and be careful not to touch the rim. Should 
you always take your own drinking cup to school with 
you ? Why ? 
Suppose that when you get to school you find that 
you have forgotten your pencil. Should you borrow one 
from a classmate ? Suppose you borrow one from a 
pupil who has a habit of putting his pencil in his mouth, 
and suppose you have the same habit. What may be 
the result ? Diphtheria and other germs have been 
found on pencils. They are often carried from one 
child to another in this manner. 
Think over this case : You go into the Public Library, 
and sit down to read in the Children's Room. The 
first book you pick up has dirty thumb marks on the 
pages. There is a boy near you, wetting his thumb in 
his mouth every time he turns the pages. You say: 
Germs en- 
ter through 
the mouth. PROTECTING THE BODY'S HEALTH 
197 
"This is not a nice habit. It makes the book dirty." 
But is this the worst thing about the boy's dirty habit ? 
Five thousand bacteria were found sticking to the leaf 
of a book, from one thumb that had been wet with 
saliva. Might they pass from the book to your hands 
as you turn the leaves ? What should one do in a case 
like this ? 
From door knobs, car rails, and straps, and other 
things that everybody touches, you may gather disease 
germs on your hands. If you are in too much of a 
hurry to wash your hands before dinner, you may give 
the germs a good opportunity to pass into your mouth 
with your food. Is it well to keep the hands away 
from the face and not rub them over the face ? Why ? 
Sore eyes and pimples on the face may come from hands 
that have bacteria on them. 
A man with disease germs in his mouth spits in the 
street. A little boy comes along and gathers up some 
of the germs along with the dirt which clings to his 
boots. When he goes home he does not stop to wipe 
his boots on the doormat. He goes into the sitting- 
room, and some of the dirt on his boots is wiped off on 
the rug. His little sister is playing on the floor. 
The germs get on her hands ; she puts her finger in 
her mouth and the germs go with it. What may be 
the result of this ? 
When people have certain diseases, they distribute 
disease germs wherever they go, unless they are very 
careful. A great many germs are scattered about by 198 
HEALTH HABITS 
people's spitting on the sidewalk or in public places. 
This is so dangerous that in some towns and cities 
there are laws against spitting, and people who arc 
caught expectorating on the walk are fined or put ir 
prison. Is this just, do you think ? In cars and public 
buildings you may often see the sign: "Don't spit.'' 
Reading late at night in a posture like this is likely to weaken one 
SO THAT HE CANNOT RESIST DISEASE. 
Is this a rule every one should obey even if there are no 
laws forbidding it ? 
A little sick girl was shut in the house away from all 
her playmates. It was not safe for them to visit her. 
One of her friends sent in her pussy to amuse and 
comfort the sick child. When the child was better, 
the kitten was sent home. After a few days her PROTECTING THE BODY'S HEALTH 
199 
mistress noticed that kitty was not well. She petted 
and fondled the kitten. Soon the child herself was 
taken ill with the same disease that her little friend 
had. She herself had not been near the sick child. 
How did she catch the disease ? We often hear cats 
sneezing, and see their eyes running just as ours do 
when we have a cold. Even when they are not sick 
themselves, they often carry disease germs in their fur. 
Is it a good thing to nurse and-fondle cats ? Do you 
always know where your pussy goes visiting when she 
is out of your house ? Is it best not to run any risks r 
Formerly no one knew that colds and influenza were 
catching, but now it is known that in sneezing and 
coughing a person with a cold sends out into the air 
around him little droplets of moisture full of germs 
which those near him may breathe in and get the same 
disease. The same is the case when one has influenza. 
Quite often children have these diseases and although 
they do not feel as well as usual continue to go to 
school. What do you think might likely happen ? 
This is what did happen in a school I know about. 
It was at a time when influenza was very prevalent. 
There were over a thousand pupils who attended the 
school. On one floor this plan was carried out: As 
soon as a child in any room showed symptoms of influ- 
enza he was sent home and at night that room was 
cleansed in a way that left no germs behind. As a 
result less than two dozen of the pupils on that floor 
took the disease. On the other floor no such care was 200 
HEALTH HABITS 
taken and about two thirds of the children suffered 
with influenza. 
