26/09/2007

The Lady's Dressing Room

by

Baroness Staffe

Translated by Lady Colin Campbell

1893

Table of Contents

PART I. THE DRESSING-ROOM.

THE BATH-ROOM.

PART II THE GENERAL CARE OF THE BODY.

THE FACE.

PART III. ADVICE AND RECIPES.

OBESITY AND THINNESS.

DIVERS COUNSELS.

TOILET-WATERS, PERFUMES, POMADES.

PART IV. LITTLE HINTS.

APPENDIX.

PART I. THE DRESSING-ROOM.

Its Furnishing.

THE dressing-room of every well-bred woman should be both elegant and comfortable in proportion to her fortune and position; it may be simply comfortable if its owner cannot make it luxurious, but must be provided with everything necessary for a careful toilette.

Under the heading "The Bath-Room" I shall describe a dressing-room which also contains baths; but at this moment I wish to speak of the dressing-room alone.

The great ladies of the eighteenth century, whose ablutions were some what restricted, employed Watteau, Boucher, Fragonard, and others, to paint their dressing-rooms, wherein they received their friends while they were themselves being painted, powdered, and patched. In time present day no one would dream of exposing delicate fresco wall-paintings or beautiful ceilings to the hot vapour and damp which are necessitated by an abundant use of hot and cold water.

Some dressing-rooms have their walls entirely covered with tiles—blue, pink, or pale green. This tiling has the merit of being bright and clean, but the effect is a little cold to both sight and touch. Hangings are generally preferred; they should be in neutral tints or very undecided tones, so as not to clash with the colours of the dresses. Very often light or bright-coloured silks are covered over with tulle or muslin, so as to attenuate their vividness and at the same time preserve their texture from the effect of vapour.

Sometimes the walls are hung with large-patterned cretonnes or coloured linens; but cotton or linen stuffs are always a little hard, and any very conspicuous pattern on the walls is apt to detract from the effect of the toilette, which should be the one thing to attract the eye when its wearer is in the room. Personally, I prefer a dressing-room to be hung with sky-blue or crocus-lilac under point d'esprit tulle. These hangings, which will form an admirable background to dresses of no matter what colour, should be ornamented with insertions of lace.

The floor should be covered with a pearl-grey carpet with a design of either roses or lilac. From the centre of the ceiling should hang a small lustre to hold candles; and care should be taken to place wide bobèches on these candles, so as to prevent any danger of the wax falling on the dresses.

One or two large windows should light this dressing-room. The ground-glass panes should have pretty designs on them; and double curtains, of silk and tulle, the latter edged with lace, should drape them voluminously.

Indispensable Accessories.

There must be two tables, opposite to each other, of different dimensions, but the same shape. The larger table is meant for minor ablutions, and on it should be placed a jug and basin, which should be chosen with taste and care. The table is draped to match the walls; above it should run a shelf, on which are placed the bottles for toilet waters and vinegars, dentifrices and perfumes, the toilet bottle and glass, etc. At either side of the basin should be placed the brush and soap trays, the sponges, etc.

The other table, which is smaller, bears the mirror, which should be framed in a ruche of satin and lace; the table itself is draped like its companion. As this table is meant for the operation of hair-dressing, everything necessary to that important art must be found upon it. The various boxes for pins and hair-pins; a large casket, in which are placed the brushes and combs, whose elegance should be on a par with that of the rest of the room; the bottles of perfume and of scented oil or pomades the powder boxes; the manicure case, etc., should all have their places on this table, at either side of which should be fixed a couple of tall candelabra.

The fireplace should, occupy the centre of the wall opposite the windows; a Dresden clock or a pretty bust in terra-cotta, with some vases of fresh flowers, is all that need be placed upon it. At one side of the fireplace should be placed a chaise-longue in blue or mauve damask, the pattern on it being in white; and here and there about the room a few arm-chairs and smaller ones of gilt cane will be found convenient.

At either side of the dressing-table there should be a wardrobe. One of these should have three mirrors in its doors, for the ordinary wardrobe with a single panel of glass has been banished from all artistic bed-rooms and dressing-rooms. The side doors open at opposite angles, and thus form a triple-sided, full-length mirror, in which one can judge of the effect of both dress and coiffure from all points of view. The second wardrobe, which should be lacquered like its companion, has no mirror, its doors being painted with garlands of flowers. In it are placed the reserve stock of bran, starch, soaps, powder, creams, etc. etc.

No slop-buckets or water-cans should be seen, nor should any dresses or other paraphernalia be visible; everything of that kind should be hidden from sight in special closets or cupboards near at hand. If the dressing. room does not adjoin the bath-room, the tub, of which we shall speak farther on, should be brought each day into the dressing-room for the daily sponge bath, which replaces the larger bath one may have to go and take elsewhere, or which may be forbidden on account of health.

A More Simple Dressing-Room.

A dressing-room, however, may be much more simple than this. All excess of luxury may be suppressed without preventing a woman of taste from making the little sanctuary of her charms both elegant and tasteful.

