The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1890-08-28
ONLY SKIN DEEP"

ONLY SKIN DEEP"
A Little Valuable Information Relative
to the Natural Covering or Our Bodies.
Bessie's friend. Alice Anderson. was
beauty. BESSIE loved to touch the
pink cheek, smooth the soft brown.
waving hair, but most Of all, admired
the clear blue eye which looked as II 1t
meant every word Alice said. and trust
ed every word of Bessie's. And SO.
when a classmate said sneeringly.
"Yes, know Alice Anderson Is beau
ty. but she won't be pretty long; beauty
is only skin deep" Bessie hurried home
to ask her encyclopedia how deep skin
was.
1t is splendid thing to have an en-
cyclopedia in the house, especially one
Of the walking, talking kind, that will
tell you all you want to know without
your reading column after column Of
things you do not want to know. Aunt
Mary was Bessie's encyclopedias. One
with smiling appendix 50 encouraging
to little seekers after knowledge.
When the little girl came home with
her question, Aunt Mary's first answer
was smile: then she said: ''Well,
Bessie, that is only q common way Of
saying that beauty fades; that it lies
only on the surface, and is not worth
much. But 1t is not true saying, 1ses-
sic, for it gives . false impression Of
beauty and Of skin-both very valuable
possessions"
"But skin Is very thin. know, Aunt
Mary, because when burned my hand.
it blistered, and rose up like q piece Of
tissue paper"
THAT was only part OF your skin,
not the true skin at all, but kind Of
scarf covering it, and therefore called
cuticle, which means scarf-skin. Tn
derneath is the true skin, or cults vera.
The scarf-skin is constantly thrown of.
and as constantly renewed, but the true
skin. like true beauty, is not merely q
surface coating, but something more
valuable and more lasting"
I'VE don't shed our skins like snakes,
do we?".
Not exactly. for snakes shed the en-
tire skin at once, and not often. We
throw of little particles few at time,
and all the time are being made over
new"
''Well, I'd like to creep out of mine
and get blonde one like Alice's."
"You could not change even IL 1t
came off whole. Snakes do not, and
your cat is always the same gray cat,
although she has often shed her hair. !"
They do not have skins like ours. =
"Yes, only coarser, and with longer
and thicker hair all over them. Skins
are very useful things in this world.
There are your shoes. sachel, chair,
lounge. cloak. muff. the binding Of
your books-all made OF skin. All ami
| mails, and all vegetables are covered
with it. Vegetables breathe through
theirs, and animals do to some extent"
Il do not see any holes for the air to
get in
'Get microscope, and you may see
| thousands, but they do something more
than take in air-something very i'm
portant"
"Whati is that?"
'.They are drains to carry of the i'm
purities Of the body"
II thought drains were pipes for car
rying Of dirty water
Yes; and that is Just what your body
has-the best system Of sewerage in the
world, all going on without any trouble
to the owner, unless that owner fills up
the pipes SO they can not empty the
burden OF their impurities"
where do the impurities come
from?"
From the entire body they are
brought to the cults, where the net
work OF pipes are ready to carry them
of. The cults is not more than one
fifteenth OF an inch deep, yet its fibers
are woven and interviewer until they
form strong, flexible web, much like
/ felt cloth. Over that is an uneven layer
Of small, pointed things called papile.
With microscope you could see in each
papilla nerve, . vein, and an artery"
HAS the scarf-skin-the cuticIe /
mean-any nerves or blood vessels p
"No"
s'Then why does it hurt when / stick
. pin in it, and why does the blood
run ?"
1T does not, unless your pin goes
through into the cults, where the
nerves and blood vessels cover the sur
face, and the slightest cut will sever
an artery or vein; even a needle point
brings the blood and hurts nerve. But
there are other things in the cults
oil-glands, lymphatics and pcrspiratory
glands, all at work busy as bees"
"What can they do p
Each oil-gland is tiny bag with q
tube running up to the surface OF near
~ all parts Of your body. A row OF
them are ranged along your eye-lids
keeping them smooth and soft, and
holding back the briny tears which fill
a little basin near by. Water and oil
won't mix, you know, SO the tears keep
their places until trouble increases their
quantity, SO that they overflow their
basin. and run out in spite of the OIL
In the ear these oil-glands pour out a
little at q time, . bitter, yellow oil
wax we call (which keeps the inner
ear from becoming dry. AZ the root OF
each hair on your head pair of oil.
glands pour out the best pomade the
hair could have. Hold up your hand to
the light, see the fine hairs all over the
| UACk, anu TCulCuOCI tucTo lS HI OIL.
gland at the root Of each hair"
"But my hand does not feel oily"
mo; there is not enough for that;
just enough to keep the skin soft.
WORKOUT PARTICLES of the body come
through the various tubes to the surface
in the form Of little scales. II the
scales are allowed to remain. they close
the tubes, and you become unhealthy,
perhaps have fever. You should battle
often, and SO keep open your drain.
pipes. Use soap, for it takes an alkali
to dissolve the albumen OF the scales. >
Are the respiratory tubes like the
others?'
They are more curious; coiled up In
ball at the bottom Of the CUTS, they
wind in spiral course up to the surface
Of the cuticle. Although not more thar
ne-eighth OF an inch long when straight
ened out yet II placed end to end, thu
number on grown man would measur.
several miles"
well, think they are very unpleas'