HOW TO KEEP THE SKIN HEALTHY
CLOTHING
Clothes should be Loose and Comfortable. Man is the only animal that
has no natural suit of clothing. Birds have feathers, and animals have
fur, or hair, which they shed in summer and thicken up in winter without
even thinking about it, so that they do not have to bother with either
overcoats or flannels. The wise men say that man originally had a full
suit of hair like other animals, and that he gradually got rid of it, as
he became human. Whether this be true or not, the fact remains that he
has none now; and consequently he must invent and manufacture something
to take its place.
Originally, in the time of our savage ancestors, clothing was worn
chiefly as protection from cold at night, so that all the earlier forms
of clothing were of a more or less blanket-or cloak-like form, and
wrapped, or swathed, the whole body without fitting closely to the
limbs. It is interesting to remember this fact, because even our most
highly civilized forms of clothing still show this same tendency. The
skirt, for instance, is simply a survival of the lower end of the
blanket, which has never been cut down to fit the limbs.
The principles upon which garments should be built are two: First, they
should fit closely enough to the body and limbs to protect them from
either injury or cold, even while free activity of every sort is
allowed--you could not wrestle in a blanket or run very far in a sack.
Second, they should be thick enough to protect us from cold, and yet at
the same time porous enough not to interfere with the natural breathing
and ventilating of the skin. A garment should be as loose as possible
without interfering with our movements, and as free and as light as can
be worn with reasonable warmth and protection. The less clothing you can
wear and be comfortable, the better.
We should particularly avoid binding or cramping the chest and the hips
and waist. If clothing is too tight about the chest, it interferes both
with free movement of the arms and, what is even more important, with
the breathing movements of the chest. If too tight about the waist and
hips, it badly cripples the lower limbs and interferes with the proper
movements of the diaphragm in breathing, and with the passage of the
food and the blood through the bowels.
Your instincts are perfectly right that make you dislike to be squeezed
or pinched or cramped in any way, or at any point, by your clothing; and
if you will only follow these instincts all through your lives, you will
be far healthier and happier.
The Texture of Clothing. Just as for ages we have experimented with
different kinds of food, so we have with different kinds of material for
clothing. We have used the skins of animals; mats woven out of leaves
and grasses; the feathers of birds; the skins of fishes; cloths made of
wool and of cotton; and even the cocoon spun by certain caterpillars,
which we call _silk_. But of all these materials, practically only two
have stood the test of the ages and proved themselves the most suitable
and best all-round clothing materials--wool and cotton.
Woolen cloth, woven from the fleece of sheep or goats or camels or
llamas or alpacas, has three great advantages, which make it _the_
outside clothing of the human species. First, it is sufficiently tough
and lasting to withstand rips and tugs and ordinary wear and tear;
second, it is warm--that is, it retains well the body heat; and third,
it is porous, so that it will allow gases and perspiration from the
surface of the body to pass through it in one direction, and air for the
skin to breathe, in the other.
[Illustration: RESULTS OF TIGHT CLOTHING
(1) The normal thorax. (2) The thorax and organs cramped and lifted by
pressure of the clothing. (From an X-ray photograph.--After Dickinson.)]
No clothing, of course,--not even fur,--has any warmth in itself; it
simply has the power of retaining, or keeping in, the warmth of the body
that it covers. The best and most effective way of retaining the body
warmth is to surround the body with a layer of dead, or still, air,
which is the best non-conductor of heat known. Hence, porous garments,
like loosely-woven flannels, blankets, and other woolen cloths, are warm
because they contain or hold large amounts of air in their spongy mesh.
The reason why furs are so warm is that their soft, furry under-hairs,
or "pelt" as the furriers call it, entangle and hold an enormous amount
of air. The fur of ordinary sealskin, for instance, is about half an
inch deep; and _ninety per cent_ of this half-inch is air. If you wet
it, its fur "slicks down" to almost nothing, although the most drenching
wetting will not wash all the air out of it, but still leaves a dry
layer next to the skin. The fur of mink skin, coon skin, or wolf skin,
is an inch thick; and nearly eighty per cent of this thickness is air.
The great advantage for clothing purposes of wool over fur is that the
wool is porous through and through, while the fur is borne upon, and
backed by, a layer of leather--the skin of the animal upon which it
grew--which layer, after tanning and curing, becomes almost absolutely
air-tight.
