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 CSS: The Definitive Guide
FIFTH EDITION

Web Layout and Presentation

With Early Release ebooks, you get books in their earliest form—
the authors’ raw and unedited content as they write—so you can
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release of these titles.

Eric A. Meyer and Estelle Weyl

CSS: The Definitive Guide
by Eric A. Meyer and Estelle Weyl
Copyright © 2023 Eric Meyer. All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America.
Published by O’Reilly Media, Inc., 1005 Gravenstein Highway North,
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See http://oreilly.com/catalog/errata.csp?isbn=9781449393199 for
release details.
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are accurate, the publisher and the authors disclaim all responsibility
for errors or omissions, including without limitation responsibility for
damages resulting from the use of or reliance on this work. Use of
the information and instructions contained in this work is at your
own risk. If any code samples or other technology this work contains
or describes is subject to open source licenses or the intellectual
property rights of others, it is your responsibility to ensure that your
use thereof complies with such licenses and/or rights.
978-1-098-11755-9
[TO COME]
Preface

If you are a web designer or document author interested in

sophisticated page styling, improved accessibility, and saving time
and effort, this book is for you. All you really need to know before
starting the book is HTML 4.0. The better you know HTML, the
better prepared you’ll be, but it is not a requirement. You will need
to know very little else to follow this book.
This fifth edition of the book was finished at the end of 2022 and
does its best to reflect the state of CSS at that time. The assumption
is that anything covered in detail either had wide browser support at
the time of writing or was known to be coming soon after
publication. CSS features which were still being developed, or were
known to have support dropping soon, are not covered here.

Conventions Used in This Book

The following typographical conventions are used in this book (but
make sure to read through the subsection “Value Syntax
Conventions” to see how some of these are modified):
Italic
Indicates new terms, URLs, email addresses, filenames, and file
extensions.

Constant width
Used for program listings, as well as within paragraphs to refer to
program elements such as variable or function names, databases,
data types, environment variables, statements, and keywords.

Constant width bold

 Shows commands or other text that should be typed literally by
the user.

Constant width italic

Shows text that should be replaced with user-supplied values or
by values determined by context.

TIP
This element signifies a tip or suggestion.

NOTE
This element signifies a general note.

WARNING
This element indicates a warning or caution.

Value Syntax Conventions

Throughout this book, there are boxes that break down a given CSS
property’s details, including what values are permitted. These have
been reproduced practically verbatim from the CSS specifications,
but some explanation of the syntax is in order.
Throughout, the allowed values for each property are listed with a
syntax like the following:
Value: <family-name>#
Value: <url> ‖ <color>
Value: <url>? <color> [ / <color> ]?
Value: [ <length> | thick | thin ]{1,4}
Any italicized words between “<” and “>” give a type of value, or a
reference to another property’s values. For example, the property
font accepts values that originally belong to the property font-
family. This is denoted by using the text <font-family>. Similarly,
if a value type like a color is permitted, it will be represented using
<color>.
Any words presented in constant width are keywords that must
appear literally, without quotes. The forward slash (/) and the
comma (,) must also be used literally.
There are a number of ways to combine components of a value
definition:
Two or more keywords strung together with only space
separating them means that all of them must occur in the given
order. For example, help me would mean that the property
must use those keywords in that order.
If a vertical bar separates alternatives (X | Y), then any one of
them must occur, but only one. Given “[ X | Y | Z ]”, then any
one of X, Y, or Z is permitted.
A vertical double bar (X ‖ Y) means that X, Y, or both must
occur, but they may appear in any order. Thus: X, Y, X Y, and Y
X are all valid interpretations.
A double ampersand (X && Y) means both X and Y must occur,
though they may appear in any order. Thus: X Y or Y X are both
valid interpretations.
Brackets ([…​]) are for grouping things together. Thus “[please
‖ help ‖ me] do this” means that the words please,
help, and me can appear in any order, though each appear only
once. do this must always appear, with those words in that
 order. Some examples: please help me do this, help me
please do this, me please help do this.

Every component or bracketed group may (or may not) be followed

by one of these modifiers:

An asterisk (*) indicates that the preceding value or bracketed

group is repeated zero or more times. Thus, “bucket*” means
that the word bucket can be used any number of times,
including zero. There is no upper limit defined on the number of
times it can be used.
A plus (+) indicates that the preceding value or bracketed group
is repeated one or more times. Thus, “mop+” means that the
word mop must be used at least once, and potentially many
more times.
An octothorpe (#) indicates that the preceding value or
bracketed group is repeated one or more times, separated by
commas as needed. Thus, “floor#” can be floor, floor,
floor, floor, and so on. This is most often used in
conjunction with bracketed groups or value types.
A question mark (?) indicates that the preceding value or
bracketed group is optional. For example, “[pine tree]?”
means that the words pine tree need not be used (although
they must appear in that order if they are used).
An exclamation point (!) indicates that the preceding value or
bracketed group is required, and thus must result in at least one
value, even if the syntax would seem to indicate otherwise. For
example, “[ what? is? happening? ]!” must be at least one of
the three terms marked optional.
A pair of numbers in curly braces ({M,N}) indicates that the
preceding value or bracketed group is repeated at least M and
 at most N times. For example, ha{1,3} means that there can be
one, two, or three instances of the word ha.

The following are some examples:

give ‖ me ‖ liberty
At least one of the three words must be used, and they can be
used in any order. For example, give liberty, give me,
liberty me give, and give me liberty are all valid
interpretations.

[ I | am ]? the ‖ walrus
Either the word I or am may be used, but not both, and use of
either is optional. In addition, either the or walrus, or both,
must follow in any order. Thus you could construct I the
walrus, am walrus the, am the, I walrus, walrus the,
and so forth.

koo+ ka-choo
One or more instances of koo must be followed by ka-choo.
Therefore koo koo ka-choo, koo koo koo ka-choo, and
koo ka-choo are all legal. The number of koos is potentially
infinite, although there are bound to be implementation-specific
limits.

I really{1,4}? [ love | hate ] [ Microsoft | Netscape |

Opera | Safari | Chrome ]
The all-purpose web designer’s opinion-expresser. This can be
interpreted as I love Netscape, I really love
Microsoft, and similar expressions. Anywhere from zero to
four reallys may be used, though they may not be separated
 by commas. You also get to pick between love and hate, which
really seems like some sort of metaphor.

It’s a [ mad ]# world

This gives the opportunity to put in as many comma-separated
mads as possible, with a minimum of one mad. If there is only
one mad, then no comma is added. Thus: It’s a mad world
and It’s a mad, mad, mad, mad, mad world are both
valid results.

[ [ Alpha ‖ Baker ‖ Cray ], ]{2,3} and Delphi

Two to three of Alpha, Baker, and Delta must be followed by
and Delphi. One possible result would be Cray, Alpha,
and Delphi. In this case, the comma is placed because of its
position within the nested bracket groups. (Some older versions
of CSS enforced comma-separation this way, instead of via the #
modifier.)

