Yourself and your house wonderful

Front matter

YOURSELF AND

M3URH0USE WONDERFUL

Work for the Stomach Dwarf

Contents

PAGE.

I. Your Own Little House 1

II. What Goes Into Your House 11

Introduction

To Parents and Teachers: —

In conversing with earnest parents and enlightened teachers, who confide to me many of the problems which daily confront them, I have become more and more convinced of the pressing need of a work dealing frankly and explicitly with all matters pertaining to the physical, mental and moral well-being of our children. A book, treating not only of all the matters usually discussed, but also of excretion, sex, and reproduction, topics to which most books merely allude, which good people approach in fear and trembling, and about which none but the impure speak freely at all times and refuse to be silenced.

Our children have the right to know the exact truth about themselves. Were it possible and safe to leave them entirely ignorant and untrammeled concerning their origin, and all sexual matters, until adult years and mature understanding made full enlightenment expedient, I would gladly advocate complete silence. But such a mode of procedure has become impossible nowadays, unless we remove to desert islands. Whether parents and guardians are aware of the fact or not, the only alternative now left, if we do not wish to have our offspring at least mentally contaminated, is to impart ourselves, 1 ii Introduction

purely and reverently, all they need know. If we keep silence, through ignorance, false modesty, mistaken kindness, or innate inability to instil our knowledge of hygiene or morals, we are cheating the children confided to our care of their unalienable right "to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."

The difficulties of broaching certain subjects, are, I concede, considerable, but they are not insurmountable, as parents will see if they will carefully peruse this volume, which contains all that can help and will fully satisfy normal children. Pure-minded children desire to learn these matters in a pure and open way, and the mode of presentation here used, instead of harming even the prurient minded, will only serve to check their propensity to spread abroad such knowledge as they possess, by showing them how such matters are viewed by all decent people. Besides, it will supply the innocent with what they now lack, L e., a means of self-defense against insidious mental, if not moral and physical contamination.

There is, of course, much in this volume which all carefully

brought up children already know, and nothing which they

should not know, or which can shock any person who does not

wantonly read into it more, or something else than it is intended to convey.

The last census stated there were in the United States more

than twenty-four million children between the ages of five and

seventeen, many of whom are less favored by fortune than

yours. Educational statistics inform us that three quarters of

Introduction iii

the pupils who enter our public schools, leave at twelve or thirteen, and never receive further instruction of any kind. To fit such children— many of whom are worse than orphans as far as home training is concerned — to become useful citizens, and in due time self-respecting and capable fathers and mothers, is one of the main tasks set before us.

The schools have long realized that physiology and hygiene, once taught in the higher grades only, are indispensable at every stage. While from an adult's point of view there are now many admirable text-books on the subject, my attention was only comparatively recently called to the fact, that, from a child's standpoint, there is no work vivid, detailed or practical enough, to make so lively an impression that its teachings will ever after form part of the daily life of the recipient, and rise spectre-like whenever he or she is confronted by the temptation to violate any of the fundamental laws of health or morality.

As it is unsafe to postpone such instruction too long, this volume, designed for children under twelve, is couched in language of extreme simplicity, a very small vocabulary and short sentences being purposely used, so that they can read it understanding^ themselves, and so that it will be perfectly intelligible even to parents of foreign extraction. A certain amount of space has been devoted to the care and training of babies, because many older children are constantly called upon to play the part of nurse-maid to their younger brothers and sisters.

Lacking the unsavory data which most adults have involuniv Introduction

tarily collected in the course of the old-fashioned, long and round-about methods of acquiring divine truths, most children under twelve can and will see nothing more in this matter than what is told them here, provided they first hear the truth in all its beauty and simplicity.

A sufficiently detailed explanation is vouchsafed, to make them realize the sacredness and privacy of the whole subject, so no one need fear embarrassing questions or comments, and the knowledge cannot but act as a safeguard at all times and in all places. Besides, it will certainly put an end to further discussion of the subject with their companions among all those who are not already hopelessly perverted. The fact that such discussions are rife everywhere, and that the need of the instruction given in this book is widely felt, is not only proved by hosts of passages in many of the leading works on pedagogy, but was further emphasized in President Roosevelt's first message, wherein we find the statement: "The most vital problem with which this country, and for that matter, the whole civilized world has to deal .... is the betterment of social conditions, physical and moral, in large cities.'*

To effect permanent reform in these matters, it is not only necessary that each parent should take the matter to heart, and act as leaven in his or her own community, but it is also and especially incumbent upon us all to instil right views and principles in the children confided to our care, for they, a few years

Introduction v

hence, will be at the head of all our municipal and governmental affairs.

