156 GOOD HEALTH 



We talk a great deal about eating, but there are only 

 three things that we can do about it: we put the food 

 into our mouths; we chew it; we swallow it. After 

 that the long food tube of the body does everything else. 

 Each part of this tube seems to be a special station that 

 does some special thing to the food. 



First comes the mouth that holds it and chews it. Next 

 is the food pipe that does the swallowing. This tube 

 sends the food into a queer-shaped bag that we call the 

 stomach, and there it stays for two or three hours, while 

 the muscles pull it in every direction and send the food 

 round and round. 



In the midst of all this a thick kind of clear liquid, 

 called gastric juice, comes out of the lining of the stom- 

 ach and makes the food as soft as pea soup. 



It is about ready for the blood now, but, on the way, 

 it must next go into the longest and most twisted part of 

 the food tube. This is about twenty feet long in a man, 

 and is folded into small compass below the stomach. 



The dissolved part of the food passes through the lin- 

 ing of the tube, and after that the blood carries it to any 

 place that needs it most, to the bones, the skin, the 

 hair, the lungs, and everywhere else where it is needed. 



Even with the best of chewing there is always some 

 waste, and this has to pass out of our bodies. It is 

 exceedingly important that we get rid of it every day. 



Now we are ready for questions about food. 