Using Code Examples

Whenever you come across an icon that looks like , it means there
is an associated code example. Live examples are available at
https://meyerweb.github.io/csstdg4figs/. If you are reading this
book on a device with an internet connection, you can click the
icon to go directly to a live version of the code example referenced.
Supplemental material—in the form of the HTML, CSS, and image
files that were used to produce nearly all of the figures in this book—
is available for download at
https://github.com/meyerweb/csstdg4figs. Please be sure to read
the repository’s README.md file for any notes regarding the
contents of the repository.
This book is here to help you get your job done. In general, if
example code is offered with this book, you may use it in your
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We appreciate, but do not require, attribution. An attribution usually
includes the title, author, publisher, and ISBN. For example: “CSS:
The Definitive Guide by Eric A. Meyer and Estelle Weyl (O’Reilly).
Copyright 2018 Eric Meyer, Estelle Weyl, 978-1-449-39319-9.”
If you feel your use of code examples falls outside fair use or the
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permissions@oreilly.com.

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Acknowledgments

Eric Meyer
First, I want to thank all the technical reviewers of this edition, who
lent their time and expertise to the arduous task of finding out all
the places I’d been wrong, and for less recompense than they
deserved. Alphabetically, by family name: Ire Aderinokun, Rachel
Andrew, Adam Argyle, Amelia Bellamy-Royds, Chen Hui Jing,
Stephanie Eckles, Eva Ferreira, Mandy Michael, Schalk Neethling,
Jason Pamental, Janelle Pizarro, Eric Portis, Miriam Suzanne, Lea
Verou, and Dan Wilson. Any errors are my fault, not theirs.
Thank you as well to all the technical reviewers of past editions, who
are too many to name here, and all the people who have helped me
understand various bits and bobs of CSS over the years, who are
also far too many to name here. If you ever explained some CSS to
me, then please write your name in the following blank: _, you have
my gratitude.
Thank you to all the members of the CSS Working Group, past and
present, who have shepherded an amazing language to astonishing
heights… even as your work means we’ll face a real production
dilemma for the next edition of this book, which is already pushing
the limits of what printing technology can reasonably manage.
Thank you to all the people who keep the Mozilla Developer Network
(MDN) up and running as well as up to date.
Special thanks to all the fine people at Open Web Docs for your work
on MDN, and for asking me to serve as a member of your steering
committee.
To my co-author, Estelle, thank you for all your contributions,
expertise, and pushes to do what was needed.
To all the assorted friends, colleagues, co-workers, acquaintances,
and passers-by who have allowed space for my odd enthusiasms
and strange demeanor, thank you for your understanding, patience,
and kindness.
And as ever, my boundless gratitude to my family—my wife Kat, and
my children Carolyn, Rebecca z’’l, and Joshua. You are the home
that shelters me, the suns in my sky, and the stars by which I steer.
Thank you for everything you have taught me.

Eric A. Meyer
Cleveland Heights, OH
4 December 2022

Estelle Weyl
I would like to acknowledge everyone who has worked to make CSS
what it is today and all those who have helped improve diversity and
inclusion in tech.
I would like to recognize those who work tirelessly with browser
vendors and developers in writing the CSS specifications. Without
the members of the CSS Working Group—​past, current, and future—​
we would have no specifications, no standards, and no cross-
browser compatibility. I am in awe of the thought process that goes
into every CSS property and value added to, and omitted from, the
specification. People like Tab Atkins, Elika Etimad, Dave Baron,
Léonie Watson, and Greg Whitworth not only work on the
specification, but also take their time to answer questions and
explain nuances to the broader CSS public, notably me.
I also want to acknowledge all those who, whether they participate
in the CSS Working Group or not, dive deep into CSS features and
help translate the spec for the rest of us, including Sarah Drasner,
Val Head, Sara Souidan, Chris Coyier, Jen Simmons, and Rachel
Andrew. In addition, I want to acknowledge and thank people who
create tools that make all CSS developers lives easier, especially
Alexis Deveria for creating and maintaining https://caniuse.com/.
I would also like to acknowledge and express my appreciation of all
those who have contributed their time and effort to improve diversity
and inclusion in all sectors of the developer community. Yes, CSS is
awesome. But it’s important to work with great people in a great
community.
When I attended my first tech conference in 2007, the lineup was
93% male and 100% white. The audience had slightly less gender
diversity and only slightly more ethnic diversity. I had actually picked
that conference because the lineup was more diverse than most: it
actually had a woman on it. Looking around the room, I knew things
needed to change, and I realized it was something I needed to do.
What I didn’t realize then was how many unsung heroes I would
meet over the next 10 years working for diversity and inclusion in all
areas of the tech sector and life in general.
There are too many people who work tirelessly, quietly, and often
with little or no recognition to name them all, but I would like to
highlight some. I can not express how much of a positive impact
people like Erica Stanley of Women Who Code Atlanta, Carina Zona
of Callback Women, and Jenn Mei Wu of Oakland Maker Space have
had. Groups like The Last Mile, Black Girls Code, Girls Incorporated,
Sisters Code, and so many others inspired me to create a list at
http://www.standardista.com/feeding-the-diversity-pipeline/ to help
ensure the path to a career in web development is not only for those
with privilege.
Thank you to all of you. Thank you to everyone. Thanks to all of
your efforts, more has been done than I ever could have imagined
sitting in that conference 10 years ago.

Estelle Weyl
Palo Alto, CA
July 19, 2017
Chapter 1. CSS Fundamentals

A NOTE FOR EARLY RELEASE READERS

With Early Release ebooks, you get books in their earliest form—
the authors’ raw and unedited content as they write—so you can
take advantage of these technologies long before the official
release of these titles.
This will be the 1st chapter of the final book. Please note that
the GitHub repo will be made active later on.
If you have comments about how we might improve the content
and/or examples in this book, or if you notice missing material
within this chapter, please reach out to the editor at
rfernando@oreilly.com.

Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) is a powerful programming language

that transforms the presentation of a document or a collection of
documents, and it has spread to nearly every corner of the web as
well as many ostensibly non-web environments. For example,
embedded-device displays often use CSS to style their user
interfaces, many RSS clients let you apply CSS to feeds and feed
entries, and some instant message clients use CSS to format chat
windows. Aspects of CSS can be found in the syntax used by
JavaScript frameworks, and even in JavaScript itself. It’s everywhere!

