EDITED BY WILLIAM F. RUSSELL, PH.D. DEAN, COLLEGE OF EDUCATION, STATE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA MODERN PHYSIOLOGY PRIMER THE MOST WONDERFUL HOUSE THE MECHANICS AND HYGIENE OF THE BODY PREFACE THE immortal Mr. Dooley has declared that "you can lead a boy to college, but you can't make him think.” The object of these little books is to make children think about health, for while it may be "never too late to mend" bad health habits, it is never too early to form good ones. Health cannot be forced from without; it must be fostered from within. It is not enough for us to provide our children with proper food, clothe them suitably and keep them clean. We must also give them an intelligent understanding of the hows and whys underlying the laws of hygiene, and must impart to them the contagion of our own enthusiasm for health. Therefore I have sought, in these informal talks with "Ruth and Paul," not to convey the maximum number of facts, but to arouse the maximum degree of interest. Facts may be quickly forgotten, but interest, once fully aroused, never quite dies. For this reason THE MOST WONDERFUL HOUSE IN THE WORLD does not seek to cover in any complete fashion the field of physiology. It gives only such general facts as are needed to explain in a simple way the workings of the bodily machine and the best methods of keeping it strong and healthy. The details of physiology may well be studied when the boy or girl is older, but for the children in the lower and intermediate grades, physiology must be taught merely as the basis of hygiene. 349628 |