Object Lessons on the Human Body / A Transcript of Lessons Given in the Primary Department of School No. 49, New York City

QUESTIONS ON THE NOSE.

Where is the nose?—"In the middle of the face."

Name the parts of the nose.

Where is the tip of the nose?—"At the end of the nose."

Where is the bridge of the nose?—"At the top of the nose, between the eyes."

Where is the cartilage?—"In the middle of the inside of the nose."

Of what use is the nose?—"To smell and breathe through."

What are the nostrils?—"The openings inside of the nose."

Of what use are the nostrils?—"To let the air into and out of the opening back of the mouth."

QUESTIONS ON THE MOUTH, ETC.

Where is the mouth?—"In the lower part of the face, between the nose and the chin."

Of what use is the mouth?—"To breathe, speak, and eat through."

What is in the mouth?—"My tongue, my upper teeth, my lower teeth, and my upper and lower jaws."

What covers the jaws?—"Red flesh, called gum."

Of what are the jaws composed?—"Of bones."

Of what are the teeth made?—"Of dentine, covered with enamel." See note, p. 19.

What is enamel?—"A smooth, white substance, harder than bone."

Of what use are the teeth?—"To eat and talk with."

What kinds of teeth have you?—"Cutting teeth, tearing teeth, grinding teeth."

Describe the cutting teeth.—"The cutting teeth have broad and flat edges."

Describe the tearing teeth.—"The tearing teeth are sharp and pointed."

Describe the grinding teeth.—"The grinding teeth are the thick, back teeth."

Which jaw is moved in eating?—"The lower jaw."

What work do the teeth perform?—"They cut, tear, and grind the food."

How many teeth has a child in a full set?—"Twenty teeth: ten in each jaw."

How many teeth has a grown person in a full set?—"Thirty-two: sixteen in each jaw."

What does the tongue do in eating?—"It rolls the food between the teeth, and helps in swallowing."

What is the saliva?—"A kind of liquid, sometimes called spit."

Of what use is it in eating?—"It wets and softens the food."

What do you mean by preserve?—"To keep from injury."

What do you mean by injury?—"Hurt."

How do you preserve your teeth? See Formula.

How do very hot or very cold drinks hurt the teeth?—"They crack the enamel."

What happens if the enamel is cracked?—"The teeth decay."

Then what must you do to preserve your teeth?—"I must try to keep the enamel from being cracked or injured in any way."

PART V.

FORMULA FOR DESCRIPTION OF THE BONES.

1. My skull is formed of several bones united, like two saws with their toothed edges hooked into each other.

2. My spine extends from the base of the skull behind, down the middle of my back.

It is composed of twenty-four short bones, piled one upon the other, with cartilage between them.

These bones are fastened together, forming an upright and flexible column, which makes me erect and graceful.

3. My ribs are curved, strong, and light; there are twenty-four of them, twelve on each side; they are fastened at the back to my spine, in front to my breastbone, forming a hollow place for my heart, lungs, and stomach.

4. My shoulder blades are flat, thin, and like a triangle in shape; they are for my arms to rest upon.

5. My collar bones are fastened to my shoulder blades and my breastbone; they keep my arms from sliding too far forward.

6. The bones of old people are hard and brittle; those of children soft and flexible; so I must sit and stand erect, that mine may not be bent out of shape. I must not wear tight clothing, or do anything that will crowd them out of their places.

7. My bones are made from my food, after it has been changed into blood; so I must be careful to eat good, wholesome food, that they may be strong and healthy.

8. I must not breathe impure air, because impure air makes bad blood, and bad blood makes poor bones.

9. The body of every person is changing all the time, because the skin, flesh, and bones are always wearing out, and the blood is always repairing and building them again.

QUESTIONS FOR THE FORMULA.