This volume can be used without any restrictions whatever in the homes, and in schools where boys or girls are under teachers of their own sex. Still, most teachers are so thoroughly imbued with the desire to further the real welfare of their pupils, that none of the more enlightened women will object to read this book to young children of either sex, provided male principals have the sense and tact to know when to keep the class rooms uninvaded by visitors and to refrain from intruding, themselves.

My experience is that to most young children "all things are pure," and that one feels properly rebuked for all hesitation by the beautifully simple and matter-of-course way in which such information is received. Still, if the book is used in large or mixed classes, where teachers, often by intangible means, only, become aware of the presence of some vicious element, it may be well to set aside certain chapters for silent perusal, for home study, or for written recitation. A little tact and common sense is all that is required.

The perusal of this volume will certainly make a parent's or teacher's task much easier in matters which it is often difficult to check, or report, and public opinion among the children themselves will do more to enforce cleanliness and decent behavior, than any number of rules or the utmost vigilance on the part of parents and teachers.

Skilled teachers know that only through frequent repetition vi Introduction

lessons can be firmly implanted in youthful minds, and therefore resort to various devices to make reviews interesting. Parents reading this book aloud to their offspring will find the questions at the end of each chapter a help to fix the main points in childish memories, while teaching them to express themselves clearly. Extra zest can be added to repeated readings by announcing— as if it were some special privilege — that the first reading and questioning will be for the eldest only, but that the other children may listen if they choose. After a sufficient interval of time has elapsed to restore some of the glamour of novelty to the book, it can be re-read, ostensibly for the benefit of the second child, whose answers the eldest can correct or supplement when they are wrong or incomplete. With several children in the family this device answers every purpose, but with one olive-branch only, the reader can make a sort of game of it, arranging that reader and listener try at the end of each section to puzzle each other by asking alternate questions on the text.

This book has been submitted to the rigid criticism of several family physicians, as well as to parents and teachers of experience. The writer is deeply indebted to these critics and to many others consulted, for pertinent hints, and for help and encouragement. A few of the verbal illustrations used, have been drawn from the "Self and Sex" series and from the many volumes on physiology, hygiene, psychology and pedagogy

Introduction vii

studied with a view to present the subject in as broad, yet practical a light as possible.

As children are no more born with a sense for morality than with knowledge of geography and arithmetic, they must be taught what to do and how to do it. Earnest parents and teachers all over the world are realizing keenly that ignorance is not bliss, and that innocence and ignorance are not synonymous terms. This book is designed to serve as a manual for all those who are anxious to equip children to lead healthy, useful and noble lives.

CHAPTER I Your Own Little House You Are Something Like a Snail

DID you ever think that you were something like a snail? Yes; you are, because you too live in a little house, which goes with you everywhere, from the moment you are born until you die.

This house is your body. It belongs to you, and you can 1 make it good, useful and pleasant to look at, or you can spoil it by lack of proper care, and thus make it ugly and unpleasant, besides making yourself very uncomfortable indeed.

As long as you were a little baby, your mother, or some older person took charge of this little house for you, but as soon as you began to walk and run about, you had to begin to look after it yourself. At first, nearly all you had to do was not to bump it against the tables and chairs, but every day you had a little more to do for it, until now you can take care of it for hours at a time when you are away from home or out at play.

Of course, your mother still watches over you part of the time, and tells you what to wear and what to eat. Mothers know that as long as you live you will have to stay in the same little house, whether it is nice and comfortable or not, for one cannot move out of one's body into a new one, as into a new house. So, mothers do their best to make their children's houses as good and comfortable as they can.