From one single case of a catching disease, if it is not 
well guarded, there may follow hundreds. Two boys 
I knew had whooping cough. They did not 
feel so very sick. It seemed too bad for them 
to miss their lessons, and get behind in their 
classes, so their parents allowed them to go to school. 
Very soon nearly all the children in that school who 
had not already had it were having that disease. 
Should those boys have been kept at home ? Why ? 
Whooping cough kills 10,000 children in the United 
States every year. Those who do not die from it are 
likely to have their bodies so weakened by it that they 
will be unable to resist pneumonia and tuberculosis. 
Do you think any one having such a serious disease 
should be willing to be the cause of other people get- 
ting it ? 
Stand on the dock when a steamer is leaving, and 
you are sure to see a lot of waving handkerchiefs. 
People often signal to each other in this manner. If 
the handkerchiefs have been used, they will be likely 
to contain germs from the nose and mouth. Each 
wave of the handkerchief may send out into the air a 
little shower of disease germs. It is important to 
change one's handkerchiefs often, even when one is 
well. Why ? Should one ever flourish a soiled hand- 
kerchief in the air ? Sick people should use paper 
handkerchiefs that can be burned. Why ? The Jap- 
Guarding 
against 
contagion. PROTECTING THE BODY'S HEALTH 
201 
anese, who are very clean in their habits, and a very 
healthy people, always use paper handkerchiefs. The 
discharge from the nose when one has a cold very 
quickly makes a cloth handkerchief so moist that it is 
of no further use. A girl I once knew used to dry her 
handkerchiefs on the steam coils so she could use them 
a second time. Do you think this a safe way to do ? 
Is it wise to wipe the eyes with a handkerchief that has 
been used for the nose ? Those who care for babies 
frequently use their own handkerchief for the little 
ones. Do you think this a safe plan ? 
Probably the disease that kills more people than 
any other is consumption, or tuberculosis. One tenth 
of all deaths is due to it. It is so common 
that in this country one person dies from it 
every three minutes. Tuberculosis most often 
affects the lungs, although it occurs in other 
organs of the body. When the lungs are diseased, the 
sick one coughs, and sometimes raises much foul 
matter. This swarms with the germs that are the cause 
of the disease. If this falls upon the floor, carpet, or 
bedding, the germs get into the air of the house, and 
whoever breathes it may also get tuberculosis. 
If the sputum (foul matter from the lungs) is dis- 
charged upon the ground or sidewalk, it is likely to be 
trodden under foot, and thus carried about, distributing 
germs in new places, or it may become dry and mingle 
with the dust which may be borne by the wind, scatter- 
ing germs wherever the dust flies. A scientist found 
m , 
Tuberculo- 
sis, the 
deadly 
diS63S6 202 
HEALTH HABITS 
large numbers of tuberculosis germs on grapes that 
grew in a vineyard near a dusty highway. Tuber- 
culosis germs are scattered too by the tiny droplets 
which are sprayed out into the air every time a sick 
person coughs or sneezes. 
Whatever a person suffering from tuberculosis eats 
with or in any way uses about his mouth is sure to 
carry germs, unless it is thoroughly cleansed. As 
likely as not, too, when a sick person spits upon the 
floor or sidewalk, flies walking over the foul matter 
get it on their wings and feet, and so carry some of its 
germs along to the next person or thing upon which 
they alight. 
With all these ways of distributing the germs of 
tuberculosis, see how easy it is for one person to get 
them from another, if the sick person is not most careful. 
A wise program for the sick is : (i) To hold a cloth 
before the mouth when coughing. The cloth should 
be burned thereafter; (2) To spit into squares of soft 
cloth or paper napkins, using each but once and after- 
ward burning it; (3) To use a pocket cuspidor or some 
vessel filled with a disinfectant; (4) To use the same 
dishes at each meal, and to wash them separately from 
those used by other people ; (5) To wash the hands 
often ; (6) To avoid kissing. 
Care in promptly destroying all germs that come 
from consumptive people would save thousands of 
people every year from getting this disease. Careless 
people who are ill with tuberculosis are to be feared. PROTECTING THE BODY'S HEALTH 
203 
Sometimes it happens that neither sick people nor their 
friends understand about the precautions needed to 
protect well people. So you see it is most im- 
portant for every one to know about this dis- 
ease, and how to prevent its spread. When 
tuberculosis germs are breathed into the lungs of a per- 
fectly healthy person, they are likely soon to be killed by 
Preventing 
tuberculo- 
sis. 
