We have already spoken of the action and function of the lungs, liver, stomach, and other principal organs of life; we now call special attention to the skin, for it is here that all beauty is ultimately seen. The internal organs are indeed beautiful in their structure and wonderful in their operations, but their beauty is only perceived by the artist and anatomist; the external covering of the body however, is advertised to all. The elegant form, the flexibility of motion, the gentle warmth, the cheeks crimsoned with the roses of delight, the brilliant eyes darting rays of love, or sparkling with the fire of genius, enlivened by the sallies of wit, or animated by the glow of passion, are the inheritance of those only who are in good health, and a moment is sufficient to destroy them. Motion and sense often cease without any apparent cause. The body loses its heat; the muscles become flat; and the angular prominences of the bones appear; the lustre of the eye is gone, the cheeks and lips are livid;—and why? The whole is expressed in one word,—there is an absence of health.
The reader will please, therefore, to recollect all that has been said in reference to health in a preceding chapter, and take as a supplement to the operations of those internal organs the additional
