LESSONS IN PHYSIOLOGY.-No. I.

MAN.

WE are about to enter on a most delightful study; and we want you to sit down and go through the same lessons. We shall need no text-book but our own bodies; and our aim will be to find out of what elements these bodies are made, how they are nourished, how preserved, and how in being built up, sach stands out as a living temple for the living soul, than which there is nothing greater or grander but God himself. The world of nature is divided into three kingdoms-the animal, the vegetable, and the mineral. All within these three kingdoms is again divided into either living bodies or dead matter. A mineral has neither life nor fixed arrangement. A vegetable has both. So also has an animal, and in a still higher degree. This distinction between animal and vegetable structures, and mineral substances-between living bodies and mere masses of dead matter, is, in some cases, not very easy to trace, and yet it is most fixed and certain. For a long time CORAL was thought to be nothing more than a mineral; but when on examination it was found to be a growth, it was then taken from the mineral into the vegetable kingdom, and having still more recently been discovered to be a congeries of animals, it has been removed from the vegetable into the animal kingdom.

It is with this animal kingdom we have now to do. I have a body. This body is made up of hard or solid parts, such as the bones; of soft parts, such as the muscles, the bowels, the brain, and similar portions of the frame; and of fluids, such as the blood. Now, of what are these soft, and hard, and fluid parts composed? It is said, that "God formed man out of the dust of the ground;" and, wonderful to say, that the little minute atoms of the earth's surface most perfectly correspond with the materials of which my body is made up. In no living body has any element been yet found which does not also exist in the very matter on which we tread. The earth was created first, and gradually fitted up as a dwelling-place for man; and when the time came for the creation of man, God took the matter which already existed, and out of that dead, motionless, inactive matter, he reared the wondrous structure of the human frame.

All matter is either organic or inorganic. We call those organic bodies which are made up of parts,-these parts, however diversified in themselves, being mutually adapted and mutually dependent, and each of them capable of performing a certain function or action. A wax flower has its various parts mutually adapted and mutually dependent, but neither in their individual state nor in combination, can these parts perform any vital function. They have no principle of life, and without vitality there can be no organisation, since all organisation implies a living arrangement of inanimate elements. You may cut a block of marble into the form and fashion of a man; but when so fashioned, it is only inert matter in a more elegant form. In one word, wherever we find the living principle in connexion with_matter, there we have organisation in vital arrangement. In the absence of this principle we have nothing but a dead and inert mass. To the question:What is life? we can give back no answer. That there is such a thing as life or vital action, cannot be denied; and the only thing which we can say with certainty concerning it, is, that life is that which admits of development. We go into our garden with a pebble and a flower-seed in our hand. We commit them both to the soil, and thus subject them to the same agencies and influences. The seed will burst, and germinate, and develop itself in a beautiful and fragrant flower, while the pebble may lie there for years on years without undergoing the least change. This mysterious lifeprinciple enters into all organised matter, and is found in its highest and most perfect form in the animal economy, and, among animals, first and pre-eminent in man.

The material structure which man possesses for the manifestation of this life, is made up of certain chemical compositions, and anatomical arrangements. There is no organic or animal substance in which hydrogen, nitrogen, and oxygen, are not essential to its very existence, while the addition of one or more of the fifty-five elements of which all known matter is composed, in whatever proportion, will determine incidentally in what that substance differs from any other form of organic

matter. It must, however, be kept in mind, that since the elements which compose all animate and inanimate matter are the same, we must look for the difference between these two classes of substances to the mode in which the elements are combined. For example:-The combination of oxygen and nitrogen, of which the atmosphere is formed, or of oxygen and hydrogen, as they enter into the composition of water, does not render either the atmosphere or the water an organic substance. But if we take a plant, which exhibits the simplest form of animate or organic existence, we shall find the three elements of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, while in the animal economy, we shall discover that oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, carbon, and sulphur are united. Is life then the result of chemical combination? That cannot be. In water, which is without life, we find combined oxygen and hydrogen. In a plant with life, we find the same elements with the addition of carbon. Is the carbon the cause of life? Impossible. The true theory is, that life in the plant requires those three elements to sustain and preserve it, and that were it deprived of any one of the three, it would soon wither and die.