A Brief History of (Web) Style

CSS was first proposed in 1994, just as the web was beginning to
really catch on. At the time, browsers gave all sorts of styling power
to the user—the presentation preferences in Mosaic, for example,
permitted font family, size, and color to be defined by the user on a
per-element basis. None of this was available to document authors;
all they could do was mark a piece of content as a paragraph, as a
heading of some level, as preformatted text, or one of a dozen other
element types. If a user configured their browser to make all level-
one headings tiny and pink and all level-six headings huge and red,
well, that was their lookout.
It was into this milieu that CSS was introduced. Its goal was to
provide a simple, declarative styling language that was flexible for
authors and, most importantly, provided styling power to authors
and users alike. By means of the “cascade,” these styles could be
combined and prioritized so that both authors and readers had a say
—though readers always had the last say.
Work quickly advanced, and by late 1996, CSS1 was finished. While
the newly established CSS Working Group moved forward with CSS2,
browsers struggled to implement CSS1 in an interoperable way.
Although each piece of CSS was fairly simple on its own, the
combination of those pieces created some surprisingly complex
behaviors. There were also some unfortunate missteps in early
implementations, such as the infamous discrepancy in box model
implementations. These problems threatened to derail CSS
altogether, but fortunately some clever proposals were implemented,
and browsers began to harmonize. Within a few years, thanks to
increasing interoperability and high-profile developments such as the
CSS-based redesign of Wired magazine and the CSS Zen Garden,
CSS began to catch on.
Before all that happened, though, the CSS Working Group had
finalized the CSS2 specification in early 1998. Once CSS2 was
finished, work immediately began on CSS3, as well as a clarified
version of CSS2 called CSS2.1. In keeping with the spirit of the
times, CSS3 was constructed as a series of (theoretically) standalone
modules instead of a single monolithic specification. This approach
reflected the then-active XHTML specification, which was split into
modules for similar reasons.
The rationale for modularizing CSS3 was that each module could be
worked on at its own pace, and particularly critical (or popular)
modules could be advanced along the W3C’s progress track without
being held up by others. Indeed, this has turned out to be the case.
By early 2012, three CSS3 modules (along with CSS1 and CSS 2.1)
had reached full Recommendation status—CSS Color Level 3, CSS
Namespaces, and Selectors Level 3. At that same time, seven
modules were at Candidate Recommendation status, and several
dozen others were in various stages of Working Draft-ness. Under
the old approach, colors, selectors, and namespaces would have had
to wait for every other part of the specification to be done or cut
before they could be part of a completed specification. Thanks to
modularization, they didn’t have to wait.
The flip side of that advantage is that it’s hard to speak of a single
“CSS3 specification.” There isn’t any such thing, nor can there be.
Even if every other CSS module had reached level 3 by, say, late
2016 (they didn’t), there was already a Selectors Level 4 in process.
Would we then speak of it as CSS4? What about all the “CSS3”
features still coming into play? Or Grid Layout, which had not then
even reached Level 1? That’s why this book is a definitive guide for
“CSS” as a whole — because there really is no such thing as CSS3.
So while we can’t really point to a single tome and say, “There is
CSS3,” we can talk of features by the module name under which
they are introduced. The flexibility permitted by modules more than
makes up for the semantic awkwardness they sometimes create. (If
you want something approximating a single monolithic specification,
the CSS Working Group publishes yearly “Snapshot” documents.)
With that established, we’re ready to start understanding CSS. Let’s
start by covering the basics of what goes inside a stylesheet.
Stylesheet Contents
Inside a stylesheet, you’ll find a number of rules which are
comprised of selectors and declaration blocks, the latter of which are
made up of one or more declarations that are themselves made up
of property and value combinations. All put together, they look a
little something like this:

h1 {color: maroon;}
body {background: yellow;}

Styles such as these comprise the bulk of any stylesheet—simple or

complex, short or long. But which parts are which, and what do they
represent?

Rule Structure
To illustrate the concept of rules in more detail, let’s break down the
structure.
Each rule has two fundamental parts: the selector and the
declaration block. The declaration block is composed of one or more
declarations, and each declaration is a pairing of a property and a
value. Every stylesheet is made up of a series of rules. Figure 1-1
shows the parts of a rule.

Figure 1-1. The structure of a rule

The selector, shown on the left side of the rule, defines which piece
of the document will be selected for styling. In Figure 1-1, h1
(heading level 1) elements are selected. If the selector were p, then
all p (paragraph) elements would be selected.
The right side of the rule contains the declaration block, which is
made up of one or more declarations. Each declaration is a
combination of a CSS property and a value of that property. In
Figure 1-1, the declaration block contains two declarations. The first
states that this rule will cause parts of the document to have a
color of red, and the second states that part of the document will
have a background of yellow. So, all of the h1 elements in the
document (defined by the selector) will be styled in red text with a
yellow background.

Vendor prefixing
Sometimes you’ll see pieces of CSS with dashes and labels in front of
them, like this: -o-border-image. These are called vendor
prefixes, and are a way for browser vendors to mark properties,
values, or other bits of CSS as being experimental or proprietary (or
both). As of early 2022, there were a few vendor prefixes in the
wild, with the most common being shown in Table 1-1.

Table 1-1. Some common vendor prefixes

Prefix Vendor

-epub- International Digital Publishing Forum ePub format

-moz- Mozilla-based browsers (e.g., Firefox)

-ms- Microsoft Internet Explorer

-o- Opera-based browsers

-webkit- WebKit-based browsers (e.g., Safari and Chrome)

As Table 1-1 implies, the generally accepted format of a vendor
prefix is a dash, a label, and a dash, although a few prefixes
erroneously omit the first dash.
The uses and abuses of vendor prefixes are long, tortuous, and
beyond the scope of this book. Suffice to say that they started out
as a way for vendors to test out new features, thus helping speed
interoperability without worrying about being locked into legacy
behaviors that were incompatible with other browsers. This avoided
a whole class of problems that nearly strangled CSS in its infancy.
Unfortunately, prefixed properties were then publicly deployed by
web authors and ended up causing a whole new class of problems.
As of early 2022, vendor-prefixed CSS features are nearly non-
existent, with old prefixed properties and values being slowly but
steadily removed from browser implementations. It’s quite likely that
you’ll never write prefixed CSS, but you may encounter it in the wild,
or inherit it in a legacy codebase. Here’s an example:

-webkit-transform-origin: 0 0;
-moz-transform-origin: 0 0;
-o-transform-origin: 0 0;
transform-origin: 0 0;

That’s saying the same thing four times: once each for the WebKit,
Mozilla (Firefox), and Opera browser lines, and then finally the CSS-
standard way. Again, this is no longer really necessary. We’re only
including it here to give you an idea of what it might look like,
should you come across this in the future.