As a matter of fact, furs are worn mostly for display and are most
unwholesome and undesirable garments. The only real excuse for their
use, save for ornament in small pieces or narrow strips, is on long,
cold rides in the winter, and among lumbermen, frontiersmen, and
explorers. They hold in every particle of perspiration and poisonous gas
thrown off by the skin, and if worn constantly, make it pale, weak, and
flabby; and the moment we take them off, we take cold.
For outer garments and general wear, nothing yet has been discovered
equal to wool, particularly at the cooler times of the year. But for
under wear, in the hotter seasons and climates, wool has certain
disadvantages. It is likely to be rough and tickling to most skins,
which makes it uncomfortable, especially in warm weather. It is also
difficult and troublesome to wash woolens without shrinking them; and,
as soon as they do shrink, not only do they become uncomfortably tight,
but the natural pores in them which make them so valuable close up, and
they become almost air-tight. Finally, when loaded with perspiration,
woolens easily become offensive, so that they must be frequently changed
and washed; and as they are also high in price, it is easily seen that
there are practical drawbacks to their use.
Cotton is much softer and pleasanter to the skin than wool, is cooler in
hot weather, is much cheaper, and is very easily washed without losing
either its shape or its porousness. It can be so woven as to be almost
as porous as wool, and to retain that porousness even when saturated
with perspiration. It does not soak up and retain the oils and odors of
perspiration in the way that wool does; and on the whole, for under
wear, and for general wear at the warm seasons of the year, it is not
only more comfortable, but far more healthful, than wool. Persons of
fair health and reasonably vigorous outdoor habits, whose skins are well
bathed and ventilated, can wear properly woven cotton or linen
undergarments the whole year round with perfect safety.
[Illustration: A COMFORTABLE DRESS FOR OUTDOOR STUDY IN COLD WEATHER
The thick bags pulled up to the shoulders keep the body surrounded by a
layer of warm air.]
Linen and silk both make admirable and healthful under wear, if woven
with a properly porous mesh. Linen has the advantage of remaining more
porous than cotton, when moist with perspiration. But for healthy people
they have no advantages over cotton that are not offset by their higher
prices.
BATHS AND BATHING
Bathing as a Means of Cleanliness. It has been said that one of the
reasons why man lost his hairy coat was that he might be able to wash
himself better and keep cleaner. However this may be, he has to wash a
great deal oftener than other animals, most of whom get along very well
with currying, licking, and other forms of dry washes, and an occasional
swim in a river or lake.
You can readily see how necessary for us washing is, when you remember
the quarts of watery perspiration, which are poured out upon our skins
every day, and the oily and other waste matters, some of them poisons,
which the perspiration leaves upon our skins. Especially is some means
of washing necessary when the free evaporation of perspiration and the
free breathing of the skin has been interfered with by clothing which is
water-tight or too thick.
Bathing as a Tonic. But bathing is of much greater value than simply
as a means of cleansing. Splashing the body with water is the most
valuable means that we have of toning up and hardening the skin, and
protecting us against the effects of cold. The huge and wonderfully
elaborate network of blood vessels that lies in and just under our skins
all over our bodies is, from the point of view of circulation, second
only in importance to our hearts, and from the point of view of taking
cold, and of resisting the attack of disease, one of the most important
structures in our entire body. If, by means of daily baths, you keep
this mesh of blood vessels in your skin toned up, vigorous, and elastic,
and full of red blood, it will do more to keep you in perfect health and
vigor than almost any other one thing, except an abundance of food, and
plenty of fresh air and exercise. A healthy skin is the best
undergarment ever invented.
