The Vital Processes

Physiology and Hygiene for Secondary Schools
by Francis M. Walters

To derive strength equal to the daily task; to experience the advantages of health and avoid the pain, inconvenience, and danger of disease; to live out contentedly and usefully the natural span of life: these are problems that concern all people. They are, however, but different phases of one great problem - the problem of properly managing or caring for the body. To supply knowledge necessary to the solution of this problem is the chief reason why the body is studied in our public schools.

Divisions of the Subject. - The body is studied from three standpoints: structure, use of parts, and care or management. This causes the main subject to be considered under three heads, known as anatomy, physiology, and hygiene.

Anatomy treats of the construction of the body - the parts which compose it, what they are like, and where located. Its main divisions are known as gross anatomy and histology. Gross anatomy treats of the larger structures of the body, while histology treats of the minute structures of which these are composed - parts too small to be seen with the naked eye and which have to be studied with the aid of the microscope.

Physiology treats of the function, or use, of the different parts of the body - the work which the parts do and how they do it - and of their relations to one another and to the body as a whole.

Hygiene treats of the proper care or management of the body. In a somewhat narrower sense it treats of the "laws of health." Hygiene is said to be personal, when applied by the individual to his own body; domestic, when applied to a small group of people, as the family; and public, or general, when applied to the community as a whole or to the race.

The General Aim of Hygiene. - There are many so-called laws of health, and for these laws it is essential in the management of the body to find a common basis. This basic law, suggested by the nature of the body and conditions that affect its well-being, may be termed the Law of Harmony: The mode of living must harmonize with the plan of the body. To live properly one must supply the conditions which his body, on account of its nature and plan, requires. On the other hand, he must avoid those things and conditions which are injurious, out of harmony with the body plan. To secure these results, it is necessary to determine what is and what is not in harmony with the plan of the body, and to find the means of applying this knowledge to the everyday problems of living. Such is the general aim of hygiene. Stated in other words: Hygiene has for its general aim the bringing about of an essential harmony between the body and the things and conditions that affect it.

Relation of Anatomy and Physiology to the Study of Hygiene. - If the chief object in studying the body is that of learning how to manage or care for it, and hygiene supplies this information, why must we also study anatomy and physiology? The answer to this question has already been in part suggested. In order to determine what things and conditions are in harmony with the plan of the body, we must know what that plan is. This knowledge is obtained through a study of anatomy and physiology. The knowledge gained through these subjects also render the study of hygiene more interesting and valuable. One is enabled to see why and how obedience to hygienic laws benefits, and disobedience to them injures, the body. This causes the teachings of hygiene to be taken more seriously and renders them more practical. In short, anatomy and physiology supply a necessary basis for the study of hygiene.

Advantages of Properly Managing the Body. - One result following the mismanagement of the body is loss of health. But attending the loss of health are other results which are equally serious and far-reaching. Without good health, people fail to accomplish their aims and ambitions in life; they miss the joy of living; they lose their ability to work and become burdens on their friends or society. The proper management of the body means health, and it also means the capacity for work and for enjoyment. Not only should one seek to preserve his health from day to day, but he should so manage his body as to use his powers to the best advantage and prolong as far as possible the period during which he may be a capable and useful citizen.

D.C. Heath and Co. - Publishers
Original copyright 1909