How to live: A manual of hygiene for use in the schools of the Philippine islands

by Adeline Knapp

The Skin Magnified
Fig. 1. Surface showing openings of pores.
Fig. 2. Side view of sweat glands and pores.

Now, like our outer clothing, this garment of the body needs to be kept very clean. You know that in this country when we take exercise, or, during the heat of the day, even without our taking exercise, the surface of the skin gets moist, little drops of water stand on it, and even run down our faces or make our hands wet. We call this moisture perspiration, and say that we are sweating or perspiring with the heat. The drops of water come from openings in the skin, which we call pores. These are little tubes connecting with sweat glands below the skin. You will see in the picture how these sweat glands look, and how the pores come to the surface.

The perspiration is not pure, clean water; it contains many impurities which the lungs, kidneys, and other organs have not cast out from the body. It is the work of the skin to help carry off these impurities, and it does this by means of sweat glands and pores. If the perspiration dries on the skin, the impurities remain; they stop up the pores and make the body unhealthy. It is to prevent all this that we bathe often. Bathing keeps the pores of the skin open and the skin itself in a healthy condition. We use soap because the skin secretes oil as well as perspiration. This oil is to keep it soft and smooth, but it is needful that the excess of it should be washed off with soap, in order that the oil glands may not become clogged.

We should be very careful not to become chilled when in a perspiration. We should not plunge into cold water at this time. Neglect of this rule often causes bowel trouble, and is a great cause of the catarrh and bronchitis so common among the Filipino people. To keep it perfectly clean, the body should be washed with soap once a day. Just before noon is the best time to bathe, or else about four o’clock in the afternoon. One should never bathe right after eating. If one takes a sponge bath with water alone, immediately on rising, one feels better all day, but, in this climate, the bath with soap is needed as well. Babies and very little children should be bathed with soap and water without being plunged into the bath. They are delicate, and unable to withstand the chill that might result. Chills are very dangerous, and a person should be careful in the rainy season not to get drenched.

A person who has any kind of skin trouble should be very careful not to give it to any one else. He owes it to all others to take pains about this. If he does not, he is not a good citizen. He should be careful not to use the towels that any one else is likely to use, and his soiled clothing, when taken off, should be disinfected before being sent to the laundry.

The custom of going barefoot is a dangerous one. The sole of the foot is a very delicate surface; a great many nerves and blood vessels center in the instep, and any injury to these may produce the disease called lockjaw, which usually results fatally. Even if nothing so serious as this happens, the foot is often injured by bruising or by other hurts. The feet are susceptible to chill, especially in the rainy season, when they should be kept dry and warm. Disease is often taken through the feet, especially such diseases as the bubonic plague, and the different kinds of itch which are known in the tropics. Aside from all these reasons why we should dress the feet, it is an untidy practice to go barefoot. The low shoes without fastenings, into which so many Filipinos thrust their feet, give people who wear them an awkward, shuffling walk. A shoe which fits the foot well and is fastened upon it so that it does not flap at the heel is the only one that should be worn out-of-doors, and no shoes should be worn without stockings.

Every boy or girl who wants to be well must take exercise. If we do not use our muscles, they become weak and small. The brain suffers as well. When we exercise we not only strengthen our muscles, but we set the blood in quicker circulation. The heart must work faster; the lungs must expand more; the food digests better and the brain is clearer. The best sort of exercise is useful work out-of-doors or about the house, but boys and girls need to play as well as work. All games that take them out-of-doors and make them move about actively are good for them.

Many Filipino boys and girls do one thing that is very hurtful; that is, they smoke. The use of tobacco injures growing young people. It stunts the growth, so that even when grown they are small and weak. Boys who smoke do not grow so fast or so large as those who do not. Smoking injures the memory and makes people heavy and stupid; it makes them less inclined to take exercise, and so the muscles become weak; it hurts the digestion and makes the stomach weak. Besides these things, it induces the constant spitting so common in this country; and we have seen how hurtful this waste of the saliva is.

Chewing betel nut is even worse than smoking. If all of the betel juice is not spit out, some of it will be swallowed, and this is very bad indeed, as the betel acts like a poison on the system. So the betel chewer must waste all the saliva that comes into his mouth while he is chewing the nut. More than this, he stains the sidewalks and floors with the filthy stuff, and makes himself ugly to look at, as well as offensive to cleanliness. It is to be hoped that the boys and girls who study this book will never take up such a disgusting habit.

Still another thing which is very bad for the health in this country is the use of alcohol. Alcohol is bad for the system; it irritates the delicate lining of the food canal, and hurts the liver and the kidneys.