keys on it, and so set different strings of the auditory nerve vibrating, and it is this contrivance which enables us to distinguish accurately one sound from another, and one note of music from another. The drum is kept full of air by a tube, passing from the throat, which carries on the vibration. Those who are deaf from any disease in the outer tube of the ear, of the small bones, or of the membrane covering the drum, are still able to gain some sense of hearing through this tube, and by clenching with the teeth the wood of a musical instrument, for instance, they can enjoy the music played upon it.-Rev. J. Ridgway.

WHOLESOME DRINK.

IF we were to separate the solid matter of our bodies from the liquid, we should find that a full grown healthy man of average size, weighing about 10 stones, contains

Mineral matter, for the bones,
Fat, for heat,

Flesh, for movement,.

15

Water, for moistening the tissues and transport of blood, 115

145 lbs.

So, if we analyze the blood which is to replenish this body, as it wastes away by exercise, we shall find the same proportions,-i.e., in every 20 lbs. of blood, we shall find only about 4 lbs. of solid matter and 16 lbs. of water; so that we have four times as much water in our bodies and in our blood as we have of all other substances put together.

We are all very eager to eat, when we are hungry, and if people cannot eat, they think they are very ill, and begin to fancy themselves very weak; but they only want one-fifth as much food as they do liquid. Some people drink a great deal. Some drink beer, some spirits, and others wine; and because these drinks contain something more than water, which seems to give them a new life for a time, so that they can go on working at first with more power than they could just before, they fancy

they have taken something that gives them strength, and that there is nourishment in beer, wine, and spirits. Let us see if it is so.

I. We want something to dissolve the solid food we eat, and make it into a very thin liquid, so that in the shape of blood it can run through those very fine tubes, like hairs, and carry nourishment to every part of the body. The only liquid that will dissolve solid food is water. Take a piece of cooked meat, and put it into a bottle of water, and place a similar one in a bottle of brandy, and see the difference. The former will soon be dissolved (especially if you shake it about), but the other will become dry and shrivelled, as if put into an oven, but will never dissolve. The first thing we want, when we have eaten our food, is to digest it as quickly as possible, and send it over the body to renew the wasted parts, and give us new strength. Before it can be digested, it must be dissolved and made into a liquid, like milk; but, as only water can do that, if we drink spirits with our food, we are putting what we want dissolved into a bottle of spirits, as you may sometimes see frogs and little snakes preserved in spirits in a doctor's surgery.

If we drink beer with our food, it is only the water in the beer that dissolves the food; and all that gives the beer its strength, as we call it, is a kind of spirit which stops digestion, until the stomach has got rid of it. The reason why we feel an effect from it immediately is, that our body does not want it, and tries to get rid of it; so the little veins in the stomach suck it out; but the blood does not like it, and so runs away with it, as fast as it can, to the lungs; and the breath smells of beer, or of spirits, and the fat is set on fire by it, so that heat is made, which opens the pores of the skin, and some is got rid of in that way, and the rest by the action of the kidneys.

All this shews:-(1.) That the body does not require it or use it for the purpose of renewing its own waste and (2.) That it burns up some of the store of fat we want for use in the body; and, as it cannot burn without using some of the oxygen in the blood, just as a fire, you

know, will not burn without the oxygen of the air, it follows that such drinks carry off some of that very oxygen that gives us force, and so really diminish our power of work, after the first few minutes. So, when the strength of the spirit is gone off, a man feels himself weaker, and he wants more, until he soon uses himself up for that day.

When we want water, we feel thirsty. Now, what is it that causes thirst? It is the dryness of the skin lining the mouth, throat, and stomach: so that to quench our thirst, we must drink something that will moisten that dry skin. The word "quench," which we use, shews that this dryness comes from some burning heat within

us.

Take a tea-spoonful of brandy, and hold it in your mouth. Does it moisten the skin, or quench any heat there? No, it makes it burn, and smart, and blister, till the skin peels off. Well, if you drink it, ever when mixed with water, it will do the same by your throat and stomach, and they will feel dry and parched, and make you feel more thirsty. But drink a glass of pure cold water, and your thirst is gone, your throat is moist, and your food digests.

