CO-ORDINATION. 281 



not disciplined, controlled, and guided, so as to work to- 

 gether for the good of the whole, death would very soon 

 result. As a matter of fact this is the way in which death 

 almost always does begin. The body is not built like the 

 deacon's "one-hoss shay," to run till every part of it gives 

 out at the same moment. Some important organ ceases to 

 do its part properly; as a consequence the whole complex 

 mechanism is thrown out of gear, and death results. 



Co-ordination means controlling the activities of a num- 

 ber of working things (whether men, or organs, or ma- 

 chines) for the attainment of a definite end. A pro- 

 miscuous and undirected crowd of competent bricklayers, 

 carpenters, hod-carriers, and so forth, would be quite in- 

 competent to build a house. There might be present 

 abundant energy and skill to construct walls and floors and 

 roof; but if each man worked for himself and took no heed 

 of the rest the result would be an odd building, if any at 

 all. Hence the whole work is placed under the control of 

 a master builder, who guides the activities of individ- 

 uals according to the needs of the moment: undirected 

 workmen, if conscientious, would work just as hard with- 

 out supervision, but they would work unprofitably. The 

 healthy body may be regarded as made up of a number of 

 conscientious workers, the organs, who are concerned in 

 building it and keeping it in repair, each one acting so as 

 to co-operate with the rest for the attainment of the com- 

 mon end. The master builder, or "boss," if we may use 



How does death usually begin ? What happens when some im- 

 portant organ ceases to do its duty? 



What is meant by co-ordination? Illustrate. How may the 

 healthy body be regarded when compared with the workmen con- 

 cerned in building a house? 



