The Ear.
Showing the drum and bones.
Nothing should ever be inserted in the ear for the purpose of cleaning it except the little finger. The ear should be washed very carefully with soap and water and dried thoroughly. Sometimes, when swimming, people get water into their ears. They should shake it out at once, or the ears may ache. Sometimes water that gets in this way causes inflammation and cold, which hurt the sense of hearing. No one should ever strike another on the ear, even in play. It is likely to cause deafness. What is called the drum of the ear is a very delicate membrane which receives the sound. This is what really hears, and a blow on the side of the head may rupture this membrane and destroy the hearing.
The sense of smell is high up in the nose. It is a very useful sense and warns us of danger. We can often detect bad air by its odor. We know whether food is good or whether it is spoiled, by its smell.
We taste things with the tongue. Substances which do not dissolve in water have no taste. Even our food would have no taste if it were dry. The saliva must dissolve it before we can taste it. We can hurt the sense of taste by eating too fast, or by seasoning our food too strongly with pepper and other hot spices. Chewing the betel nut helps to destroy the sense of taste, and so does much use of alcohol. We need the sense of taste to tell us whether food is good or bad. Food which has a pleasant taste is more easily digested than that which we do not like.
The sense of touch tells us whether things are hard or soft; it tells us when we are hurt. It does this by the feeling which we call pain. If we did not feel pain when we were being injured, we might be killed before we could know of our danger and protect ourselves from it.
So we see how true it is that our bodies are wonderful machines. But they are something besides machines,—they are houses in which the soul dwells, and as such they are worthy of great care and honor. We must keep them clean. It is our duty to feed them right and guard them from injury. We should be careful, too, never to injure them ourselves by putting them to uses not clean and pure, or by making them accustomed to things which are bad for them. When we do any of these things, we hurt the soul, as well as the body, and bring shame upon ourselves and sorrow to others.
QUESTIONS.
Why should we try to keep our bodies well and strong?
What is perspiration?
Why should we bathe often?