Philip Bailey, age 10, of Portland, Me.,

How many layers of skin do we have?

The skin that enfolds the body is arranged in two distinct layers. The outer layer is a thin coat of horny cells called the epidermis. The under layer is a thicker coat of flesh and blood called the derma. The epidermis acts as a thin cellophane covering over the true skin below, A slight suntan may cause the top layer of the epidermis to peel away. It comes off like white tissue.

In a few days, the lost epidermis is replaced. In the meantime  the sun, burned patch may be sensitive. The derma needs that thin layer of epidermis cells to protect its sensitive nerves, There is a special layer of cells right under the flakey white surface layers.  They make the tones and tints that color the skin. Strong sunlight may cause the pigments to rise and tint the surface skin. When this happens you get a suntan or a crop of handsome freckles

The derma is much thicker than the epidermis. It teems with nerves, blood vessels, sweat glands and hair roots. The derma is cushioned on a layer of fatty cells. Below them are layers of strong, flexible muscles.

Capillaries, the tiniest of blood vessels, weave and branch throughout the derma, They carry oxygen and collect waste matter from the busy akin cells, Also present in the derma is a web of complex nerves. Branches fan out from trunk lines. The tips end in little bulbs just below the epidermis. Those nerve endings can tell hot from cold, hard from soft, rough from smooth. They are in constant communication with the brain,

Messages flash to and fro along the branch lines to bigger and bigger trunk lines, Touch a hot stove. The information and orders flash almost instantly. The nerves scream their S.O,S. message to the brain. The brain flashes to the muscles with orders to move away fast, The whole operation is carried out before you realize what happened.