Such persons often go to the "doctor" to inquire what the matter is; but they might as well take care of themselves. Preventionwhere we can prevent any evil-is always better than cure. Those who live on a moderate quantity of plain food, and drink pure water, and work at something steadily, but moderately, rarely have any trouble of this sort. It has been said that the ligaments hold the joints together. They do; but the tendons or straps, which go off from the ends of the muscles, and are fastened into the bones around their joints, help greatly to hold them together. There are some very ingenious contrivances to keep the joints firm and yet movable, which I cannot describe now.

ABUSES OF THE JOINTS.-That the great Creator made the joints to be used, is proved from their curious structure, and from the substance prepared to moisten them; but that they were not made to be used too violently is also proved by the fact that if thus used, they become diseased. Sometimes the liquor called synovia dries away; in these cases, we hear the grating sound already mentioned; at oth

ers, the joints become painful, or perhaps swell. It is but seldom, however, that they become diseased from mere walking, if we walk ever so much, unless we are intemperate or otherwise irregular in our habits.

One of the worst abuses of the joints is by wrestling. I have seen a great many famous wrestlers, who, when they became old, had stiff, or lame, or swelled knees or hips. They were tortured almost to death with these complaints. Sometimes the physician calls the complaint gout, sometimes rheumatism.

No doubt people have both the gout and the rheumatism from other causes besides wrestling, such as catching cold, excess in eating and drinking, the use of spirits, tobacco, &c., &c. But it often happens that wrestling, when it does not produce all the mischief, unites with other causes to produce it; and it sometimes does the whole. In fact, no person can use his joints with very great violence, either in wrestling or in hard labor, without suffering from it, especially when he becomes old, if he lives to see old age; which, in such cases, is not very common.

Number of bones. Skeletons. Anatomy. Physiology. Uses of bones.

NUMBER OF BONES-Let us here sum up or review what we have learned. This is always important in the pursuit of any study. Some teachers review every week, and some oftener still. Your parents or teachers, while you are studying this work, will, I hope, require you to review at the end of every chapter.

The cranium, or part of the head which holds the brain, consists of eight different bones. There are fourteen bones of the face, besides thirty-two teeth. Then there are four very small bones in each ear, and one at the root of the tongue. Thus the whole head, above the neck, contains sixty-three bones. The neck has seven; but as these form the

upper part of the spine, they are usually reckoned with those of the body.

The spine, or back-bone, contains twentyfour pieces, called vertebræ; and between these and the lower extremities are four bones more. There are twenty-four ribs, that is, twelve on each side, and a breast bone, or sternum, down the middle of the front. Thus the whole of what we commonly call the body, contains fifty-three bones.

The whole upper extremity, including the hand, arm, clavicle, or collar bone, and scapula, or shoulder blade, consists of thirty-two pieces, or sixty-four on both sides. Each lower extremity includes thirty bones; and thus both together make sixty, besides the small sesamoid bones.

Now if we add together these several sums, we shall find the amount two hundred and forty. A complete human skeleton, then, would contain no less than two hundred and forty bones! Who would suppose so, from the mere view of an individual, while in the act of standing! But when we come to see him walking, or in motion otherwise, we begin to find he has a great many joints in him, and

of course a great many bones. At every part of the body where the bones meet, there is more or less of motion, (excepting at the junction of the several portions forming the head, face, teeth and hips,) and these may all be moved in nearly the same instant. Thus there are, in the human frame, about one hundred and eighty joints.

We may indeed add to this number the small sesamoid bones, found in the thumbs and great toes of older persons, and somewhat resembling the knee-pan in shape, but very diminutive in size. Of these there are often two in each large joint of the great toe, and as many in the large joint of each thumb. Adding these, then, to the two hundred and forty, we should have for the whole number of bones in the human frame, two hundred and forty-eight.

Some make the number about two hundred and sixty; but in order to this, they reckon fourteen sesamoid bones. It should be remembered that the number of the sesamoid bones varies greatly in different persons, although nearly all adults have some of them. They are hardly ever larger than half a pea.