GENERAL VIEW OF THE BODY 9 



is used in talking, in masticating the food, and in swallow- 

 ing. The nose serves at least three distinct purposes. 

 The mouth, the arms, the hands, the feet, the legs, the 

 liver, the lungs, and the stomach are also organs that serve 

 more than one purpose. This introduces the principle of 

 economy into the construction of the body and diminishes 

 the number of organs that would otherwise be required. 



The various organs also combine with one another in 

 carrying on the work of the body. An illustration of this 

 is seen in the digestion of the food a process which 

 requires the combined action of the mouth, stomach, liver, 

 intestines, and other organs. A number of organs working 

 together for the same purpose form a system. The chief 

 systems of the body are the digestive system, the cir- 

 culatory system, the respiratory system, the muscular sys- 

 tem, and the nervous system. 



The Organ and its Work. A most interesting question 

 relating to the work of the organ is this : Does the organ 

 work for its own benefit or for the benefit of the body as a 

 whole ? Does the hand, for example, grasp for itself or in 

 order that the entire body may come into possession ? Only 

 slight study is sufficient to reveal the fact that each organ 

 performs a work which benefits the body as a whole. In 

 other words, just as the organ itself is a part of the body, 

 the work which it does is a part of the necessary work 

 which the body has to do. 



But in working for the general good, or for the body as 

 a whole, each organ becomes a sharer in the benefits of 

 the work done by every other organ. While the hand 

 receives only a little of the nourishment contained in the 

 food which it places in the mouth or of the heat from 

 fuel which it places on the fire, it is aided and supported 

 by the work of all the other organs of the body eyes, 