What, then, do we mean by human physiology? The term physiology is derived from two Greek words, PHYSIS-nature, character, or constitution; and LOGOS, a treatise or discourse; and when applied to man, includes those conditions, phenomena, and laws of life, which are common to the human body in a state of health. In fewer and simpler words, it is the science of healthy function. It is no common good to have a sound mind in a sound body; but if the play and force of the intellect depend more or less on the sound and healthy condition of the body, then no means should be slighted, by which it may be more effectually preserved from injury or disease. Nor must we forget that disease is present when any structure of the body is changed, or when any function becomes unnaturally active or torpid, or is altered in its character. It is the perfectness of every structure, and the harmonious play of every function, to which we give the name of health; and health is very much in our own keeping. Our everyday habits and pursuits will determine the condition of the body; and the particular state or condition in which our body is at any given time, is that to which we give the name of health or disease Every one, therefore, should make himself familiar with the science of physiology. He should study his own structure, and the laws by which that structure is governed, that he may know how to preserve the one, and obey the other, so as to prolong life, and render happy that life while prolonged.

Let us begin with the bones. The existence of bone is the result of organisation or vital arrangement. All animal substanee springs from a germ. This germ is a minute particle or molecule, which cannot be seen without a microscope of high power, and may vary in size from a minuteness which cannot be measured to the ten-thousandth part of an inch in diameter. It is rather round in form. As it gradually enlarges, its outer wall becomes transparent, through which the colour of the inward substance can be seen. This germ or molecule is formed of fatty or oily matter; or perhaps of particles of oil coated over with a substance, which is called albumen-a substance which resembles the white of an egg-and which the molecule takes from the fluid in which it floats. By drawing to itself certain elements or particles from the fluid which surrounds it, this germ becomes a cell which may include a number of other germs or molecules. These little bodies being set free by the bursting of the parent cell, give existence to a new generation of cells, and so the mysterious yet beautiful process goes on from generation to generation.

As the cell gradually enlarges in size, it becomes an interesting inquiry, as to how its growth is promoted. Where does it obtain the materials for its increase? And how do these materials become assimilated, so as to be taken up into the substance of the cells? The source of supply must be sought in the elements by which every individual cell is surrounded. For example:-All that a vegetable requires for its growth, is a supply of water and carbonic acid; because the acid being the product of carbon and oxygen, and the water of oxygen and hydrogen; the water and the acid supply the three elements-oxygen, hydrogen, and carbon-which enter into the composition of the plant. Surrounded by these elements, the cell has the power, by virtue of the principle of life, of

converting them into a new compound, whose properties adapt it to become part of the growing organised substance. So in animal structure. So in the human body. We have selected the bones with which to begin. All bone is developed from a substance called CARTILAGE, which is a species of gristle. In its simpler form, this cartilage is composed entirely of cells, with a jelly-like substance between, called GELATINE. These cells are found in little clusters of two, three, and four; but as they begin to take on the character of bone, instead of these smaller clusters, we have groups made up of a much larger number. These groups are still separated by the jelly-like substance which comes between, and it is in this substance that the bony matter is first deposited. Gradually assuming the form of deep narrow cups of bone, it receives the ends of the cartilage cells, as these become arranged in long rows. Then, these cartilage cells become consolidated, and take on the hardness of bone. When the temporary cartilage is converted into bone, the bone has still to be enlarged in conformity with the increasing size of the surrounding parts. How is this enlargement insured? In two ways. All the new cartilage at the edges and on the surface of the bone, becomes ossified, and it is known that the growth of a long bone takes place chiefly towards its extremities, while the bony matter on its surface contributes to increase its thickness. This is one method. The other is by having a cavity in the bone itself. You know that in mechanics, when we want to get the greatest strength with a limited amount of material, we choose a hollow cylinder. Just so in the human body. The bones are designed for strength and support; and instead of being a solid mass, they most of them are hollow. The matter first deposited on the inner suace of these tubes or hollow bones, is pushed

