A mature body balanced with the Equaeverpoise will get rid of the same quantity of matter that it absorbs.

The purpose of food is to replace the constantly wearing out materials of the body as well as to furnish fuel for heat and power. Therefore, efficient methods for expunging waste matter are just as essential as efficient methods for feeding the body.

A large proportion of the food eaten is not taken into the blood at all, but is passed out at the vent after leaving the intestines.

After the fuel foods have been carried by the blood to the muscles and are oxidized, more waste matter is produced in carbon dioxide, water and other substances. The carbon dioxide and some water is taken by the blood and breathed out of the lungs. A large quantity of water is eliminated by the kidneys and skin.

Another waste product called urea is absorbed from the blood by the kidneys and passes out of the body in the urine.

There are two kinds of materials produced in the body which are known as secretions and excretions.

Excretions, such as urea and carbon dioxide are waste products. Secretions, such as saliva, gastric juices, and pancreatic fluid that come from the glands are useful products.

Urea is eliminated from the body by the kidneys—a pair of organs situated in the back of the abdomen close to the backbone and behind and below the stomach. Each kidney of an adult is about four inches long and one and a half inches wide.

The blood is carried to each kidney by a large artery current and taken away again by a large vein current. A tube known as the ureter encloses a current that carries the material removed from the blood by the kidneys to the bladder.

The kidneys are composed of innumerable blood vessels and a series of small tubes known as tubules.

The tubules take from the blood the urea and other materials and a large quantity of water which passes through the ureter into the bladder and out of the body.

The skin acts as a covering for the entire body as well as a means for regulating heat and eliminating waste matter.

The skin has two layers. The outside layer being the epidermis and the inside layer the dermis.

The epidermis, which is constantly being worn away, is given its growth by the dermis from the inside. Constant rubbing will cause the epidermis to grow thick as in the case of the soles of the feet.

Hair, which covers a large part of the skin, passes through it from a little pocket or follicle. The hair grows from the papilla which is situated at the bottom of the pocket. Thus growing at the root the hair is continually being pushed out of the pocket and through the skin, to the air which is of lesser density than the body. Opening from the sides into the follicles are minute glands which furnish the hair with oil to keep it soft and flexible.

In the beginning, man was covered with great quantities of hair as a protection against inclement weather and insects, but little by little, he gradually disposed of it in exchange for artificial covering until now he has very little use for hair except as a protection to the eyes, ears and nostrils against flying particles.

Nature abhors uselessness and hair being no longer needed by man it is quite likely that the few remaining hairs upon his head and body will soon become extinct.

The epidermis is a great protection to the flesh beneath by keeping out poisonous substances or ravaging bacteria, which, if allowed to get into the flesh, causes various kinds of skin diseases, sores and blood poisoning. A little cut, scratch, or tear in the epidermis will open the gates to the blood vessels through which millions of bacteria can enter. Therefore, care must be taken to wash and sterilize each cut or scratch immediately, no matter how trivial it might appear. The prick of a rusty pin can let into the blood enough poison to cause the loss of an arm or leg unless properly attended to at once.

The skin contains about two and one-half millions of sweat glands. On a warm day, or after taking vigorous exercise these glands throw out of the skin from all parts of the body small drops of water, or sweat.

A sweat gland is a microscopic tube passing through the epidermis which discharges the sweat through a minute hole, or pore, to the surface of the skin. Unless excessively warm the sweat evaporates as soon as it passes from the pores and a continuous stream of vapor passes from the body into the clothing or coagulates on the surface of the skin. Thus the body should be bathed frequently in order to carry away entirely from its surface these waste products.

The heat generated within man is constantly being thrown out into the air through the pores of the skin and his blood is cooled by flowing near the surface of the body.

When there is too much heat in the body the blood vessels in the skin expand, causing the blood to flow faster, which cools more of it. When there is not enough heat in the body the blood vessels of the skin contract and the blood is kept away from the surface and retains its heat by not throwing it out into the air.

The temperature of a body in perfect physical condition should be about 98 degrees F., summer and winter alike. When the temperature falls below or rises above this point it registers imperfect health.

As the body produces more heat than is needed the surplus must be eliminated in order to keep the right temperature. Besides the skin, the lungs also aid in regulating it and much of the extra heat is passed out of the lungs by the breath. The blood is also cooled as it passes through the lungs by the inhalation of the cooled air.

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