This is a good place for the breeding of disease germs. 
the brave little white blood cells of which we learned in 
Chapter VIII. It is the one who is out of health or 
run down from one or another cause, such as lack of 
proper food, or of sleep, or of fresh air, that most often 
gets tuberculosis. The use of alcohol and tobacco, be- 204 
HEALTH HABITS 
cause they weaken the body, make one very liable to 
get tuberculosis if he breathes in the germs. The surest 
course to pursue in order to avoid getting tuberculosis 
is to practice health habits, and to keep the body so 
well and strong that it can resist disease. Mention 
the health habits that will protect the body from this 
disease. 
The tuberculosis germ has a good chance to gain a 
hold in the body when a person is having a cold. It is 
Flies, dust, and the like always bring disease after them. 
wise therefore never to neglect a cold. Taken at the 
beginning, tuberculosis can be cured. Rest, good food, 
and outdoor air and sunshine are the four best ways to 
bring about a cure. Physicians say the best thing to 
do is to live out of doors in the open air and sunshine 
twenty-four hours of each day. Why should this be 
good for a person sick with tuberculosis ? 
One who has a cough for a long time ought to have an 
examination made. The health department in most PROTECTING THE BODY'S HEALTH 
205 
cities will make an examination free. It is very impor- 
tant for one who has tuberculosis germs to find it out as 
soon as possible so that he may take steps to be cured. 
He should find it out, too, so that he may protect 
those among whom he dwells, and may make himself 
a safe person to associate with. 
HEALTH PROBLEMS 
I. Place a piece of glass about four inches away from your 
mouth when you cough or talk loud, and notice whether any- 
thing appears on it. Explain. 
2. Suppose your classmate has a "cold in his head," and 
sneezes a good deal very near you. Are you in any danger ? 
Explain. 
3. Sometimes a person gets in the habit of "clearing his throat" 
with his mouth open when others are near by. Should he do this ? 
Why? 
4. If one must cough when others are near by, is there any 
way he can prevent the spray from his throat and lungs being 
sent out into the atmosphere ? Explain. 
5. Tell five ways in which harmful bacteria or disease germs 
may get into the body. 
6. Find out what the Board of Health or the physicians or 
the people in the place you live are doing to get rid of some catch- 
ing disease. 
7. Has your school ever been closed on account of some "epi- 
demic" ? If so, what was it ? Why was the school closed ? 
8. Suppose you knew of a family in which there was a case of 
scarlet fever, but the family would not tell physicians about it so 
that they would be "quarantined" ? What would you do ? Why ? 
9. Should every well person help the health officers as much 
as he can to prevent people from spitting on street cars, side- 
walks, in public buildings, etc. ? Why ? 206 
HEALTH HABITS 
REVIEW QUESTIONS 
I. Name several causes of sickness. 
2. What is the meaning of bacteria? 
3. Where do the bacteria that make one sick come from first ? 
4. How are they carried from one body to another ? 
5. What are some of the diseases caused by bacteria ? 
6. What may happen to well children playing at the house 
of a child who has such a disease as scarlet fever ? 
7. What is the gateway through which many germs enter 
the body ? 
8. Is there danger in using a public drinking cup ? 
9. Is there any danger from different children using the same 
lead pencil ? 
10. Is there any danger from eating food without first washing 
the hands ? 
11. Is there any danger from rubbing the eyes with the hands ? 
12. Is there any danger from people spitting on the street or 
in other public places ? 
13. Is there any danger from children fondling kittens ? 
14. Is there any danger to pupils in school from a child who has 
a hard cough ? 
15. Is there any danger from people waving handkerchiefs 
about in the air ? 
16. What is the disease known as tuberculosis ? 
17. How is tuberculosis spread among the people ? 
18. What care should one who is suffering with tuberculosis take? 
19. What do the white blood cells do to save one from tuber- 
culosis and other diseases ? 
20. How should one live in order to keep his white blood cells 
in good condition ? 
21. What kind of living may weaken one so he cannot fight 
tuberculosis and other diseases ? 