A pretty wall-paper should be chosen, and the floor covered with an oil-cloth. Drape the deal tables with wide flounces of cretonne edged with frills of the same material; cover the tables with linen toilet-cloths edged with deep thread lace, and on them place the washing utensils in bright coloured ware. If the tables are small, have shelves made-which you can cover in the same style as the tables—to accommodate the bottles and boxes, which should be chosen with care, to make up for their moderate price. If your mirror is somewhat ordinary, you can dissimulate its frame under a pleated frill, which you can fasten on with small tacks. You can ornament your wardrobe yourself, painting and varnishing it to match the room, and to please your own individual fancy. The slop-buckets and the water-cans should be hidden under the flounces of the tables.

If it is necessary to keep your dresses, your band-boxes, your boots and shoes, etc., in your dressing-room, you should have some shelves placed across the end of the room at a sufficient height to allow you to hang your dresses from hooks. On these shelves you can put your boxes, parcels, etc.; the whole being hidden by curtains to match the draperies of the tables. These curtains should not be placed against the wall, as they would then reveal the outlines of all the things they are meant to hide. They should be hung from the ceiling, and enclose the shelves as in an alcove; behind them also may be placed the bath-tub, which is not usually exposed to view. The great matter in a dressing-room is to have one large enough to be comfortable.

THE BATH-ROOM.

Its Arrangements and Appointments.

THE bath-room should be arranged according to the pecuniary resources at one's disposal; but here, as everywhere else, one should do one's best.

The millionaires of New York have sometimes bath-rooms worthy of Roman empresses. In Europe some very rich women, artists, and others whom it is unnecessary to mention, are particularly luxurious in everything that concerns the bath-room. The walls of these rooms are sometimes panelled with vari-coloured onyxes, framed in copper mouldings, which are polished every day. From the ceiling hang quaint chandeliers of rose or opalescent crystal; and a rich Oriental curtain, hanging from a golden rod, veils the bath of rose-coloured marble. At the opposite side of the room is placed a couch covered with the skin of a Polar bear, whereon, clad in a luxurious peignoir, one reposes after the fatigues of the bath and the douche. In one corner, also screened from view by a silken curtain, are the various apparatus for douches, shower, wave, needle, or any other kind of spray bath which may be desired. In the opposite corner is placed the flat tub or sponge-bath in porcelain. This immense basin is accompanied by another one of smaller dimensions, and both are painted with designs of waterlilies and aquatic plants. Near each bath is handily placed taps for hot, cold, and tepid water; and on small shelves of marble all the articles one requires when bathing.

Utensils and Accessories.

When the bath-room has to serve at the same time as a dressing-room, one must place therein a large wash-stand with a complete toilet set in porcelain ware or silver, with all the minor articles to match. There must, of course, be also the dressing-table, which may be ornamented according to the taste of the presiding divinity. Everything placed upon it—brushes, combs, boxes, scent-bottles, etc.—should be chosen with artistic taste. One must not forget to mention the large wardrobe, with its three doors of plate-glass mirror, such as I have already mentioned. Therein are placed the bath-linen, the flesh-gloves, loofahs, and all the arsenal of feminine coquetry—creams, cosmetics, perfumes, etc. etc.—which should be hidden from every eye, as no one likes to be suspected of adventitious aids. One should not be able to see in this dressing-room and bath-room combined either trinkets, dresses, laces, or ribbons. Jewels and trinkets, as well as valuable laces, should be kept in the bed-room, and all dresses put out of sight in wardrobes or closets.

In many houses, however, the bath-room is used by all the members of the family, and can therefore not be treated as a dressing-room. Under such circumstances it is not difficult to arrange a bath-room from which all unnecessary luxury may be banished while preserving every necessary comfort.

It is best to paint the walls in oil colour—with an imitation of marble, if you can get it well done. The floor should be covered with linoleum, and the ground-glass windows should have the family monogram engraved in the centre. The various kinds of baths should be ranged round the wall: sitz-baths, sponge-baths, and the smaller baths for children. The taps of hot and cold water should be placed over the large bath, unless the water for it. is heated by means of a "geyser"; and there should also be a porcelain sink, into which the smaller baths can be emptied. Before each bath, large or small, should be placed a mat in cut-out leather, or, what is perhaps better, in cork, whereon the bather may stand; and near each bath, at a convenient level, shelves should be fastened to the wall to carry the necessary soaps and sponges.

In many bath-rooms where the water is heated in the room itself by means of some gas apparatus, the heater should contain a linen-box, for it is best to wrap oneself in hot linen on leaving a bath. The bath-heater must have a pipe leading into the outer air, to obviate the possibility of noxious fumes; and with this precaution it is a useful thing, as it maintains the temperature in the bath-room.

