TO THE TEACHER vti 



blessings of natural incitants, and to show how, if these 

 incitants are taken advantage of by a healthful mode of 

 living, no craving for poisonous stimulants need ever arise. 

 In other words, the temperance teaching is positive rather 

 than negative ; it dwells upon happy things more than 

 upon the unhappy. As to amount and arrangement of 

 the space devoted to temperance, the book will be found 

 to comply fully with the laws of the different states on 

 this subject. 



The present backward state of methods in teaching 

 physiology is probably to be attributed to the fact that the 

 text-books have been written by physicians, who, by reason 

 of the duties of their noble and arduous profession, have not 

 had time or opportunity to learn much about teaching. The 

 point of view of their profession may also explain why so 

 many physiologies are written from the standpoint of sick- 

 ness instead of from the optimistic standpoint of health 

 and strength. 



Language and mathematics have been taught in the 

 schools for centuries ; the majority of the natural sciences 

 have not been taught for more than half a century, which 

 is all too short a time in which to learn to teach them 

 most effectively. The present book is an effort toward 

 raising physiology as a disciplinary study to the plane of 

 grammar and arithmetic, with the idea also that the reasoning 

 required in the many exercises will help to more thorough 

 understanding, and therefore better remembrance, of what is 

 learned. What should we think of an arithmetic or a gram- 

 mar in which every question was explained, every exercise 

 worked out, and consequently everything a matter of 

 memory and learning by rote ? Yet in exactly this way 

 have the school physiologies been written, and with such 

 books the teacher has had small chance to keep the pupils 

 from learning physiology by rote. 



It has been the purpose to lead the pupil to approach 



