Skin. Historical artwork of a section through human skin. The skin is composed of two layers, the epidermis (brown, across top) and the dermis (pink). The outer epidermis is formed from dead, flattened cells. Below this are several layers of living cells (dark brown), which replace the dead cells as they are sloughed from the skin. The dermis is a layer of loose connective tissue which contains numerous structures. Seen here are three sweat glands (red coils) with their associated ducts (vertical red lines), which lead to the skin surface. Below the dermis is a layer of subcutaneous fat (yellow). Artwork from The Family Physician: A Manual of Domestic Medicine.