1. Tell about the skull.

2. Tell about the spine.

3. Tell about the ribs.

4. Tell about the shoulder blades.

5. Tell about the collar bones.

6. Tell about the difference between the bones of old people and those of children.

7. Of what are your bones made?

8. If you wish your bones to be strong, why should you not breathe impure air?

9. What have you learned about the change which is always taking place in the body?

A little girl was looking at some pictures of ladies in fashionable dresses. While admiring the beautiful styles and bright colors of the garments, she pointed to the waist of one, and exclaimed, "That means trouble." The waist was too small for a grown person, and could only have been made so by tight-lacing. The child had been taught that dresses, corsets, coats, vests, bands, or anything fastened tightly around the waist, press upon the ribs and crowd them out of place, preventing the heart, lungs, and other inside organs from working as they should, causing headache, dyspepsia, shortness of breath, and often ending in some incurable disease, so she knew that tight clothing means trouble to the wearer.

QUESTIONS ON THE DESCRIPTION OF THE BONES.

Point to the skull.

Of what is it made?—"Several bones united together."

How are the skull bones united?—"Like two saws with their toothed edges hooked into each other."

What do you mean by toothed?—"Having points, like teeth."

What covers the skull?—"Flesh, skin, and hair."

Of what use is the skull?—"It protects the brain."

What is the brain?—"That part of my body in which the thinking is done."

Where is the spine?—"It extends from the base of my skull behind, down the middle of my back."

What do you mean by extends?—"Goes from."

What do you mean by base?—"The lower part of anything."

Of what is the spine made?—"Of about twenty-four short bones, with cartilage between them."

What is cartilage?—"An elastic substance, harder than flesh, but softer than bone."

How are the bones of the spine placed?—"They are piled one upon the other."

What do you mean by forming?—"Making."

What do you mean by upright?—"In a vertical position."

What do you mean by flexible?—"Easily bent."

What do you mean by column?—"A pillar."

What do you mean by erect?—"In a vertical position."

Why is cartilage placed between the bones of the spine?—"To make the spine flexible; to keep the brain from injury when we walk or run."

What do you mean by elastic?—"Springing back after having been stretched, squeezed, twisted, or bent."

Tell about your ribs.—"My ribs are curved, strong, and light."

Where are your ribs?—"On each side of my trunk."

How many ribs have you?—"Twenty-four; twelve on each side."

How are your ribs fastened?—"At the back to my spine; in front to my breastbone."

What do your ribs form?—"A hollow place for my heart, lungs, and stomach."

Where are your shoulder blades?—"In the upper part of my back."

What shape are they?—"Flat, thin, and like a triangle."

Of what use are your shoulder blades?—"For my arms to rest upon."

Point to your collar bones.

Where are they fastened?—"To my shoulder blades and my breastbone."

Of what use are your collar bones?—"They keep my arms from sliding too far forward."

Of what are your bones made?—"Of food after it has been changed into blood."

Why should you eat wholesome food?—"That my bones may be strong and healthy."

How does impure air hurt the bones?—"Impure air makes bad blood, and bad blood makes poor bones."

Why should you sit and stand erect?—"Because my bones are easily bent out of shape; if I do not sit and stand erect, they will grow crooked."

Why is it wrong to wear tight clothing?—"Because tight clothing crowds the bones out of shape."

Whose bones are the more brittle, those of a child, or those of an old person?—"Those of an old person."

What do you mean by brittle?—"Easily broken."

Whose are the more flexible?—"Those of a child."

What do you mean by flexible?—"Easily bent."

What repairs the worn out bones, flesh, and skin of the body?—"The blood."

What do you mean by repairs?—"Mends."

What causes the bones, flesh, and skin of your body to change often?—"The bones, flesh, and skin are always wearing out, and the blood is always building and repairing them again."

What are alcoholic liquors?—"Liquors which have alcohol in them."

Name some alcoholic liquors.—"Beer, wine, rum, etc."

Whose bones mend the more easily when broken, the bones of those who drink alcoholic liquors, or those of the people who do not use these poisons?—"The bones of those who do not use alcoholic liquors."

