Hygienic Physiology : with Special Reference to the Use of Alcoholic Drinks and Narcotics

"Hygienic Physiology: with Special Reference to the Use of Alcoholic Drinks and Narcotics" by Joel Dorman Steele is a scientific publication likely written in the late 19th century. This revised edition is intended for educational use in schools and focuses on human physiology, anatomy, and hygiene, particularly emphasizing the impact of alcohol and narcotics on health. The work aims to provide youth with practical knowledge for preserving health and fostering correct physical habits. At the start of the text, the author delineates the goals and structure of the book, highlighting the interrelation of physiology, anatomy, and hygiene without strict boundaries. The introduction underscores the importance of understanding the functioning of the body to preserve health and prevent disease. Steele explains the necessity of physiologically-based education among youths, describing how ignorance can lead to detrimental health habits. He presents a cautionary narrative regarding the consequences of neglecting health laws, making clear that maintaining health in youth is significantly easier than trying to restore it in adulthood. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

Joel Dorman Steele was an American educator. He and his wife Esther Baker Steele were important textbook writers of their period, on subjects including American history, chemistry, human physiology, physics, astronomy, and zoology. He was an influential figure in the movement to standardize science education in the mid-late 19th century. In the preface to his posthumous Popular Physics, the publisher writes that his books "attained an extraordinary degree of popularity, due to the author's attractive style, his great skill in the selection of material suited to the demands of the schools for which the books were intended, his sympathetic spirit toward both teachers and pupils, and his earnest Christian character, which was exhibited in all his writing."