Whitespace Handling
CSS is basically insensitive to whitespace between rules, and largely
insensitive to whitespace within rules, although there are a few
exceptions.
In general, CSS treats whitespace just like HTML does: any sequence
of whitespace characters is collapsed to a single space for parsing
purposes. Thus, you can format the hypothetical rainbow rule in
the following ways:

rainbow: infrared red orange yellow green blue indigo

violet ultraviolet;

rainbow:
infrared red orange yellow green blue indigo
violet ultraviolet;

rainbow:
infrared
red
orange
yellow
green
blue
indigo
violet
ultraviolet
;

…as well as any other separation patterns you can think up. The
only restriction is that the separating characters be whitespace: an
empty space, a tab, or a newline, alone or in combination, as many
as you like.
Similarly, you can format series of rules with whitespace in any
fashion you like. These are just five examples out of an effectively
infinite number of possibilities:

html{color:black;}
body {background: white;}
p {
color: gray;}
h2 {
color : silver ;
}
 ol
{
color
:
silver
;
}

As you can see from the first rule, whitespace can be largely
omitted. Indeed, this is usually the case with minified CSS, which is
CSS that’s had every last possible bit of extraneous whitespace
removed, usually by an automated server-side script of some sort.
The rules after the first two use progressively more extravagant
amounts of whitespace until, in the last rule, pretty much everything
that can be separated onto its own line has been.
All of these approaches are valid, so you should pick the formatting
that makes the most sense—that is, is easiest to read—in your eyes,
and stick with it.

CSS Comments
CSS does allow for comments. These are very similar to C/C++
comments in that they are surrounded by /&#x2a; and &#x2a;/:

/* This is a CSS1 comment */

Comments can span multiple lines, just as in C++:

/* This is a CSS1 comment, and it

can be several lines long without
any problem whatsoever. */

It’s important to remember that CSS comments cannot be nested.

So, for example, this would not be correct:
 /* This is a comment, in which we find
another comment, which is WRONG
/* Another comment */
and back to the first comment */

WARNING
One way to create “nested” comments accidentally is to temporarily comment
out a large block of a stylesheet that already contains a comment. Since CSS
doesn’t permit nested comments, the “outside” comment will end where the
“inside” comment ends.

Unfortunately, there is no “rest of the line” comment pattern such as

// or # (the latter of which is reserved for ID selectors anyway).
The only comment pattern in CSS is /&#x2a; &#x2a;/. Therefore,
if you wish to place comments on the same line as markup, then you
need to be careful about how you place them. For example, this is
the correct way to do it:

h1 {color: gray;} /* This CSS comment is several lines */

h2 {color: silver;} /* long, but since it is alongside */
p {color: white;} /* actual styles, each line needs to */
pre {color: gray;} /* be wrapped in comment markers. */

Given this example, if each line isn’t marked off, then most of the
stylesheet will become part of the comment and thus will not work:

h1 {color: gray;} /* This CSS comment is several lines

h2 {color: silver;} long, but since it is not wrapped
p {color: white;} in comment markers, the last three
pre {color: gray;} styles are part of the comment. */

In this example, only the first rule (h1 {color: gray;}) will be
applied to the document. The rest of the rules, as part of the
comment, are ignored by the browser’s rendering engine.
 NOTE
CSS comments are treated by the CSS parser as if they do not exist at all, and
so do not count as whitespace for parsing purposes. This means you can put
them into the middle of rules—even right inside declarations!

Markup
There is no markup in stylesheets. This might seem obvious, but
you’d be surprised. The one exception is HTML comment markup,
which is permitted inside style elements for historical reasons:

<style><!--
h1 {color: maroon;}
body {background: yellow;}
--></style>

That’s it, and even that isn’t recommended any more — the
browsers that needed it have faded into near-oblivion.
Speaking of markup, it’s time to take a very slight detour to talk
about the elements that our CSS will be used to style, and how
those can be affected by CSS in the most fundamental ways.

Elements
Elements are the basis of document structure. In HTML, the most
common elements are easily recognizable, such as p, table, span,
a, and article. Every single element in a document plays a part in
its presentation.

Replaced and Nonreplaced Elements

Although CSS depends on elements, not all elements are created
equally. For example, images and paragraphs are not the same type
of element. In CSS, elements generally take two forms: replaced and
nonreplaced.

Replaced elements
Replaced elements are those where the element’s content is
replaced by something that is not directly represented by document
content. Probably the most familiar HTML example is the img
element, which is replaced by an image file external to the
document itself. In fact, img has no actual content, as you can see
in this simple example:

<img src="howdy.gif" alt="Hello, friend!">

This markup fragment contains only an element name and an

attribute. The element presents nothing unless you point it to some
external content (in this case, an image file whose location is given
by the src attribute). If you point to a valid image file, the image
will be placed in the document. If not, the browser will either display
nothing or will show a “broken image” placeholder.
Similarly, the input element can also be replaced—by a radio
button, checkbox, text input box, or other, depending on its type.

Nonreplaced elements
The majority of HTML elements are nonreplaced elements. This
means that their content is presented by the user agent (generally a
browser) inside a box generated by the element itself. For example,
<span>hi there</span> is a nonreplaced element, and the text
“hi there” will be displayed by the user agent. This is true of
paragraphs, headings, table cells, lists, and almost everything else in
HTML.
Element Display Roles
CSS has two basic display roles: block formatting context and inline
formatting context. There are many more display types, but these
are the most basic, and the types to which most if not all other
display types refer. The block and inline contexts will be familiar to
authors who have spent time with HTML markup and its display in
web browsers. The elements are illustrated in Figure 1-2.

Figure 1-2. Block- and inline-level elements in an HTML document

Block-level elements
By default, block-level elements generate an element box that (by
default) fills its parent element’s content area and cannot have other
elements at its sides. In other words, it generates “breaks” before
and after the element box. The most familiar block elements from
HTML are p and div. Replaced elements can be block-level
elements, but usually they are not.
In CSS, this is referred to as an element generating a block
formatting context. It also means that the element generates a block
outer display type. The parts inside the element may have different
display types.

Inline-level elements
By default, inline-level elements generate an element box within a
line of text and do not break up the flow of that line. The best inline
element example is the a element in HTML. Other candidates are
strong and em. These elements do not generate a “break” before
or after themselves, so they can appear within the content of
another element without disrupting its display.
In CSS, this is referred to as an element generating an inline
formatting context. It also means that the element generated an
inline outer display type. The parts inside the element may have
different display types. (In CSS, there is no restriction on how
display roles can be nested within each other.)
To see how this works, let’s consider the CSS property display.
 DISPLAY

Values [ <display-outside> ‖ <display-inside> ] | <display-

listitem> | <display-internal> | <display-box> | <display-
legacy>

Definitions See below

Initial value inline

Applies to All elements

Computed As specified
value

Inherited No

Animatable No

<display-outside>
block | inline | run-in

<display-inside>
flow | flow-root | table | flex | grid | ruby

<display-listitem>
list-item && <display-outside>? && [ flow | flow-root
]?