22. How can one find out whether he has tuberculosis ? GLOSSARY 
KEY TO PRONUNCIATION 
a, as in ale; a, as in sen ate; a, as in care; a, as in am; a, as in arm; a, as 
in ask; a, as in fi'nal; e, as in eve; 6, as in S-vent'; e, as in end; e, as in fern; 
e, as in re'c^nt; i, as in ice; i, as in i-de'a; I, as in ill; o, as in old; 6, as in 
6-bey;; 6, as in drb; o, as in odd; u, as in use; U, as in Q-nite'; ii, as in tip; 
•&, as in urn; y, as in pit'y; do, as in food; do, as in foot; on, as in out; oi, as 
in oil. 
A 
abdomen (ab-do'men). The middle part of the body, between the thorax 
and the pelvis. The cavity which contains the stomach, bowels, and 
other organs. 
adult (a-dult'h A person who is fully grown. 
alcohol (al'ko-nol). The intoxicating element of fermented or distilled 
liquors. 
alkaloid (al'ka-loid). Bitter substances found in nicotine, quinine, 
morphine, etc., that affect the nervous system strongly. 
apparatus (ap'pa-ra'tus). A collection or set of implements or organs 
for a given duty, as the vocal apparatus for making and regulating 
the voice. 
artery (ar'ter-y). One of the vessels or tubes which carry either venous 
or arterial blood from the heart. They have thicker and more mus- 
cular walls than veins and are connected with them by capillaries. 
artificial (ar'ti-fish'tzl). Not natural; made by human skill and labor. 
B 
backbone (bak-bon'). The column of bones in the back which sustains 
and gives firmness to the body, sometimes called the spine, or spinal 
column. 
bacteria (bak-te'ri-a) (pl. of bacterium). Living bodies too small to be 
seen by the naked eye. Certain kinds are harmful to the body; 
other kinds are protections. 
207 208 
GLOSSARY 
bellows (bel'lus). An instrument which by the opening and closing 
of its sides draws in the air through a valve and expels it through a 
tube, for blowing fires, ventilating mines, or filling pipes. 
beverage (bev'er-aj). Anything used as a drink, usually applied to drink 
artificially prepared, and of agreeable flavor, as coffee. 
blood vessel (blud' ves'sel). Any vessel or canal in which blood circulates, 
as an artery or vein. 
brisk (brisk). Lively; spirited; quick. 
C 
canal (ka-nal'). A tube or duct for conveying food or liquid, as the 
alimentary canal. 
capillary (kap'il-l^-ry or ka-pil'la-ry). A tiny thin-walled tube that 
connects a vein and an artery. 
carbon dioxide (kar'bon di-oks'id or id). A gas formed in the lungs 
when one breathes. 
cartilage (kar'ti-laj). Elastic tissue or gristle connecting muscles and 
bones. 
cavity (kav'i-ty). A hollow place, as the abdominal cavity. 
cell (sei). One of the minute parts of which most of the various tissues 
and organs of animals and plants are composed. 
chamois (sham'my). A soft leather made from the skin of the animal, 
the chamois. 
channel (chan'nel). A tube through which water or any liquid passes. 
chest (chest). The part of the body inclosed by the ribs and breast bone; 
also called the thorax. 
chicken pox (poks). A contagious disease attended by itching and 
peeling skin in the last stages. Unless care is taken to prevent, the 
patient is left with small scars or pits on his body. 
cholera (kol'er-a). A dangerous disease, very contagious, originating in 
filth. 
circulate (ser'ku-lat). To move in a circle. 
colander (kul'an-der). A dish with little holes for straining liquids, 
mashing vegetables, etc. 
combustion (kom-bus'chun). Burning up, as when wood or coal burns 
to ashes in a grate. 
competitive (kom-pet'i-tiv). An adjective applied to a contest between 
two or more persons, as in a race or a spelling match, and so on. 
contract (kon-trakt'). To draw together; to shorten, as the muscles of 
the arm contract when the arm is bent. GLOSSARY 
209 
cramp (kramp). To squeeze, to prevent an organ from having free 
action. 
