Chapter 2

OF WHAT CELLS ARE MADE

The cells of our body are made of five common things. You would know all these things if you should see them.

=5. Water.=--The first thing in the cells is _water_. Water is everywhere in the body. Even the teeth have water. Most of our flesh is water. Without water we should soon shrink up. Our flesh would be stiff like bone and no one could live.

=6. Albumin.=--_Second_, next to water, something like the white of an egg makes the most of the body. The white of an egg is _albumin_. When dried it is like gelatine or glue. Albumin makes the most of the solid part of each cell. Lean meat and cheese are nearly all albumin. When it is heated it becomes harder and turns white. The word albumin means white. Dry albumin is hard and tough, but in the living cells it is dissolved in water and is soft like meat. It is the only living substance in the body, and it alone gives it strength.

=7. Fat.=--_Third_, next to albumin, the most of the body is fat. Fat does not grow inside the cells of the body, but it fills little pockets between the cells. Fat does not give strength. It makes the body round and handsome. It also makes the cells warm and keeps them from getting hurt.

=8. Sugar.=--_Fourth_, sugar also is found in the body. Sugar is made out of starch. When we eat starch it changes to sugar. Starch and sugar are much alike. We eat a great deal of starch and sugar, but they are soon used in warming the body. Only a little is in the body at once.

=9. Minerals.=--_Fifth_, there are also some minerals in the body. When flesh is burned they are left as _ashes_. Salt, lime, iron, soda, and potash are all found in the body.

Everything in the body is either water, albumin, fat, sugar, or minerals. These things are also our food. We eat them mixed together in bread, meat, eggs, milk, and other foods.

=10. Life.=--Our food is not alive, but after we eat it the body makes it alive. We do not know how it does it. When the body dies we cannot put life into it again. There is life in each cell.

WHAT WE HAVE LEARNED

1. The body is made of five things: water, albumin, fat, sugar, and minerals.

2. Water is mixed with all parts of the body.

3. Albumin makes the living part of each cell.

4. Fat is in pockets between the cells. It warms the cells and keeps them from being hurt.

5. Sugar is made from starch. It warms the body.

6. The minerals in the body are salt, lime, iron, soda, and potash.