Ashtabula weekly telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1880-1886, 1880-04-23
BEAUTY BUT SKIN DEEP.
How 20 Henutify, How to Preserve, aud
How to Treat, when Diseased
the Skin and Scalp.
BYM. z. JossELTN, N. D., OF NEW EoHs.

eutaneous eruptiOns, or loss OF hair, Will deny
that, to obtain a fair skin and luxurinnt
tresses, she would gladly exchange the disfg-
urations that now mar her otherwise hand
some face, hands, or hair, for other diseases
of greater severtty-even danger--could their
existence be concealed from the public eye.
Many an estimable lndy's life has been embit-
tered by cutaneous affections. She imagnes
that every one sees and comments upon her
looks. She avoids society and public places,
and endeavors to hide her misery in seclusion.
ia renewed. No remedy is too repulsve or
dangerous TO be used. Arsenic is deyoured in
large quantities, mercury is taken internally
and applied externally, until the teeth rattle
I'm their lOOsened sockets, and the system
groans beneath the load Of poisons 1t is
ii such be the feelings Of one afflicted with
slight skin blemishes, what must be the con-
dition of those suffering from salt rheum, tet-
abd lex Pscsid NJ be eprSsy cs
fully describe the tOrturea they endure.
Death in many cases might be considered
blessing. The burning heat, Inflammation
and itching nearly impel the sufferer to do
violence to himself I'm order TO end HIS suffer-
ings. | have seen patients tear their flesh
with their nails until the blood flowed i'm
streams. Others have told me that they could
cut the flesh from their limbs, so grent was
With a view to impart some useful informa-
tion on the construction and preservation of
the skin, scalp, and hair, and the proper treat
ment Of them when diseased, have here con-
! densed to popular form such information as
THE CONSTRUCTION or THE SKIN.
The skin is composed of two layers, which
may be separated From each other by the ac-
| tiOn of blister. The thin portion which iB
raised up by the blister is called the scarf skin,
| the cuticle or the epldermis that which re-
mains in connection with the body is the sensi-
| tive skin, the cults, the derma, or the true
| skin. Each has separate duties to perform.
| The scarf skin ia horny and insensible, and
| serves as a sheath TO protect the more sensi-
| tive skin under it. We're the scarf skin taken
| OF, we could not bear to have anything touch
us. The dermR or true skin, and its glands,
| oil tubes, ETC., are the seat of all cutaneous
diseases.
| That the skin may be plable and healthy II
| is necessary to have 1t oiled every day; and for
this the Creator has wisely provided by placing
in the true skin small glands and tubes, whose
| office Il is to prepare and pour out upon the
surface the proper amount of oil. On some
| parts of the body they do not exist, but are
| abundant on the face nose, ears, head, eye
| lids, etc. They produce the wax of the ears,
and on the head they open into the sheath Of
| the hair and furnish it with natures own hair
oil or pOmade. When the skin is healthy, these
little vessels are always at work, and constant
ly responding to the demands made upon
them. Consequently no person should be
afraid TO wash thoroughly every day with soap
and water, lest, as the "Boston Medical Jour
| nal" once taught, the skin be injured by hay-
ing the oil removed from 1t. --
FREQUENT wAsHINGs WITH PURE SOAP
| free from caustlo alkaiieH and lukewarm
| water, followed by brisk rubbing with Il coarse
| towel, will do more TO preserve the healthy ac-
tion of the oil glands and tubes upon which
depends clear and wholesome complexion,
than all the cosmetics in the world. So i'm
portant is the free and perfect action OF the
sweat and fat or oil glands in the preservation
of the general health, as well as the special
condition of the skin, that particular attention
to them will be rewarded by increased physical
health. They discharge upon the surface Of
the body about two and one-half pounds of
matter per day, and their importance in the
publication of the blood and fluids of the body
Is so great that, were they closed by an impeT-
vious coating, like rubber or oiled silk death
would soon ensue.
THE GREAT SKIN AND SCALP DISEASES.