Right and Wrong Bathing. The best form of bath is either the tub or
the shower bath; and the cooler the water, provided that you warm up to
it quickly and pleasantly, the greater the tonic effect, the more
exhilaration and pleasure you will get out of it, and the more it will
harden your skin against cold. But it should never under any
circumstances be any cooler than you can _readily_ and pleasantly react,
or warm up to, during the bath and afterward. The habit of plunging into
a great tub of ice-cold water all winter long, except for people of
vigorous constitutions and active habits, may often do quite as much
harm as good. Have your bath water just cool enough to give you a
slight, pleasant shock, as you plunge into it, or turn it on, so that
you will enjoy the glow and sense of exhilaration that follows; and you
will get all the good there is out of the cold bath, and none of the
harm. By beginning with moderately cool water you will find that you
come to enjoy it cooler and cooler. If a bath-room is not at hand, a
large wash-bowl of cool, or cold, water into which you can dip your
hands and splash well over the upper half of your body every morning,
and once or twice a week all over your body, will keep your skin clean
and vigorous. If you cannot warm up properly after a cool bath, there is
something wrong about your habits of life; and you had better change
them, and keep changing them, until you find you can enjoy it. For some
delicate children, a quick plunge into, or splash with, very hot water
in the morning will give somewhat the same tonic effect as stronger ones
can get from cold water.
[Illustration: AS A TONIC, SWIMMING IS THE BEST FORM OF BATHING]
Warm baths are best taken at night, just before going to bed, though
the danger of catching cold after them on account of their "opening up
the pores of the skin," has been very greatly exaggerated. They have,
however, a relaxing effect upon the skin, and take out an undue amount
of the natural oil which nature provides for its oiling and softening,
so that, except for special reasons, it is best not to take them oftener
than once, or twice, a week.
Soaps and Scrubbing Brushes. As part of the perspiration deposited
upon our skins is in the form of a delicate oil, and as this oil may
become mixed with dirt, or dust, and form a mixture not readily soluble
in water, it is at times advisable to add to the water something that
will dissolve oil. The commonest thing used for this purpose is soap,
which is a combination of an _alkali_--most commonly _soda_, though
occasionally _potash_ (lye) is used in the soft soaps--with a fat or an
oil. The combination of the two, which we call soap, has been invented
for two reasons; one, that it makes a convenient, solid form in which
the alkali, needed to dissolve the body oil, can be used in such
strength as not to burn or injure the skin; the other, that the fat in
the soap will, to some extent, take the place of the natural oil, or
fat, which it washes off.
Necessary as soap is, it should be used very moderately. You should
never lather and scrub your skin as if it were a kitchen floor, for the
reason that, with the dirt, the alkali also washes and dissolves out a
considerable amount of the natural oil of the skin, and leaves it harsh
and dry. On this account, it is best not to use soap upon the covered
portions of the body, and in the full bath, oftener than once or twice a
week; and upon the face, oftener than once or twice a day. But the hands
may be washed with soap more frequently.
It is also best to avoid the too frequent use of hot water, even upon
the hands and face, for the same reason; it takes out too much of the
natural oil of the skin, along with the dirt. Unless the dirt be of some
infectious, or offensive, character, it is often best to content
yourself with washing off just the "big dirt," and wait for the bubbling
up of the perspiration through your skin to bring the deeper dirt up to
the surface, and wash that off later, in the course of two or three
hours.
Soaps to be Avoided. Soaps that lather too quickly and easily should
always be avoided, for this shows that they contain an excessive amount
of soda or other alkali. It is also best to avoid, or at least be very
wary of, any soaps which are dark-colored or heavily perfumed, as these
disguises may indicate the presence of decaying, offensive fats, and
even of grease extracted from garbage. This is what strong perfumes in
soaps are chiefly used for. Beware of all such, and especially of tar
soaps, for the black color and the strong odor of tar can cover up any
amount of bad quality.
Medicated soaps (soaps containing medicines) are also best let alone.
They are only fit to be used on the advice of a doctor. Most of them are
out and out humbugs, and make up for their richness in drugs by their
poorness in good, pure fat and alkali. Moreover, what may suit one
particular diseased condition of the skin is quite as likely to be
injurious as helpful to another. Any drug which has the power of curing
disease is almost certain to be irritating to a healthy skin; and
nothing can be put into a soap beyond pure, sweet fat, or oil, and good
soda, which will make it any better, or more wholesome, for a healthy
skin. If your skin be red, or itchy, or scaly, or out of condition in
any way, go to a doctor and get the appropriate treatment for that
particular disease, instead of smearing on the surface of your body some
drug of which you know nothing, in the hope of its being the proper
thing for the little patch of diseased skin.
