THE BODY TEMPLE 57 



one large vein, which carries it to the liver, through 

 which it is distributed. The object of this arrangement 

 is to enable the liver to complete the process of digest- 

 ing such elements of food as have been absorbed before 

 the work was finished, and especially to remove from 

 the blood deleterious substarces which have been ab- 

 sorbed with the food. 



One of the most important offices of the liver is to 

 gather out of the blood and store up in itself, in the 

 form of a kind of animal starch, the large amount of 

 sugar which is sometimes eaten with our food, and is 

 always formed in the process of digestion when starchy 

 foods are eaten. If these were allowed to enter the 

 general circulation at once, great mischief would be 

 done to many organs of the body ; and it is to prevent 

 this that the liver separates the greater portion of it, 

 and doles it out to the blood in small doses, in the inter- 

 vals between our meals. It is readily apparent that if 

 a person habitually eats more sugar than it is possible 

 for the liver thus to take care of, great harm may be 

 done to the liver, as it will be overtaxed in trying to 

 do its duty to the entire body. 



Another serious injury which results from the ex- 

 cessive use of sugar as connected with the liver, is this : 

 Wlien the liver fails to convert all of the saccharine 

 matter brought to it with the digested food, the sugar 

 passes on into the circulation in a form in which it 

 cannot be used by the system. To prevent the serious 

 damage which would otherwise result to other organs 

 and tissues, the kidneys exert themselves in removing 

 the surplus sugar, and thus is set up the disease known 

 as diabetes. This is a malady so serious and so diffi- 

 cult of cure that it is certainly the part of wisdom to 

 carefully avoid the causes by which it is produced. 



