136 THE HOUSE I LIVE IN. 



CHANGE OF COLOR. There is one curious 

 fact which deserves to be mentioned in this 

 place. It is that the coloring matter, in some 

 persons, has been known to change. There 

 have been several negroes, and I believe one 

 or two Indians, in whom spots of a chalky 

 white have appeared on their limbs, which 

 enlarged and spread until the whole body be- 

 came white. These facts, strange as they are, 

 may be relied on. 



It is not at all strange for other buildings to 

 fade ; but for the human habitation to lose its 

 color, imbedded as the paint is under a hard, 

 tough membrane, is rather unaccountable. But 

 it is the result, no doubt, of disease. 



THE CUTICLE. But the mention of the 

 membrane which covers this paint or pigment 

 on the human skin, reminds me that it is time 

 to describe it. 



This membrane, which answers to the clap- 

 boards, shingles or tiles of a wooden building, 

 is constructed almost exactly like the latter. 

 Or perhaps it would be equally correct to say 

 that it is formed like the scales of fishes. For 

 anatomists who have viewed it with glasses 



