wise children treat tobacco?--"Let it alone. They will not chew,
snuff, or smoke the vile weed."

Is alcohol food or poison?--"It is poison."

How do we know it is not food?--"Because it cannot be changed into blood."

How has this been proved?--"Alcohol has been found in the brain, and other
parts of drunkards, with the same smell and the same power to burn easily
which it had when it was taken into the mouth."

How do you know it is a poison?--"Because it does harm to every part of the
body, beginning in the stomach."

What harm does alcohol do in the stomach?--"It hinders the stomach from
doing its work; it burns the coats of the stomach; it destroys the gastric
juice; it hardens the food, so that it cannot be dissolved by the gastric
juice."

What does the stomach do with alcohol?--"Drives it out as soon as
possible."

Where does the stomach send it?--"Into the liver."

Where does the liver send it?--"To the heart; and the heart sends it to the
lungs."

What do the lungs do with the alcohol?--"They drive it out as soon as they
can."

Where do the lungs send some of it?--"Through the nose and mouth, into the
air."

What harm does the alcohol do in the breath?--"It poisons the air; it tells
that some kind of alcoholic liquor has been taken into the stomach."

From what you have learned about alcohol, what do you think is the only
safe rule to obey concerning cider, beer, wine, and all alcoholic
liquors?--"I must not drink them, if I wish to have a strong and healthy
stomach."

* * * * *

[Illustration: THE NERVOUS SYSTEM.--(From Walker's _Physiology_.)]

1. The large brain. 2. The small brain. 3. The spinal cord. 4, 5. Nerves.

* * * * *

PART XI.

FORMULA FOR THE LESSON ON THE NERVOUS SYSTEM.

1. My brain is a soft gray-and-white mass resembling marrow.

2. It is placed in a bony box called the skull; it is covered and held
together by three coats or membranes.

3. The outer membrane is thick and firm; it strengthens and supports the
brain.

4. The middle membrane is thick, and somewhat like a spider's web in
appearance.

5. The inner membrane is a network of blood-vessels.

6. From the brain, white or reddish gray pulpy cords, called nerves, pass
to all parts of the body. These nerves are of two kinds: nerves of feeling,
and nerves of motion.

7. If I prick my finger, a nerve of feeling carries the message to my
brain; if