So, if the stomach could speak, it would say: "Don't pour any alcohol into me, though you mix it and call it ale, cider, wine, or any other name that makes folks think it will do me no harm. You cannot deceive me. I know alcohol as soon as it comes down, and it always makes me suffer." * * * * * BLACKBOARD OUTLINE. ALCOHOL-- Burns or inflames the coats of the stomach. Spoils the gastric juice. Makes the food hard to be dissolved. Makes the stomach tired and weak. Takes away the appetite for wholesome food. Makes an appetite for alcoholic liquors. Causes disease in the stomach and other digestive organs. * * * * * QUESTION ON BLACKBOARD OUTLINE. What harm does alcohol do in the stomach? * * * * * TO THE BONES, MUSCLES, AND SKIN. _TO THE BONES._--You have already learned that the bones require to be supplied with good blood to make them strong and healthy, and that alcohol does not make good blood, so we need spend no time in deciding that alcoholic liquors do injury to the bones, and that the bones of those who drink these liquors are less likely to heal, when broken, than those of persons whose blood has not been poisoned by alcohol. _TO THE MUSCLES._--The muscles, as you know, cover and move the bones; good blood makes them grow, and keeps them healthy and strong. People like to have plenty of good muscle, for this not only gives them strength, but makes them look plump and well. Alcohol poisons the blood by killing many of the very little, round, red parts in it, called by a long name, which you can learn if you try. This hard name is _corpuscles_ [kor'pussls]; _corpuscle_ means _a little body_. These little bodies float in the fluid portion of the blood, and go to every part of the body to help keep it alive and healthy. When alcohol hurts them, they turn into a poor kind of fat, like suet, and cannot do any good. They stay in different parts and do much harm. Sometimes they lodge between the muscles, and make a person look strong because plump; but he is not strong, for his muscles are filled with fat. Sometimes the liver or the heart, which are only large muscles, become so heavy and soft with fat that they cannot do their work properly; they become weak and diseased, wear out, and cause the death of their owner, who has poisoned them with ale, wine, or other alcoholic drink.