Bellows Falls times. [volume] (Bellows Falls, Vt.) 1856-1965, 1872-05-31
The Pores of the Skin.

speak of the pores of the skin. l won
der if you know what they are. Look on
your skin and see If you can see any Of
them. No, you cannot, but if you had
magnifying glass of sufficient power
you could see them very plainly. They
are simply the openings ofthe little tubes
or holes which go in spiral manner
through the skin, and end in what is
called little gland. They are too small
to be seen by the naked eye, but they
are many of them. DIR. Wilson counted
on the palm of the hand, in space an
inch square, 1928, and ON a space of the
same size on the bottom of the foot, q
268. AT this rate, there would be about
7,000,000 ON each man and as each one
is about quarter of an inch long, the
whole number, if put into one tube,
would reach nearly twenty-eight miles.
Just think of it, twenty-eight miles Of
pipe to drain and carry off the sweat Of
the body, and all so small as not to be
visible to the naked eye. I just said that
all this pipe was to carry off the sweat of
the body, and this is going on all the
while, whether you perceive it or not
only, when so abundant that you can see
it, it is called sweat, but when the skin
appears to be perfectly dry it is giving
off the same watery fluid, but then we
call it insensiole Cor in visible) perspira-
ton and the quantity that passes off
every day am cunts to several pounds
In warm weather, and when we work
very hard, the quantity of sweat is great
ly increased, and amounts to several
pounds in few hours. If it were not
for this channel for the escape of the sur
plus water of the body, there would be
much suffering and sickness, for it car
ries off not only water, but worn-out
ashes of the body, and also a great deal
of heat which would otherwise accumu-
late, and put us in fever. If you did
not sweat freely in very warm weather,
you would soon feel so bad that life
would be impossible, and you would
die. Sometimes perspiration gets check
ed or stopped, when we get a cold, and
do not get over it till the skin as
sumes its former state.
You may not know it, but besides
the sweat that is poured out through
these pores, there are yet other pores
that give out, not watery fluid, but an
oily one. This substance keeps the skin
smooth. soft and pliable, prevents it
from growing dry and hard. Sometimes
the oil in one of the pores gets dry and
does not flow out freely, but forms lit
tie pimple or white spot on the skin,
which disfgures it. These oil-gIands
are abundant on the nose, to give out
their contents in the shape Of little
worm but though many think they are
they are not worms The older people
grow, the more of these are found, but
even children have them sick people
have them in great abundance. Under
the arm-pits these oil-glands are abun-
dant, to keep the parts soft and smooth,
so they will not chafe and become sore
from rubbing. They are also abundant
on the edge of the eyelids, to oil them
so as to prevent the tears from running
over and down the cheeks. They are
abundant in the ear, and secrete the ear
wax, in quite large quantities. In some
animals, as the skunk, these oil-glands
are very large, and can be made to give
out most offensive odor. In. birds the
oil is secreted on the back, and spread
over the feathers by means of the birds
beak. In negroes the oil-glands Of the
skin are very abundant, and secrete the
peculiar odor given out from their skin ;
indeed, in white people there is often a
disagreeable odor coming from them, if
cleanliness is not observed Herald of
Health.