Carol C ollins, age 11, of Burbank, S . D . , for her question:

What causes scars?

When you cut a finger, your wonderful body gets busy and heals the wound. Chemicals, burns arid even frost bite can also damage the delicate flesh tissues. The body has its own magic for healing these wounds, too. Right after the accident occurs, blood vessels begin bringing mending and repairing materials to the trouble spot.

Sometimes a section of tissue is lost beyond recall. It may be destroyed by frost, fire, chemicals or infection. Replacement material called granular tissue is brought in to the area. It is not a perfect copy of the original lost tissue, though it works well. In time this replacement material becomes a piece of hard, white scar tissue.