The History of a Mouthful of Bread | Page 2

to our senses,
and most constantly subject to observation. M. Macé will help, and not
hinder the humility with which the Christian naturalist lifts one veil
only to recognise another beyond.
It will be satisfactory to any one who may be inclined to wonder how a
lady can feel sure of having correctly translated the various scientific
and anatomical statements contained in the volume, to know that the
whole has been submitted to the careful revision of a medical friend, to
whom I have reason to be very grateful for valuable explanations and
corrections whenever they were necessary. In the same way the chapter
on "Atmospheric Pressure," where, owing to the difference between

French and English weights and measures, several alterations of
illustrations, etc., had to be made, has received similar kind offices
from the hands of a competent mathematician.
* * * * *
MARGARET GATTY.
Ecclesfield, June, 1864.

NOTE TO THE AMERICAN EDITION.
In May '66, the seventeenth edition of this work was on sale in Paris.
The date of Mrs. Gatty's preface, it will be observed, is June '64, and at
that time, the eighth French edition only had been reached. That it
should be a popular book and command large sale wherever it is known,
will not surprise any one who reads it: the only remarkable
circumstance about it is, that it should not have been republished here
long ere this. Even this may probably be accounted for, on the
supposition that the title under which the translation was published in
England, was so unmeaning--conveying not the slightest idea of the
contents of the book--that none of our publishers even ventured to hand
it over to their "readers" to examine.
The author's title, _The History of a Mouthful of Bread_, while falling
far short of giving a clear notion of the entire scope of the work, is
shockingly diluted and meaningless, when translated _The History of a
Bit of Bread!_
To the translation of Mrs. Gatty, which is in the main an excellent one,
for she has generally seized upon the idea of the author and rendered it
with singular felicity, it may be very properly objected that she has
taken some liberties with the text when there was any conflict of
opinion between herself and her author, and has given her own ideas
instead of his, which is, probably, what she refers to when she calls
herself "to some extent editor."
The reader of this edition will, in all these cases, find the thought of the
author and not that of his translator; for the reason that a careful
examination of the original has convinced the publisher that in every
instance the author was to be preferred to the translator, to say nothing
of the right an author may have to be faithfully translated.
Besides making these restorations, the copy from which this edition
was printed has been carefully compared with the last edition of the

author and a vast number of corrections made, and in its present shape
it is respectfully submitted and dedicated to every one (whose name is
legion, of course) who numbers among his young friends a "_my dear
child_" to present it to.

CONTENTS.
I.--INTRODUCTION
FIRST PART MAN.
II.--THE HAND III.--THE TONGUE IV.--THE TEETH V.--THE
TEETH (_continued_) VI.--THE TEETH (_continued_) VII.--THE
THROAT VIII.--THE STOMACH IX.--THE STOMACH
(_continued_) X.--THE INTESTINAL CANAL XI.--THE LIVER
XII.--THE CHYLE XIII.--THE HEART XIV.--THE ARTERIES
XV.--THE NOURISHMENT OF THE ORGANS XVI.--THE
ORGANS XVII.--ARTERIAL AND VENOUS BLOOD
XVIII.--ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE XIX.--THE ACTION OF THE
LUNGS XX.--CARBON AND OXYGEN XXI.--COMBUSTION
XXII.--ANIMAL HEAT XXIII.--ACTION OF THE BLOOD UPON
THE ORGANS XXIV.--THE WORK OF THE ORGANS
XXV.--CARBONIC ACID XXVI.--ALIMENTS OF COMBUSTION
XXVII.--ALIMENTS OF NUTRITION (_continued_)--NITROGEN
OR AZOTE XXVIII.--COMPOSITION OF THE BLOOD
SECOND PART.
ANIMALS.
XXIX.--CLASSIFICATION OF ANIMALS XXX.--MAMMALIA
(_Mammals_) XXXI.--MAMMALIA. (_Mammals_)--continued
XXXII.--MAMMALIA--continued
XXXIII.--MAMMALIA--continued XXXIV.--AVES. (_Birds_)
XXXV.--REPTILIA. (_Reptiles_) XXXVI.--PISCES. (_Fishes_)
XXXVII.--INSECTA. (_Insects_)
XXXVIII.--CRUSTACEA--MOLLUSKA. (_Crustaceans and
Mollusks_) XXXIX.--VERMES--ZOOPHYTA. (_Worms and
Zoophytes_) XL.--THE NOURISHMENT OF PLANTS
CONCLUSION

I.

INTRODUCTION.
I am going to tell you, my dear child, something of the life and nature
of men and animals, believing the information may be of use to you in
after-life, besides being an amusement to you now.
Of course, I shall have to explain to you a great many particulars which
are generally considered very difficult to understand, and which are not
always taught even to grown-up people. But if we work together, and
between us succeed in getting them clearly into your head, it will be a
great triumph to me, and you will find out that the science of learned
men is more entertaining for little girls, as well as more comprehensible,
than it is sometimes supposed to be. Moreover, you will be in advance
of your years, as it were, and one day may be astonished to find that
you had mastered in