From the foregoing it is evident that the skin has many
varied and important duties to perform. As we might
expect, moreover, an organ with such functions is of com-
plicated structure. Its component parts, therefore, deserve
to have some little attention paid to them, since the im-
portance of the skin from a health point of view will then
be all the more appreciated. The skin is most conveniently
considered under three divisions — the skin itself ; the glands,
producing perepiration, oil, and hair, which are found within
it ; and the appendages belonging to it, the hair and the
nails. The skin itself may be described as the soft and
elastic tissue which invests the whole of the surface of the
body, and consists of two layers, the outer or scarf skin, and
the deeper or true skin. The interior of the body is like-
wise lined with a covering, which is termed mucous mem-
brane, from the fact that from its surface, or from certain
special glands within it, or from both, there is constantly
being secreted a thin semi-transparent fluid called mucus.
At the various openings of the body, as the mouth, the
26 THE ART OF LIVING IX AUSTRALIA.
nostrils, and other parts, the external and internal skins ure
continuous with one another. Indeed, at these apertures the
mucous membrane, or internal skin, takes leave of absence
from the world to line the cavities within the body. So
that, as Professor Huxley expresses it, " every part of the
body might be said to be contained within the walls of a
double bag, formed by the skin which invests the outside of
the body, and the mucous membrane, its continuation, which
lines the internal cavities."
The use of the scarf skin is manifestly to protect the more
delicate true skin, while at the same time it allows the waste
products and used-up material to escape from the body. In
the substance of the true skin are thousands of minute little
bodies called papillfe, which are specially concerned in the
sense of touch, for the vast majority of these papillfe contain
the end of a small nerve. The numberless fine ridges seen
on the palmar surface of the hands and fingers, and on the
soles of the feet, are really rows of these papillas, covered of
course by the layers of the outer skin. The supply of
blood to the skin is also very plenteous, each of its innumer-
able papilla3 being abundantly supplied in this respect. As
a proof of the amount of blood circulating within the skin,
and of its extensive nerve supply, it is only necessary to
mention the fact that the finest needle cannot be passed into
it without drawing blood and inflicting pain.
In addition to the foregoing the skin also contains a
countless number of very fine tubes, which penetrate through
its layers and open on its surfaces by minute openings called
pores. There are altogether three different varieties of these
tubes distributed throughout the skin, namely, those intended
for perspiration ; secondly, those which lead from the oil
glands ; and lastly, those which enclose each hair of the
body. The first of these, which carry away the perspiration
from the body, are very fine, the end away from the surface
ABLUTION— THE SKIN AND THE BATH. 27
Page 28
Presented as published in 1893. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
From the foregoing it is evident that the skin has many varied and important duties to perform. As we might expect, moreover, an organ with such functions is of complicated structure. Its component parts, therefore, deserve to have some little attention paid to them, since the importance of the skin from a health point of view will then be all the more appreciated. The skin is most conveniently considered under three divisions — the skin itself ; the glands, producing perspiration, oil, and hair, which are found within it ; and the appendages belonging to it, the hair and the nails. The skin itself may be described as the soft and elastic tissue which invests the whole of the surface of the body, and consists of two layers, the outer or scarf skin, and the deeper or true skin. The interior of the body is likewise lined with a covering, which is termed mucous membrane, from the fact that from its surface, or from certain special glands within it, or from both, there is constantly being secreted a thin semi-transparent fluid called mucus. At the various openings of the body, as the mouth, the
nostrils, and other parts, the external and internal skins are continuous with one another. Indeed, at these apertures the mucous membrane, or internal skin, takes leave of absence from the world to line the cavities within the body. So that, as Professor Huxley expresses it, " every part of the body might be said to be contained within the walls of a double bag, formed by the skin which invests the outside of the body, and the mucous membrane, its continuation, which lines the internal cavities."
The use of the scarf skin is manifestly to protect the more delicate true skin, while at the same time it allows the waste products and used-up material to escape from the body. In the substance of the true skin are thousands of minute little bodies called papillfe, which are specially concerned in the sense of touch, for the vast majority of these papillfe contain the end of a small nerve. The numberless fine ridges seen on the palmar surface of the hands and fingers, and on the soles of the feet, are really rows of these papillas, covered of course by the layers of the outer skin. The supply of blood to the skin is also very plenteous, each of its innumerable papillae being abundantly supplied in this respect. As a proof of the amount of blood circulating within the skin, and of its extensive nerve supply, it is only necessary to mention the fact that the finest needle cannot be passed into it without drawing blood and inflicting pain.
In addition to the foregoing the skin also contains a countless number of very fine tubes, which penetrate through its layers and open on its surfaces by minute openings called pores. There are altogether three different varieties of these tubes distributed throughout the skin, namely, those intended for perspiration ; secondly, those which lead from the oil glands ; and lastly, those which enclose each hair of the body. The first of these, which carry away the perspiration from the body, are very fine, the end away from the surface