“Magnetic” wells and springs are ingenious humbugs. Thousands of people are duped by them. Hundreds are benefited by getting well washed, and by enjoying recreation and pleasant social surroundings. The curative effects are attributed to the imaginary magnetism, while other more tangible agents are the real means of cure.
HYGIENIC RELATIONS OF WATER.
In order to be able to appreciate the value of water as a means of preserving health, it is necessary to understand something of the structure and functions of those portions of the body to which it is directly applied; viz., the skin, externally, and the mucous membrane, in the interior of the body.
STRUCTURE OF THE SKIN.
The skin is composed of two principal layers; a thin outer layer, called the epidermis, cuticle, or scarf skin, and a deeper structure, the true skin, or dermis. We will describe the latter first.
The True Skin.—This structure covers the entire surface of the body. It varies in thickness according to its location, being thickest upon the soles of the feet, the palms of the hands, the back, and the outer portions of the thighs. Its basis is a dense network of elastic fibers, among which are intricately mingled minute blood-vessels, nerve fibers, and lymphatic or absorbent vessels. These are most numerous near the upper surface, and are arranged in loops upon little elevations called papillæ. In the palms of the hands and upon the soles of the feet these papillæ are disposed in rows with so much regularity as to give to those parts a minutely furrowed appearance.
The skin also contains little sacs, or follicles, in which the hairs originate. In its deeper portions are found two kinds of glands; sebaceous glands for the secretion of sebaceous or fatty matter to lubricate the skin, and the perspiratory or sweat glands, the latter of which will receive a more definite description shortly.
The Cuticle, or Epidermis.—At the upper portion of the true skin, new cells are being constantly formed, which become old in a short time and are pressed outward by the formation beneath them of other new cells. The old cells become shriveled and flattened as they grow older, and by a continuation of the process described, numerous layers of cells are formed upon the surface of the true skin, the lowest of which is composed of newly formed cells, while the uppermost one is made up of dessicated cells having more the appearance of horny scales than of cells. These several layers constitute the epidermis, or outer skin. It is totally devoid of sensibility, and has no blood-vessels. It is, in fact, dead, and is useful only as a protection to living parts beneath.
Scattered among the cells of the epidermis are colored cells, which give to the skin its proper color. In the Caucasian race, these cells are few; in the negro, they are abundant; while in the albino, they are wholly absent.
The Sweat Glands.—A close examination of the little ridges found upon the palms of the hands, by the aid of a small magnifying glass, will reveal what appear to be fine transverse lines crossing the ridges at short intervals. A still closer inspection shows that the apparent lines are really minute openings, guarded by delicate valves. These are the mouths of the perspiratory ducts, which convey to the surface the product of the sweat glands. The gland itself is merely a coiled tube, already described as situated deep down in the true skin, and is surrounded with a network of blood-vessels. The duct is simply a continuation of the same tube upward through the cuticle to the surface. It passes out upon the surface of the skin obliquely, thus leaving a small portion of the cuticle overlapping its orifice, forming a sort of valve.