A wardrobe should contain a supply of bath-linen, fine towels, Turkish towels, bath-sheets, etc.; herein are also placed on the shelves the various kinds of soaps, the boxes of starch, the bags of bran, the perfumes, almond paste, cold creams, carbonate of soda, etc. etc. In one corner of the room should be placed the hand-lamp and aromatic perfume-box which are sometimes used in cases of illness for sweating-baths. There are certain kinds of portable apparatus for vapour-baths which can, if desired, be placed in the same room. These apparatus, and those for shower and "rain" baths, are generally hidden behind a curtain, which divides them off from the rest of the room.

Besides the actual baths, there should be in the bath-room a couch or ottoman, whereon to repose after the bath; a little table, in case one would wish to have a cup of tea; some chairs; and enough towel-horses whereon to lay out both the warm dry linen before the bath, as well as the wet linen after. It is unnecessary to place a dressing-table in such a bath-room as this: one returns to one's bed-room or dressing-room to complete one's toilette.

On Bathing.

Regular bathing should enter into the habits of all classes of society. If it is absolutely impossible to immerse oneself completely every day in a large bath, or if it is forbidden by the doctor, a sponge-bath may be considered sufficient for the needs of cleanliness and health.

The human skin is a complicated network, whose meshes it is necessary to keep free and open, so that the body may be enabled through them to eliminate the internal impurities, from which it is bound to free itself, under pain of sickness, suffering, and possible death. The healthy action of the pores of the skin is stimulated by the bath, especially if it is followed by friction with a flesh-glove or a rough towel. One can dispense with massage if one objects to be manipulated by a strange hand. Both fevers and contagious maladies of many kinds are often avoided by such simple precautions as these.

In cases of internal inflammation and congestion, and of bilious colic, there is no more certain remedy than a hot bath. It is also known to have worked surprising cures in cases of obstinate constipation. Anyone who is afraid of having caught a contagious malady should immediately have recourse to a hot bath, as it is quite possible that the infection may make its way out of the body through the pores. Of course, particular care would be needed not to take a chill on leaving the bath.

Cleanliness of the skin has a great effect in the proper assimilation of nourishment by the body; and it has even been recognised that well-washed pigs yield superior meat to those that are allowed to indulge their propensities for wallowing in the mire. It is therefore hardly necessary to repeat that the salutary expulsion which the body accomplishes through the skin, teaches the necessity of keeping the pores open by absolute cleanliness, the smallest particle of grime or the finest dust being sufficient to block the tiny openings with which Nature has so admirably endowed the cuticle.

Pitiful Middle Ages that ignored the use of soap and water! "A thousand years without a bath!" cries Michelet in one of his historical works. It is not surprising that plagues and pestilences ravaged poor humanity in those days. Even in the time of Henri IV. the use of the bath must still have been sufficiently rare, when one remembers the naif astonishment of a grand seigneur of the period who asked, "Why should one wash one's hands when one does not wash one's feet?"

Even at the Court of Le Roi Soleil the fair ladies were yet so neglectful on this point that one shudders with disgust when one reads about their habits; and yet in all ages les grandes coquettes have recognised the good effects of baths and ablutions. Isabel of Bavaria, having heard that Poppaea, wife of Nero, used to fill her bath of porphyry with asses' milk and the juice of strawberries, determined not to be behindhand in similar researches. Even in those days marjoram was recommended, and justly so, for its refreshing effect upon the skin; so the spouse of Charles VII. had enormous decoctions of this plant prepared, in which to bathe.

It is on record that Anne Boleyn took baths, a fact which is more or less supported by the story of certain of the courtiers, who, by way of flattery, drank her health in part of' the water wherein she had bathed. Diane de Poitiers bathed every morning in a bath of rain-water.

In the eighteenth century the great ladies became fanciful in the matter of baths, and had them concocted, like Poppaea, of asses' milk; of eau de mouron, like Isabel; of milk of almonds; of eau de chair, or weak veal-broth; of water distilled from honey and roses; of melon-juice; of green-barley water; of linseed-water, to which was added balm of Mecca, rendered soluble with the yolk of an egg. All these decoctions were undoubtedly good for the skin, but the bath for cleansing purposes does not need so much preparation.

The Dauphine Marie Antoinette "invented for her demi-bain," says a writer of· her time, "a half-bath which yet bears her name." It was a deep basin of oblong shape, mounted in a wooden frame supported on legs, the back of the frame being raised and stuffed like the back of an armchair. This shape is more conveniently imitated in zinc at present. For her large baths the Princess had a decoction prepared of serpolet, laurel leaves, wild thyme, and marjoram, to which was added a little sea-salt. The prescription for these baths was made by Fagon, chief physician to Louis XIV., who also desired that they should be taken cold in winter and tepid in summer, so as to balance the external temperature with the sensibility of the epidermis.

Hot, Cold, and Sponge Baths.

There are many people who immerse themselves every day for a few instants in a cold bath; one must be very strong to support this form of bath, and it is perhaps wiser not to try it without having consulted a doctor. Even when the cold bath is allowed, it is best to take only one plunge and come out at once. The water ought to be about 50º to 60º Fahrenheit, and a good rubbing is indispensable after a bath of this kind.

