A few years ago men were ashamed to refuse to drink. Even when a new church building was raised, rum was bought by the church and given to the workmen. Farmers used to give their men a jug of rum when they went to work. Farm hands would not work without it. Now all this has changed. Men do not want drinkers to work for them. A railroad company will discharge a man at once if he is known to drink at all. A man can now refuse to drink anywhere and men will not think any less of him. =195. Tobacco= poisons the muscle cells and makes them weak. At first it makes boys too sick to move. It always poisons the cells even if they do not feel sick. =196. A long life.=--A man's body is built to last eighty years, but only a few live so long. If you are careful in your eating and drinking, if you breathe pure air, and if you use your muscles, your body will be healthy and will last the eighty years and more. All through your life you will be strong and able to do good work. WHAT WE HAVE LEARNED 1. Muscles cover the bones and move the body. 2. Muscle is lean meat. It is made of bundles of cells like strings. Nerves from the brain touch each cell. 3. Each muscle is fast to a bone. It becomes a small string or tendon at the other end. The tendon crosses a joint and is fast to another bone. 4. When we wish to move, the brain sends an order to the muscle cells to make themselves thicker and shorter and so bend the joint. 5. You can feel the muscles and tendons in the arm and wrist. 6. Muscle work makes us breathe deeper, and eat more food. It makes the blood flow faster. So it makes our whole bodies more healthy. 7. Every one ought to use his muscles some part of the day. 8. Alcohol and tobacco lessen the strength of the muscles. CHAPTER XVI DISEASE GERMS =197. Catching diseases.=--Our body may get out of order like a machine. Some parts of it may be cut, or broken, or worn out, or hurt in other ways. Then we are sick until it is made whole again. Sickness always means that a part of the body is out of order. Some kinds of sickness are like a fire. A small bit of something from a sick person may start a sickness in us, just as a spark may set a house on fire. Then we may give the sickness to others, just as a fire may spread to other houses. If a person has measles, we may catch the measles if we go near him; but if a person has a toothache, we cannot catch the toothache from him. So we may catch some kinds of diseases, but we cannot catch other kinds. =198. Bacteria and germs.=--Every kind of catching sickness is caused by tiny living things growing in our flesh and blood. Some of them are tiny animals. Most of them are plants, and are called _bacteria_ or _microbes_. A common name for all of them is _germs_.