again if the "golden bowl" is broken or even cracked.

[Illustration: THE NERVOUS SYSTEM--OUR BODY TELEPHONE

The picture shows the brain, or "Central," and the thick nerve
cord that runs down through the backbone, and the principal
nerves of the back and the arms.]

The big _nerve cable_, called the _spinal cord_, that connects the
brain with the rest of the body, and carries all the messages backward
and forward, runs down the back and is protected by the backbone, or
_spine_, which is hollow, so that the cord can run down through it.
This backbone is jointed together so beautifully, too, that you can
bend your back about and stoop over, and carry heavy weights on your
back, and yet the bony tube still protects the cord inside. Solomon
calls this the "silver cord," because it is so white and shiny that it
looks like silver. You see, our bodies are full of beautiful as well
as wonderful things.

Probably sometime when your teacher has asked you to recite a poem you
have all learned, someone in the class has answered, "I don't remember
it," or has stood up and recited the first few lines and then stopped,
and thought, and finally had to say, "I can't go on."

Now what is the matter with this boy, or girl? He looks bright enough,
and you will probably remember that he was in the class when you
learned the poem. "Oh," you say, "the poem didn't stay in his head."
No, it didn't "stick" in his memory; but why didn't it?

Some of the messages that the Five Senses carry to the brain are