What shall we teach?, or, Physiology in schools : being an attempt to advocate instruction in the laws of life as a branch of general education / by Edwin Lankester.

  • Lankester, Edwin, 1814-1874.
Date:
1870
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: What shall we teach?, or, Physiology in schools : being an attempt to advocate instruction in the laws of life as a branch of general education / by Edwin Lankester. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    human body are carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen. The chemical properties of these elements play a very important part in the life of the human body, and their principal properties must be under- stood to appreciate their influence in life. 16. In the third place, the human body is composed of various organs, each performing a special function. These organs have all a definite relation to each other. By their agency the chemical substances in the form of food enter into the body, and this food supplies the materials which, being distributed by the heart and blood-vessels to the various parts of the body, enable them to perforin the actions which we call life. The great laws by which this life is maintained in its integrity, and disease kept at bay, are not difficult to understand, and it is by a knowledge of these laws that the nature of disease and death can be explained, and their occurrence be prevented. 17. That disease and death can be prevented is a well-known fact; and certain diseases are called “ preventible ” by sanitary writers because their causes are well known and can be removed. It is not, however, possible by mere authority to prevent these diseases. The law can do much to remove those causes of disease in which individuals are incapable of acting. It can compel a town to have a supply of water, but no law can compel people to use water. Unless individuals are instructed in the necessity of using water for the benefit of their health the law is