82 CONNEXION BETWEEN THE SKIN 



tioned, if the constitution be delicate, water and 

 vinegar, or water and salt, used daily, form * an ex- 

 cellent and safe means of cleansing and gently 

 stimulating the skin : to the invalid, they are highly 

 beneficial, when the nature of the indisposition does 

 not render them improper. A rough and rather 

 coarse towel is a very useful auxiliary in such ablu- 

 tions. Few of those who have steadiness enough 

 to keep up the action of the skin by the above means, 

 and to avoid strong exciting causes, will ever suffer 

 from colds, sore throats, or similar complaints ; 

 while, as a means of restoring health, they are often 

 incalculably serviceable. If one-tenth of the perse- 

 vering attention and labour bestowed to so much 

 purpose in rubbing down and currying the skins 

 of horses, were bestowed by the human race in 

 keeping themselves in good condition, and a little 

 attention were paid to diet and clothing, colds, 

 nervous diseases, and stomach complaints would 

 cease to form so large an item in the catalogue of 

 human miseries. Man studies the nature of other 

 animals, and adapts his conduct to their constitu- 

 tion ; himself alone he continues ignorant of, and 

 neglects. He considers himself as a being of a su- 

 perior order, and not subject to the laws of organi- 

 zation which regulate the functions of the inferior 

 animals ; but this conclusion is the result of igno- 

 rance and pride, and not a just inference from the 

 premises on which it is ostensibly founded. 



The writer of these remarks has, unfortunately 

 for himself, had extensive experience, in his own 

 person, of the connexion between the state of the 

 skin and the health of the lungs ; and can therefore 

 speak with some confidence as to the accuracy of 

 his observations, and the benefit to be derived from 

 attending to the condition of the skin in chronic pul- 

 monary complaints. Many affections of a consump- 

 tive character are preceded or begin by a deficiency 



