HOW TO TAKE CARE OF THE SKIN.
~1. Uses of the Pores of the Skin.~--Many years ago, at a great
celebration, a little boy was covered all over with varnish and gold
leaf, so as to make him represent an angel. The little gilded boy looked
very pretty for a short time, but soon he became very sick, and in a few
hours he was dead. Can you guess what made him die? He died because the
pores of his skin were stopped up, and the sweat glands could not carry
off the poisonous matter from his body.
~2. Cleanliness.~--Did you ever know of a boy who had his skin
varnished? Not exactly, perhaps; but there are many boys who do not have
their skins washed as often as they ought to be, and the sweat and oil
and dead scales form a sort of varnish which stops up the little ducts
and prevents the air from getting to the skin, almost as much as a coat
of varnish would do.
~3. The Sweat Glands.~--The sweat glands and ducts are like little
sewers, made to carry away some of the impurities of the body. There are
so many of them that, if they were all put together, they would make a
tube two or three miles long. These little sewers drain off almost a
quart of impurities in the form of sweat every day. So you see that it
is very important for the skin to be kept clean and healthy.
~4. Bathing.~--A bird takes a bath every day. Dogs and many other
animals like to go into the water to bathe. Some of you have seen a
great elephant take a bath by showering the water over himself with his
trunk. To keep the skin healthy we should bathe frequently.
~5.~ When we take a bath for cleanliness it is necessary to use a little
soap, so as to remove the oil which is mixed up with the dry sweat, dead
scales, and dirt which may have become attached to the skin.
~6.~ It is not well to take hot baths very often, as they have a
tendency to make the skin too sensitive. Bathing in cool water hardens
the skin, and renders one less likely to take cold.
~7. The Clothing.~--The skin should be protected by proper clothing, but
it is not well to wear more than is necessary, as it makes the skin so
sensitive that one is liable to take cold.
~8. The Proper Temperature of Rooms.~--It is also very unwise for a
person to keep the rooms in which he lives too warm, and to stay too
much in-doors, as it makes him very liable to take cold when he goes
out-of-doors. One who is out of doors in all kinds of weather seldom
takes cold.
~9. Care of the Hair and the Nails.~--The scalp should be kept clean by
thorough and frequent washing and daily brushing. Hair oils are seldom
needed. If the skin of the head is kept in a healthy condition, the hair
requires no oil.
~10.~ The habit of biting and picking the fingernails is a very
unpleasant one, and keeps the nails in a broken and unhealthy condition.
The nails should be carefully trimmed with a sharp knife or a pair of
scissors.
~11. Effects of Narcotics and Stimulants upon the Skin.~--Alcohol,
tobacco, opium, and all other narcotics and stimulants have a bad effect
upon the skin. Alcohol often causes the skin to become red and blotched,
and tobacco gives it a dingy and unhealthy appearance.
SUMMARY.
1. If the pores of the skin are closed, a person will die.
2. We should bathe often enough to keep the skin clean.
3. We should not keep our rooms too warm, and should avoid wearing too
much clothing.
4. Alcohol, tobacco, and other stimulants and narcotics injure the skin.