November 3. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
75 
and skin, for which tlie name ochlosis has been invented, 
from ochlos, a crowd. Its cause being confinement and 
bad air. 
A very old word* for pestilence signifies an ulcer; a 
loss of surface of the skin. One of the moderns has 
invented the term dextien entente, or inward boil, to 
characterise a whole host of fevers. A few words are 
needful to explain the correlative value of these facts. 
Anatomy proves the skin to be reflected over the 
whole surface of the lungs and intestinal canal, where 
its texture becomes very delicate and sensitive, and 
where it is styled mucous membrane, which is nothing 
more than an internal skin, while the skin is a true 
mucus membrane worn outside. 
Loudon tailors offer you the temptation of a coat, 
which, worn one way, makes an excellent dreadnought 
wrapper for all sorts of rough work; turn it inside-out, 
and you have, impromptu, a becoming garment in which 
to pay a morning visit, or to appear decently at church. 
Physiologists have maintained the possibility of turning 
inside-out the whole system of certain pliant animals, so 
that the stomach and bowels shall become a skin, and 
the skin a digestive apparatus; but, indeed, no such 
experiment is needed to convince us that the internal 
and external skin is one. 
The whole of this immense surface of skin, then, feels 
for each part; and each part sympathises, again, with 
the condition of the whole. A few every-day examples 
I must here beg leave to adduce. The sort of food an 
animal eats wall tell on the sleekness or otherwise of 
his coat; less food will suffice if he be tolerably pro¬ 
tected from cold. A cold plunge into the sea excites an 
enormous appetite. The complexion reveals the state 
of the drunkard’s stomach, and of the lungs of the 
consumptive man. A brisk emetic, or a warm bath, 
will indifferently well ward off an attack of fever, or of 
influenza. 
These important surfaces possess very different powers 
of resistance to noxious agents at different seasons, 
when in a sound, or when in an unsound, state. A 
very slight flaw in the roof of the house, and we are 
drop dry no longer; a very small leak in the side of a 
good ship, and she is sea worthy no longer. The 
strength of a fortress is only the strength of its weakest 
point; and the strength of a chain is the strength of 
the weakest link. An anatomist may safely work at 
awfully decomposed subjects as long as he is well, the 
skin of his hands whole, his lungs sound, and his diges¬ 
tion all right. But a very slight sore on one of his 
fingers is enough to admit into his system the deadly 
poison amongst which he had previously worked with 
impunity; and if he (of all men) should neglect a 
cough, or allow a slight bowel complaint to go on from 
bad to worse, then ho is in danger of being run down 
by hectic or diarrhoea; whether from a general lowering 
* In Lee’s Hebrew Grammar, in the letter D, Dtivar> mean in £ a 
word ; Deoer, a pestilence. Roots— Dhabara, he inscribed, and Dabara , 
it was ulcerated. You have Dhabr , from the first, signifying a writing; 
and Dhabir , learned; and from the second, Dabr , death, of similar 
import with Deoer, a pestilence, &c. An orientalist might say a pesti¬ 
lence is a divine lesson, written on (or in) our bodies, for our learning ; 
and, in another sense, he might ask, what ulcer, or what pest, is so foul 
as bad writing ! J* 
of tone, or whether from some slight sore or abrasion 
of the internal surface of the bowel favouring the 
access of the specific poison. Not less dangerous is it 
“ when the cholera has actually broken out and become 
epidemic in any district or locality," to neglect slight de¬ 
rangements of the “ mucous membranes,” which, at any 
other time or place, might judiciously be left to get well 
of themselves. During a bad epidemic state of the air 
“ the normal powers of the constitution ” are suspended; 
things can be left to themselves no longer, and stringent 
coercive measures are requisite to repress the general 
tendency to go on from bad to worse. 
The cottage gardener will understand the general 
bearing of these remarks, knowing the importance of a 
lively hue, and healthy tone of the skin, among his own 
favourites. He can see all the skin of his interesting- 
patients. The outer skin only of ours is visible. He 
knows the dire import of a little speck or spot on 
the delicate surface, in an unhealthy season, and how 
much then depends on taking things in time; and at 
all times how injurious damp is, and how necessary are 
proper warmth, ventilation, cleanliness, and nutriment, 
to keep up the good looks of the inanimate domestic 
companions of civilised man, and ministers to bis enjoy¬ 
ments. How much more should we not care for fellow- 
creatures similarly confined, but not always similarly 
cared for. Is not a man more than a plant? J. J. 
Ix is no matter of surprise to us to hear the many 
suggestions that are now being brought forward with a 
view to several alterations in the present system of 
Poultry Exhibitions. The object of such shows is two¬ 
fold ; the exhibitor, in the first place, being thus re¬ 
warded by public approbation for his skill and judgment; 
while intending purchasers have the advantage of com¬ 
parison to guide their selections, and regulate their 
standard of excellence. Now, whatever regulations 
might best combine these two points would plainly 
best answer the intentions of such Associations. Among 
other proposals, we find a wish expressed to see pens 
with a smaller number of birds than are now usually 
required; while a separation of the sexes is also desired 
by some. 
In reference to the first suggestion, the larger shows 
already give every opportunity of showing to poultry- 
keepers on a large, or on a small scale. Any one, for 
instance, who wishes to compete at Birmingham, may 
do so either in the class for “ a cock and three hens," or 
in that for “ a cock and one hen'.' Smaller provincial 
Societies, where funds may be unequal to this sub¬ 
division, offer their premiums for “ a cock and two liens' 
We hardly see how this can be improved ; and to the 
proposition of the judge being called upon, not only to 
bestow the prize on the best pen, but also to select out 
of these pens, for honour, the best birds, male and 
female, in the different classos, we must decidedly 
object, as affording constant occasion for cavilling and 
discontent, while it confines the principle on which 
the premiums to pens have been awarded. 