The hot bath is good for those who are subject to a rush of blood to the head. Its temperature should not exceed 100º [Fahrenheit].

The tepid bath is the one most used, and its temperature may range from 68º to 96º. It is a mistake to remain too long in a tepid bath; thirty minutes is the maximum time one should stay therein, and it is perhaps best to leave it after a quarter of an hour, unless of course medical orders decide otherwise.

If it is impossible, for various reasons, to have a large bath every day, a sponge bath will replace it conveniently, and is sufficient for the necessities of health and cleanliness. One should begin by taking a sponge bath of tepid water, and then by degrees one can lower the temperature of the water until at last the daily tub is a cold one. In all cases, however, the bath-room should be slightly warmed in winter, spring, and autumn; and care should be taken that the towels are warm and dry. People with delicate lungs should remain faithful to the warm bath. A good rubbing is a necessity after all and every bath; but of that we shall speak farther on, as well as of massage. It is often a good thing to take a little air and exercise after the bath, but only on condition of walking very fast. Never take a bath, or in any way immerse yourself in water, immediately after having eaten; a bath would be distinctly dangerous, and even minor ablutions are apt to trouble the digestion. One should allow three hours to elapse between any meal at all copious and a bath.

When soap is used in a large bath, it should be used towards the end of the time of immersion, and should be immediately washed off with clear water. In a sponge bath this is an easy matter, as the fresh water is ready to hand in a large basin alongside of the bath. The soap chosen should be white and very pure, and little, if at all, perfumed. It seems almost superfluous to say that it is contrary to cleanliness and hygiene that two people should bathe in the same water, no matter how healthy they may be; but as some fond mothers have a habit of taking their little ones into the bath with them, it is as well to warn them that the delicate skin of babies is often apt to suffer from such a custom.

Soothing and Refreshing Baths.

It is unnecessary here to speak of Russian or Turkish baths, nor even of vapour baths. These last belong properly to the domain of the doctor, who can order or administer them when necessary. The others demand an installation which it is almost impossible to have at home, even when expense is no object.

But there are other baths whose soothing properties may be recommended without having recourse to a doctor. In spring it is best to take one's bath at night, just before going to bed, so as to avoid all possibility of a chill, which is more dangerous at that time of year than any other, and also so that the skin may benefit by the moist warmth which it will thus be able to keep for several hours after having left the water. A delicious bath for this season can be prepared with cowslips or wild primroses. Three handfuls of these flowers, freshly gathered, should be thrown into the bath, which thus becomes not only delight. fully perfumed, but extremely calming to the nerves by the virtue in the sweet golden petals.

The bath of strawberries and raspberries which Madame Tallien took every morning, as we are told by the gossips of her time, was prepared in the following manner:— Twenty pounds of strawberries and two of raspberries were crushed and thrown into the bath, from which the bather emerged with a skin freshly perfumed, soft as velvet, and tinged with a delicate pink.

A bath of lime-flowers (also a delightful perfume) is particularly soothing to over-excited nerves. A decoction of spinach, if a sufficient quantity were obtained, would make an excellent bath for the skin. Here, however, is a recipe equally good for rendering the skin fresh and delicate:—Sixty grammes of glycerine and one hundred grammes of rose-water, mixed with two quarts of water, are added to the bath five minutes before using it. Some women mix almond-paste with their bath, and perfume it with violet; others prefer oatmeal and orange-flower water; others, again, prefer tincture of benzoin, which gives the water a milky appearance. Nothing is better for the skin than a bran bath. Two pounds of bran, placed in a muslin bag, are allowed to soak in a small quantity of water for three hours before the bath, to which it is added, is required. A bath of aromatic salts is easily prepared. Pound into powder some carbonate of soda and sprinkle it with some aromatic essences (of which only a small quantity is needed). These aromatic essences can be prepared beforehand, according to the following recipe

Essence of fine lavender… 15 grammes

Essence of rosemary… 10 grammes

Essence of eucalyptus… 5 grammes

Carbonate of soda crystals… 600 grammes

Pound the crystals, sprinkle and mix them with the essences) and keep them in a well-stoppered bottle. For a large bath, 315 grammes of this aromatic salt will be required; for a basin, a teaspoonful to a quart of water.

For a tonic and refreshing effect upon the skin the aromatic bath is one of the best: 500 grammes of the various aromatic plants enumerated in Fagon's recipe for Marie Antoinette's bath (of which I have already spoken) should be allowed to infuse for an hour in three quarts of boiling water; the water should then be strained, and added to the bath. Another bath which is both strengthening and soothing is thus composed:— Dissolve in the bath half a pound of crystals of carbonate of soda, two handfuls of powdered starch, and a teaspoonful of essence of rosemary; the temperature of the bath should be 36º to 37º C., and the immersion should last from fifteen to twenty minutes.

