DIVISION SIXTH 



HYGIENE. 



THE DIGESTIVE ORGANS. 



Statement It is a law of the human system that each or. 

 gan is moved to healthy action under the influence of its proper 

 stimulus. The perfection of the digestive process, as well as the 

 health of the whole system, requires the observance of certain rules, 

 with regard to the quantity and quality of the food, the manner of 

 taking it and the condition of the system at the time. 



QUANTITY OF FOOD. 



Variation The age, occupation, temperament, temperature, 

 habits, amount of clothing generally worn, health and disease of the 

 individual are among the circumstances which produce a variation 

 in the quantity of the food necessary for the system. 



Growth In proportion to this will be the natural aemand 

 for food on the part of the child and youth. The more rapid the 

 growth the greater the demand. This makes the keen appetite 

 and vigorous digestion of childhood. After full growth this unus- 

 ual necessity for nutriment ceases, unless there should be a corres- 

 ponding increase of mental or bodily exertion after this period. 

 Without this, to continue to eat as much as during the growing 

 stage would impair or disease the digestive apparatus and diminish 

 the vigor of the whole system. 



Repairing Waste Loss of substance follows action in 

 every department of nature; this is called waste. As exercise or 

 thought increases, the fluids of the system circulate with increased 

 energy; the old atoms of the human system are more rapidly re- 

 moved by their proper organs, the vessels of the skin, lungs, kid- 

 neys, etc., and new atoms are deposited by the smaller bloodvessels. 



Diminishing- the Quantity A lessening of activity im- 

 plies a corresponding cessation of waste; hence, the quantity of 

 rood should be diminished in nearly the same proportion as the 

 amount and intensity of exertion, otherwise the tone of the diges- 

 tive organs must become impaired and .the health enfeebled. Stu- 

 dents who have left laborious employments to attend school, are ex- 

 hausted by the demands of the new labor rather than by previous 

 habits. The real wants of the system are generally manifested by 

 the corresponding sensation of hunger. It is a common observation, 



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