wish, you can easily get one of the bones of an animal at the butcher's
shop, or you may find one in the fields.

~4. The Skeleton.~--All the bones of an animal, when placed properly
together, have nearly the shape of the body, and are called the
_skeleton_ (skel´-e-ton). The skeleton forms the framework of the body,
just as the heavy timbers of a house form its framework. It supports all
the parts.

~5. The Skull.~--The bony part of the head is called the _skull_. In the
skull is a hollow place or chamber. You know that a rich man often has a
strong room or box in his fine house, in which to keep his gold and
other valuable things. The chamber in the skull is the strong-room of
the body. It has strong, tough walls of bone, and contains the _brain_.
The brain is the most important, and also the most tender and delicate
organ in the whole body. This is why it is so carefully guarded from
injury.

~6. The Backbone.~--The framework of the back is called the _backbone_.
This is not a single bone, but a row of bones arranged one above
another. Each bone has a hole through it, about as large as one of your
fingers. A large branch from the brain, called the _spinal cord_, runs
down through the middle of the backbone, so that the separate bones look
as if they were strung on the spinal cord, like beads on a string.

~7. The Trunk.~--The trunk of the body, like the skull, is hollow. Its
walls are formed partly by the backbone and the ribs and partly by
flesh. A fleshy wall divides the hollow of the trunk into two parts, an
upper chamber called the _chest_, and a lower called the _abdomen_.