THE CAUSE OF GOOSE FLESH.

Lake Wakatip Mail, Issue 2708, 20 April 1909, Page 7

THE CAUSE OF GOOSE FLESH.

A PINT OF PERSPIRATION A DAY.

A great deal is known about the skin, but we are not satisfied .that its 6tudy is complete. Anyhow, observations just made have revealed some things which were not altogether patent before. The skin is not merely for protection ; it is also an organ of touch. This is obvious enough. But the sense of touch is made up of three senses, each one entirely distinct from the others.

The popularly accepted notion that we possess only five senses is far from correct. Each of us have a good many more than that number, and, as above stated, three of these are comprised under Touch alone. The first of the three is the tactile sense, by which we are made aware of contact with a ny object, and of the exact point of such contact. The second is the sense of pressure. Tho third is the sense of temperature, by which we determine whether an object is hot or cold. Now, the exercise of these three senses depends upon a multitude of little nerves, the extremities of which, lying just beneath the surface of the skin, are most delicately appreciative of any sorts of irritation. Cna of the oddest of their peculiarities is that some of them are able to feci heat, but not cold, while others arc sensitive to cold and not to heat.

A girl, for instance, when she examines her skin, sees only the outer layer, or "epidermis," a nd does not bother herself about anything further. This, however, is nothing more than a thin covering for the relatively thick true skin that lies beneath. This true skin is full of little Wood-vessels, and in it arc embedded the perspiration glands, the "follicles" out of which the hairs grow, and certain other glands which secrete an oily fluid. These last are very important, inasmuch as the oily fluid which they secrete lubricates the skin and keeps it soft and pliable. Incidentally, those of them which are distributed over the scalp render a woman's hair soft and glossy. The perspiration glands are constantly pouring out their watery fluid through ducts which at first are spiral in form, but which as they approach the surface are straight. In the course of twentyfour hours the skin throws out in this way from a pint and a half to two pints of water. Thus they arc to l>e regarded as organs supplementary to the kidneys. If they stop working, s 0 great a strain is thrown upon the kidneys that they are liable to give way. If a i>erson's body were varnished all over, he would die within a few hours. Imniedi a tely beneath the "epidermis" are multitudes of minute conical elevations of the true skin, callc i "papillae," each one of which contains the end of a little nerve of touch. It is obvious that the outer layer protects these papillae from iniury—a fact which becomes sore, because the little nerves of touch have no longer anything to defend them from harsh contact. All other parts of the body, except the palms of the hands and the soles of the feet, including even a woman's face, are covered with minute hairs. But the soles of her feet and the palms of her hands are absolutely hairless. And another peculiarity of her palms and soles is that they will never freckle or tan under any circumstances. Furthermore, they cannot exhibit the familiar phenomenon called " goose flesh." All over the body certain muscle fibres are found in the skin, which are grouped in bundles around the hairs. They seem to have no other purpose than to erect the hairsjust as the hairs of a cat's tail are made to stand erect under certain circumstances. This is accomplished by a contraction of the muscle fibres in question, which brings about the peculiar appearance known as " goose flesh." A chill will often produce the effect ; likewise the emotion of fear. WHY SOME NEITHER TAN NOR FRECKLE.

Inasmuch as their are no hairs on the soles of the feet and palms of the hands, there can be no "goose flesh" on tho-;e parts of the human anatomy. As for the inability to tan or freckle, it is simply a matter of lack of pigment. There is hardly any pigment (colour stuff) in the skin of the palm or sole—a fact which is curiously manifest in the case of a negro, whose soles and palms are but slightly darli-r than those of a white person. The cells of the skin, formed in the deeper layers, are constantly moving upward and outward. Originally spherical, they flatten and 1 dry as they go. and, on reaching 1 the surface, they soon shrivel, die and fall oIT. Thus one is continually losing and changing one's skin by ! bits. Dr. Woods Hutchinson, who is a well-known authority on this subject, says that the skin has little more power of absorption than a mackintosh coat. It is one magnificent mechanism for cleaning itself and shedding things. The hair and nails are both modifications of the "cpidermus," or upper layer of the skin. The nails are composed | of flat, transparent cells overlying each other like tiles on a roof. All of their growth is accomplished at the embedded root. It takes just about 120 days for one of them to renew itself completely. Hut : this last remark applies only to the . nails of the hands ; toenails require six months or more for their renewal.—"Popular Science Siftings."