It is just because you cannot change bodies, that it is so important that your body, or house, should receive the very best care. Many children have wise mothers, who watch over them so they cannot do much harm to these little houses even if they try; but even the wisest mother cannot always be near you, and therefore it is right that you should learn to help her, instead of hindering her as I have seen so many children do.

When you are out at play, you have to take care of your

The Building Materials little house yourself, and every child who is not an idiot, can and should learn to do it well. Sensible children can, of course, always be trusted to do what they know to be right, even if mother is not there to see that they do it. And, each year, as they grow older, they can learn to take better care of the house which God has given them.

It is because you have to look after your own house, or to live to be very sorry because you did not do so, that I am going to tell you many things about it. There may even be some things which mother does not yet know, for wise men are always finding out something new and wonderful about these houses we live in, and I have read many of their books so that I could tell you all you need know at present about them.

Mother Watches Over You

The Building Materials

The body is very different from the houses we build out of wood, stone and brick. Those stay where they are put, and are always about the same. But our bodies live, grow, and move about as we wish, and keep changing night and day as long as we are in them. You know that all houses look something alike; that is to say, they all have walls, roofs, windows, doors, etc. Our bodies, too, all look somewhat alike, for we all have

A Neat House a head, a trunk, legs and arms, with eyes, ears, mouth, nose, and too many other things to mention.

All the houses you see are made of wood, stone, brick, mud, or iron, and when the builder does his work well, he makes good and pretty places to live in out of just these materials. If

The Building Materials 5

you want a house, it is, therefore, best to choose a man who knows how to build it properly, for he will make the best use of the materials you give him.

Wood, stone, brick, mud, and iron, change so very little, that a house once built, remains much the same for many years. But even a good strong house has to be kept clean, and nicely painted inside and out. Besides, new nails, boards, pipes, and plaster are needed from time to time, if the whole place is to be kept neat and in good repair.

Now, no sensible person ever dreams of using any but the right materials to build or repair a real house. If a window is broken, you get a new pane of glass; if a pipe is broken you mend it or get a new one, and if the house is dingy, you put a fresh coat of paint upon it.

If anyone were foolish enough to put a silk handkerchief instead of the pane of glass, to stuff cake or candy into a pipe hole to stop a leak, or to smear the house all over with molasses or butter instead of paint, you would laugh and think it a very silly way to act, would you not?

Our bodies are built too, not of brick, wood, stone, or iron, but of blood, which makes muscle, bone, nerves, etc. These, each house-owner has to make for his own use, out of food, water, and air. Since you have to make your own blood, bone, muscle and nerves, it is right for you to know how you can best do so, for there is good and bad blood, as well as good and bad bones, muscles and nerves; and whether all these are good or bad depends mostly on the blood-maker and on the kind of material he uses.

You admire good, strong and handsome men and women, and wish to grow up as tall, straight and good-looking as possible, do you not ? Well, all this depends in a great measure upon yourselves, and if you will read carefully what this book says, and if you will do exactly what it tells you, it is very sure you will grow up far stronger and handsomer, than if you pay no attention whatever to the matters it teaches.

Unlike a house built by hands, the body, as I have already said, keeps changing all the time. That is because we are alive. Every breath we draw and every mouthful we eat or drink, works some change in our body.

If the air and water are pure and good, and if the food we eat contains the right materials to make good blood, to keep all the parts of our bodies in good repair, and to help them grow, all is well with us, and we feel happy and comfortable.

But if we breathe bad air, drink impure water, or eat the wrong kind of food, all cannot be well with us. We are then bound to feel more or less uncomfortable, and, if such a state of affairs goes on any length of time, we are sure to be ill.

The Master of the House

An empty house is very dull and uninteresting. It is the people who live in it whom we wish to hear about. If the

The Master of the House 1

house is well kept, we know that the people who dwell there are neat, and if it is pretty, we know they have good taste. We often judge of the people who live in the houses by the way those houses appear.

An Empty House

It is just the same with our bodies. The body is our house, and we would care very little about the bodies of others were it not that by looking at them we can often learn a great deal about the persons who live in them.

In houses, there are often many persons at once; some are neat, others are not; some have taste, others have not; so, it is sometimes very hard to know just what kind of people are in a certain dwelling. But it is very different with our bodies. Each body has only one master, the real person, the part of us which thinks, and the body has to obey this master, who lives up in the top story, or the brain.

