THE HEALTH OF THE SKIN 117 



This list of facts shows that unless the skin is well 

 cared for it gets into a bad state ; yet we do not see the 

 thin, outside covering of waste matter, oil, and epider- 

 mis until there is dust enough in it to give a brown 

 color to the skin. Then of course we are shocked or 

 distressed. We promptly say, "That child needs a bath," 

 or " That boy looks as if he had n't bathed for a month." 



At that time the body or the clothes are apt to give 

 another sure sign that they need cleaning. That sign is 

 an odor, and it tells the story as plainly as if it screamed 

 aloud. 



I have a ten-year-old niece in the fourth grade of a 

 grammar school, and she calls one of the boys in her 

 class " that smelly boy." Yesterday she said : " I hate 

 to stand near that smelly boy at the blackboard." What 

 she said simply shows the difference there is in children 

 as well as in grown people. Some are clean and some are 

 unclean ; some are washed all over, and some are washed 

 in spots ; some look as if they had used wash cloth and 

 towel so vigorously that every pore of the skin is open ; 

 others are so dingy round the neck and ears that it seems 

 as if they hardly know what soap and water will do. 



Indeed, some people give the impression of being 

 clean, while from other people, in spite of fine clothes, 

 there may be an odor which will betray them. 



Is it strange then that washed people do not like to 

 have unwashed people around? The fact is they so 



