CHAPTER III 



THE INTEGUMENT, OR SKIN 



The Integument Its Structure The Nails and Hair The Complex- 

 ion The Sebaceous Elands The Perspiratory Glands Perspiration 

 and Its Uses Importance of Bathing Different Kinds of Baths 

 Manner of Bathing The Benefits of the Sun Importance of Warm 

 Clothing Poisonous Cosmetics 



1. The Skin. The skin is the outer covering of the body. 

 The parts directly beneath it are very sensitive, and without 

 its protection life would be an agony, as is shown whenever by 

 accident the skin is broken or torn off, the bared surface being 

 very tender, and sensitive even to exposure to the air. Nature 

 has provided the body with a garment that is soft, pliable, 

 close-fitting, and very thin ; and yet sufficiently strong to ena- 

 ble us to come in contact with the objects that surround us, 

 without inconvenience or suffering. 



2. The Structure of the Skin. When examined under the 

 microscope, the skin is found to be made up of two layers 

 the outer and the inner. The inner one is called the cutis, or 

 true skin ; the outer one is the epidermis, or scarf-skin. The 

 latter is also known as the cuticle. These two layers are closely 

 united, but they may be separated from each other. This sepa- 

 ration takes place whenever, from a burn or other cause, a 

 blister is formed ; a watery fluid is poured out between the 

 two layers, and lifts the epidermis from the true skin. Of the 

 two layers, the cuticle is the thinner in most parts of the body, 

 and has the appearance of a whitish membrane. It is tough 



1. What is the skin ? Parts directly beneath ? What is shown ? 



2. Microscopic examination ? What is the cutis ? The cuticle ? Their union ? How 

 separated ? What further is said of the cuticle ? 



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