D 
decay (de-ka'). To waste away; to rot; to perish. 
decompose (de'kom-poz'). To rot; to decay. 
deformity (dS-form'i-ty). Any unnatural shape or form; distortion; 
irregularity of shape or features; ugliness. 
dermis (der'mis). The deep sensitive layer of the skin beneath the 
scarfskin, or epidermis. 
diaphragm (di'a-fram). The muscular partition separating the cavity 
of the chest from that of the abdomen. 
digest (di-jest'). To separate the food in its passage through the ali- 
mentary canal into its nutritive and non-nutritive elements. 
digestion (di-jes'chun). The process of preparing the food to nourish 
the blood. 
diphtheria (dif-the'ri-a). A very dangerous contagious disease in which 
the air passages, especially the throat, become coated with a false 
membrane. 
disc (disk). A flat round plate. 
discus (dis'kus). A circular plate of some heavy material intended to 
be pitched or hurled as a test of strength and skill. 
disease (diz-ez'). Any change in the state of the body or of an organ, 
causing pain and weakness; illness; sickness. 
distillation (dis'til-la'shun). The separation of the parts that have the 
power of evaporating from the more fixed parts of a substance; 
vaporization; condensation. 
E 
efficiency (ef-fish'^n-sy). The power of doing the greatest amount of 
work with the least waste in a given time. 
enamel (en-am'el). The very hard tissue entering into the composition 
of the teeth. 
epidermis (ep'i-der'mis). The outer layer of the skin; cuticle; scarfskin. 
erect (e-rekt'). Upright; not leaning or bent. 
evaporate (e-vap'o-rat). To change from liquid into vapor, as when 
water evaporates in the sun. 
experiment (eks-per'i-m^nt). An act or operation undertaken in order 
to discover some unknown principle or effect or to test, establish, 
or illustrate some suggested or known truths ; practical test; proof. 210 
GLOSSARY 
F 
fermentation (fer'men-ta'shun). The change that takes place in fruit 
juice and the like when alcohol is formed. 
flabby (flab'by). Hanging loose by its own weight; not firm or strong. 
fluid (flu'id). A body whose particles move easily among themselves 
and do not tend to remain in any one form. Not solid, as water, 
milk, etc. 
foundation (foun-da'shun). That upon which a thing is supported or 
built, as the foundation of a house. 
framework (fram'wurk). The skeleton upon which the body is hung. 
G 
germ (jerm). That which is to develop an individual; the earliest form 
under which an organism appears. 
grippe (grip). The influenza or severe "cold in the head." 
gymnastics (jim-nas'tiks). Exercises taken regularly. 
H 
habit (hab'it). A fixed way of acting or carrying one's body. 
hookworm (hook'wurm). A tiny animal that gets into the blood through 
the skin, makes its way to the bowels, and multiplies. 
I 
infantile paralysis (m'fan-til pa-ral'i-sis). A disease in an infant which 
results in loss of power of locomotion. 
influenza (in'flu-en'za). A disease characterized by acute nasal catarrh, 
or by inflammation of the throat or the bronchi, and usually accom- 
panied by fever. 
J 
joint (joint). The place at which the bones unite or connect. 
L 
ligament (lig'a-ment). A tough band which unites bones or forms joints, 
loathsome (loth'sum). Exciting disgust, especially because of filthy 
nature; sickening. 
M 
measles (me'z'lz). A contagious disease marked by the appearance on 
the third day of a rash on the skin. GLOSSARY 
211 
microbe (mi'krob). An animal body so small that it can not be seen by 
the naked eye. 
microscope (mi'krd-skop). An instrument for making an enlarged image 
of an object which is too small to be seen by the naked eye. 
mucous membrane (mu'kus mem'bran). The membrane lining passages 
and cavities which communicate with the exterior. 
mumps (mumps). A contagious disease which produces a swelling of 
glands in the neck. 
N 
nicotine (nik'o-tin). A substance which is found in tobacco. It is 
poisonous. 
nostrils (nos'trils). The openings of the nose through which the air we 
breathe passes in and out of the lungs. 
O 
observant (ob-zerv'ant). Watchful; on the alert to notice objects and 
happenings. 
opium (6'pi-iim). Poppy juice, used as a drug. 
overtax (6'ver-taks). To do more than is good for one. 
oxygen (oks'i-jen). One of the elements of which air is composed, and 
which is necessary for life. 