Avoid Using Skin Brushes. Scrubbing brushes and skin brushes of all
sorts should be used even more sparingly than soap or hot water, for the
same reason. Nature did not coat us over with either boards or rubber,
but with delicate, velvety, sensitive, living skin worth ten times as
much as any sort of leather, bark, rubber, or cloth, for resisting cold,
heat, and injuries. It is most important for the health of the skin that
we keep that velvety coating unscratched and unbroken. The use of
brushes and bristles of all sorts, therefore, should be chiefly
restricted to the hair and the finger nails, as for every ounce of dirt
that they take out of the skin, they do a pound of damage to it. They
scrub off the delicate epidermis, as well as the natural oil in it, and
leave it dry and irritated and ready to crack open. Then more dirt gets
into the cracks just formed, and more scrubbing with bristles and hot
water and soap is indulged in to get it out. This opens the cracks still
further, and the next layer of dirt is worked in still deeper. Wash
frequently with cold or cool water, occasionally with hot water, and
sparingly with soap; and limit the use of brushes to the nails and the
hair.
CARE OF THE NAILS
Importance of Clean Nails. On account of their constant use, your
hands are brought in contact with dusty or dirty substances in your work
and in your play; and it is very easy for some of this dirt, and such
germs as it may contain, to lodge in the little chink under the free
edge of the nail, between it and the rounded end of the finger. It is of
great importance that this nail chink should be kept clean, not only
because it looks both ugly and untidy to have the ends of your fingers
"in mourning," with black bands across them, but also because the germs
lodged under your nails may get onto your food the next time that you
eat, and set up irritation and fermentation in your stomach. They may
also cause other trouble; for instance, if your collar chafes the back
of your neck, and to relieve the itching you rub it a little too hard
with your finger, your nail may scratch the skin; and if it be blackened
with infectious dirt, this may get into the little scratch and give rise
to a boil, or a festering sore.
How to Clean the Nails. This cleaning of the nails, however, must be
done carefully and gently; for, if too harsh methods are used, the
delicate skin on the under surface of the nail will be torn, the nail
will be roughened or split, the dirt will work in just that much deeper
next time, and the germs in it may set up inflammations under the nail.
For this reason it is best not to use a sharp-pointed knife in cleaning
the nails, but a blunt-pointed nail cleaner, such as can be bought for a
few cents at any drug store, or such as many pocket-knives are now
provided with. It is also best to trim the nails with a file or with
scissors, instead of a knife, as the latter may split or tear the nail,
or cut down to the quick. Before any of these are used, the nails should
be thoroughly softened in warm water, and scrubbed with a moderately
stiff nailbrush, such as should be kept on every washstand.
It is also best not to push back the fold of skin at the base of the
nails, with instruments of any sort; or indeed, with anything harder
than the ball of the thumb or finger. This fold protects the delicate
growing part, or root, of the nail; and if it is shoved back too
vigorously, the root may become exposed, or even inflamed and infected,
and cause one of those extremely irritating little sores known as a
"hangnail."
DISEASES AND DISTURBANCES OF THE SKIN
Their Chief Causes. Skin troubles are of two main kinds according to
their cause: _internal_, due to the irritation of waste-poisons, or
toxins, in the blood; and _external_, from direct injury or irritation
of the skin from without.
The latter are often due to the wearing of too tight or too heavy
clothing, or the failure properly to wash, cleanse, and ventilate the
skin. Some of the lesser disturbances come from the chafing of collars,
wristlets, and belts, and are, of course, relieved by loosening the
clothing or substituting soft, comfortable cotton for rasping flannels.
Others come from the use of too strong soaps, or the too frequent use of
hot water, or too vigorous scrubbing of the skin, and these can be
relieved by the avoidance of their cause.
Sunburn and Freckles and how to Cure Them. Upon the hands and face,
sunburn and freckles may occur from exposure to the weather. They are
not caused necessarily by exposure to direct sunlight; as the bright
light and the cold air out of doors, also, will produce this irritating
effect upon the skin.
The best way to cure sunburn is to bathe in cool water, take a night's
rest, then go out the next day, and the day after, and take another dose
of exposure, keeping this up until your face is hardened to stand a
reasonable amount of sun. If you are in proper condition, neither your
face nor your hands will sunburn uncomfortably. If they do, except under
extreme exposure, it is a sign that you have not been living out of
doors enough.
