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Chapter VII: The Skin.2133
Chapter VII: The Skin.
The majority of persons familiar only in a general way with their
physiological structure, are apt to think of the Skin as merely an outside
covering intended by nature as an armor surrounding the tender tissues
underneath, and protecting them from outside irritating and injurious
substances and objects. But the skin has several functions all of which are
important, and which are as follows:
(1) The protection and covering of the inner parts of the body;
(2) The conveying of sensations to the brain, along the nervous system, by
means of the senses of feeling, touch, etc;
(3) The regulation of the temperature of the body;
(4) The excretion of waste products and matter of the system;
(5) The absorption of substances presented to its surface;
(6) The function of an accessory organ of breathing.
This combined functioning renders the skin a valuable ally, and accessory
to the bowels, kidneys, lungs, liver, etc., and consequently a very important
part of the system. The leading authorities speak of the skin as being a
protection from injurious and hurtful substances, both within and without.
The skin is composed of two distinct layers, viz., (a) the Dermis, (also
known as the Cuta Veris), or True Skin; and (2) the Epidermis, or the Cuticle,