When the nervous system is much exhausted, the following bath will be found useful, viz., an ounce of ammonia to a bucket of water. In a bath of this kind the flesh becomes as firm and smooth as marble, and the skin is purified in the most perfect way. It would be unkind to finish this section on baths without remembering those who suffer from rheumatism, to whom I can recommend the following bath as likely to ease them from their pain. A concentrated emulsion should be made with 200 grammes of soft soap and 200 grammes of essence of turpentine; it should be well shaken together, until the mixture is in a lather. For a bath, take half this emulsion, which has an agreeable smell of pine when mixed with the water. After five minutes' immersion in a warm bath thus prepared, the patient is aware of a distinct diminution of pain, and a pleasant warmth spreads all over the body. At the end of a quarter of an hour he feels a slight pricking sensation, which is not at all unpleasant; and he should then leave the bath, and get straight into bed, where lie will at once fall asleep; on waking in the morning he will find his pain greatly alleviated.

Massage and Rubbings.

Massage comes from the Greek word masso, "I knead." The masseur or masseuse kneads with the hands all the muscular parts of the body, works the articulations to make them supple, and excites the vitality of the skin. This custom has come to us from the East, where it has been known since the days of antiquity. The Romans employed it greatly. In the Russian form of massage, the hand of the operator is covered with a well-soaped glove; and sometimes the kneading of the body is followed by a slight flagellation with birch twigs. Massage must follow the bath, and not precede it. When the skin is moist with water or vapour, it is naturally more supple and flexible, and is therefore more easily kneaded. The patient feels a great fatigue at the end of the operation, but this is soon followed by a sense of well-being and vivacity. Care should be taken, however, not to make an abuse of massage—for if it is over-done, its effects are exhausting rather than strengthening; but in certain climates, and in certain maladies, there is no doubt it is very beneficial. In many cases judicious rubbings are an excellent substitute for massage, and are rendered all the more easy by the various modern inventions which help one to apply friction to the back and sides. It is best to use for these frictions a flesh-glove or a broad band made of horse-hair, coarse wool, or rough linen. It is called a "dry-rubbing" when applied alone. Nothing is better, after a foot-bath or a sponge-bath, than a vigorous rubbing; it increases the force and vigour of the body, benefits the general health, and consequently is an admirable aid to beauty. After the dry-rubbing, all the body should be rubbed with a piece or a band of flannel dipped in toilet-vinegar or perfume.

Sea-Bathing - River-Bathing.

It is not well to take a sea-bath either the day of, nor the day after, one's arrival at a watering-place. It is best to exclude from one's diet wine, coffee, and spirits, and to allow one's organisation time to absorb the ozone of the salt sea-air. The best moment for a bath is high tide: at low tide, or when the tide is coming in or going out, there are certain drawbacks which it would take too long to explain here. One should never enter the sea unless three hours have elapsed since the last meal, so that the digestive organs may be in complete repose.

It is unwise to bathe if one happens to be very much excited, if one is suffering from any acute or chronic malady, if one has had a sleepless night, or if one has been undergoing any violent exercise. One should undress slowly, and, once in one's bathing costume, and wrapped in a cloak, it is a good thing to walk a little on the beach, so that the body may be warmed by exercise, and therefore better able to resist the shock on entering the cold water. Delicate women and children who suffer from cold feet even in summer, would do well to take off their sandals for a few minutes before entering the sea, so as to warm their feet and ankles on the sun-baked sand; and such persons will find it is advisable to take a few drops of Malaga or port before entering the sea.

It is best to go rapidly into the water, so that the whole body may be immersed in as short a time as possible, care being taken, however, to cover up the hair carefully, as there is nothing so disastrous in effect to a woman's hair as sea-water. Unless one is strong, the bath should be a short one, and a few minutes' immersion is sufficient. On leaving the water, one should again be wrapped up in one's cloak and return slowly to one's cabin, where it is best to stand in a pan of warm water while one is drying one's body. If the hair is damp, it should be rubbed dry at once, and then, if necessary, allowed to float loosely on the shoulders for half an hour. Open-air exercise should be considered a necessity after a sea-bath.

As to children, it is extremely dangerous to bathe them in the sea before they are at least two years old; and even at that age, if the waves frighten them, they should not be plunged in the water. A little baby has not sufficient nervous force for the necessary vigorous reaction, without which immersion is harmful; his little body would be chilled, and lie would be exposed to the danger of internal convulsions. A child should never be forced to undergo the shock of a wave if he is frightened thereby, as nothing is more unwholesome than to bathe during violent emotion; and there is no more violent emotion than terror: It is best, therefore, to give him a salt-water bath at home, and then let him run and roll on the sand and shingle, and paddle with his little feet in the sea-pools; he will thus take a bath of sunshine and salt sea-air, which will probably be much better for him, and lie will thus get accustomed little by little to the sound and the force of the waves, whose attraction lie will not long resist, if he is not frightened at the outset.