The various face-washes and creams and dusting powders which are used
for the relief of sunburn, while they may, if mild enough, make the face
feel somewhat more comfortable for a little time, owe most of their
virtues to the fact that they are generally used at bedtime and then get
the credit for the cure which nature works while you are asleep. If you
should buy them, and keep them on your dressing-table unopened, where
you could see them before you went to bed, you would in nine cases out
of ten be just as much better in the morning as if you had used them.
The only harm done by freckles is to your vanity. They and sunburn both,
in fact, are protective actions on nature's part, filling the skin with
coloring matter, or _pigment_, so as to protect it, and the tissues
below, from the irritating effects of the strong rays of light.
A like deposit of pigment, in greater amounts, in the skins of races who
live in or near the tropics, gives rise to the characteristic coloring
of the black, brown, and yellow races. The pigment, or coloring matter,
is of exactly the same kind in all, from the negro to the white. The
brown race having a little less of it than the negro, the yellow race a
little less yet, and the white least of all, though there is some of it
in even the whitest of skins.
Real Skin Diseases. Most of the serious and lasting diseases of the
skin are caused by the attack of germs. Perfect cleanliness and
ventilation are the best protection against them all; but if you should
be unfortunate enough to catch one of these diseases, your doctor will
be able to give you the mild germicide or antiseptic that will kill the
particular germ that may have lodged upon your skin.
The commonest form of inflammation of the skin is called _eczema_, and
eight-tenths of all eczemas are due to some mild germ, and can be cured
by the appropriate poison for it.
Other diseases, particularly of the scalp, such as _ringworm_ and
_dandruff_, are due to other forms of vegetable germs, and may be cured
by their proper poisons; while others, such as the so-called "prairie
itch" (_scabies_), and lice in the hair, are due to the presence of tiny
animal _parasites_.
The Hookworm. Another disease which enters through the skin is the now
famous _hookworm_, or blood-sucking parasite, which has been found to be
so common in tropical regions and in our Southern States. This parasite
has the curious habit of attaching itself by hooks surrounding its
mouth (which gave it its name), to the lining of the human intestine,
particularly its upper third. There it swings, and lives by sucking the
blood of its victim. When the worm has once attached itself in the
intestine, it may live for from five to fifteen years. All this time it
is constantly laying eggs; and these eggs, which are so tiny that they
have to be put under a microscope to be seen, pass out in the feces; and
if they are not deposited in a proper water closet, or deep vault, but
scattered about upon the surface of the soil, the eggs quickly hatch
into tiny, little wriggling worms called _larvæ_, which are still
scarcely large enough to be seen with the naked eye.
These larvæ live in the soil; and, when it is wet and muddy, they get up
between the toes of boys and girls who are going barefoot, burrow their
way in through the skin, and produce a severe itching inflammation of
the skin of the feet, known as "ground-itch," "toe-itch" or "dew-itch."
When they have worked their way through the skin, they bore on into a
blood vessel, are carried to the heart, pumped by the heart into the
lungs, and there again work their way out of the blood vessels into the
bronchial, or air tubes, crawl up these through the windpipe and voice
organ into the throat, are swallowed into the stomach, and from there
pass on into the upper intestine to attach themselves for their
blood-sucking life. If they are sufficiently numerous, their victim
becomes thin, weak, and bloodless, with pale, puffy skin, and shortness
of breath; he is easily tired on the least exertion, and ready to fall a
victim to any disease, like tuberculosis, pneumonia, or typhoid, that
may happen to attack him.
Their spread can be absolutely prevented either by the strict use of
toilets or deep vaults, thus preventing the deposit of feces anywhere
upon the surface of the ground; or by the constant wearing of shoes or
sandals, thus preventing the larvæ from attacking the feet and working
their way through the skin and body into the intestine.
Fortunately, the disease is as curable as it is common, and two doses of
a proper germicide, with a day in bed, and a laxative, will promptly
cure it except in the worst cases.
The Rashes of Measles, Scarlet Fever, etc. Many of the infectious
fevers, such as measles, scarlet fever, chicken-pox, and smallpox, are
attended by rashes, or _eruptions_, upon the surface of the skin, due to
a special gathering or accumulation of the particular germs causing each
disease, just under the skin. When the skin sheds, or flakes off, after
the illness, the germs are shed in the scales and float, or are carried
about, and thus spread the disease to others.
