ead the water to our
houses.

Sometimes, men dig down until they reach a spring, and so make a well
from which they can pump the water, or dip it out with a bucket.

Water that has been standing in lead pipes, may have some of the lead
mixed with it. Such water would be very likely to poison you, if you
drank it.

Impurities are almost sure to soak into a well if it is near a drain or
a stable.

If you drink the water from such a well, you may be made very sick by
it. It is better to go thirsty, until you can get good water.

A sufficient quantity of pure water to drink is just as important for
us, as good food to eat.

We could not drink all the water that our bodies need. We take a large
part of it in our food, in fruits and vegetables, and even in beefsteak
and bread.

LIME.

Bones need lime. You remember the bone that was nothing but crumbling
lime after it had been in the fire.

Where shall we get lime for our bones?

We can not eat lime; but the grass and the grains take it out of the
earth. Then the cows eat the grass and turn it into milk, and in the
milk we drink, we get some of the lime to feed our bones.

[Illustration: _Lime being prepared for our use._]

In the same way, the grain growing in the field takes up lime and other
things that we need, but could not eat for ourselves. The lime that thus
becomes a part of the grain, we get in our bread, oat-meal porridge, and
other foods.

SALT.

Animals need salt, as children who live in the country know very well.
They have seen how eagerly the cows and the sheep lick up the salt that
the farmer gives them.

Even wild cattle and buffaloes seek out places where there are salt
springs, and go in great herds to get the salt.

We, too, need some salt mixed with our food. If we did not put it in,
either when cooking, or afterward, we should still get a little in the
food itself.

FLESH-MAKING FOODS.

Muscles are lean meat, that is flesh; so muscles need flesh-making
foods. These are milk, and grains like wheat, corn and oats; also, meat
and eggs. Most of these foods really come to us out of the ground. Meat
and eggs are made from the grain, grass, and other vegetables that the
cattle and hens eat.

FAT-MAKING FOODS.

We need cushions and wrappings of fat, here and there in our bodies, to
keep us warm and make us comfortable. So we must have certain kinds of
food that will make fat.

[Illustration: _Esquimaux catching walrus._]