<display-internal>
table-row-group | table-header-group | table-
footer-group | table-row | table-cell | table-
column-group | table-column | table-caption |
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
 Nitrogenous Foodstuffs or Proteins
The proteins form heat and energy when the supply of sugars,
starches, and fat are exhausted, but proteins, alone form muscle,
bone and sinew. They are, in this sense, the most important of foods,
—they are, also, the most costly.
The foods most rich in proteins are meat and eggs. These have
undergone chemical changes from the vegetable kingdom being built
up into more complex compounds in the animal kingdom.
Meat and eggs are the tissue builders. In this connection it may be
well to state that blood is tissue; thus meat and eggs build the blood,
as well as muscle and sinew.
Nitrogenous foods, or proteins, are so called because of the large
proportion of nitrogen which they contain. All nitrogenous foods
contain considerable carbon—mostly in the form of fat in the meat
elements—but the carbonaceous foods contain so little of the
proteins that they do not appreciably enter into the nutrition,—the
carbon and nitrogen in the carbo-nitrogenous foods are more equally
divided.
The nitrogenous or protein elements in the body constitute about
one-fifth of its weight. They make the framework, forming the basis
of blood, lymph, muscle, sinew, bone, skin, cartilage, and other
tissues.
Worn out body tissues is constantly being torn down and
eliminated and the protein in the foods must daily furnish material for
repair, as well as for building new tissue in the growing child.
A young animal’s first need is for growth, not having learned to
exercise sufficiently to use much energy, and the first food given is
an animal product—milk to babes and other mammals, while the
young of other animals are first fed upon eggs.
 The nitrogenous foods are required in smaller bulk than
vegetables and fruits; they are more concentrated and contain less
waste. According to recent experiments, the average adult requires
from two to four ounces a day of nitrogenous foods, to repair the
waste, according to the proportion of nitrogen contained. Happily,
where more is consumed, the system has the power, up to a certain
limit (depending upon the physical condition and the daily activity), to
eliminate an excess. It is needless to say that if the daily waste is not
re-supplied, the digestion and bodily nutrition suffer. The system
must have the two to four ounces to supply the nitrogen daily
excreted, or the tissues themselves will be consumed.
The proteins, of which meat is the principal one, are classified as
Albuminoids:—albumin (white of eggs), casein (curd of milk),
myosin (the basis of lean meat and gluten of wheat),
Gelatinoids, (connective tissue of meat),
Extractives (appetizing and flavoring elements).
 DIGESTION
Any discussion in regard to the digestibility of foods must be
general, because food which agrees with one may disagree with
another, and a food which disagrees with one at a particular time
may entirely agree with him at some other time; therefore, before
one passes upon the adaptability of a food to the individual, it should
be known that this food agrees or disagrees with him under varying
conditions.
The digestibility of food depends largely upon the physical
condition of the individual, because the amount of digestive juices
poured into the alimentary canal is influenced by this condition,
particularly by the condition of the nerves. If sufficient juices, in
proper proportions, are not poured into the digestive tract, the
foodstuffs are not made soluble for absorption into the blood.
Digestion is practically synonymous with solution,—all solid foods
must be reduced to a liquid state, through digestive juices and water,
before they can pass through the walls of the stomach and
intestines.
Each individual should learn to like the foods containing the
nutrient elements which experience and blood tests have shown to
be lacking in his case. The question of likes and of dislikes in regard
to foods, is largely habit, and one can learn to like almost any food
one wishes.
Where one forms the habit of discriminating too much in the food,
or discarding this food or that, because at some time it has
disagreed, due to the particular condition at the time, the mind
approaches the table as a more or less pessimistic censor and the
saliva and the gastric juices are retarded in their flow.
When one is exercising freely, so that the muscular and mucous
coats of the digestive system are strong, the body will handle foods
which, during sedentary habits, it would not digest. There are kinds
of foods, however, which, to certain individuals, according to the
chemical composition of the body, act as actual poisons, e. g.,
strawberries, cheese, or coffee.
It may be well to here trace, briefly, the progress of the food
through the digestive tract and the action of the juices and the
ferments upon it.[3]

The food in the mouth is mixed with saliva,

Salivary which dissolves the starches, converting them into
Digestion sugar. The starches are the only foods whose
chemical digestion is begun in the mouth. They are
first broken up into dextrin and then into the more simple sugar,
known as animal starch, or maltose. Hereafter, in speaking of sugar,
after it has been absorbed into the blood, the reader will bear in mind
that the term refers not only to digested sugar, consumed as such,
but also to digested starches (maltose), as shown on page 63.
It is important that sufficient saliva be mixed with the food, through
mastication, that it may enter the stomach and there continue the
chemical process of digestion of starch. If starches are not
thoroughly masticated, sufficient saliva will not enter the stomach to
convert the starch into sugar; the food will pass into the small
intestine, which must then do more than its normal work of digestion.
The saliva consists of about ninety-nine and one-half per cent
water and one-half per cent solids. The solids consist of ptyalin,
sodium chlorid, sodium carbonate (baking soda), mucus, and
epithelium. Ptyalin, the most important of these, is an active
digestive agent; the mucus lubricates the masticated food; the
sodium carbonate insures the alkalinity of the food; the salt is
present in all secretions; and the water dissolves the food that the
juices may more readily reach and act upon each particle.
The saliva flows into the mouth, more or less, at all times, but
more copiously during mastication. Its evident purpose, when food is
not present, is to keep the lining of the mouth moist.
The flow of saliva is controlled, to a great degree, by nerves which
have their centers in the medulla oblongata. The sight of food,
pleasingly served, or even the thought of food which one likes, will
increase the salivary flow. This is one instance of the control of
thought materially affecting digestion, and the importance of forming
the habit of cultivating a taste for all kinds of food, is apparent. The
stronger the relish for the food, and the more thoroughly it is
masticated, and mixed with the saliva, the more perfect will be the
first step in digestion. This first step of thorough mastication is all
important, not only because the chemical action upon the starch
molecules is facilitated by the thorough softening and mixing with the
saliva, but thorough mastication also tends to prevent overeating.
Water encourages the flow of saliva and for this reason should be
drunk copiously before meals, particularly where digestion is weak. It
may also be taken at rest periods during the meal. (See page 44).