These rashes or eruptions are not dangerous in themselves, though often
very uncomfortable, but help us to recognize the disease; they probably
show us the sort of thing that is going on in the deeper parts of the
body. If you imagine that your throat and bronchial tubes and lungs are
peppered as full of the disease spots as your skin is, in measles and in
scarlet fever, you will readily understand why your throat is so sore
and why you have so much tickling and coughing.
The Health of the Scalp and Hair. The scalp, being covered by hair,
does not perspire so freely as the rest of the skin of the body; but a
considerable amount of oily waste matter is poured out on it, and the
surface of its skin scales off in exactly the same way as does the rest
of the body. If this accumulation of tiny scales and grease is not
properly brushed out, it forms an excellent seed-bed for some of the
milder kinds of germs that attack the skin; and a scurfy, itchy
condition of the scalp is set up, known as dandruff.
The best way to keep the scalp clean of these accumulations of greasy
scales is by vigorous and regular brushing with a moderately stiff, but
flexible, bristle brush. Wire brushes should not be used, as the wires
scratch and irritate the delicate scalp and do more harm than good. If
you watch a groom brushing and currying the coat of a thoroughbred
horse, you will get a fair idea of hew you ought to treat your own scalp
at least twice a day, night and morning.
If this currying of the hair be thoroughly done, and the head washed
with soap and hot water about once a week for short hair and twice a
month for long hair, most of the dangers of dandruff and of other
infections of the scalp will be avoided. One thing to be remembered is,
don't brush too hard or too deep. There is an old saying and a good one,
"You can't brush the scalp too little, or the hair too much."
Wetting the hair for the purpose of "slicking" it or combing it, is
about as bad a thing as could be done; for the moisture sets up a sort
of rancid fermentation in the natural oil of the scalp, giving the
well-known sour smell to hair that is combed instead of brushed, and
furnishing a splendid soil for germs and bugs of all sorts to breed in.
There is no objection to boys' and men's wetting their hair in cold
water as often as they wish, provided that they rub it thoroughly dry
afterward and give it a brisk currying with the brush.
Hair oils and greases of all sorts are sanitary nuisances, and mere
half-civilized and lazy substitutes for proper brushing and washing.
There is no drug known to medicine which will cause hair to grow, or
make it thicker or curlier. All "hair tonics" claiming to do this are
frauds.
Corns, Calluses, and Warts. Our skin not only made our hair, teeth,
and nails, but still retains in every part a trace of its nail-making
powers, so that under pressure or irritation, it can thicken up into a
heavy leather-like substance which we call _callus_. This is naturally
and healthfully present in the soles of the feet and the palms of the
hands. Savage, or barbarous, races who wear no shoes get the skin of
their soles thickened into a regular human leather, almost half an inch
thick, and as tough as rawhide. A somewhat similar condition develops in
the palms of the hands of those who work hard with spades, axes, or
other tools.
Any good process carried to excess becomes bad, and this is true of this
power of callus formation in the skin; for parts of it which are under
constant pressure, like the surface of the toes inside the shoe, and
particularly of the outside toes, the little and the big toe, develop
under that pressure patches of thickened, horny skin, which we call
_corns_. These patches start to grow into cone-shaped projections or
buttons; but being prevented from growing outward by the pressure of the
shoe, they turn upon themselves and burrow into the skin itself, and we
get the well-known ingrowing corn.
If there is anything in the human body which we ought to be thoroughly
ashamed of, it is corns; for they are caused by our own vanity, and
nothing else, in cramping our feet into shoes one or two sizes too small
for them. There are a number of things that can be done to relieve the
discomfort of the corn, but the only sure way is to remove its cause,
namely, the tight shoe.
Under other kinds of irritation, the skin has the power of growing
curious little button-like buds, or projections, which we call _warts_.
These are commonest in childhood, and generally disappear at about
twelve or fifteen years of age, when we no longer delight in dirt, and
glory in mud pies.
They can be produced upon the hands of grown men and women by irritating
fluids and substances, such as wet sugar in the case of bakers and
confectioners, and various color-stains in dye works. They seldom last
for more than a few months, and usually narrow at their base and drop
off, when the particular irritation that caused them ceases. On this
account it is seldom worth while to try to remove them by burning with
acids or cutting them off; and it is best not to pick at, or irritate,
or scratch them too much.