Having thus learned how bone is formed, and how it acquires increased strength and size, let us now see whether we can find out the number of bones in the human body, how they are held together, and what purpose they serve. Here is a skeleton which will help us to trace the connexion of the different parts of this wondrous structure, and show us how beautifully fitted it is for the ends designed by the great Creator. It includes one hundred and ninety-eight bones. These are exclusive of the teeth, of which there are sixteen inserted in each jaw, and also exclusive of a few small bones, which serve to lengthen and give additional strength to some others. We shall now arrange these one hundred and ninetyeight bones in the form of a table, that you may see more clearly and remember more easily their connexion:In the cranium or head

In the spine, called the vertebræ, including the
sacrum and the coccyx, which are called false
vertebræ, because they adhere to each other and
do not move................

In the face..........

A little bone which lies at the root of the tongue, called Os-hyoides, of this shape v............... The ribs-and the breast-bone to which they are in part attached

In each superior extremity, including the shoulder, arm, fore-arm, and hand 32

In each lower extremity, including the pelvis, thigh, leg, and foot 30.........

Total..............

8

26 14

1

25

64

60

198

If we examine the composition of bone, we shall find that it contains the three essential elements, hydrogen, nitrogen, and oxygen; with a certain proportion of lime and phosphorus, or phosphate of lime. It is by the excess of this earthy matter in the bones of old people, that they are so easily and so frequently broken. We seldom if ever hear of a child breaking a bone, and yet how often do children fall, how sadly are they sometimes bruised.

The purpose of bone in the animal economy is purely mechanical. Not only do the bones serve as points of attachment to the muscles in the midst of which they are situated, but afford support and protection to the softer textures, and form inflexible levers, on which the muscles may act, and give motion to the different parts of the great fabric. The brain is a soft and delicate texture, and to preserve which uninjured, is essential to the play and activity of the mind. Now see how admirably this is insured by incasing it within the hard and bony substance of the cranium. So the heart and the lungs are defended by the ribs, and the spinal marrow by the vertebræ which compose the back bone. In all this, we behold the wise and benevolent arrangement of the Creator. If the brain had not been so defended, it would have been liable to constant injury, and in the proportion of the injury must the intellect have been impaired.

Or, suppose we break a bone, how disabled do we become? If it be in the leg, we have no longer the power of locomotion, or of moving from one place to another. If it be in the hand, we are no longer qualified to perform the every-day duties of life. But here again we see the goodness of God. While the bones are subject to manifold diseases and external injuries, there is no other structure of the same complex nature, which is capable of being so thoroughly repaired. There have been cases of the re-formation of nearly an entire bone, when the original one had been lost by disease. So in a fracture. Any portion of the shattered bone that remains connected with the surrounding membrane, and the vessels with which it is supplied, becomes the centre of a new formation, and the injury is repaired in a few weeks.

You know that the bones exhibit a great many joints, and that it is by these joints we are enabled to move our bodies in such a variety of ways. But for sucn an arrangement in the fingers, for example, and we could neither close our hands, nor grasp any object on which we wished to lay hold. Now if there be so many joints, how is it that the bones are preserved each in its place? This is done by

next to bone in solidity; ligament is a strong, whitish, flexible,

fibrous substance; and both in some instances supply the place of bone; in other instances they fix the ends of the bones so as to confine the motions of the joint; sometimes they give origin to muscles, and sometimes they fix the bones almost immovably together. Between the joints there is a fluid called SYNOVIA, which is of a yellowish hue, like olive oil, and which like oil, serves to lubricate and render easy the motion of one bone upon another.

How beautiful and how gracious are these arrangements! How worthy of that wise and loving Creator, the purpose and end of all whose works is not less our happiness than his own glory! With what interest should we study His works, and how warm and grateful should be the praise of our hearts!