What other poison hurts the bones?—"Tobacco."

How do alcohol and tobacco hurt the bones?—"They make bad blood, and bad blood makes poor bones."

PART VI.

FORMULA FOR THE LESSON ON THE MUSCLES.

1. Muscles are the red, elastic bands and bundles of thread like substance, called flesh, which cover the bones and make the eyeballs, the eyelids, the tongue, the heart, the lungs, and various other parts of the body.

2. There are about four hundred and fifty muscles in my body.

3. The work of the muscles is to support and move my bones, and different parts of the body.

4. The muscles may be named the muscles of my head, the muscles of my trunk, the muscles of my limbs.

5. The muscles of my head cover and move the parts of my head and face. The muscles of my trunk cover and move the parts of my neck and trunk. The muscles of my limbs cover and mote the parts of my arms and legs.

6. Those muscles are the weakest which I use least; those muscles are the strongest which I exercise most in work or play.

I must exercise in work and play to make them strong; I must sleep, or change my kind of work or play, to give them rest, when they are tired; I must breathe pure air, take wholesome food and drink, and live in the sunlight, to supply them with good blood; I must not weaken them by using alcohol or tobacco.

QUESTIONS FOR THE FORMULA.

1. Tell about the muscles.

2. How many muscles have you in your body?

3. Of what use are the muscles?

4. How may the muscles be named?

5. Tell about the muscles of the head, trunk, and limbs.

6. Which muscles are the weakest, and which are the strongest?

7. What is necessary if you would have strong and healthy muscles?

CLASSES AND WORK OF THE MUSCLES.

The muscles are divided into two great classes: those which we may move as we choose, called voluntary muscles, and those over which we have no power, called involuntary muscles.

Some muscles support and move the various parts of the body, others have different work to do. The heart, the great involuntary muscle, acts like an engine to drive the blood throughout the body; the lungs draw in and throw out the air in breathing; the stomach helps to churn and change food into blood; the tongue is used in speaking and eating.

QUESTIONS ON THE MUSCLES.

What are the muscles?—"The lean flesh of the body; bands and bundles of fleshy threads which cover the body."

Of what use are the muscles to the body?—"They cover the bones; they support and move the bones and different parts of the body."

Name some parts of the body which are made of muscles.—"The eyeballs, the eyelids, the tongue, the heart, the lungs."

What color are the muscles?—"Red."

How do the muscles move the bones?—"By shortening or lengthening themselves according to the way the bones are to be moved."

Tell how the muscles move your arm at the elbow.—"The muscles in the front part of the arm shorten themselves, to draw my fore-arm toward the shoulder; when I wish to stretch out the fore-arm these muscles lengthen, while another set of muscles shorten, to draw the fore-arm away from the upper arm."

What do you say about the muscles because they have the power to shorten and lengthen themselves?—"They are elastic."

About how many muscles are there in your whole body?—"About four hundred and fifty."

How may these be divided as you study about them?—"They may be divided into the muscles of my head, the muscles of my trunk, and the muscles of my limbs."

Of what use are the muscles of your head?—"They cover and move the parts of my head and face."

Of what use are the muscles of your trunk?—"They move the parts of my neck and trunk."

Of what use are the muscles of your limbs?—"They move the parts of my arms and legs."

How can you make your muscles strong?—"By using them."

How can you make your muscles weak?—"By not using them."

What is necessary to make your muscles strong and healthy?—"They must be used; they must be rested when tired; they must be supplied with pure blood."

How should the muscles be used?—"They should be exercised in work or play."

How may they be rested?—"I may rest my muscles by changing position; by changing my kind of work or play; or by going to sleep."

Explain what you mean by changing your position.—"If I am standing, I must sit or lie down to rest them; if they are tired, because I have been sitting too long, I must rest them by standing, walking, or running."

