2. Things which will help us to grow strong and well, if we eat them, are foods.
3. We get foods from plants and animals.
4. There are several kinds of animal foods, and three cla.s.ses of plant foods--fruits, grains, and vegetables.
5. Things which make us sick when we eat them, are poisons.
CHAPTER V.
UNHEALTHFUL FOODS.
~1.~ Most persons eat many things which are not good for them. Some people do not stop to think whether what they eat is good for them or likely to do them harm. Sometimes, without knowing it, we eat things which are harmful to us. Do you not think that we should try to learn what is good to eat and what is not good, and then be very careful not to eat anything which is likely to do us harm?
~2. Diseased Foods.~--When a person is sick, he is said to be diseased.
Animals are sometimes sick or diseased. Vegetables are also sometimes diseased. Animals and vegetables that are diseased are not good for food. Dishonest men, however, sometimes sell them to those who do not know that they are unfit to be eaten.
~3.~ Pork, the flesh of the hog, is more likely to be diseased than any other kind of animal food.
~4.~ Beef and mutton may be diseased also. Sheep and cattle are sometimes sick of diseases very much like those which human beings have. Meat which is pale, yellowish, or of a dark red color, is unhealthful, and should not be eaten. Meat should never be eaten raw. It should always be well cooked.
~5. Unripe Foods.~--Most vegetable foods are unfit to be eaten when green or unripe, especially if uncooked. Sometimes persons are made very sick indeed by eating such articles as green apples or unripe peaches.
~6. Stale or Decayed Foods.~--Food which has been allowed to stand until it is spoiled, or has become _stale_, _musty_, or _mouldy_, such as mouldy bread or fruit, or tainted meat, is unfit to be eaten, and is often a cause of very severe sickness. Canned fish or other meats spoil very quickly after the cans are opened, and should be eaten the same day.
~7. Adulterated Foods.~--Many of our foods are sometimes spoiled or injured by persons who put into them cheap substances which are harmful to health. They do this so as to make more money in selling them. This is called _adulteration_. The foods which are most likely to be injured by adulteration are milk, sugar, and b.u.t.ter.
~8.~ Milk is most often adulterated by adding water, though sometimes other things are added. Sometimes the water is not pure, and people are made sick and die. The adulteration of milk or any other food is a very wicked practice.
~9.~ b.u.t.ter is sometimes made almost wholly from lard or tallow. This is called _oleomargarine_ or _b.u.t.terine_. If the lard or tallow is from diseased animals, the false b.u.t.ter made from it may cause disease.
~10.~ A great deal of the sugar and syrups which we buy is made from corn by a curious process, which changes the starch of the corn into sugar. Sugar which has been made in this way is not so sweet as cane sugar, and is not healthful.
~11. Condiments or Seasonings.~--These are substances which are added to our food for the purpose of giving to it special flavors. Condiments are not foods, because they do not nourish the body in any way, and are not necessary to preserve it in health.
~12.~ The most common condiments are, mustard, pepper, pepper-sauce, ginger, cayenne-pepper, and spices. All these substances are irritating.
If we put mustard upon the skin, it will make the skin red, and in a little time will raise a blister. If we happen to get a little pepper in the eye, it makes it smart and become very red and inflamed. When we take these things into the stomach, they cause the stomach to smart, and its lining membrane becomes red just as the skin or the eye does.
~13.~ Nature has put into our foods very nice flavors to make us enjoy eating them. Condiments are likely to do us great harm, and hence it is far better not to use them.
~14. Tobacco.~--Most of you know that tobacco is obtained from a plant which has long, broad leaves. These leaves are dried and then rolled up into cigars, ground into snuff, or prepared for chewing.
[Ill.u.s.tration: Tobacco-Plant.]
~15.~ Tobacco has a smarting, sickening taste. Do you think it would be good to eat? Why not?
~16.~ You know that tobacco makes people sick when they first begin to use it. This is because it contains a very deadly poison, called _nicotine_.
~17.~ If you give tobacco to a cat or a dog, it will become very sick. A boy once gave a piece of tobacco to a monkey, which swallowed it not knowing what a bad thing it was. The monkey soon became sick and died.
~18.~ Many learned doctors have noticed the effects which come from using tobacco, and they all say it does great harm to boys, that it makes them puny and weak, and prevents their growing up into strong and useful men. If tobacco is not good for boys, do you think it can be good for men? Certainly you will say, No.
SUMMARY.
1. Both animals and plants are sometimes diseased. Flesh obtained from sick or diseased animals is unfit for food.
2. Unripe, stale, and mouldy foods are unfit to be eaten and likely to cause severe illness.
3. Foods are sometimes spoiled by having things mixed with them which are not food, or which are poisonous.
4. The foods most liable to be adulterated in this way are milk, sugar, and b.u.t.ter.
5. Tobacco, while not actually eaten, is thought by some persons to be a food, but it is not. It is a poison, and injures all who use it.
6. Boys who use tobacco do not grow strong in body and mind.
CHAPTER VI.
OUR DRINKS.
~1.~ Water is really the only drink. It is the only substance which will satisfy thirst. All other fluids which we drink consist mostly of water.
Thus, lemonade is lemon-juice and water. Milk is chiefly water. Wine, beer, cider, and such liquids contain alcohol and many other things, mixed with water.
~2. Why we Need Water.~--If we should wet a sponge and lay it away, it would become dry in a few hours, as the water would pa.s.s off into the air. Our bodies are losing water all the time, and we need to drink to keep ourselves from drying up.
~3.~ Water is also very necessary for other purposes. It softens our food so that we can chew and swallow it, and helps to carry it around in the body after it has been digested, in a way about which we shall learn in future lessons.
~4.~ Still another use for water is to dissolve and wash out of our bodies, through the sweat of the skin, and in other ways, the waste and worn-out particles which are no longer of any use.
~5. Impure Water.~--Most waters have more or less substances dissolved in them. Water which has much lime in it is called hard water. Such water is not so good to drink, or for use in cooking, as soft water.
That water is best which holds no substances in solution. Well-water sometimes contains substances which soak into wells from vaults or cesspools. Slops which are poured upon the ground soak down out of sight; but the foul substances which they contain are not destroyed.
They remain in the soil, and when the rains come, they are washed down into the well if it is near by. You can see some of the things found in bad water in the ill.u.s.tration given on opposite page.
~6.~ It is best not to drink iced water when the body is heated, or during meals. If it is necessary to drink very cold water, the bad effects may be avoided by sipping it very slowly.
~7. Tea and Coffee.~--Many people drink tea or coffee at their meals, and some persons think that these drinks are useful foods; but they really have little or no value as foods. Both tea and coffee contain a poison which, when separated in a pure form, is so deadly that a very small quant.i.ty is enough to kill a cat or a dog. This poison often does much harm to those who drink tea or coffee very strong for any great length of time.
[Ill.u.s.tration: A DROP OF IMPURE WATER MAGNIFIED.]
~8. Alcohol~ (al"-co-hol).--All of you know something about alcohol.