River-bathing has many attractions for young and vigorous persons, and is very strengthening to delicate individuals who venture on it under proper conditions. Even when strong and vigorous, it is not well to unduly prolong a fresh-water bath, as anything of fatigue is likely to bring on cramp, than which there is nothing more dangerous. One should not embark on this sport without being well acquainted with the currents of the river, and one can always find some intelligent native to give one the necessary indications.

River-bathing should be surrounded with exactly the same precautions as sea-bathing. After a storm one should abstain from the bath, as the water of the river will be soiled and muddy; and it is as well also not to bathe on the chilly rainy days with which we are unfortunately familiar even in summer.

Hydropathy and Hydropathic Appliances.

Hydropathy is a system of treatment of maladies (especially chronic ones) by the exclusive use of cold water in various forms Baths and douches of course form part of it; and besides these, the sick person is undressed, wrapped up in blankets on a couch, and made to drink innumerable glasses of cold water. Perspiration naturally follows, and he is then given either a cold bath or is enveloped in damp sheets. It is unwise, however, to attempt this method of cold applications within and without, unless under the advice of a competent doctor, this treatment requiring a considerable amount of practical experience. Above all, the water should be of a uniform temperature-not more than 46ºF., nor less than 43º; the exact temperature is 46º. It is not by any means easy to obtain this undeviating, unvarying temperature of 46º; but one can always find it at the hydropathic establishment of Divonne, which is situated between the mountains of the Jura and the Lake of Geneva. There several springs unite and form a torrent, which in its turn joins that of the mountain. It is this water which is used for the baths and for all the different methods of treatment of the establishment. After a few baths, which are followed by vigorous rubbings, one feels a sensation of warmth and comfort, a sort of expansion of the body, wherein the vital principle seems to be born anew. The temperature of the water at 46º seems icy to the body, whose warmth is 98º; and on the first plunge into the bath one can hardly tell whether the water is icy cold or scalding hot, and one has a stinging sensation as if one were whipped with nettles. The immersion should only last two minutes, and on leaving the water one should be well rubbed down with some rough woollen stuff. Pleasant warmth soon returns, and remains if one takes some exercise, or if one is wrapped up in blankets.

One need not be afraid of catching cold by the sudden plunge into icy water the very moment one leaves one's bed. The body has not time to lose its natural warmth, and the violent shock of the cold water only gives a stinging, prickling sensation, which brings the blood almost immediately in a rush to the surface, and obviates all possibility of chill. Not only is there no risk of catching cold, but very often one can stop and cure a cold at the beginning by the use of hydropathy.

Though this cold-water treatment sounds very alarming, most people, even delicate women, who try it, become passionately attached to it, and have the necessary apparatus established in their own houses. One of the most appreciated forms of douche is that which is called the "crinoline," a circular one, as its name implies, which brings a fine rain to bear on the whole body at the same time, and about which the lady habituées of Divonne express themselves in enthusiastic terms. In fact, all these different forms of cold-water treatment are liked by women in general, on account of the benefit their nerves derive from their calming and strengthening effects.

Another method is called "packing," and thoroughly deserves its name. The patient is made up like a parcel—first in a wet sheet, over which are placed two woollen blankets, a quilt, and an eiderdown counterpane. These are wrapped tightly round the body of the patient, who, thus bound hand and foot like a mummy, is very soon in a state of profuse perspiration. The coverings are then removed, and the patient plunged in the cold bath. The effect is prompt, soothing, and beneficial.

There is no denying that the science of medicine has found in hydropathy a puissant ally wherewith to vanquish chronic maladies, which before its discovery were often declared incurable. Feminine coquetry has also become aware of the beneficial effect of the cold-water treatment, for the brusque transitions of temperature, followed by the reactions which bring back the warmth to the surface of the body, revive the functions of the skin, strengthen the muscles, and soothe the nerves, all of which result in an increase of beauty in the feminine patient. Of course, to obtain the full benefit of hydropathic treatment, it is necessary to go to some such establishment as that at Divonne; but there are many forms of hydropathic apparatus which it is quite easy to establish in one's own house. Baths, douches, needle-baths, "packing," rubbing, and massage—all these are perfectly possible to attain at home with a certain amount of fitting-up. This is why mention has been made of hydropathic apparatus when speaking of the bath-room. There are three kinds of douches ascending, descending, and horizontal. In the two latter the reservoir must be placed at a fair height, and the pipe should be of a good size, so that the column of water may be strong and voluminous. These are the more common forms of douches. In the ascending douche the reservoir is placed at a lower level, and the pipe should be small in diameter.

How to Clean Sponges.

Nothing is so horrible and disgusting as a sponge that looks grey and dingy, even if it be not really dirty.

A sponge in this state should be steeped in milk for twelve hours. After this time rinse it in cold water, and it will be as good as new, minus the expense. Lemon-juice is also excellent for whitening a sponge.

