Physiology and Hygiene for Secondary Schools | Page 5

performs a work which benefits the body as a whole. In other words, just as the organ itself is a part of the body, the work which it does is a part of the necessary work which the body has to do.
But in working for the general good, or for the body as a whole, each organ becomes a sharer in the benefits of the work done by every other organ. While the hand receives only a little of the nourishment contained in the food which it places in the mouth or of the heat from, fuel which it places on the fire, it is aided and supported by the work of all the other organs of the body--eyes, feet, brain, heart, etc. The hand does not and cannot work independently of the other organs. It is one of the partners in a very close combination where, by doing a particular work, it, shares in the profits of all. What is true of the hand is true of every other organ of the body.
*An Organization.*--The relations which the different organs sustain to each other and to the body as a whole suggest the possibility of classifying the body as an organization. This term is broadly applied to a variety of combinations. An organization is properly defined as any group of individuals which, in working together for a common purpose, practices the division of labor. This definition will be better understood by considering a few familiar examples.
A baseball team is an organization. The team is made up of individual players. These work together for the common purpose of winning games. They practice the division of labor in that the different players do different things--one catching, another pitching, and so on. A manufacturing establishment which employs several workmen may also be an organization. The article manufactured provides the common purpose toward which all strive; and, in the assignment of different kinds of work to the individual workmen, the principle of division of labor is carried out. For the same reason a school, a railway system, an army, and a political party are organizations.
An organization of a lower order of individuals than these human organizations is to be found in a hive of bees. This is made up of the individual bees, and these, in carrying on the general work of the hive, are known to practice the division of labor.
*Is the Body an Organization*?--If the body is an organization, it must fulfill the conditions of the definition. It must be made up of separate or individual parts. These must work together for the same general purpose, and, in the accomplishment of this purpose, must practice the division of labor. That the body practices the division of labor is seen in the related work of the different organs. That it is made up of minute, but individual, parts will be shown in the chapter following. That it carries on a general work which is accomplished through the combined action of its individual parts is revealed through an extended study of its various activities. The body is an organization. Moreover, it is one of the most complex and, at the same time, most perfect of the organizations of which we have knowledge.
*Summary.*--Viewed from the outside, the body is seen to be made up of divisions which are more or less familiar. Viewed internally, it is found to consist of different kinds of materials, called tissues. The tissues are adapted, by their properties, to different purposes both in the construction of the body and in carrying on its work. The working parts of the body are called organs and these in their work combine to form systems. The entire body, on account of the method of its construction and the character of its work, may be classed as an organization.
*Exercises.*--1. Name and locate the chief external divisions of the body.
2. What tissues may be found by dissecting the leg of a chicken?
3. Name the most important properties and the most important uses of muscular tissue, osseous tissue, and connective tissue.
4. Define an organ. Define a system. Name examples of each.
5. Name the chief cavities of the body and the organs which they contain.
6. What tissues are present in the hand? How does each of these aid in the work of the hand?
7. Define an organization. Show that a railway system, an army, and a school are organizations.
8. What is meant by the phrase "division of labor"? In what manner is the division of labor practiced in a shoe or watch factory? What are the advantages?
9. What are the proofs that the body is an organization?

PRACTICAL WORK
*Observation on the Tissues.*--Examine with care the structures in the entire leg of a chicken, squirrel, rabbit, or other small animal used for food. Observe, first of all, the external