Mother: And it also wills, that is, we “make up our mind,” as we say. Why do you think our mind is in the head?
Percy: Why, if our hands, arms, or feet were cut off, we could still think.
Mother: Do you remember the name of the organ inside the head with which we think?
Amy: The brain.
Mother: Yes; and since the brain is such an important part of the body, it is put in the strongest room of all. It sometimes becomes ill if not used right, so we should learn how to keep it well. The worst sickness in the world is mind sickness, and it is hardest to cure.
The brain has six coverings in all. The outside coverings are the hair and scalp, or skin. Then we find the strong bones, fitted closely together with saw-teeth edges. Inside the bones the brain has three coverings: first, a tough, strong skin; then a very thin covering, hardly thicker than a spider’s web; and the third is made up of many little blood-vessels, which feed the brain.
Amy: I wish we could see how the brain looks, mother.
Percy: I have seen brains at the butcher shops. Do ours look like that?
The brain is full of ridges and creases.