the natural
and healthy exfoliation of the skin on every part of the body on which
hair or down grows, but most extensive and observable on the scalp, on
account of the abundance and darker color of the hair there.
Scurfiness, or excessive scurfiness, is the result of morbid action,
and may be treated by the frequent use of the fleshbrush or hairbrush,
ablution with soap and water, and the use of mild stimulating,
astringent, or detergent lotions.

=Scurvy=--"scorbutus" of medical writers--is a disease which, even in
its incipient and early stages, when its presence is often
unsuspected, is most injurious to the skin and complexion. It usually
commences with unnatural sallowness, debility, and low spirits. As it
proceeds, the gums become sore, spongy, and apt to bleed on the
slightest pressure or friction; the teeth loosen, and the breath
acquires a foetid odor; the legs swell, eruptions appear on
different parts of the body, and at length the patient sinks under
general emaciation, diarrhoea, and hemorrhages. Its chief cause is
improper food, or, rather, the absence or insufficient supply of fresh
meat and vegetables in the diet; to which cold, humidity, want of
exercise and fresh air may be added as secondary ones. Hence its
frequent, fatal visitations formerly on shipboard, and its still
occasional occurrence in ill-victualled ships during long voyages. The
treatment mainly consists in adopting a liberal diet of fresh animal
food and green vegetables, with ripe food and an ample allowance of
mild ale or beer, or lemonade made from the fresh expressed juice, as
beverages. In serious cases, tonics, as quinine and steel, should also
be administered.

=Wrinkles= and looseness of the skin depend chiefly on the attenuation
of the cutis or true skin and the reduction in the bulk of the
underlying surfacial portions of the body. They cannot be regarded as
a disease of the skin; but are the result of long continued bad
health, anxiety and study, and of general emaciation and old age.
Cleanliness, nutritious food, vigorous outdoor exercise, agreeable
occupation of the mind, and an equable and happy temper, retard their
formation. Whatever tends to promote the general health and to
increase the bulk of the body, and particularly the disposition of fat
in the cellular tissues, also tends to remove them and to increase the
smoothness and beauty of the skin. The free and frequent use of warm
water and soap, followed by the dail