Sponges always become greasy and sticky at last, and no amount of soap and water will make them fit to use when they get into this state. Hydrochloric acid must then be used, and a teaspoonful of this in a pint of water will be enough to take out the grease and clean the sponge. One may also have recourse at first to carbonate of soda, which sometimes proves sufficient. These are small but very important details, over which the mistress of the house should herself keep watch, for servants think them unworthy of their attention.

PART II THE GENERAL CARE OF THE BODY.

Cleanliness of the Body.

"CLEANLINESS is half a virtue, and uncleanliness is a vice and a half," says Alexandre Dumas, and this is not saying enough. Want of cleanliness is an ugly and ignoble vice, and it is marvellous that women above all should lay themselves open to such a reproach, for it is incompatible with their desire to be beautiful and beloved.

It was in the darkness of the Middle Ages that people dared to condemn cleanliness as a baleful remnant of ancient times (times when humanity, being more civilised, practised the use of baths and ablutions) it was in the gloom of those centuries that this virtue was looked upon as an impiety. The impiety, on the contrary, consists in not taking care of one's body, that body which ought to be daily freed from every speck or stain which the conditions of life impose upon it in our present state of existence.

Even now young girls leave convents and large schools with inadequate notions of cleanliness, and this is inconceivable; and even when they return home, their mothers systematically neglect to instruct them in that part of hygiene which consists in those habits of neatness and daintiness which they themselves have only gradually acquired—sometimes, indeed, not without humiliation.

The Romans washed their bodies before going into the Temple. All Eastern religions, we may observe, order ablutions before prayer. Does not this rule, as hygienic as it is religious, show plainly that physical purity should go hand-in-hand with moral purity? The Koran incessantly recommends the use of baths.

Shall we, then, who are in so many ways above Orientals, be content to remain so much below them in these all-important matters? In these times of ultra-civilisation, shall we continue to ignore the most elementary rules of the dignity of humanity? The animals, which do not possess our hands with a separate thumb, and have none of our facilities for care and neatness, clean their bodies, brighten up their fur or their plumage, from a natural instinct; and shall man, who is their king by his reason and divine intelligence, neglect his body? And shall woman, that marvel of creation, suffer her satin skin, with its pearly reflections, to be profaned by any impurity? Surely not; and therefore the whole human body should be purified every night and every morning from any stain or impurity it may have received under the animal and material laws to which it is still in subjection.

As long as we are not ethereal spirits, as long as we have to live as mortals, we should submit ourselves to our condition, doing all that is in our power to ameliorate it.

And indeed cleanliness already brings us a step nearer to the angels of light while slovenliness, on the other hand, keeps us down in the depths of our original mire.

Cleanliness is as indispensable to health as it is to beauty.

A woman who keeps the pores of her skin open by the daily and abundant use of cold or tepid water, will keep well and grow old slowly. But under the closed pores of a skin not well or frequently washed the flesh becomes flabby and soft.

A well-washed skin is smooth, silky, and fresh; but if repeated layers of perspiration and dust are allowed to accumulate, the skin becomes dry and feverish.

But for numbers of people, it may be argued, it is not possible to take baths every day; the time and the means to do so are not at their disposal. To this I reply that a sponge-bath, which is quite sufficient as regards cleanliness, only requires a few moments of time and a quiet corner. If one cannot spare these few moments every day to take an entire bath, at least one might take time for a partial one, certain parts of the body requiring more care than others. Then, one or twice a week at the least, the necessary time for taking a complete bath should be made. This is the very minimum of washing that our bodies absolutely require. As for the maximum of cleanliness, it is impossible to fix it, for there can be no limit on this point. There are people so scrupulously clean that they purify their stomachs and intestines by swallowing a large glass of hot or cold water every morning, according to their state of health; others have recourse to the classic instrument of Molière, simply as a means of cleanliness. It is easy to imagine that they are quite as much concerned with the care of their outer being.

The slightest negligence on this point is altogether inexcusable. We are wanting in self-respect if we fail to keep our person rigorously clean and neat. And Nature will quickly punish us for such neglect by sickness and premature old age. Bathing and washing, assisted by good soaps, and even vinegars and perfumes, will make our bodies firm, fit, and capable of endurance. Water has the virtue of dissipating all fatigue, destroying the germs of illness, and by giving us pure bodies it renders our souls also more pure. "A healthy spirit in a healthy body."

THE FACE.

Ablutions of the Face.

It is admitted, then, that to exercise their functions properly the pores of the skin should be kept open, and that washing is the best means of keeping them free from the secretions or accumulations which might obstruct and clog them.

It is, therefore, as contrary to the rules of hygiene and coquetry as to that of cleanliness to abstain (as Patti has been accused of doing) from ever washing the face.

At the same time, there are some precautions to be taken on this subject.

If you have a red face, you should use hot water; it will send the blood away, and stop the congestion caused by the rush of blood to the parts affected. It is also bad to wash in cold water when the weather is very warm, or when the face is very much heated either by natural or artificial warmth. Tepid water should be used, with lotions, but without soap. The face should then be slightly powdered, and allowed to dry without being wiped. The same treatment applies when the weather is very dry.

