PREFACE. VJ1 



disrespect for the bodies of the dead ; and, above 

 all, the barbarous practice of robbing graves. 



Still this subject must be studied. Man, as 

 has just been observed, has a body as well as a 

 mind. A system of education which overlooks 

 either, is essentially defective. 



It was in this view, that the author com- 

 menced a series of essays on anatomy and phy- 

 siology, in the first volume of the Juvenile 

 Rambler, They were continued into Vol. 2, of 

 the same periodical, and also into Vols. 2, 3 and 

 4 of Parley's Magazine. Many of them were 

 written under the title of the " House I live in." 

 The favorable reception they met with, and the 

 solicitations of parents and teachers, together 

 with an increasing conviction of the absolute 

 necessity of something of the kind, have in- 

 duced him to go farther, and prepare a work for 

 families and schools. 



But he wishes it to be distinctly understood, 

 that he does not intend this as a substitute for 

 any known work. The information which it 

 gives, in anatomy and physiology, would, indeed, 

 be of great value, without the study of other 

 authors. But it is chiefly intended to introduce 

 the young to such works as Smith's "Class 

 Book of Anatomy," and Comstock's " Outlines 

 of Physiology ; " and if its adoption in part as 



