42 RECIPROCAL ACTION BETWEEN THE SKIN 



In tracing the connexion between suppressed 

 perspiration and the production of individual dis- 

 eases, we shall find that those organs which possess 

 some similarity of function sympathize most closely 

 with each other. Thus the skin, the bowels, the 

 lungs, the liver, and the kidneys sympathize readily, 

 because they have all the common office of throw- 

 ing waste matter out of the system, each in a way 

 peculiar to its own structure ; so that if the exhala- 

 tion from the skin, for example, be stopped by long 

 exposure to cold, the large quantity of waste which 

 it was charged to excrete, and which in itself is 

 hurtful to the system, will most probably be thrown 

 upon one or other of the above-named organs, whose 

 function will consequently become excited ; and if 

 any of them, from constitutional or accidental causes, 

 be already weaker than the rest, as often happens, 

 its health will naturally be the first to suffer. In 

 this way, the bowels become irritated in one indi- 

 vidual, and occasion bowel complaint ; while in an- 

 other it is the lungs which become affected, giving 

 rise to catarrh or common cold, or perhaps even to 

 nflammation. When, on the other hand, all these 

 organs are in a state of vigorous health, a tempo- 

 rary increase of function takes place in them, and 

 relieves the system, without leading to any local 

 disorder ; and the skin itself speedily resumes its 

 activity, and restores the balance between them. 



One of the most obvious illustrations of this re- 

 * ciprocity of action is afforded by any convivial com- 

 pany seated in a warm room in a cold evening. 

 The heat of the room, the food and wine, and the 

 excitement of the moment, stimulate the skin, cause 

 an afflux of blood to its surface, and increase in a 

 high degree the flow of the insensible perspiration ; 

 which thus, while the heat continues, carries off an 

 undue share of the fluids of the body, and leaves the 

 kidneys almost at rest. But the moment the com- 

 pany goes into the cold external air, a sudden re- 