What do you mean by changing the kind of work or play?—"If, in my work or play, my arms become tired, I must do something in which my arms may rest, though other parts of my body may be in exercise."

How may you help supply your muscles with good blood?—"By breathing pure air; by taking wholesome food and drink; and by living in the sunlight."

How does drinking alcoholic liquors hurt the muscles?—"It makes them weak, and unfit to move the parts of the body."

What wonderful muscle moves without your will?—"The heart."

How does alcohol hurt the heart?—"It makes it beat too fast."

How does "beating too fast" hurt the heart?—"It makes it tired, and sometimes wears it out." See Appendices on Alcohol and Tobacco.

A, arteries; V, veins; N, nerves; F, fat cells; E, the outer skin; CL, the color layer; D, the true skin; PT, a perspiratory tube; HF, a hair and hair sac; EP, muscles; SG, oil glands; TC, tactile corpuscles; CT, connective tissue.

PART VII.

FORMULA FOR THE LESSON ON THE SKIN.

1. My skin covers my body.

2. It is thin, elastic, flexible, porous, and absorbent.

3. I have two skins; the inner skin is the true skin.

4. My true skin is elastic, and like a net-work of blood-vessels and nerves. My true skin is covered with a jelly-like substance which gives color to my skin.

5. My outside skin is not the same thickness over my whole body. In some parts, as on the palms of my hands and the soles of my feet, it is very thick and tough.

6. If my outside skin be destroyed, it will grow again; if the jelly-like substance be destroyed, it will re-appear; but if my true skin be destroyed, it will never be perfectly renewed.

7. More than half of the waste substance of my body passes from it through the pores of the skin, in the form of perspiration.

QUESTIONS FOR THE FORMULA.

1. Where is your skin?

2. Tell about the skin.

3. How many skins have you?

4. Tell about the true skin.

5. What difference is there in the thickness of your outside skin?

6. What happens if the different skins be destroyed?

7. What passes through the pores of the skin?

8. What is necessary if you would have a healthy skin?

DIRECTIONS FOR BATHING.

Bathe the whole body at least twice every week. Do not bathe when tired or after a hearty meal. After bathing rub well with a coarse towel.

QUESTIONS ON THE SKIN.

Of what use is the skin?—"It covers the muscles of the body."

What can you tell about it?—"It is flexible, elastic, porous, and absorbent."

Why do you say it is flexible?—"Because it is easily bent."

Why do you say it is porous?—"Because it is full of little holes, or pores."

Why do you say it is elastic?—"Because it will spring back after it is stretched, squeezed, twisted, or bent."

Why do you say it is absorbent?—"Because it will soak up liquids."

How many skins have you?—"Two; an outside skin, and an inner skin."

Which is the true skin?—"The inner skin."

Of what is the inner skin composed?—"Of blood-vessels and nerves."

How do you know that the outer skin has no blood-vessels?—"Because if I put a pin through the outer skin the blood does not flow out, as it would if I had cut a blood-vessel."

How do you know the outer skin has no nerves?—"Because if I put a pin through my outer skin it does not make me suffer pain, as it would if I had touched a nerve."

What gives color to the skin?—"A jelly-like substance between the inner and the outer skin."

What have you learned about the true skin?—"That it is of the same color in people of every nation."

What difference is there in the thickness of the outer skin? [See Formula.]

What passes through the pores of the skin? [See Formula.]

What is this waste called when it comes from the surface of the skin?—"Perspiration."

When does the perspiration flow through the pores of the skin?—"All the time, if the skin is healthy."

Why do we not always see the perspiration which passes through the pores?—"Because it does not always form drops on the surface of the skin; it generally passes off in very fine particles."

What becomes of the fine or minute portions of perspiration which pass from the body?—"Some of these portions are absorbed by the clothing; some pass into and mix with the air around us."

What effect does the perspiration produce on the air and the clothing?—"It soon makes the air unfit to be breathed, and the clothing unfit to be worn."

