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it lay partly buried in the earth, on the spot where it was laid down, till about two hundred and fifty years ago, when Pope Sixtus V., by the help of forty-one strong pieces of machinery, eight hundred men, and one hundred and sixty horses, in eight days succeeded in getting it out of the ground; but it took four months more to remove it fifty or sixty rods farther, to its present situation.

69. "When they had at length reached the spot, the grand difficulty was to raise it. They erected a pedestal or foot-piece, shaped like four lions, for it to rest on; and by means of powerful machines, and many strong ropes and tackles, they placed the bottom of it on the pedestal. Then they began with their machinery to raise it. But when it was nearly up, so that it would almost stand, the ropes, it is said, had stretched so much. more than the master-workman expected, that it would go no farther.

70. "What was to be done? Fontana, the masterworkman, had forbidden all talking, and they now stood holding on the tackles so silently that you might have heard a whisper. Suddenly an English sailor cried out, 'Wet the ropes.' This was no sooner said than done, when, to the surprise and joy of everybody, the ropes shrunk just enough to raise the obelisk to its place, where it has now stood two-hundred and fifty years, and where it may perhaps continue to stand many thousand years, unless an earthquake should shake it down." Our muscles contract and shorten to move our bones, in the same way that the ropes shrunk to move

69. What difficulty was there when the pyramid was removed to its present situation? How did they attempt to raise it? What new obstacle occurred? 70. What had been the orders of Fontana? What plan was suggested by the Englishman to succeed. Did it succeed? How do our muscles resemble the ropes?

HOW TO SECURE HEALTHY MUSCLES.

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the pedestal, and also add much to the beauty and proportion of our bodies.

71. As I told you in the previous chapter, all these two hundred and fifty-two bones, and five hundred and twenty-seven muscles, are formed from the blood, and that is made from the food we eat; therefore you must not only be careful, children, about the quality and quantity of your food, that you may have good bones and muscles, but you must take care of these bones and muscles when they are made; for they will soon become diseased and useless if you do not use them.

72. Hence you must take much exercise in the free, pure air of heaven: do not be fearful about running and jumping so as to use all your muscles. Little girls who wish to have strong muscles when they are old must not be ashamed, as some ladies are, to work and assist their mothers, and to run about in the open air.

73. Nearly everything is strengthened and improved by use, and weakened by disuse. You may say that . your clothes wear out the more you use them; but such is not the case with the bones and muscles, for although they are continually changing, yet the blood is as constantly forming new ones by depositing those little substances, as when you cut your finger, of which I have hitherto spoken.

74. There is a substance which surrounds the muscles, of a yellow color, called fat. It is this which nourishes us for a long time when we are sick, and do not take

71. How many bones are in the whole system? How many muscles? From what are the bones and muscles formed? Why should we take care of the muscles? 72. How can you keep your muscles well and strong? How can little girls secure good muscles? out the muscles? Why not? 74. What is the fat? What is the use of the fat in sickness?

73. Does use wear

much food. Some persons always express wonder when they see any one very thin and emaciated after a severe fit of sickness; they would not be thus surprised if they took into consideration the fact that the fat has all been consumed, and that they must eat heartily again, to make more fat to cover their bones and muscles.

75. There are some animals, like the bat and bear, which, as soon as cold weather approaches, retreat into their houses or dens, and remain there all winter in a sleepy, torpid state. They take no food during this time; but their bodies are nourished by the fat, so that when they awake in the spring they are very thin and poor. Sometimes the fat makes its appearance on the outer surface of the skin, and forms pimples. Too much fat is unhealthy, and prevents a free circulation of the blood.

74. Should we be surprised to see the fat gone after a fit of sickness? 75. In what state do the bears and bats live during the winter? What is their appearance in the spring? What are pimples? Does the fat make us healthy?

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CHAPTER III.

SKIN.

1. Ir we had bones and the red muscles only for a body, we should present rather a rough and ugly appearance; but we have a covering drawn over the muscles, called the skin, which conceals them from view. Perhaps you have never thought much about the skin, but have merely supposed, as many undoubtedly have, that it is only a simple substance. This is all that some either think or care about it; but they are quite mistaken in regard to the importance of our knowledge respecting it.

2. The skin is sometimes soft, smooth, and delicate; then it is thick and wrinkled, as in the palms of the hand, or the soles of the feet. It consists of three coats or membranes, which I will describe.

The first is called the cuticle or epidermis. This is a very thin covering, and is seen when a blister is raised. It is this layer that peels off in cases of fever. This covering is soft or hard, and becomes so by the manner we use it. If the cuticle were as soft on the feet as we find it to be on the hands, little boys could never run barefooted as they do; but it becomes almost as tough

What is the subject of chapter third?

1. Where is the skin situated? How should we appear if our bodies were composed of bones and muscles only? What opinion do some persons entertain respecting the skin? 2. Is the skin always of the same thickness? Of how many coats does it consist? What is the first? Describe the cuticle. How does the cuticle become hard ?

as leather. A great deal, however, depends on the manner we use this, as well as every other part of the body; for the stage-driver's hands, that are exposed to every variety of storm, are composed of the same material as that of the delicate lady who always uses a muff.

The cuticle on the foot of an infant is as soft and tender as on any part of the body, and does not become hard till the child has walked.

3. This thin cuticle is transparent-which means that we can look through it as we can through glass and water and has little pores, but no veins or blood-vessels. This skin continued, makes our finger-nails, which protect the ends of the fingers, as the cuticle does the skin.

4. Immediately underneath the cuticle is another layer, called the rete mucosum. There is more feeling in this layer than in the first. Spread over this skin is what is called the coloring matter. It is a great mistake to suppose that because some have a black, and others white, and others red complexions, that the whole blood and skin are of different colors. The only difference between the blackest person who ever lived and the whitest, is in this liquid on the surface of the second skin, which is either black, or white, or red.

5. The third layer is called, to give you another hard name, the vera cutis, or the true skin. Over this are

2. What constitutes the difference between the hand of the lady and that of the stage-driver? Is the cuticle naturally harder on the feet and hands than elsewhere? How does it become so? 3. What farther can you say about the cuticle? What are the finger-nails, and what is their use? 4. What is the second layer of the skin? What is meant by coloring matter? What constitutes the difference in color among individuals? 5. What is the third layer of the skin?

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