The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1897-09-30
TANNING OF THE SKIN.
How Light and Heat Affect the HUM n
CuticIe,


often painfully, upon peoples notice
every summer, is one in which modern
scientific Investigations have developed
| many interesting facts. Contrary to
| the former popular belief that sunburn
was due to the heat of the sun, it has
now been shown that it is the suns light
| chiefly which affects the skin. That
| severe sunburn may be produced with
| out heat has been proved by the fact
that persons exposed to strong sunlight
| on the tops of mountains at extremely
low temperatures have been bhrned
| just as if they had undergone the suns
heat as well. Alpine travellers and those
| who have taken long journeys over the
| snow have had the experience of being
| painfully burned by the reflected light
from the white, glittering surface, and
sunburn from reflections on the water
| is equally well known. That heat alone
does not produce the effect is clear from
many evidences. Persons exposed to
| the high temperatures which prevail in
| tie tirerooms of ocean steamers, in deep
mines and other places, do not become
tanned and burned in the same manner
as those who work in the sun.
According to the present theory, then,
sunburn, or tan, is produced by the ac-
| tinic rays of the suns light-that is,
those rays which possess the power of
affecting chemically certain substances
upon which they fall. In photography
| II is well known that the blue or violet
rays of light have far more effect upon
the sensitive plate than the red rays,
and recent experiments have tended to
| show that this is also true regarding
the rays and the human skin. The eX-
| periments have been conducted with
| differently colored glass screens, placed
between the light aSd the skin. Red
glass, according to the principles of
| physics, allows the red light rays to
pass through it freely, while rejecting
| the Complementary blue rays In the
same way, blue glass admits the blue o.
| violet rays and excludes the red. Thus,
as the red rays have been shown to have
the least chemical power, any red sub
stance which screened the skin, allow
ing only the comparatively harmless
rays of that color to penetrate, would be
the most effective protection against
sunburn.
A rather amusing but well authenti-
c2ted instance is a proof of this. A
woman who ,,,os trova1ino, on foot with
q ,,o,.+,. Of +o,,,.is+ ,,o,,o a ,,.ois+ ,,,bicI,
had ai+orno+a broad etrinee. of white
and red. After long exposure to the
SUNLIGHT she found that she had been
burped tbrourb tho material of tho
r.,is+ md TO ber n++er establishment
+,a+ tho hmm was il, vveI1-nor1,ad
s,riras-ir+erse urder tho ,hi+e bors
nj cloth and scarcely nercantihIe under
tbe red orae Oybita which allows ar
r,,.e +o ,,ose brorrb 4 is nr.c+icol1,,
Il'o M sn,.ao,, ~ oIIN Tbis a,.na,iaro,
would indioo+o +b,+ rod ,.oi1s fo, in
starca ,yould he tho Iest 10 ,,ro+ec+ tho
tace and that the oId-fosbionad bIua
wells worn a few va,rs acro vvere of tho
most undesirable color nossibIe
That mart of tba skim which reoeivee
IN, chemical action of the ligb+ rove so
&c IN nrodnce s,,rhrrn fan or frecll1es
is +ha nirment or cosnring matter This
varies greatly in sensitiveness in DIFF
forent nersone not aI,vavs being GOV
erred NV tbe con,ofevion oIthougb az
ruIa blonds ami rad-boirad nersone
arr moro suhiec+ IN ennburn +bar
otbars Tust wiz, Gonna ,eonIe h,,,.,, rod
while others fracl,Ia or tan does NOT
seem 70 he defnite1,, known Doc+ors
ueuorv sov that tho difference &c aua
merely 70 tbe varving qualities of skins
GenaraI1,, after nortbs of o>-rosura
IN the SIM any skin Incomes hardened
10 tic a+fec+s +ol,as ~, rar,oonop+
b,,o,,-r, ~. l,,.,r,,o ,olo,. o,id e 40.
cbarned +baraofter NV any, o,nourt If
additional o,,,,oe,,,.o PM +l,oro o,., az.
centions to this rnIe There is an old
&c ,o,.,,o,, do,,.,, ~, 4la C,oo+ Co,,+I, bo,.
who tbouob he has lived in the onen air,
eI1 his life is ccn+ipuolI,, boino burned
ofre.b Inv tba SIMS RAYS Year ofter
wear his face neels and becomes sora
several timeo in season Mo sl,in
has rave. hoor obIo - ooors+o,,, i+sa1f
"a tbo bnrr;,o, s,,,,Iiorh+
..Tba darl,enipu Of tbn ,io,rer+ +b.,
slim :" said = musician ..iS an otfor+ of
nature 70 internose deferso anairs+