Most of us know too little of the way our bodies work, and are liable in that state of comparative ignorance to become the victims of groundless anxieties about ourselves. In this compact and authoritative survey Kenneth Walker sets forth in plain language the knowledge of the functioning of the human body, and reminds us too how profoundly the mind influences the working of the body.

          Starting from the cell, the basis of human as of all life, he describes the nature and work of the digestive, circulatory, excretory, locomotor, and nervous systems: the part that food plays in our lives; how we breathe; the functions of the special senses and the physiology of sensation; the chemistry of the body and the glandular system; and the processes of reproduction. A number of sketches in the text illustrate special points.