But we have gone far enough for one lesson. Let us now put the whole in the form of questions, and see how much you have learned, and how much you remember.

What are the three kingdoms into which the world of nature

is divided?

Is the distinction between living bodies and dead matter to be always easily traced?

Give an example of this difficulty.

With which of these three kingdoms has human physiology to do?

Of what material is the human body made up?

At

In studying the ensuing lessons, you must implicitly follow my directions. I have been for many years engaged in tes.ching and, from my experience, know that there is no obstacle to progress greater than that which scholars create for them selves, in giving preference to their own judgments and following their own fancies and opinions. In your practice, acknowledge and observe it as a first principle, that your instructor know better than you. Take it for certain that he is right, untilshould it so happen-you have proved that he is wron the same time, scrupulously follow my directions. Do not attempt to get before me; take care not to fall behind me. Do what I bid, do it when I bid it, do it as I bid it. The more rigid you are with yourself, in obeying these injunctions, the more certain and the more rapid will your progress be. teach you, and as having for more than a quarter of a century having myself gone through every thing that I am about to been engaged in teaching these things to others, I know what difficulties are in the way, and I have learned how to diminish or remove them. On these grounds I claim your confidence; and if you are not willing to give me your confidence, you had better not enter on the study of the Latin language.

As

stance?

What holds the bones together?

adverb, &c. The meaning of such words I shall not explain. But everything peculiar as between the English and the Latin I shall explain. I shall also explain any grammatical term, which though used sometimes in English Grammar, you possibly may not understand. In my explanations I think it safer to err on the side of superfluity rather than on the side of deficiency. I have said that I shall suppose you to possess a general acquaintance with the English language. But I advise you to suspect yourself as being probably acquainted with it, but in a very imperfect manner. And this advice I give you in the hope that it may lead you to the constant use of a good English Dictionary. In every case in which you have the least doubt whether or not you know the exact meaning of any word I use, look out the word in your dictionary, and put it down in a note-book to be kept for the purpose. Having written it in the note-book, add the meaning. When you have, say a score of words thus entered in your note book, look them over again and again until their

LESSONS IN LATIN.-No. I.
By JOHN R. BEARD, D.D.
INTRODUCTORY.

BEING about to give you, reader, some lessons which may enable you to learn the Latin language, with no other resources than such as may be supplied by your own care and diligence, I take it for granted that you are desirous of acquiring the necessary skill, and am willing to bestow the necessary labour. If the study were not recommended as a good mental discipline; if it were not recommended as giving a key to some of the finest treasures of literature; if it were not recommended as a means of leading you into communion with such minds as those of Cicero, Virgil, Horace, Livy, and Tacitus, it would have a sufficient claim on your attention, as greatly conducing to a full and accurate aquaintance with your mother tongue-the English. The English language is, for the most part, made up of two elements: the Saxon element, the Latin element. Without a knowledge of both these elements, you cannot be said to know English. If you are familiar with both these elements, you possess means of knowing and writing English, superior to the means which are possessed by many who have received what is called a classical education, and have spent years in learned universities. In order to be in possession of both those elements, you must, for the Saxon element, study German, and for the Latin element, study the lessons which

ensue.

this suggestion, and continue to make progress with me, you will soon find numerous exemplifications of the assertion 1 made but now, namely, that a large proportion of the words in the English language are of Latin origin. Take, for instance, the last sentence In that sentence alone the following words are derived from the Latin: I mean suggestion, continue, progress, numerous, exemplification, assertion, proportion, language, Latin, origin. Of the two-and-forty words of which the sen tence consists, ten are from the Latin. Should you ever possess an acquaintance with the science of philology, or the science of languages, you will know that in the sentence there are other words which are found in the Latin as well as in other ancient languages. Independently of this, you now learn that about one-fourth of our English words have come to us from the people who spoke Latin, that is the Romans and other nations of Italy. In reality, the proportion of Latin words in the English is much greater, as in time you may know. Observe, too, that these Latin words in the sentence are the long and the hard words, are what perhaps you may call "Dictionary words." These are the very words which give you trouble when you read an English classic, or firstrate author. But they give me no trouble. With me, they are as easy to be understood as any common Saxon term, such as father, house, tree. The reason why they have long ceased to give me trouble, is, that I am familiar with their roots, or the elements of which they each consist. Having this familiarity, I have no occasion to consult the dictionary. There are thou sands of English words of Latin origin, the meaning of which I know, though I have never looked them out in a dictionary, I wish to assist you in putting yourself into a similar position; and although you may have no aid but suck as these pages

