who had been sliding down a roof. I had to
sharpen my knife and press and push and at last get a pair of scissors
to cut out the sliver. It was just like cutting tough leather. But
even if we do sometimes get cuts and burns and bruises, yet our skin
coat protects us far more than we really think. It keeps out all sorts
of poisons and the germs of blood-poisoning and such diseases. These
enemies can attack us only through a scratch or cut in the skin, for
that is the only way they can get into the blood. The skin is better
than any manufactured coat, too, because, if it is torn or scratched,
it can mend itself.

[Illustration: READING BY TOUCH INSTEAD OF SIGHT

These boys are blind; their books are printed with raised
letters, which they read by feeling of them.]

Does your skin ever talk to you? No, of course not; yet it tells you
ever so many things. Shut your eyes and pick up a pencil. As you touch
it, your skin tells you that it is round and smooth, and pointed at
one end. You can feel the soft rubber on the other end, too. Is it
wet? No. Is it hot? Of course not. Now place a book in the palm of
your hand. Is it flat or round, light or heavy, rough or smooth? All
these things your skin tells you through little nerve tips, which are
scattered thickly all over it. Still another thing the skin does; if
you touch anything sharp or hot, it says at once that it hurts. If
your clothes are tight or uncomfortable, the skin soon lets you know.
You see it is always on the lookout, always ready to tell you about
the things around you and to warn you against the things that might
hurt you. The fifth of your "Five Senses," the sense of _touch_, is in
your skin.

There are some parts of your skin-coat that should have special care.

I hardly need tell you about washing your face carefully around your
nose and in front of your ears. Sometimes I have seen a "high-water
mark" right down the middle of the cheek or just under the jaws or
chin.

Of course your mother has told you about washing your hands! You see,
our hands touch so many dirty things, and handle so many things that
other people's hands have touched, that we ought always to wash them
before a meal for fear some of the dirt or germs on them may get into
our mouths and cause disease.

And we really need to clean our nails as often as we wash our hands,
for that little black rim under the nail is very dangerous. Dust and
disease germs and dirt of all ki