k, sometimes red, sometimes a soft milky white, and sometimes a
dull dark blue, or purple. I wonder if you guess what it is. Sometimes
it is dry and sometimes wet, sometimes it is hot and sometimes cold,
sometimes rough and sometimes smoother than the softest silk--just run
your hand gently over your cheek!

Now you have guessed my riddle. This "wonderful coat" is your skin,
which covers you from top to toe. It fits more closely than any glove,
and yet is so easy and comfortable that it never rubs or binds or
hurts you in any way.

[Illustration: THE SKIN-STRAINER

The little pores open in furrows of the skin. This drawing is
many hundred times as large as the piece of skin itself.]

Will the wonderful coat wash? Yes, indeed, and look all the prettier.
In fact, to keep it white and clear you must bathe often, not only
your hands and face, but your whole body. Your skin is a strainer, you
know. It is a "way out" for some of the gases and waste water from the
blood. What will happen, then, if you don't wash your skin? The little
holes, or _pores_, that the sweat comes through may become clogged.
The strainer won't let the poison out, and so it will stay inside your
body. Then, too, if you do not wash the skin, the little scales that
are peeling off the outside coat will not be cleared away. You have
noticed them, haven't you, sometime when you were pulling off black
stockings? You found little white pieces, almost as fine as powder,
clinging to the inside of the stockings. These little scales are
always rubbing off from your skin.

So every morning it is good to splash the cool water all over
yourself, if you can, as the birds do in the puddles. You don't need a
bathtub for this, though of course it is much pleasanter and more
convenient if you have one. Pour the water into a basin and splash it
with your hands all over your face, neck, chest, and arms. Then rub
your skin well with a rough towel. Next, place the basin on the floor;
put your feet into it and dash the water as quickly as you can over
your legs. Then take another good rub. But you must not do this unless
you keep warm while you are doing it, and your skin must be pink when
you have finished. If you are chilly after rubbing, you should use
tepid, even very hot, water for your morning bath. In summer you can
bathe all over easily; but in winter, unless your room is warm, it is
enough to splash the upper half of your body. Once or twice a week