Each house-master looks out of two little windows — the eyes, — hears all that is going on by means of two little telephones— the ears, — and sends messages all over the house to direct what shall be done. He hears, and sees, and notices, all that is going on around him whenever he wishes to do so.

Many of the things done in and by the body, are done only when the master sends special orders; countless other things are done for him by his servants while he is sleeping or otherwise occupied, for each master has many, many little servants, all of whom know their duty and do it faithfully, as long as all is right and they are kindly treated.

The Front Door

The outside of the body is all covered with skin, in and under which run many little telegraph wires — the nerves. These tell the master of the house whether it is hot or cold, what we are touching or doing, and by means of them he sends word what he wants the hands or feet or any other part of the body to do. The skin is quite thick and hard on the outside of the body, es-

The Front Door 9

pecially in the places where it gets the most wear and tear; but in other spots it is quite thin and very tender and soft.

The skin not only covers all the outside of the body, but it lines all the inside as well. Still, the inner skin is not nearly so thick as the outer skin. In fact, it is so thin, that you can see right through it. You can notice this by looking into your mouth in a mirror. Your skin begins to grow thinner when it reaches the lips. It lines all the inside of the mouth and runs down into the house, lining the halls, rooms, stairways, and the many pipes which run through the inside of it in all directions.

The mouth is the front door of the

f , . Your Front Door

house. When the master, trom his

post up near the windows (eyes), sees food coming, he telegraphs to the doorkeeper: "Open the door!" Then the mouth flies open and the food is laid down on the tongue, which is a kind of door-mat.

The skin lining the mouth and tongue is so thin, that you can see the blood through it, and the little telegraph wires are so near the surface, that they can feel very quickly what kind of a thing it is which has been put into the mouth. They telegraph to the master for instance: "It is a piece of good wheat bread."

As soon as the master receives this message, he knows that bread ought to be chewed and mixed carefully with spittle, if it is to do the body all the good it should. So he right away telegraphs to the jaws: "Begin chewing," and to the tongue: "Keep turning it over and over." Then he also sends word to all the little spittle buckets, which are hidden under the skin of the mouth and tongue, saying: "Pour out spittle, keep the food moist."

All these orders are quickly obeyed, and soon the little nerves telegraph back to the master: "The longer that bit of bread is chewed, turned over and moistened, the sweeter it gets." Then the master answers: "That is right, that is just as it should be. Now, tongue, throw that food down-stairs, so that my servant the stomach can take charge of it."

QUESTIONS. — In what way are you like a snail? Who took care of your little house when you were very little, and how? Who takes care of you now when you are alone or with other boys and girls? What are houses made of and how can they be repaired and made larger? How can your own little house be repaired and made larger? Who is master of your own little house, and what kind of a master is he? Where does he live and what does he do? Can you point out the windows, telephones and front door of your own little house? What covers all your house inside and out, and what difference is there in this covering? Can you describe what happens when your hand raises something to eat to your mouth? Why should you chew before swallowing? When the food is chewed soft where does it go? Can you tell just what orders the master gives when he sees a mouthful coming in? What orders does he givr to the tongue and spittle buckets, and why does he give them?

CHAPTER II What Goes Into Your House

IF you look into your mouth, keeping your tongue down, you will see a hole in the back. This hole leads to a kind of stairway which runs up into your nose and ears, and down into your stomach and lungs. The part running down looks like two tubes. One of these tubes is used for the air we breathe, and the other for the food we eat. Instead of steps, these stairways or tubes have elastic rings which open and shut, as you can feel if you choose, next time you swallow.

You surely know that you can take in air, as well as food, through your mouth, if you care to do so. Well, the air-tube or staircase, is nearer the front of your body than the food-tube or staircase. In fact it opens just behind the hole you see in the back of your mouth.

When the tongue gathers up the food to throw it down the food-tube, which is just beyond the air-tube, the master quickly telegraphs to the little doorkeeper, who opens and shuts the air-tube, saying: "Food coming, shut that door!" Right away, a little trap-door closes the opening of the air-hole, and the tongue pushes the food back over it, until it rolls down the food-tube, 11 where each step or ring opens to receive it and then closes behind it, so as to prevent its going in any but the right direction.