So we find water is the most wholesome drink :

1. Because it alone dissolves food in the throat and stomach.

2. Because it assists all the functions of the body.

3. Because it forms all the fluid of blood.

4. Because it forms the only real liquid in the body. 5. Because it alone takes up the decomposed particles, and conveys them from the body, by the system of sewerage, through the lungs, pores, kidneys, and intestines.

II. That spirituous part of various drinks used by men is called alcohol, a name given to it by some Arabian chemists, who first discovered it. Alcohol is caused by fermentation, and is really made out of sugar in a process of decomposition. It is a liquid, and easily mixes with water; in fact, it is hardly possible to get it without some water being mixed with it. What we usually call "spirits," as whisky, rum, brandy, and gin, have little water in them, more than half being alcohol; so we say,

they are strong; but what do we mean, when we call them strong. We do not mean, that they give us any strength; but that there is a great proportion of alcohol in them compared with the water,-i.e., they are strong in alcohol, just as we say, when a man has been drinking spirits, that his breath smells quite strong of brandy, &c.

But do not they give us any strength? Many a person thinks he cannot go on working (especially if his work is very hard) without a drop of something strong, or a glass of beer, to give him strength; and when he has had it, he smacks his lips, and says, "There, now, I can go on ;" and he feels to have new life in him, and for a short time he does work more quickly. Now, let us see why this is. If he were to eat some bread and meat instead, and drink a glass of water, it would take a little time before any of the food were dissolved and digested in his stomach, so as to find its way into his blood, and circulate about his body, and refresh him with new strength. All substances that are thoroughly dissolved in water are taken up into the vessels of the stomach as quickly as water itself; so spirit, being thoroughly dissolved in the water, finds its way into the blood as soon as it is swallowed; and as the blood does not want it, it circulates, as fast as it can, to get rid of it. The same quick circulation takes place after the food has found its way into the blood, because the circulation is intended by nature to carry refreshment to each part of the body. When a man has drunk his glass of brandy and water, it begins to circulate rapidly in his veins, and he feels very much as if he had digested a good dinner. It has produced heat in his blood, and consumed some of his fat. Now, we have learnt before, that this burning in the blood produces force; therefore, he feels strong and able to use great force, and when he gets partly drunk, he often commits acts of great violence.

But has he gained any strength? No, not a bit; he has drawn a great deal of spare force out of himself. I dare say, you have sometimes thought you could get home from school faster if you ran all the way, and have offered to run a race with another boy to get you along

quickly. Well, you might do so, if it were for a short distance; but supposing you had three or four miles to go, how would it be then? You would both run as fast as you could, perhaps for a mile, and leave all your companions a long way behind. Then you would get out of breath, feel very hot and very tired, and sit down on the road-side to rest yourselves. You would feel you could not go any farther, and you would rest till the companions you left behind overtook you, and still you would want to rest longer, while they seemed cool and fresh and ready to go on.

That is just like what happens to a man when he drinks fermented liquor at his work. He runs hard for half an hour or so, and then he begins to get hot, and tired, and wants to rest. He must either have some more drink to set him off again, or he goes lazily through his work. He has used up some of his spare strength, and has not added any to his stock. Any one who thinks about it, will find in himself that this is true. He will notice that he can go on at a good steady pace all day, and do a very good day's work, if he eats his meals of good nourishing food, and drinks water enough to dissolve it; but if, instead of eating solid food, he takes a glass of spirits, he can only work a short time at full speed, and then must go only halfspeed the rest of the time.

Now, let us see if this is the case. You will hear a man say, when he is hay-making, that he must have some beer, it is so hot. Then, on a winter's day, a labourer comes out of the field and wants some beer, because he is so cold. There is some truth in both of these. the one feels dry and parched, because he has lost a great deal of moisture from perspiration, and his blood is less liquid than it ought to be; the other is cold, because he has parted with heat by evaporation and his blood circulates too slowly; the latter wants warmth, the former moisture. But there is no alcohol in the blood naturally, water is what it wants; and, as we have seen, the alcohol only heats the blood, which on a hot day requires to be cooled. Any man who works in a shop where they smelt iron and steel, or in those great forges where the large iron plates are