The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1879-07-23
!, WEDNESDAY,. JULY %, 1879.

anu IN the SIMULTANEOUS Iat, gIanuS are FORM
ed named sebaceous (fat), ceruminous (waxy),
and odorifierous, which have reference chiefly
to the protection of the skin, or to some other
local purposes.
The glands Of most Importance to us are
those which form the sweat and are called the
famous fat, and the duct or fat which conveys
the sweat to the surface of tie skin passes
upwards somewhat like cofkscrew, and op-
ems obliquely on the surface of the cuticle. It
has been calculated that as many as 1928 of
these glands exist ON square inch of the sur
face of the palm of the hand and since ev-
cry tube, when Strengthened is quarter Of
an inch in length, it follows that In such
square inch there exists length of tube equal
to SS2 inches, or 73a feet. Further calculatioti
shows that the total of pores of the body may
be about 7,000,0 900, and the length of the per-
spiratory tubing about 1,570,0 600 inches or
nearly 20 miles. Each organ of the body has
a special function to perform. Thus, if we
consider the process of digestion, by which
our bodies are nourished, we shall find that of
the food which enters the stomach, part is alb
sorbed and goes in the blood to nourish the
tissue the veins which bring the blood to
the heart again contains venous blood, /. o.
blood which is full of waste products of the
tissue of the body. These waste products
must be removed from the blood, and it must
be purified before it is again sent into the sys-
tenn. This publication is carried on by various
organs taking from it the particular ingredi-
ents they are intended to remove. Thus we
have bile from the liver, urine from the kid
neys, carbonic acid and water from the lungs
and sweat from the skin. Although each of
these organs has its special functions to per-
form, nevertheless one can assist another in
case of need. Thus it is found when the kid
ney is diseased and fails to take from the blood
what healthy kidney takes, the skin Ia
sweat, and the lungs in the breath, carry off
the products which ought to pass out of the
system by the kidneys. Again, when the liy-
err is at fault and cannot remove the bile, VIC
find that the kidneys and skin help to pass it
out of the system, and so we get jaundice -
An organ, however, may perform It's duty per-
fectly, but some obstruction may exist, so that
its secretion cannot pass out of it. In this
case the secretion is again absorbed into the
blood and causes disease.
One great function Of the skin is to purify
the blood by removing impurities from it
in the form of sweat. When you remember
that the length of the perspiratory tubing is
twenty. eight miles, you VIII not be astonish-
ed to learn that the exhalations from the skin
is probably greater than the excretions from
the bowels and kidneys combined. In warm
and cold weather the skin and kidneys alter
nate in the proportion of work they perform,
most passing off by the skin in warm and by
the kidneys in cold weather. What have
said relates only to sensible perspiration.
The perspiration caused by great heat or
severe exercise, is evolved in much greater
quantity, and by accumulation at the surface
it becomes visible. In this way robust man
engaged In hard labor and exposed to intense
heat, may lose five pounds weight in the
course of an hour. Taking the lowest esti=
mate the skin is endowed with the important
charge of removing from the system about
twenty ounces of waste matter every twenty
four hours We may thus understand how
detrimental to health is checked Precipitation,
because for every twenty-four hours during
which such state continues, we must either
have large amount of useless and now pcis-
onous matter accumulating in the system, or
have some of the other organs greatly over
tasked to get rid of it. We also learn the i'm
portanee of keeping the skin clean, SO that its
secretion may not be retained, or in any way
impeded in its flow.
Another function which the skin performs
is the regulation of the temperature of the
body. Here we must digress again to consid
er how the heat of the body is produced. w
may compare the body to steam engine
The stomach and the digestive organs will
then represent the fire iii the engine. Food
enters the stomach, Goals are put into the fire.
and both burn through in different ways
The food generates heat in the body as fire
does in the boiler. The force generated by
the heat of the fire, causes motion of the en-
CINE, and the friction Of the parts of the en-
CINE on each other causes more heat. And so
1t is in the body. The various movements
and processes which go on in the body apart
from the primary burning of our food, cause
heat You will thus understand that less heat
is produced when the body is at rest, as when
asleep, than when it is awake and active. You
also understand how II is that one feels colder
riding in carriage than when walking or
riding OH horse back.
Now, although there may be other causes Of
the heat of our bodies these are sufficient for
orr present purpose, and will give you few
facts as to the natural heat of the human
body. 1t has been calculated that the chemi-
cal processes going on IN the adult in
the space of twenty four hours produces
about 10000 caloric units. caloric
unit means that amornt of heat which is re-
quired to raise the temperature of ono pound
of water, one degree Farenheit. The heat
produced by one person In one day would heat
! IL gallons of water from freezing to boiling
point, that is, from 800 to 212c F. But the
I amount of heat generated by oiir bodies var
les greatly. 1t varies with the quantity of
food, and with the amount of exercise we