From greatest antiquity men and women have striven to beautify their bodies. To be indifferent to the personal appearance is an indication of some abnormal condition in the individual or her environment. =The Complexion.=—The skin of the face is known as the complexion, and this is the part of the skin that is most exposed to the vicissitudes of dust and grime of the streets or of the occupation, as well as to heat, cold, and winds. An ideal complexion combines the qualities of clearness, translucency, and fineness of the outer skin, with a proper disposition of the blood-supply. The beauty of the skin is evidence of good respiration, good digestion, proper excretion by the bowels, skin, and kidneys, good condition of the blood, and plenty of outdoor exercise. It is now well known that the skin, as well as other parts of the body, depends for its integrity upon the general nervous system. Disturbance anywhere in the body acts upon the central nervous system. A simple case of indigestion often manifests itself over considerable areas of the skin. It cannot be too earnestly impressed on the reader that beauty is entirely dependent on the health. It will readily be seen that no external applications can produce such qualities as fineness of texture, translucency, and delicate play of coloring produced by the contraction and dilatation of the blood-vessels. The natural order in which to consider the skin will be first as subservient to health, and then as it is conducive to beauty. =The Action of the Bath in Health.=—Not only in the art of pleasing, but in the maintenance of health, neatness of person must be carried to perfection. By the use of friction, soap and water, the scarf-skin becomes more and more constantly renewed by the layers underneath it. It becomes softer, more pliant, and finer than satin in appearance and texture. Besides this, as has already been shown, bathing has upon the corium or true skin, and thence upon the general system, a revitalizing influence. Combined with the proper kinds of soap, avoiding the use of irritating ones, bathing removes from the skin all effete oily matters, scales of the scarf-skin, crusts, the saline matters excreted by the perspiration, dust of all kinds, soot, particularly that from the clothing, and so forth. Caustic soaps and borax in excess may remove the oil in so great quantities as to be detrimental to the skin. [Illustration: PLATE I Facial expression.] Within twenty-four hours the skin, especially those parts which are covered, becomes vested with a pellicle of impurities, which, when allowed to remain, become thicker every day, and may produce injurious effects by obstructing the excretory openings and affording lodgement for disease. The effects would be felt not only in the skin, but in the whole organism. The skin when not cleansed will be irritated chemically and mechanically.