9. "Oh yes, certainly," said the jackdaw, "That must follow, of course, I have thought; Though I never before building saw,

I guessed that, without being taught."

10. "More moss, more straw, and feathers, I place In this manner," continued the pie.

66

Yes, no doubt, madam, that is the case;
Though no builder myself, so thought I."

11. Whatever she taught them beside,

In his turn every bird of them said,
Though the nest-making art he ne'er tried,
He had just such a thought in his head.

12. Still the pie went on showing her art, Till a nest she had built up halfway; She no more of her skill would impart,

But in her anger went fluttering away.

13. And this speech in their hearing she made, As she perched o'er their heads on a tree: 66 If ye all were well skilled in my trade, Pray, why came ye to learn it of me?"

Sê cu'rity: safety. Pie: magpie. Îm pärt': make known;

share.

The Framework of the Body

I

1. If you were asked what your body is made of, probably you would say that it is made of flesh and bones and covered with skin. You also know something about the blood which flows through it, and that there is a very important part which we call the brain.

2. But the flesh and the bones make up the largest part of the body, and there is a good deal to be learned about them. You know the general appearance of both flesh and bone from the parts of animals which you see in the butcher's shop.

3. Bone is hard, and of a white color; indeed, it looks more like a piece of wood or stone than a part of a living animal. But bone is a real part of the living body, and it grows and is nourished just as the body is. If a man breaks the bone of his arm or his leg, it is firmly bound up, to prevent the broken parts from moving out of the proper place, and in time the bone grows together again and becomes quite strong.

4. The bones are fastened together by various kinds of joints. They form the framework of the body, and give it strength to retain its proper shape. This framework is called the skeleton. Some animals, such as worms and slugs, have no skeleton; and

others, such as shellfish, have a kind of hard covering or skeleton outside.

5. The most important part of the skeleton is the backbone. It is so important that naturalists divide all animals into two classes, those which have a backbone and those which have none. All the higher animals, including man, have a backbone, or vertebral column as it is called. They are therefore called vertebrate animals. The others are called invertebrate animals.

6. The vertebral column, or backbone, is not really a bone at all. It is a pillar of small bones firmly bound together. If you string a number of spools upon a strong cord, and pull the cord tight, you will have a column somewhat like the vertebral column. It will bend slightly, as the backbone does; but, while you keep the string tight, it will be firm enough to stand upright.

BACK VIEW

FRONT VIEW

The vertebral column

7. At the upper end of the backbone there is the skull. This is a hollow box or case made up of several pieces of bone fitting closely together. Inside

the skull is the brain, which is in many ways the most important organ of the body.

8. The nerves come from the brain, and it is by means of them that we feel and see and hear and taste; by means of them, also, that we move any part of our bodies as we wish. They are like living telegraph wires running all through the body.

9. From the lower part of the brain there is what we might call a living telegraph cable passing down through the backbone. This is the spinal cord, which gives off many branches, or nerves, as it passes downward. If the spinal cord is injured, either by disease or by some accident, all power of feeling or of movement in the lower part of the body is lost. When this happens,

we say that part of the body is paralyzed.

10. There is another box or case of bones in front of the backbone. The ribs, which are joined to the backbone from behind and bend round toward the breastbone in front, form a strong cage, inside of which are placed the heart and the lungs.

The ribs

11. The heart is a kind of force pump which sends the blood through every part of the body. In the lungs the blood is made pure by mixing with the

oxygen of the air. These organs, like the brain and the spinal cord, are well protected by the strong bony framework which surrounds them.

II

12. Besides a head and a trunk, or body, the higher animals have four limbs. Birds have two wings and two legs, quadrupeds have four legs, and we have two legs and two arms. But in their framework these different kinds of limbs are very much alike.

13. The arm joins the body at the shoulder, and the shoulder itself is formed of two bones, the collar bone in front and the shoulder blade behind. The collar bone does not go round the neck, as its name might lead you to think. It is nearly straight, and has one end joined to the top of the breastbone, just below the throat, and the other end to the top of the shoulder.

14. The shoulder blade is a broad, flat bone, which rests on the ribs behind. Its outer corner meets the end of the collar bone and forms the top of the shoulder. The arm hangs from this corner of the shoulder blade, and is also joined to the collar bone. The collar bone gives the square shape to the shoulder when looked at from the front.

15. Between the shoulder and the elbow there is only one bone in the arm, but between the elbow and the wrist there are two. When you hold out