afford you, I do not despair of success, if only you will strictly observe my requirements.

I shall, however, have little chance of carrying my wishes into effect, if you begin with a notion that the task is an easy one. Were it an easy task, it would not be worth your trouble. I tell you plainly that the task is hard; that it is a long task; that it will require on your part patience and diligence. If you commence the study under the delusion that it is mere play, you will do as very many have done before you,-in a short time you will grow weary, and give it up. But if, in a true manly spirit, you take up the task as a worthy task, as a useful though. a difficult task, as a task in which whatever I may do for you, you must do far more for yourself, then you will not fail to make progress; your course will become easier as you go on; and you will have the delightful satisfaction that you are employing your time and your faculties so as to produce definite, important, and abiding results. If, however, it is not an easy thing to acquire an acquaintance with the principles of the Latin language, then you will at once see that it is not wise to be engaged at the same time in other difficult studies. Many persons, especially young persons, 'fail to give themselves a good education, because they attempt too much-because, indeed, they attempt what is impossible. I remember that when began in earnest to study Latin, I was saved from this danger, by the judicious opinion of a learned and venerated friend, who advised me not to attempt more than one subject at a time. In part, my friend, I am like you, self-taught. In the ordinary phrase, indeed, I learnt Latin when a boy at school; but so wretched were the methods of teaching some forty years ago, that though I learnt Latin I knew nothing of Latin when I left school. Soon, however, 1 began the study in earnest; I began almost unaided. But an adviser came, and under his directions I for a time confined myself almost exclusively to my Latin studies. They were hard, very hard; much harder were they to me than they need be to you. But by giving my mind perseveringly to the task, I reaped success, and so in time became prepared for college. Let me be your adviser. Even in the treasures of the POPULAR EDUCATOR you may find source of danger. If you engage in all the studies here offered, you will become proficient in none. Make a selection. If you wish to learn Latin, pursue the study wisely. But wisely you cannot pursue it, if you combine therewith several other subjects. For you, one language at a time is enough. Do not attempt more. If you want relief from this, which is a severe study, unite with it the Lessons in History which these pages supply. But do not attempt to learn French while you are learning Latin. When you know Latin, you will find French very easy. With a knowledge of Latin you would also have no difficulty at all in becoming, in a short time, acquainted with the Italian, the Spanish, and the Portuguese languages, which have Latin for their common parent. In the Latin, too, you would find a great assistance should you wish to learn Greek, and so acquire the power of reading the scriptures of the New Testament in their original tongue.

You may practically regard the Latin alphabet as the same as the English. The English letters may be traced to the Latin; the Latin letters are derived from the Greek; and the Greek are in substance identical with the Phenician; while the Phenician alphabet is the oldest, or one of the oldest, in

the world.

In the pronunciation, too, you may in the main follow the best English usage. Every modern nation pronounces the Latin as it pronounces its own tongue. Thus there are divers methods of pronunciation. This diversity would be inconvenient, if the Latin were, like the French, a general medium of verbal intercourse. At one tinie it was so. And then there prevailed one recognised manner of pronunciation. Now, however, for the most part, Latin is read, not spoken. Consequently the pronunciation is not a matter of consequence. Even in our own country there are diversities. but such diversities are secondary mat.ers. To one or two remarks, however, you should carefully attend. In Latin the vowels are what is called long or short. In other words, on some the accent or stress of the voice is thrown, on others it is not thrown. The vowel a for instance is mostly long, the vowel i is mostly short. A long vowel is said to be equal to wo short vowels. We English people, however, have no

