Читать книгу The House We Live In; or, The Making of the Body онлайн

14 страница из 44

Amy: They put one brick on top of another, till thousands of them are used in making one house.

Mother: Well, that is the way the house we live in is built, only instead of bricks it is made up of what are called “cells.” These cells are little bags filled with something that looks like jelly. They are so very small we can not see them at all unless we look through a glass which makes them seem much larger than they really are. Some of these powerful glasses make a speck of dust look as big as a large rock.

Elmer: I wish we could see some cells.

Mother: Here is a picture of some kinds. You see they are not all alike. Some are round, others are flat, or narrow, or long, or short; so you see they are of all shapes and sizes. Some are so very tiny it would take three or four thousand to make a row an inch in length. Others are large enough so we can almost see them without a glass. Some have no color at all; others are light colored, and some are quite black. There are millions of cells in one drop of blood. Your skin seems like one piece, yet it, too, is made of layers of cells. If we should look through a strong glass at a tiny piece of potato, wheat, and some oatmeal, we would find they are all made of cells.