Manual of diseases of the skin / from the French of Cazenave ; with notes and additions by Thomas H. Burgess.
- Pierre Louis Alphée Cazenave
- Date:
- 1854
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Manual of diseases of the skin / from the French of Cazenave ; with notes and additions by Thomas H. Burgess. Source: Wellcome Collection.
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![2G greatly impeded, the effete éléments of tlie blood, usunlly tlirown off by tbe respiratory organs, must seek another vent, and nature at onee sets about converting tbe skin into a compensating depurating agent. And liere an important fact présents itself for considération. I allude to the différence in the organisation of the skin in the natives of the temperate zone, and in those of intertropical countries. In warm climates the diminished perspiration by évaporation is compensated for by increased transudation, or sweat, and accord- ingly we find that nature modifies the organisation and functions of the skin to meet that end. This modification of function and its results upon the economy are well put by Dr. Copland, in the following words : “ The skin of the dark races is not only different in colour, but it is also con- siderably modified in texture, so as to enable it to perform a greater extent of function than the more delicately formed skin of the white variety of the species. The thick and dark rete mucosum of the former, is evidently better suited to the warm, moist, and miasmal climates of the tropics, than that with which the latter variety is provided. “ The skin of the Negro is a mnch more active organ of dépuration than that of the white. It not only exhales a larger portion of aqueous fluid and carbonic acid from the blood, but it also élaborâtes a more unctuous sécrétion, which, by its abundance and sensible pro- perties, evidently possesses a very considérable influence in counter- acting the heating effects of the sun’s rays upon the body, and in carrying off the superabundant calorie. iVhilst the active fnnetions of the skin, aided by the colour, thus tend to diminisk the beat of the body, and to prevent its excessive increase by the température of the climate : those materials that require removal from the blood are eliminated by this surface, which, in the Negro especially, performs excreting functions, very evidently in aid of those of respiration, and of biliary sécrétion. In the white variety of the species, on the other kand, the functions of the lungs and liver are much more active than in the darker races, changes to a greater extent being performed by respiration in the former than in the Latter.”—B.] The close sympathetio connexion which exists between the skin and stomach is manifested in the clearest manner by the effects which](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b28049573_0036.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
