s the
eardrum is easily broken. Do not put pencils, pins, or anything else
in your ears. Wax naturally forms in the ear tube to keep out bugs and
flies. The outer part of the tube may be kept clean by wiping it with
a moist cloth over the little finger. If you often have earache or a
running ear, you should have it examined by a physician. _Neglecting a
sick ear may cause deafness._

Some persons are deaf in one ear and do not know it. Test each ear by
covering the other one with a heavy cloth and note how far off you can
hear the ticks of a watch.

=The Nose.=--The nose has a skin-like lining, but it is always kept
moist by little glands which give out a watery fluid. The endings of
the nerve of smell are in the lining in the upper part of the nose.
Two nerves lead from the nose to the brain.

When we catch cold, much blood rushes to the lining of the nose and it
becomes swollen. It then gives out a thick white mucus. This covers
the nerve endings, so that we cannot smell.

Smell is of great use in telling us whether our food is good, by
helping us to enjoy food with a pleasant odor, and by warning us
against bad air.

=The Sense of Taste.=--The nerves by which we taste end in the soft
covering of the tongue and some other parts of the mouth. A food
cannot be tasted while it is dry. For this reason much slippery fluid
flows into the mouth from glands under the ears and tongue. This
fluid, called _saliva_, softens the solid food when it is well chewed,
so we can taste it.

=The Senses of the Skin.=--There are endings of nerves in the skin all
over the body. They are of three or four different kinds. Some of them
tell us about heat, others tell us about cold. Some tell us about the
shape, the smoothness, or hardness of objects, while others tell us
when the skin gets hurt.

Most of the nerve endings are in the deeper part of the skin, so that
they are covered by the epidermis and cannot be hurt by the rough
things handled.

=Alcohol and the Senses.=--The senses are but little affected by a
small amount of alcoholic drink. The sense of taste, after being
accustomed to the sharpness of strong drink, may be less easily
pleased with the taste of common food and drink.

The use of large amounts of alcohol blunts all the senses. In a
drunken man the senses of the skin are so numbed that he does not know
when anything touches him, and he may be badly burned before he feels
the pain.

Heavy drinking makes the hear