As the food enters the stomach, the gastric juice

Stomach pours out from the mucous lining, very much as
Digestion the saliva pours into the mouth. It consists of
ninety-nine and one-half per cent water and one-
half per cent solids, as does the saliva. The solids of the gastric juice
are composed of pepsin, rennin, hydrochloric acid, and mucus. The
mucus serves to lubricate the food as in the saliva. It also prevents
the digestion of the mucous lining of the stomach itself.
The hydrochloric acid and the pepsin cause the principal chemical
changes in the food while in the stomach, acting alone upon the
proteins. The only digestion of starches in the stomach is that
continued by the saliva. The salivary digestion proceeds until the
gastric juice is secreted in sufficient quantity to cause a marked
acidity of the stomach contents, when the starches are passed into
the intestines.
 Gastric juice begins to flow into the stomach soon after eating, but
it is not secreted in sufficient quantity to supersede salivary digestion
for from twenty to forty-five minutes.
The result of gastric digestion of proteins is their conversion, first,
into albumin, then into proteosis and, lastly, into peptone, which is
protein in a more simple, soluble, and diffusible form. In the form of
peptone, the proteins are in condition to be absorbed.
If the food has been properly cooked and masticated the gastric
digestion will be completed in one and one-half to three hours. If not
properly cooked and masticated, the stomach digestion may
continue one to two hours longer. It should, however, be completed
in three hours.
The most readily digested animal foods remain less time in the
stomach. Meat, as a rule, is easily digested, because the action of
the digestive juices of the animal has converted the starches and
sugars. The white meat of chicken, being soft, is digested in a
shorter time than the red or the dark meat.
Fluids leave the stomach more rapidly than solids. Seven ounces
of water leave the stomach in one and one-half hours, seven ounces
of boiled milk in about two hours.
The flow of gastric juice, as the flow of saliva, is governed by the
nerves;—the sight, taste, and smell of food, and the attitude of mind
toward it, to a certain extent, regulates its flow.
After the food has extensively accumulated, during the progress of
a meal, the stomach begins a series of wave-like movements called
peristaltic waves.[4] These waves work downward through the length
of the stomach towards its lower opening, known as the pyloric
orifice. As the food is moved down the stomach by these motions, it
is thoroughly mixed with the gastric juice.
During the early stages of digestion, the sphincter muscles of the
pylorus keep the lower end of the stomach closed, but, as digestion
progresses, the pylorus gradually relaxes to let the digested, soluble
portion of the food pass into the intestine. If the food still remains in a
solid form, by reason of being improperly cooked or poorly
masticated, as it touches the pylorus, these sphincter muscles,
almost as if they were endowed with reasoning faculties, close,
forcing the undigested mass back to be further acted upon by the
gastric juice,—the solid mass is not allowed to pass until dissolved.
If the individual continues to abuse the stomach and to cause it to
work overtime, it becomes exhausted and demands rest; it refuses to
discharge the gastric juice in proper proportion; the peristaltic
movements are weak; and food is not promptly or forcefully moved
along the stomach and mixed with the gastric juice. This demand for
a rest is termed Indigestion.
To sum up,—digested sugar is dextrose; digested starch is first
dextrin, then maltose (animal, sugar); digested protein is peptone;
and, digested fat is saponified fat.

The food passes from the stomach, through the

Intestinal pylorus into the small intestine. The first twelve
Digestion inches of the small intestine is known as the
duodenum. In the duodenum it is acted upon by
the pancreatic juice from the pancreas, the bile from the liver, and
the intestinal juices. These juices act upon proteins, fats, and
carbohydrates. The bile acts upon the fats, while the pancreatic and
intestinal juices act chiefly upon the carbohydrates.
As the food enters the intestine, it is changed, by the sodium
carbonate, from the acid condition produced in the stomach, to
alkaline reaction.
The bile exercises an important influence upon digestion, any
disturbance in the flow of this greenish-brown secretion being very
quickly shown both in stomach and intestinal digestion. It
emulsonizes and saponifies the fats, it aids in their absorption, and it
lubricates the intestinal mass, facilitating its passage through the
entire length of the intestines. Thus, it is a very potent agent in
regulating the bowel movements. A diminution in the flow of bile
quickly expresses itself in constipation.
 Fats are almost entirely digested in the small intestine. The
presence of fat stimulates the flow of pancreatic juice, which, in turn,
stimulates the flow of bile from the liver. For this reason, if the liver is
sluggish, fatty foods are desirable. Olive oil is prescribed for gall
stones to stimulate the action of the bile ducts.
Before the fat molecules can be absorbed, they must first be
broken up into glycerin and fatty acids and further changed to a fine
emulsion, which gives the contents of the small intestine a milky
appearance. After they are broken up into these fatty acids and thus
brought to the finest state of emulsion, they are readily saponified,
being then soluble in water and in a state to be absorbed by the
walls of the intestines. The fats are absorbed almost entirely in the
small intestine,—mostly in the duodenum.
As a rule, the starches, or dextrin, will not be fully digested by the
saliva and those which have failed of salivary digestion are acted
upon by amylase (one of the solids of the intestinal juice) and
changed to maltose, while the trypsin from the pancreas, together
with the intestinal juice, acts upon any protein which has failed to be
fully digested in the stomach, changing it into peptone. In the form or
peptone it is absorbed through the “sucking” villi of the intestinal
walls.
The food is forced along the intestinal tract by peristaltic or
muscular relaxation and contraction waves, as in the stomach. As it
is so forced, the nutrient elements, after being put into condition for
absorption, are taken up through the villi of the intestinal walls by the
portal veins and the lacteals of the sub-mucous lining. (See page
78).
It is now believed that a larger proportion of food is digested and
absorbed than was heretofore realized, and that the excretions from
the intestines are, in many cases, made up almost entirely of refuse,
and of the catabolic waste of the system. In an ordinary, mixed diet,
it is stated that about ninety-two per cent of the proteins, ninety-five
per cent of the fats, and ninety-seven per cent of the carbohydrates
are retained by the body.
 In digestion, it is of the utmost importance that the
muscular, mucous, and the sub-mucous coats, and the
secreting glands of the stomach and intestines be kept
thoroughly strong and active, that the digestive juices may
be freely poured out, the nutriment be freely absorbed,
and the food be moved along the digestive tract. The
strength of any organ is gained through the nutriment in
the blood; therefore, daily exercise, which calls the blood
freely to these organs, is imperative.
The greater part of the food is absorbed through
Absorption of the intestines, yet some proteins, which have been
Food fully digested by the gastric juice, and certain fats,
particularly the fats in milk, which are in a natural
state of emulsion, may be absorbed through the walls of the
stomach. However, the absorption through the stomach is small
compared to that through the intestines.
The small intestine is particularly fitted for absorption. Every inch
or so along its course the mucous lining is thrown up into folds, as if
to catch the food as it passes toward the large intestine, and to hold
it there until the villi have the opportunity to absorb it. These
transverse folds of the intestinal walls are called valvulæ
conniventes. The villi are fingerlike projections of the mucous lining
of the intestines, which stand out upon the lining somewhat as the
nap on plush. They have been called “sucking” villi, because during
the movements of the intestines they seem to suck in the liquid food.
As soon as the foodstuffs,—proteins, carbohydrates, and fats, are
put in a dissoluble state ready for absorption, they are very promptly
absorbed by the villi. If, for any reason, they remain unabsorbed,
they are liable to ferment by the action of the trypsin, or to be
attacked by the bacteria always present in the intestines.
The peptones, sugars, and saponified fats are rapidly absorbed,
while the undigested portion, together with the unabsorbed water,
the bile, mucus and bacterial products, are passed through the ileo-
cecal valve into the large intestine.
 That the large intestine is also adapted to the absorption of fats is
shown by clinical experiments with patients who cannot retain food in
the stomach, the food in such cases being given through rectal
injections.
In the large intestine, the mass passes up the ascending colon,
across the transverse colon, and down the descending colon, losing,
by absorption, foodstuffs not absorbed in the stomach and small
intestine.
While water and salt are absorbed both in the stomach and in the
small intestine, the evident purpose in leaving the larger part of the
water to be absorbed in the large intestine is that it may assist the
intestinal contents in passing along. The water also stimulates the
peristaltic movement.
As the food is absorbed through the walls of the alimentary canal,
it is picked up by the rootlets of the mesenteric veins[5] and by the
lymph channels,—the latter, through the abdominal cavity, are called
lacteals. Nearly all of the fats are absorbed through the lacteals. The
whitish color given to the contents of the lacteals, by the saponified
fats, gives rise to the term lacteal, meaning “whitish.”
Nearly all of the proteins and sugars pass through the mesenteric
veins and the portal veins into the liver. Here the sugars are at once
attacked by the liver cells and built up into glycogen as described on
page 81 and the proteins are passed through the liver into the
arterial blood stream. A small portion of the proteins, however, do not
go to the liver, but are passed directly into the lymphatics and thus
into the blood stream, where they are again carried to the liver.
To sum up,—the larger part of the absorption of sugars, starches,
proteins, and fats is through the small intestine, though some are
absorbed in the stomach and a very little through the large intestine;
while some water and salts are absorbed in the stomach and small
intestine, these are largely absorbed in the large intestine.
 FOOTNOTES:
[3] A knowledge of the mucous lining of the stomach and
intestines, and of the tributary glands, such as the liver and
pancreas, is important to a thorough understanding of digestion,
and the reader is referred to “The Vital Organs: Their Use and
Abuse” of this series. This takes up the study of the secretion of
digestive juices, the conditions favoring normal secretions, etc.
[4] See “The Vital Organs; Their Use and Abuse” by Susanna
Cocroft.
[5] For illustration see the frontispiece of “The Circulation,
Lungs, Heart,” of this series.
The Work of Various Organs Affecting
Digestion
The purpose of this chapter is to show the work of other organs
than the digestive organs in converting the digested food to use in
the body, in tearing down waste, and in eliminating waste and an
excess of material above the body needs.