But bad as are minor forms of skin diseases,
they sink into insignihcance when compared
with the great skin and scalp diseases with
which thousands are afflicted during thoiT
whole lives. That the reader may know more
about them, the principal affections are here
named, emitting such us are symptoms of con-
stitutiOnal diseases, like measles, rash, etc.
The most important are salt rheum or eczema,
tetter, ringworm, psoriasis, impetigO, eprosy,
| licheu, prurigO, BARRIERS itch, Jackson's Itch,
bakers itch, ground itch, scald head and dan
Towering above all others in extent, in dura
ton, in suffering, is
commonly called salt rheum. Wilson divides
It into twelve species and others into many
more; butiti is sufficiently clear to the average
reader, and win be recognized by its small
whenever seen. Prurigo, impetigo, and Tsorl'
asis are but little behind salt rheun In the suf-
fering they cause, SCald head Is another OBJ
stinate affection, defying all remedies, de
Btroying the hair, and producing great misery
and suffering. The scalp, like the skin, is sub
tect TO salt Theum, tetter, dRndrun, and other
eruptive and soaly diseases, which generally
destroy the hair follicles, and produce per
manent badness.
THE TREATMENT
of diseases Of the skin or scalp has been for
centuries based upon the mistaken theory
that they are entirely due to some impurity OF
the blood. No special attention has ever beel
directed to the important part the sweat and
fat glands play in the propagation and main
rs no unjust reflection upon the medical
profession to say that its efforts In the cure OF
skin diseases have been failure. What will
mistaken theories, poisonous remedies, and
blind adherence to methods and practices
originating in ignorance snd superstition, salt
rheum, scald head, and psoriasis flourish ant
increase upon systems shattered by the co
biOus use, Both internal and external, of mer
curry, arsenic, zinc, and lead.
For centuries 1t has been the popular notioT
that diseases of the skin and scalp must bI
cured, if cured at all, by purifying the blood.
Admitting that this is partly true, what hai
been the method or what the remedies by which
II WRgEought TO be aco0mpllshedp
MERCURY AND ARSENIC.
Putting aside the senseless sa3rsapalssil illa,
u9ck, ~ i pioou @ P1j a. %
have received the sanction of physicians
hospitals and colleges, we tind that merour!
and arsenic are tine only medicinal agents o
to-day IA they were hundreds OF years ago
which are regarded by the regular" as hay
, ing specific medical properties for the p9rlH
cation of the blood, and hence the only feme
2 dies adapted to the treatment Of skin an,
I scalp diseases.
THE TRUE rHHORY,
But little light Is being thrown upon tn
! darkness that has surrounded the intellect o
the past. To tew German and French phy
sicians and specialists we owe what tru
progress we are making at the present TIM
o In the cure of obstinate affections Of the ski
and scalp. They teach and prove Q that dis
: eases of the skin and scalp are caused by dC
: rangement Of the gecretOry and eXcretOr
: tubes and vessels OF the true skin; and G
u that such diseases or affections are aggrl
: waited and maintained by poisonous fluids col
, tanning the virus Of scrOfula, malaria, or cor
tagiOus disease, which are discharged froI
9 the blood and circulating fluids upon the ski
l. through the sweat and fat glands. From thes
, facts they successfully maintain that ski
diseases cannot be cured solely by interul
: remedies, nor solely by external remedie
but by iudicious use Of both. These ahel
tions are not wholly caused by impurities {
r the bloodRnd circulating fluids, nor are the
3 due entirely 10 diseased condition Of th
sweat and fat glands, tubes, vessels, and eel
: OF the true skin, but 70 a peculiar and II
{ separable condition Of both. For II you tres
4 the one TO the neglect Of the other, no prol
y ress is made; but with attention to both
the same time, and the use Of such remedie
o as can here recommend, a cure is possible
a nearly every case.
WHAT WE WANT"
z said a distinguished authority on the ski
. .'what we most earnestly desire in order
|, cure obstinate skin and scalp affections al
y three great remedies, with Us many specit
fng HauR