Frances Bartier, age 13, of Ashcroft, B.C., Canada, for her question:

Is all human skin the same thickness?

So and so is too "thick skinned" to take a hint and that other "thin skinned" character takes offense at every remark. These old sayings do indeed suggest that human skin comes in various thicknesses. So it does. But this really does not explain why some folk are insensitive and others are super sensitive. Actually, the average thickness varies hardly at all from person to person, but there are patches of thicker and thinner on every human body.

Medical students rate the skin as one of the body's biggest organs and certainly nobody could live without one. Its thickness is never more than 3/16ths of an inch, yet the skin of an average man is large enough to cover an area three by six feet. In living condition, it weighs about six pounds. Though its average thickness is more or less the same for all members of the human race, no two complexions are exactly alike in tint and texture.

For just about everybody, skin deep ranges from 1/16ths to 2/16ths of an inch. It is thickest on the back, where the body needs extra protection from showers and drafts. The thinnest covers the eyelids, which must be supple enough to act as constantly blinking shutters. Those corny patches on our well worn heels and toes cannot be rated as living skin. They are cushiony layers of dead cells, created by the epidermis. This outer skin layer also creates the hair and nails, which do not rate as living skin either.

Every square inch of this amazingly thin skin is crowded with about three million special duty cells, organized in special duty units. This small sample area is nourished by about three feet of fine capillaries and laced with about four yards of skinny nerve fibers, plus 25 sensitive nerve endings. It also has about 100 sweat glands to keep it cool..

All these built in functions form a network throughout the entire skin. This also connects to the brain and other internal organs. Most skin functions and communication systems go on automatically. For example, when one small finger touches a hot stove, the entire body takes protective action before you know it. However, the skin often blabs its news in sign language. A rosy blush may mean a hot day, an  embarrassing moment or a fiery infection. A ghastly pallor may be its reaction to frost, sickness or emotional shock.

Everybody yearns for a handsome complexion and, it seems that the best ones belong to healthy persons with pleasant dispositions. We cannot do much about the skin's natural tint, but we can help to refine its texture. They say that it thrives on plain whole milk, plus generous helpings of salad and lightly cooked fresh vegetables. Of course, we all know that sugary snacks help not at all and often cause blemishes. We also know that regular cleaning adds a peachy glow and also removes embedded germs that might erupt in unbesutiful blemishes.