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

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“Giving his muscles exercise.”

Mother: And yet it was only giving his muscles exercise which helped him so much. This shows the importance of using them.

Elmer: Do we need anything else to make the muscles strong, mother?

Mother: Yes; one of the best things to make them strong is plenty of good, plain food. As the muscles are used, they wear out, and must have new timber to build themselves up. You would think it strange if a carpenter brought brick, mortar, glass, and timber to mend a house, and without his help each part should take just what it needed, putting in half a dozen bricks in the chimney, a board in the floor, a new pane of glass in the window, and some mortar in the right place. But this is what the house we live in is doing day and night. When we sleep, the mending goes on better than when we are awake, and it is done so well we do not hear or think of the busy little workmen inside. All they ask is the right kind of food, not too much or too little of it, and they will take the right thing to the right place, and keep the house in good order.