What is necessary if you would have a healthy skin? [See Formula.]

Why must you wear clean clothing?—"That there may be nothing impure in the clothing for the pores of the skin to absorb."

Why should you breathe pure air?—"Because air purifies the blood, and pure blood is necessary to make a healthy skin."

How does drinking alcoholic liquors hurt the skin?—"It makes the blood impure, and impure blood makes unhealthy skin."

In what other way does drinking these liquors hurt the skin?—"It gives the skin too much work to do."

How does it give it too much work to do?—"It makes more waste substance to pass from it through the pores, in the form of perspiration."

In what other way does drinking alcoholic liquors hurt the skin?—"It makes it a bad color."

How does it make the skin a bad color?—"It stretches the little blood-vessels of the skin, and makes them too full of blood." See Appendix.

A, the right ventricle; B, the left ventricle; C, the right auricle D, the left auricle; E, the aorta; F, the pulmonary artery.

PART VIII.

FORMULA FOR THE LESSON ON THE HEART AND THE CIRCULATION OF THE BLOOD.

1. My heart is shaped like a cone, and placed in my chest near my breastbone, with its apex pointing downward to my left side. It beats about seventy times a minute, sending out about two ounces of blood at every beat.

2. The blood when pure is of a bright red color; it is a liquid made from food and drink.

3. It passes from my heart to all parts of my body, through pipes called arteries; these arteries spread out through the body like branches from a tree.

4. As the blood flows from the heart, through the arteries, it gives nourishment to every part of the body, and carries away the impurities it meets, which makes it black and thick; when it comes through the veins, back to the heart, it is not fit to be used, so it goes to the lungs to be purified by the fresh air; then it returns to the heart to be sent again throughout the body; this happens once in from three to eight minutes, and is called the circulation of the blood.

QUESTIONS FOR THE FORMULA.

1. Tell about the heart and where it is placed.

2. Tell about the blood and of what it is made.

3. Where does the good blood pass after it is sent out from the heart?

4. Tell what the blood does as it flows through the body.

5. What is this flowing of the blood to and from the heart called?

6. How often does it happen?

7. What is necessary if you would have pure blood?

8. When will the blood not circulate freely?

9. When will the blood be impure?

HOW TO TREAT A WOUND.

If it is only a flesh-wound or slight cut, wash it with cold water and bandage it with a clean, white rag. The edges of a deep cut should be drawn together and held in place by narrow strips of adhesive plaster, fastened across the wound from side to side.

If the cut is very deep, and the blood flows very freely, send for a doctor. While you wait for him, knot a handkerchief, or suspender, or towel, in the middle, and twist it very tightly over the cut artery, above the wound. If a vein has been severed, twist the knotted handkerchief below the wound. If the blood continues to flow, tie a bandage both above and below the hurt part.

QUESTIONS ON THE HEART AND THE CIRCULATION OF THE BLOOD.

Of what shape is your heart?—"My heart is shaped like a cone."

Where is it placed?—"In the chest, pointing toward my left side."

What bone is it near?—"It is near my breastbone."

Of what use is the heart?—"It contains the blood and sends it to the different parts of the body."

How much blood is sent from the heart at each beat?—"About two ounces."

What is the blood?—"A liquid made from food and drink."

Of what color is the blood?—"Bright red, when pure; dark red, when impure."

How does the heart send the blood through the body?—"Through pipes called arteries."

What do the arteries resemble in the way they are arranged?—"The branches of a tree."

What makes the blood impure?—"As the blood flows, it gives nourishment to every part of the body; this makes it poor. It also takes up the old worn-out particles; this makes it impure."

Where do the arteries carry the impure blood?—"To the veins."

Where do the veins carry the impure blood?—"To the heart."

Where does the heart carry the impure blood?—"To the lungs."

What happens to the impure blood in the lungs?—"It is made pure."

What makes it pure?—"Pure air."

