Excerpt from The Skin, in Health and Disease: A Concise Manual, Treating, in a Popular Form, on the Preservation of the Skin in a Healthy Condition, and on the Treatment of the Diseases to Which It Is Liable, With Cases and Coloured Explanatory PlatesIn drawing the attention of my readers to this subject, a subject both interesting and important to all, I shall brie¿y consider the skin under the aspect in which it is commonly presented to our consideration - that is, as consisting of three principal layers, namely - 1, the outer or superficial one, called the cuticle, epidermis, or scarf-skin, 2, the mucous coat, or rete mucosum, and 3, the dermis, cutis vera, or true skin. These are usually considered in connexion with some of the subjacent structures, such as the adipose tissue, or fat, and the delicate net-work of fibres, named the cellular tissue.The Epidermis or scarf-skin, the most superficial layer of the skin, has been by some considered as a perfectly inorganic substance. To this conclusion, which was but natural, these parties have doubtless arrived, from the absence of nerves in its composition, as well as of blood-vessels. To the absence of nerves is due the want of feeling in the outer cuticle, which may be cut to a certain depth without pain, a fact which is in the compass of every one's experience: and from the absence of blood-vessels, or their supposed absence, 9. Want of vitality was inferred. But the inference, is not altogether so clear as the fact, and, further, the grounds upon which it was made have been of late years considerably disturbed, inasmuch as vessels plainly appertaining to the sanguiferous system have been detected in the scarf-skin, and even injected and preserved. Its vitality, however, if vitality it have, is merely vegetative, and though highly sensitive to touch, it is, per se, as before observed, insensible to pain.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully, any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.