110 APPLIED PHYSIOLOGY 



whole body every week in winter and two or three times a 

 week in summer will keep most persons clean. 



208. Too much washing. Some persons soak them- 

 selves in hot water and rub the skin for a long while. 

 Soaking in hot water loosens and kills the epidermis, and 

 then by rubbing, it can be made into little rolls. These 

 rolls are not dirt, but are the epithelium, which is a coat to 

 keep us warm and to keep the deeper parts of the skin 

 from being hurt. We can rub this epithelium off as long 

 as any is left. 



209. Cold baths. A cold bath drives the blood away 

 from the skin at first, but in a moment it comes back, and 

 we feel warm again. The heart beats with greater vigor, 

 and we feel refreshed by the bath. If we stay in too long, 

 the blood does not come back to the skin and we feel cold 

 and weak. A cold bath every morning upon first getting 

 up makes us feel warm and refreshed. But a weak per- 

 son cannot stand a cold bath. No one should stay in the 

 water after he begins to feel cold. 



210. Hot baths. A hot bath causes more blood to flow 

 through the skin, but does not make the heart stronger. 

 Less blood passes through the brain and deeper parts of 

 the body, and we feel weak and sleepy. Often we feel 

 cold after it. The best time to take a hot bath is when 

 we are going to bed. 



211. A fair skin. Bathing keeps the skin fair and 

 smooth, but neither bathing nor anything else will make it 

 fair if the waste matters which circulate in the blood are 

 not given off in the right way. The best way to keep the 

 skin fair is to arrange our food and habits so that there is 

 only a small amount of waste matter to be given off. If 

 we eat only plain food, slowly, and at mealtimes, and in 

 the right amounts, our food will digest as it should, and 