The liver is commonly called the chemical work-

Work of the shop of the body. The proteins and sugars are
Liver carried through the blood (portal veins) to the liver
directly they are absorbed from the alimentary
canal. As the food materials filter through the blood capillaries,
between the liver cells, several substances are absorbed, particularly
sugar, which is here changed into animal starch called glycogen. It is
held in the liver for a few hours in the form of glycogen and then
redigested by the action of an amylolitic ferment and again gradually
given out into the blood in the form of sugar; hence sugar is subject
first to the anabolic change of being built up into glycogen, and then
to the catabolic change of oxidation and breaking down.
While the conversion of the sugar is one chief office of the liver, it
also acts upon the proteins,—not as they are first passed through
the liver in the blood, but as they are returned to the liver from the
muscle tissue, partly oxidized and broken up into simpler products.
The liver cells absorb and further oxidize and combine them into
nitrogenous waste, which the kidneys throw off in urea.
The liver and the spleen also break up the pigment or coloring
matter of the red blood corpuscles. As they become worn out, they
are retired in the liver and the spleen from the circulation. The iron is
retained by the liver cells and the remainder is thrown off from the
liver, in the bile.
The liver is often called the watch dog of the body, because it is on
guard for all poisons which pass through it in the blood. The large
part of these toxic substances are absorbed through the alimentary
canal with other foodstuffs. Many of them are the result of the
fermentation of foods which are not digested as promptly as they
should be, on account of an insufficient secretion of digestive juices,
or a failure to secrete them in normal proportions, or due to inactivity
of the stomach and intestines.
It surely is a wise provision of nature to supply a guard to oxidize,
or break down these poisons and make them harmless, so that they
do not pass to all parts of the body as poisons, thus affecting the
nerves and the blood stream, and, through these, the entire system.
The necessity of correct habits of deep breathing will be readily
seen, because oxygen is required to break down the poisons as well
as to oxidize the waste of the system.
One example of the action of the liver in rendering substances
harmless, is its oxidation of alcohol. From one to three ounces of
alcohol a day are oxidized and made harmless in the liver, varying
according to the individual and to the condition, at different times, in
the same person. If the limit of one to three ounces is exceeded, the
excess is not oxidized and intoxication results. These evidences of
intoxication are in the nature of narcosis; alcohol is now regarded as
a narcotic along with ether and chloroform.
It was formerly held by physiologists that alcohol was a food,
because its oxidation liberates body heat and it was assumed that
this liberation of heat, was the same as that freed by the combustion
of fats, starches, and sugar uniting with oxygen. More recent
knowledge, however, has unquestionably determined that heat,
resulting from oxidation of alcohol, does not keep up body
temperature; the pores of the skin are opened and there is a greater
loss of heat through the skin. This really makes the system less able
to resist cold. Large doses of alcohol actually cause a fall in body
temperature and every force of the body is decreased in efficiency,
while if alcohol were an actual food the efficiency would be
increased. We are forced to the conclusion, therefore, that alcohol is
a pseudo-food as it is a pseudo-stimulant.

The muscles play an important part in the use of

Work of the foods. Most of the heat is generated in them, by
Muscles the sugar and fats coming in contact with the
oxygen in the blood. This heat is liberated during
every moment of the twenty-four hours, asleep or awake. Of course,
more is liberated during exercise, since the movement of the
muscles sets all tissues into activity and the blood circulates more
strongly, bringing a greater supply of oxygen to them. It is always
well during active exercise to stop frequently and fully inflate the
lungs. The effort should always be made to breathe fully and deeply
—otherwise the pressure of the liberated carbon dioxid will cause a
pressure throughout the blood stream, particularly about the heart
and in the head. This pressure is relieved when the excess of
carbonic acid gas liberated has been thrown off by the lungs. Nature
makes the effort to throw off the excess of carbonic acid gas by
forcing one to breathe more rapidly while running or taking unusual
exercise.
The oxidation changes are simply a combustion of sugars and
fats, liberating latent heat as they are brought into contact with the
oxygen. Exercise and a regulation of the amount of carbohydrates
and fats consumed in the foods is the natural, scientific method for
the reduction of an excess of fat.
A certain amount of protein is constantly oxidized in the muscles,
also, being broken down into carbon dioxid, water and a number of
nitrogenous mid-products. The carbonic acid gas and water are
thrown off by the lungs and the partially oxidized, nitrogenous waste
is carried to the liver, where it is further oxidized and prepared for
excretion, through the kidneys, lungs, skin and intestines.
 When sugar is carried to the muscles in larger quantities than can
be utilized by them, it is often built up into animal starch and stored
in the form of glycogen, similar to its chemical change and storage in
the liver.
This storage of glycogen in the muscles and in the liver is a wise
provision of Nature. It is a reserve to be called upon whenever the
expenditure of heat and energy exceeds the amount supplied in any
day’s rations.