other way of marking a long vowel, except by throwing on it, the accent or stress of the voice. It is also a fact, that the same vowel is sometimes short and sometimes long; in other words, the same vowel sometimes has, and sometimes has not the accent on it; thus the i in dominus, a lord, is without the accent, while the i in doctrina, learning, has the accent; the former, therefore is pronounced thus, dóminus, the latter thus, doctrína. Now observe that these words are trisyllables, as dom, i, nus. Of these three syllables the last, namely us, is called the ultimate; the second, i, is called the penult; the third, or dom, is called the antepenult. And the general rule for pronouncing Latin words is, that the accent is thrown on the penult, or if not on the penult, then on the antepenult. In doctrína the accent is on the penult, or last syllable but one. In dóminus, the accent is on the antepenult, or last syllable but two. In order that you may know where to lay the stress of your voice. I shall mark, as in dóminus and doctrína, on which syllable the accent lies. You will then understand that when I put a mark thus over a vowel, I mean thereby that you should let your voice rest, as it were on that vowel. For example, in the word incur, the accent you know is on the last syllable, for you throw the stress of the voice on the syllable cur. This is indicated thus, incúr. So in the Latin amicus, a friend, the accent is on the i, and the word is to be pronounced thus amícus, the accent being on the penult. There is another way of marking the same fact; it is by the use of a short strait line, as, and a curve, as . The former denotes a long or accented syllable, for instance doctrina; the latter denotes a short or unaccented syllable, for instance, dominus. You thus see that doctrina and doctrína, dóminus and dominus point out the same thing, namely, that in pronouncing doctrína you must lay the stress of the voice on the i, and in pronouncing dóminus you must lay it on the o.

I must point out to you another practice. In Latin, as you will presently learn, the endings of words have a good deal to do with their meanings. It is, on that account, usual to pronounce them at least very distinctly. Indeed, I might say, that on every terminating syllable a sort of secondary accent is laid. Thus, dominus is pronounced dóminus. So in other forms of the word, thus, dóminí, dôminó, dôminúm. The object is to mark the distinction between, say, dominus and domino, a distinction of great consequence. Another form of this word is dominos. For the same reason a stress is laid on the termination os, which accordingly is pronounced as if it were oase. Words, too, which end in es have a secondary accent on the e; as Vulpes, a fox, pronounced vulpees. In a few cases the vowel is what we call doubtful, that is, it is sometimes short and sometimes long. This peculiarity is marked thus,

The Latin

as in tenebrae, darkness, when the accent may be on the penult, as tenebrae, or on the antepenult, as tenebrae. Observe, also, that a vowel at the end of a word is always pronounced in Latin. Take, as an example, docéré, to teach, which is pronounced as it is marked, that is, with an accent on the last syllable no less than on the last syllable but one. language has no silent e, as we have: for instance, in wife. Practise yourself, according to these rules, in pronouncing thus the opening lines of that fine poem, Virgil's Aeneid. As I am its meaning, I subjoin the translation made by the English anxious that you should not pass anything without knowing poet Dryden.

"Arma virúmque canó, Trójaé quí prímus ab óris
Italiám, fátó profugús, Lávinia vénit

Littora; múltum ille ét térrís jáctátus et álto,
Ví superúm, saévaé memorém Júnónis ob fram;
Múlta quoque ét bélló pássús dúm cónderet úrbem,
Inférrétque Deós Latió; genus ande Latínum,
Albáníque patrés, átqué áltaé móenia Rómae."
"Arms and the man I sing, who forc'd by fate,
And haughty Juno's unrelenting hate,
Expell'd and exil'd, left the Trojan shore,
Long labours, both by sea and land, he bore,
And in the doubtful war, before he won
The Latin realm, and built the destined town-
His banish'd gods restor❜d to rites divine,
And settled sure succession in his line,
From whence the race of Alban fathers come,
And the long glories of majestic Rome."