P 
particle (par'ti-k'l). A minute part of matter; an atom. 
peevish (pe'vish). Habitually fault finding; easily vexed or fretted; 
hard to please. 
permanent teeth (per'ma-n,?nt teth). The teeth which remain after the 
temporary teeth have decayed. 
perspiration (per'spi-ra'shun). Sweat. 
perspiratory glands (per-spir'a-to-ry glandz). The glands through which 
the perspiration comes to the surface of the skin. 
pneumonia (nQ-mo'ni-a). A disease of the lungs. 
pores (porz). Minute openings or passageways, especially in the skin. 
porous (por'us). Full of pores. 
posture (pos'tur). The position of the body. 
precaution (prg-ka'shun). Looking ahead to ward off evil or to secure 
good. 212 
GLOSSARY 
pulmotor (pul'mo'ter). An instrument by means of which the lungs 
of a dying person may be filled and emptied with regularity. 
pulse (puls). The beating of the heart or blood vessels, usually felt at 
the wrist. 
R 
relax (re-laks'). To make lax or loose; as to let the muscles become 
slack. 
reservoir (rez'er-vwor'). A place where anything is kept in store; in 
the heart, where blood is kept in store. 
respiration (res'pi-ra'shun). Breathing. 
S 
sac (sak). A cavity or bag, usually containing fluid, and either closed or 
opening into another cavity or to the exterior. 
scarfskin (skarf'skin'). The outside layer of skin, or epidermis. 
scarlet fever (skar'let fe'ver). A contagious disease in which the patient 
has a rash of red on his body, that causes his skin to peel about the 
seventh day after the rash appears. 
secrete (se-kret'). To separate a fluid from the blood and elaborate by 
the process of secretion; to hide, to conceal. 
shambling (sham'bling). Awkward, irregular walking or running. 
shrivel (shriv''l). To draw, or be drawn, into wrinkles. 
sickly (sik'ly). Somewhat sick; disposed to illness. 
skeleton (skel'e-tun). The firm or hardened framework on which the 
body is hung. 
skull (skill). The skeleton of the head, including the brain case, or 
cranium, and the bones and cartilages of the face and mouth. 
smallpox (smal'poks'). A contagious disease, which causes the skin to 
peel and leaves deep pits, or scars. 
sneezing (snez'ing). The act of violently forcing air through the nasal 
passages while the cavity of the mouth is shut off from the pharynx 
by the approximation of the soft palate and the base of the tongue. 
spinal column (spl'n^l kol'um). The backbone. 
spine (spin). The backbone, or spinal column. 
sputum (spu'tum). Saliva; that which is expectorated; as when one 
has a cough. 
symptom (simp'tum). Any affection which accompanies disease. 
temporary teeth (tem'po-ra-ry teth). Teeth that grow first, and come out 
to make place for the permanent teeth. GLOSSARY 
213 
tendon (ten'dun). A tough cord, bundle, or band uniting a muscle with 
some other part; sometimes called sinew. 
trunk (trunk). The part of the body not included in the head and limbs, 
tuberculosis (tu-ber'kQ-lo'sis). A disease especially of the lungs, some- 
times called consumption. 
typhoid fever (ti'foid fe'ver). Of or pertaining to typhus, which is a 
contagious fever lasting from two to three weeks. 
V 
vein (van). One of the vessels which carry blood, either venous or arterial, 
to the heart. 
ventilation (ven'ti-la'shun). Replacing foul air by that which is pure, 
in any closed place, as a house, a church. 
vigor (vig'er). Force; energy; active strength. 
vigorous (vig'er-us). Strong; full of active force; robust. 
vital (vi'tal). Necessary to life. 
W 
whooping cough (hoop'ing kaf). A violent cough, returning frequently, 
windpipe (wind'pip). The passage for the breath from the larynx to 
the lungs; sometimes called the trachea. 
Y 
yeast (yest). The name given to a plant whose chief characteristic is 
the power to produce fermentation under certain conditions. INDEX 
Air, pure, 74-78; sleeping in out- 
door, 78-80; keeping fresh in- 
doors, 82-91; how made im- 
pure, 82-86; ten barrels spoiled 
a minute, 86; changing stale 
air indoors, 87. 
Alcohol a poison, 136-137. 
Appetite juice, 148. 