The nerves oxidize food materials, but not to any

Work of the great extent, excepting during nervous activity.
Nerves During periods of rest, food materials are stored in
the nerve cells in grandular form. They represent
concentrated nerve foods and are the result of anabolic processes.
During nervous activity they are oxidized and carried away through
the blood and the lymph. This oxidation of the food, stored in the
nerves, creates nervous energy and heat.
The energy liberated by the nerves resembles electrical energy.
Where one subjects himself continuously to an excess of nervous
activity, all reserve food material, stored in the nerve cells, is used
and the result is a trying nerve tension. Such individuals need plenty
of easily digested food.

The lungs absorb oxygen and eliminate carbon

Work of the dioxid. They occasionally throw off a very little
Lungs organic material.
The carbon dioxid is carried to the lungs from the tissues through
the venous stream and diffused through the capillary walls of the
lungs. The oxygen is absorbed into the capillaries through the thin air
sacs in the walls of the lungs.
 The kidneys do not absorb as do the lungs,
Work of the neither do they perform any anabolic work as does
Kidneys the liver, nor catabolic work as the muscles, nerves
and the liver. They simply throw off waste matter.
The blood passes through them in a transverse branch from the
abdominal aorta. In its circuit urea, uric acid, urates, sulphuric acid,
sulphates and sodium phosphates pass from the blood with the
water and are thrown from the system; hence the kidneys are
purifying organs, as are the lungs. The blood returning from the
kidneys through the veins is pure, just as the blood in the pulmonary
vein is pure, while that in the arteries to the kidneys and the lungs is
impure.
The above substances cannot be thrown off from the lungs. They
are the products of oxidation of proteins, partly of the living tissues
and partly those broken down direct as they are supplied in the
foods, in excess of the needs of the system.
Interference in the action of the kidneys results in a hoarding of
these substances in the blood, and may produce an intoxicated
condition known as uremic poisoning.
Water in abundance and diuretic fruits and vegetables, which
increase the activity of the kidneys, should be taken where uremia is
indicated. (Foods which cause a free flow of urine are called diuretic
foods.)
The sweat glands also throw off an excess of
Work of the Skin water and salts. The kidneys and the skin are
interdependent; if the kidneys are inactive the skin
throws off a larger quantity and if the skin is inactive, or if for any
reason the pores of the skin are closed, the kidneys are more active.
This is evidenced by the sudden immersion of the body in cold
water; the pores of the skin being closed the kidneys immediately
act.
 During the summer, or at any time when the skin throws off more
water than usual, the kidneys are less active and the urine, being
more concentrated, is darker.
The skin also throws off carbon dioxid and, to a slight extent, it
absorbs oxygen.

The intestines, in their work of elimination, pass

Work of the off all undigested matter. They also carry off bile
Intestines pigment, bile salts, mucus, amino acids, and other
decomposition of proteins,—also a little
unabsorbed fats and bacterial decomposition taking place in the
intestines. Coarse articles of food containing fibres which do not
digest, such as the bran of grains and the coarser fruits and
vegetables (though much of their substances are not food in the
strictest sense) are valuable to increase the peristaltic movements of
the intestines and to act as a carrying body to move the waste
excretions along their course.
The combustion, or burning of fuel in any form, (oxidation for the
release of latent heat and energy) always leaves some parts which
are not used as heat or energy, and it is the work of the intestines to
eliminate much of this refuse. When coal is burned, gas, smoke and
cinders or clinkers, constitute the waste and if these were not
allowed to escape from a stove the fire would soon go out—the
smoke and gas would smother it and the clinkers would prevent the
circulation of oxygen and soon clog and fill the stove. The same is
true in the body—the carbonic acid gas not being allowed to pass off
would soon put out the fires of life; it would poison the body and
stunt the action of the nerves. If the nitrogenous waste (like ashes
and cinders) is not eliminated by the kidneys, one will die in
convulsions in one or two days.
The absolute necessity of a free elimination of waste will be readily
seen.—If the engine is to do its best work, the engineer sees that it is
kept perfectly clean—otherwise it becomes clogged, does inefficient
work and the clogging soon wears out some parts. The same is true
in the body,—clogging in any part overworks and wears out other
parts dependent upon the work of the one.
 Summary
Let us sum up the processes which the food undergoes in its
conversion into condition to be absorbed by the body; in its
absorption through the walls of the intestines and stomach; and the
metabolic processes which it undergoes in being converted into heat
and energy and again broken down and eliminated as waste.
The Saliva begins the digestion of starches and sugars in the
mouth. This digestion is continued by the saliva in the stomach.
The Stomach, when in normal condition, thoroughly digests the
proteins. If any proteins fail of digestion in the stomach the process
is completed in the intestines.
The Intestines, aside from their work of digestion and absorption,
excrete bile pigment, bile salts, animal acids, mucus and other
decomposition of proteins, with bacterial fermentation and
putrefactions; also such food materials as are not digested.
The small intestine digests and absorbs the fats and continues the
digestion of starches, sugars and fats when this digestion is not
completed in the stomach.
The large part of the food is absorbed through the small intestine,
though a small part is absorbed through the walls of the stomach
and through the large intestine.
Fats are almost entirely absorbed in the small intestine. They are
absorbed through the lacteals and are carried into the blood stream.
The Liver. The proteins and the starches (converted into maltose)
and sugars pass into the liver. The sugar (including the sugar in
vegetables, milk, fruits and that used for sweetening, as well as the
carbohydrates which have been changed into maltose), is converted
into glycogen in the liver, stored here for a time and again broken
down into sugar that it may be in condition to be absorbed into the
blood.
The proteins pass through the liver but are not acted upon by this
organ until they again return to the liver through the blood stream,
after they have been partly oxidized in the tissues. The liver further
oxidizes them putting them into condition to be excreted by the
kidneys and intestines.
The liver also breaks up the worn out red corpuscles, putting them
into condition to be eliminated in the bile.
It oxidizes and renders harmless poisonous substances absorbed
in the food, such as fermented food products and alcohol.
The Muscles oxidize the fats and sugars liberating the latent heat
and energy.
They partly oxidize proteins which are further broken up in the
liver.
The Nerves oxidize food materials stored in the nerve cells,
providing nervous energy.
The Lungs absorb oxygen and throw off carbon dioxid, watery
vapor and some organic substances.
The Kidneys and The Skin purify the blood by excreting water,
carbon dioxid and nitrogenous waste.