Where do the lungs send the blood after it is made pure?—"Back to the heart."

Where does the heart send the pure blood?—"Throughout the body."

What is the journey of the blood to and from the heart to the different parts of the body called?—"The circulation of the blood."

What is the circulation of the blood?—"The circulation of the blood is its journey from the heart to the different parts of the body, and from the different parts of the body back to the heart."

How often does this circulation take place?—"Once in from three to eight minutes, according as the heart beats fast or slowly."

What kind of blood is necessary to health?—"Pure blood."

How should the blood circulate?—"Freely, all the time."

What do you mean by freely?—"Without anything to hinder."

What is necessary for the free circulation of the blood?—"I must wear clean clothing; I must exercise in work or play; I must keep my body warm."

How does tight clothing hinder the free circulation of the blood?—"By pressing upon the arteries and veins; and when about the waist, causing the ribs and other parts of the body to press upon the heart."

How does exercise help the free circulation of the blood?—"Exercise makes the heart beat faster, which causes the blood to more faster through the arteries and veins."

Why does keeping the body warm help the circulation of the blood?—"Because the blood moves faster when it is warmest; cold chills the blood, and makes it move slowly."

What harm do alcoholic liquors do to the heart?—"They make it tired, and sometimes wear it out."

In what way do they make it tired?—"They make it beat too fast."

Why does it beat too fast?—"Because it is hurrying to drive the alcohol out of the body."

In what other way do alcoholic liquors hurt the heart?—"They produce disease in it."

Tell one way by which the heart becomes diseased through alcoholic liquors?—"Alcohol softens the fibres of the muscles of the heart, and fills them with fat."

What harm does this do to the heart?—"It makes it too weak to do its work, which is to pump the blood through the body."

What sometimes happens when the heart is thus weakened?—"It stops beating, which causes sudden death."

What harm does alcohol do to the blood?—"It uses up the water of the blood; it destroys the goodness of the red part; it makes the blood thin, impure, and unfit to do its work." See Appendices on Alcohol and Tobacco.

1, 2, the larynx, the upper part of the windpipe.

3, the windpipe, or trachea.

4, where the windpipe divides to right and left lungs.

5, the right bronchial tube.

6, the left bronchial tube.

7, outline of the right lung.

8, outline of the left lung.

9, the left lung.

10, the right lung.

PART IX.

FORMULA FOR THE LESSON ON THE LUNGS AND RESPIRATION.

1. My lungs are the bellows or breathing machines of my body.

2. They are composed of a soft, fleshy substance, full of small air-cells and tubes. They are porous and spongy when healthy, but in some diseases become an almost solid mass, through which the air cannot pass.

3. I breathe by drawing the air through my windpipe, along the tubes into the cells of my lungs, swelling them out, and causing my chest to expand; then the chest contracts, and the impure vapor in my lungs is pressed out through the same tubes, windpipe, nose, and mouth, into the atmosphere.

4. I cannot live without breathing, because if the air does not go down into my lungs, the dark blood in them is not changed into pure red blood, and goes back through my body dark blood, which cannot keep me alive.

QUESTIONS FOR THE FORMULA.

1. What are the lungs?

2. Describe the lungs.

3. How do you breathe?

4. Why can you not live without breathing?

5. What is necessary if you would have healthy lungs?

THE AIR AND THE LUNGS.

The air which enters through the nose and mouth passes into a tube of muscles and ring-like pieces of cartilage. The upper part of this tube is the voice-box or larynx, covered by a spoon-shaped lid which closes when we swallow; the lower part is the trachea, and the two parts are the windpipe. The trachea divides into two branches, the bronchial tubes, one for each lung. These tubes divide again and again like the branches of a tree, and end in exceedingly small sacs or bags. The air in these sacs, or air-cells, gives oxygen to the blood in the tiny blood-vessels of the lungs and takes from them the poison, carbonic-acid gas, water, and impurities, which it carries back through the windpipe into the outside air.