Turkish and Other Baths: A Guide to Good Health and LongevityStables, Gordon
Science
Turkish and Other Baths: A Guide to Good Health and Longevity
Stables, Gordon
Baths, Turkish
The use of the skin as a protective covering to the body is apparent to
every one, and we cannot help admiring its great and perfect
adaptability for the purpose. On the soles of the feet, and palms of
the hands, it is thicker than in other places, being thereon subjected
to more wear and tear; on the trunk of the body, and on the arms it is
soft and smooth, and it is everywhere wonderfully elastic and pliable.
Moreover, it is lined throughout with a base work of fat, which gives
extra support and security to the muscles, and, wherever in the body
protection from the results of pressure is needed, we find that this fat
is deposited in actual cushions, as under the heels, under the balls of
the toes, on the hips, etc.
And here we may remark that, whenever the elasticity of the skin is
impaired, as it is in the bodies of those who do not accustom themselves
to the bath and perfect ablution, loathsome diseases are apt to be the
result, which not only interfere with the actions of the skin itself,
but lower the vitality of the whole system.
The use of the skin as an organ of touch is equally apparent. Being
supplied with a most intricate network of blood vessels and nerves, the
skin is all over a most sensitive organ, and thus serves to warn us in
time of the approach of anything likely to be detrimental to our health.
If we sit in a draught, the skin of the body chills almost at once; it
begins to creep, as it were, warning us that it is time to move, time to
seek shelter, or protect ourselves by an extra garment. Some portions
of the skin are far more sensitive than others; that of the eyelids, for
instance, which is agitated by the slightest breath of air, or by a
touch communicated to it by the least pressure on the eyelashes.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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