ELIMINATION OF WASTES 



195 



drink plenty of water and empty the bladder often enough to 

 prevent discomfort, which is an indication of strain. On the 

 other hand, we may do something indirectly through attention 

 to our diet and our exercise and our general mode of living. 



An excess of proteins means 

 an excess of urea to be filtered 

 through the kidneys. Lack of 

 exercise results in poor cir- 

 culation, so that wastes re- 

 main in the blood a long time. 

 Bad breathing habits add to 

 the load upon the kidneys. 

 Alcohol causes congestion, or 

 clogging, of the capillaries, and 

 in the kidneys that means de- 

 laying the removal of wastes. 

 In short, keeping well or 

 healthy is not the simple 

 arithmetic of keeping a num- 

 ber of organs in condition. 

 Everything of importance 

 affects the whole organism, 

 although it may strike now 

 at one organ and now at 

 another. 



A generation ago every 

 worker was allowed to quench 

 his thirst in his own way, as 

 best he could. The sale of 

 beer and other prepared drinks 

 concerned only the buyers and the sellers. Now, however, 

 employers and managers of factories, shops, stores, and offices 

 are finding it worth while to provide an abundance of clean, 

 cool, and palatable drinking water. In some states the law 

 requires that suitable drinking water be supplied in all work- 

 rooms. In a similar way, the provision of suitable toilet rooms, 



Fig. 98. Kidneys and bladder 



a, the main artery, and b, the main vein, in 

 the abdominal cavity, giving off branches 

 to the kidneys cc; d, funnel-shaped cavity 

 in \Yhich the waste fluid is gathered by 

 the gland action of the kidney; ee, the 

 tireters, tubes leading from the kidneys 

 to the bladder /. From the bladder the 

 urine is discharged at intervals through a 

 tube leading to the exterior, the urethra. 

 The left kidney is represented as cut 

 through lengthwise 



