Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1889-12-21
have YOU A CLEAR sKINg
If You Are Bothered With Pimples, Here
is the Way to Cure Them.

Have you never tried TO do anything
for that skin trouble of yours ?" asken the
gruff old physician in a kindly way.
"No," replied the youth with the erup-
tive countenance. II had been given to
understand that it was necessary for nearly
every young man to go through what is
called the 'pimply age and that there was
nothing to be done, particularly in so bad
a case as mine, but to wait for it to pass,
though it has caused me an infinite amount
of distress"
stuff and nonsenser exclaimed the
doctor "It's true enough that the aver
age young man undergoes a period of af-
Fiction from pimples about the time the
beard is developing, but to say that moth
ing can be done to mitigate the trouble, or
even to cure it, is absurd. | was troubled
with it thirty years ago as badly as you
are now, and remember very well how it
made me suffer; l used to be ashamed to
go into the society of ladies or to appear
on the street, owing to my Disagreement.
But any dermatologist ought to have been
able to tell me, as / now propose to tell
you, how the disease could be successfully
treated"
$50 it is a regular disease, then" said
the reporter-for it was he.
Decidedly so. 1t is simply acne and
the easiest way to explain it is by telling
you something about the structure Of the
skin. You have never seen a piece of hui
man skin tanned and made into leather, l
suppose. Well, it is as thick as pigskin
and as tough-so like pigskin, indeed, that
a tanner can hardly tell the difference. l
dare say that you have always imagined
your skin to be very thin because it peeled
off so, but what peels off is only the scarf
skin,' which serves as an outer covering for
the thick, true skin beneath. Now, the
hairs, which are termed 'appendages' to
the skio, grow from little sacs, each hair
having a sac of its.own to sprout from with
a root of its own, ike any other vegetable,
in the shape of a microscopic bulb. The
hair is tube, so that the sap that nour-
ishes it may run through it; if the tube
is round the hair is straight and without
wave; if the tube is fattened the hair is
curly in proportion to the fatness. Fur
thermore, the hair, growing from the little
sac-the latter from one-sixteenth to one
eighth of an inch in depths kept oiled,
since otherwise it would dry up and fall
out, by small oil gland opening into its
sac. Each hair has an oil gland for itself
attached to its own sac engaged in the Sc
cretion of oil for its especial nse. Thus it
grows, and under ordinary circumstances
the operation is carried or so satisfactorily
that the incidental processes excite no at
tention. But in the case of a young man
who has arrived at an age when the
beard is beginning to develop, there
is always stimulated action of the
oil glands, and the flow of oil
into the hair sacs is increased. Then, par
ticularly in the instance of a person who
is not in first-rate condition physically,
nature finds difficulty in disposing of the
extra supply of oil, and the latter forms a
little clot in the hair sac. That such a
clot has formed you may often discover
from small elevation at point on the
surface of the skin, with sometimes a black
point in the middle. The black point is
merely particle of dirt gathered upon the
clot at the opening of the hair sac; you
could see it was so if you could bring a
microscope to bear. When you observe
such a thing, take a needle, insert the
point where the black dot is, or in the
center of the small elevation, and permit
the needle to enter the sac. Thrust it
gently down to the bottom of the sac-it
may be an eighth of an inch deep-and
move it around little, taking care not to
wound the skin or the inside of the sac
The performance is painless and readily
done with little practice. Next remove
the needle and pinch the skin between the
thumb and forefnger at the point treated.
In nine cases of ten the clot will be
squeezed out and the trouble in that spot
will be done with. If the clot is permit
ted to remain, inasmuch as it is a for
eign body, nature will try to get rid of it
by exciting an Inflammation. In this way
is created what you call pimple, which
is very apt to appear without giving such
perceptible warning in advance as that 1
have been talking about"
"But girls who have no boards have
pimples sometimes, too
"Most certainly, The whole body of
every human being, male or female, is COW
cred with hairs, although downy and al
most invisible to the naked eye, and in the
sac from which any one Of these hairs
grows pimple-producing oil clot may be
formed. When a pimple comes on the
edge of the eyelid it is called "sty."
Young women at a certain age, from causes
other than those which affect the male,
are apt to be troubled with pimples. In
most cases the annoyance can be readily
cured by proper means. 1t is pity that
this fact should not be realized and that
the necessary treatment, so easily en-
ployed, should not be applied. The same
treatment will be found not less eficacious
in your own case, and in those of other
young men, where the afiliction is not con-
stitutional."
"Pray, tell me, doctor, what that treat
ment is p
at is simple enough. The first thing is
hot water. Apply it with sopped cloths
to the face as hot as it can be borne three
or four times a day-the oftener the bet
ter. This has a tendency to soften the
skin and carry off the superiuous oil.
Take internally tablespoonful Of cod
liver oil three times day before meals.
Cod-Gver oil is not only health-giving
medicine; it has also a specific action
upon the skin of the most beneficial char
acter. Finally, be most careful of your
diet: eat boiled chops and steaks, but no
pork, and forswear anything fried, as well
as pastry and pudding. In word, make
your fare as plain and digestible as you
can. Take plenty of exercise. so that
your general health may be as good as
possible, drink nothing but water, unless
little beer, and you viii soon find your
pimples going away and leaving your COM
plexion clear. don't charge anything
for this medical advice, my young friend;
bestow it upon you gratis. If it could
be published, it might save many people q
great deal of distress, perhaps"