Arteries, 62. 
Bathing, rules for, 169-172; cold- 
air bath, 172; hot bath, 173. 
Beds, types of, 110-115. 
Blood and its work, 60; circulation 
of, 62; red cells in, 64; white 
cells in, 65. 
Breathing, health habits of, 93-105 ; 
means of, 93 ; right method of, 
94; exercises, 99-102; artificial, 
102-104. 
Capillaries, 62. 
Carbon dioxide, 84-85. 
Cells, red, 64; white, 65. 
Chair, effect of, in sitting, 25-27; 
right kind of, 28-29. 
Clothing, 181-191; to prevent loss 
of heat, 181-182; proper amount 
of, 182-184; wet, 184; im- 
portance of color in, 184; harm 
of tight clothing, 185; weight 
of, 185; cleanliness in, 186; 
clothing the feet, 187-190. 
Diaphragm, 94, 97. 
Digestion, work of, 119. 
Drinking, health habits in, 130- 
139; fermented drinks, 135-139; 
public drinking cup, 159-160. 
Drinks, fermented, 135-139; soda 
fountain, 138. 
Eating, health habits in, 117-129; 
too fast, 118; health rules in, 
120-129. 
Epidermis, 163. 
Exercise, good posture in, 33-39; 
health and, 41-47; why neces- 
sary, 41-42; and the self-acting 
muscles, 42-43 ; how to exercise, 
43; breathing, 99-102. 
Food, and muscle, 55; as building 
material for body, 117-118; 
types of, 118; choice and prep- 
aration of, 141-150; plants in 
the garden, 141. 
Framework, of the body, 15-16. 
Germs, as cause of sickness, 192- 
196; enter through the mouth, 
196; how spread, 196-200; 
guarding against contagion from, 
200. 
Habits, health, 7-11; making 
habits, 8-10; correcting, 10- 
215 216 
INDEX 
12; of straightness, 11; of 
breathing, 93-105 ; of sleeping, 
109-115; in eating, 117-129; 
in drinking, 130-139. 
Hair, care of, 176-177. 
Health, pays to have good health, 
1; good health is possible, 3; 
habits, 7-11; foundations of, 7; 
home surroundings may affect, 
42-47; and play, 48-57; habits 
in breathing, 93-105; habits in 
sleeping, 109-115; clean beds 
necessary for, 114; habits in 
eating, 117-129; habits in drink- 
ing, 130-139; protection of, 
192-206. 
Heart, 59-73; work of, 59; what 
it is, 62; taking care of, 68. 
Lungs, our air bags, 93; work like 
bellows, 98; effect of exercise 
on, 102. 
Mouth, care of, 151-161; bacteria 
in, 154, 158. 
Mucous membrane, 162. 
Muscle, the moving power, 33-39; 
use makes healthy, 36-37; and 
exercise, 42-43; poisoning of, 
46; necessity of good food for, 
55- 
Nails, care of, 177-179. 
Perspiration, 166. 
Pigment, 165. 
Play, and health, 48-57; a health 
habit, 48; injurious play, 49; 
rules for, 50; outdoor sports, 
50-53 ; gymnasium exercise, 53. 
Posture, in standing, 13-16; in 
sitting, 24-32; in exercise or 
work, 33-39; affects work or 
exercise, 38-39. 
Pulmotor, for artificial respiration, 
104. 
Pulse, 70. 
Ribs, in breathing, 97. 
Sitting, good posture in, 24-32. 
Skin, care of, 162-179; scarfskin, 
163; true skin, 165; pores in, 
166; regulates body heat, 167; 
must be kept clean, 168-170. 
Sleeping, outdoors, 78-80; health 
habits in, 106-115; effect of 
on body repair, 106; how much 
sleep is required, 107; regular 
habits of, 108; in fresh air, 109. 
Standing, good posture in, 13-16; 
habits, 13-14. 
Stomach, 119. 
Teeth, 151-158; need exercise, 
153; decay of, 154-155; care 
of, 156-158. 
Tendons, 35. 
Tuberculosis, spread of, 201; pre- 
vention of, 201-205. 
Ventilation, 87-91; by use of 
windows, 89. 
Water, body's need for, 130-131; 
pure water necessary, 132. 
Work, good posture in, 33-39. 
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