It is because there are such elastic rings in our food-tubes, that clowns at the circus can eat and drink even while standing on their heads ! Although you might think that the food and water

would then run down into their noses or ears, it all goes to the right place, thanks to those useful little rings.

At the bottom of the food, or back stairway, there is a little room called the stomach. This room, too, is all lined with skin. It is shaped something like a big pear, and is so elastic, that it can stretch so as to receive quite a large quantity of food at one time.

This little room is also something like a cradle or swing, for it rocks and shakes the food for one, two, or three hours, so as to mix it up nicely.

Now we are going to make believe (although the little room is really quite empty), that there is a little Dwarf who lives

The Stomach Dwarf

What Goes Into Your House 1 3

down there, because I want you to know just what goes on in it.

When the master telegraphs to the tongue: '"Throw that food down-stairs!" he also sends a message to the stomach, saying: "Food coming, get ready to receive it." Then the Dwarf runs to the tube or stairway, and when the food drops down into the stomach, he looks it all over very carefully.

If it is good wholesome food, the Dwarf is greatly pleased. He rubs his hands with glee and says: "Bread! That's good. And nicely chewed, too. That's sensible. All mixed up with spittle. Ah ! That is just the way it should be ! That will make fine blood, bone, muscle and nerves!"

Meantime, the front door up-stairs has opened to receive a mouthful of meat, which the master saw coming too. Again he telegraphs to the teeth: "Tear up that meat!" To the tongue: "Turn it over and over," and to the spittle buckets: "Moisten it."

When the meat is just like pulp, the master bids the tongue throw it down the food-tube into the stomach. Again the air-tube closes, the food passes safely over the little trap-door, and rolls down-stairs, where the little Dwarf in the stomach receives it saying: "Ah! meat, and well chewed too. That is right! Meat should always be chewed up fine, or it gives me a world of trouble.

"I am glad to see that the teeth and tongue up-stairs are doing their duty. Master must have reminded them to chew that food carefully. Sometimes, he is so taken up attending to other duties, that he forgets all about it. Then the jaws stop moving, the teeth don't chew, the tongue won't turn the food over and over, and the lazy thing gets rid of it all by throwing it down-stairs whole!

"That does make me very cross, I must say. I have no teeth down here to use so as to grind and tear meat to pieces. Then too, I like to have it well mixed with spittle, because I know it will be so much easier to handle, and will make so much better building material for this little house."

What the Dwarf Does with the Food

The little Dwarf cheerfully receives all the bread, butter, meat, vegetables, milk, water and dessert which is sent down the tube at meal times, provided it is, as we have said, nicely chewed, and well mixed with spittle. But he gets very cross when you pour a lot of ice water, for instance, down the food-tube. "Bother!" he says, "I do wish my master would not allow that! Here is a lot of cold water. Now I'll have to warm it all up before I can go on with my work. Why didn't he remind the mouth to hold it long enough to warm it a bit before sending it down to me?"

Still, the little Dwarf is, after all, such a faithful good-natured servant, that however cross he may get, he goes right to work to heat up the cold water. Then, from the sides of the stomach, where there are many little tubes, the Dwarf takes a

What the Dwarf Does with the Food 1 5

kind of juice, like, and yet unlike spittle. This is now mixed up with the food, which the stomach next churns up and down, and around and around, for one, two, or three hours, until it is all mixed up into a soft mass, and so changed that you could not tell any more what part was meat, or bread or vegetables.

Besides the little tubes which pour juice into the stomach, there are many others, which pump up the watery parts of the food after the stomach has churned it, and carry off this material to help make new blood.

When the stomach has churned the food for awhile, and as soon as any of it is ready to pass on, the Dwarf opens a little door at the other end of the stomach, and lets the soft food drop down into a big pipe, all ready to receive it. You will soon hear more about this pipe and about the food, but now we want to watch the little Dwarf. When he has got rid of all the food, he breathes a sigh of relief. He has been working very hard, and says: "There! that work is neatly done! Now I must see about making more juice, so that when the next food comes tumbling down-stairs I'll have plenty on hand wherewith to churn it up nicely."