The face should be dried, very gently, with a very fine and rather worn towel. Rough friction with a hard towel will have the effect of thickening the skin. It would be well to remember that the face requires as delicate care as a precious piece of porcelain or a fine work of art. The face, for instance, should never be bathed in too violent a manner, such as plumping the head into a great basin of water. Neither should the face be too constantly washed over and over again in the course of the day, at all moments. One celebrated beauty has never made use of anything but her own hand with which to wash her face. She dries it with a light and very soft flannel. Another beauty prefers a sponge.

We are told that one of the prettiest of our women in society plunges a towel into very hot water, wrings it out, and lays it on her face, where she keeps it for about half-an-hour. She goes through this performance at night, before getting into bed, wiping off lightly with the humidity produced on the surface of the skin any dust that may have collected there during the day. This lady has no wrinkles.

A woman of fifty whose skin is as smooth as that of a young girl has never washed her face except with extremely hot water, which, she declares, tightens the skin and destroys wrinkles. One of this lady's friends washes with cold water immediately after the hot (Russian fashion), and her sister washes with hot water at night and cold in the morning.

These are rather contradictory counsels; but all these apparent contradictions no doubt depend on the state of the skin in these different persons. I will add the advice of a physician in winter wash your face with cold water, in summer with warm or tepid water, so as to keep in harmony with the external temperature. Hard water which will not dissolve soap is bad for all ablutions, especially for those of the face. If it is impossible to obtain rain or river-water, at least soften the hard water by means of a little borax or a few drops of ammonia.

The spirituous essences which are often added to the water for washing the face are very destructive to it. Frequent applications of alcohol dry and harden the skin, and consequently prevent it from performing its proper functions or from nourishing itself with the fresh air or the damp atmosphere.

On the other hand, it is advisable not to expose the face to the air immediately after washing it. When the pores have just been opened by the use of water, the skin should be protected from the action of the air, or it will become coarsened and chapped. Half an hour should be allowed to pass before going out, sitting at an open window, etc. It is for this reason that women who do not occupy themselves much with their household concerns prefer to wash their faces just before going to bed.

It may sometimes be necessary to use soap for the face. In this case the soap (of which we shall speak later) should be very carefully chosen, and it is well not to use it more than is really necessary, and never when the weather is very warm.

Lemon-juice cleans the skin very well, and is much better than soap. Strawberry-juice has the same detergent action, and is, moreover, very good for the skin. Rainwater is better than any Turkish bath for washing the face. Enveloped from head to foot in a waterproof, encounter the downpour or the soft rain of heaven without an umbrella, exposing your face to it during an hour's walk. The rain and the dampness of the air will not only soften and wash the tissues perfectly, but they will efface also from the skin the little lines made there by the dryness of the artificial heating of rooms. Quiet, and sufficient sleep, and walks in the rain, are said to have been the sole beauty-philtres used by Diana de Poitiers, who went out every day, no matter what the weather was, and who used no umbrella, for the good reason that they had not yet at that time been re-invented from the Romans.

The Complexion - Colour.

All women who belong to the white race have always concerned themselves, and will always concern themselves, about the purity, freshness, and brilliancy of their complexion. And in truth a beautiful colour, a white and fine skin, form one of the great attractions of a woman, who cannot be pronounced perfectly beautiful if there is any defect in her complexion.

It is generally thought that the colour and texture of the skin can be improved by outward applications, and this is to a great extent an error. The complexion, of whatever kind it is, depends mainly on the state of the health, on the constitution or the temperament. It is clear, then, that we must have recourse to hygiene rather than to cosmetics in order to diminish the faults of colour.

There are families in which a fine complexion is transmitted as a heritage. You may be sure that such a race is healthy, and has pure blood, which has never been tainted by any of those atrocious diseases which desolate humanity. A celebrated beauty was once asked the secret of the roseleaf tint of her cheeks and the delicacy of her blue-veined skin. "Robust and virtuous ancestors," was her laconic reply.

Nothing is less desirable from the point of view either of health or aesthetics than a face too highly coloured, especially if the roses extend all, or nearly all, over the whole of it. It indicates a plethoric habit.

People afflicted with this very high colour, whose eyes even are bloodshot, are generally, it may be noticed, large eaters and lovers of ease and luxury, and have a great repugnance to healthy exercise. It is evident that to lower the tone of their complexion these people should restrain their appetites, choose less succulent foods, deny themselves some of their comforts, and keep their over-nourished bodies a little under. They would at once find their health benefited by such régime, and their headaches, confusion of mind, and dizziness would disappear. Instead of being red all over, their complexion would change to the brilliant stage, which is a totally different thing, for even very bright roses are not out of place on the cheeks only, and then they make the forehead, nose, and chin, which they have happily forsaken, appear all the fairer. A brilliant feverish colour which shows itself on the cheek-bone only, is too often an indication of consumption. Unfortunately, it is not to hygiene alone that we must have recourse in such cases.

When the complexion is muddy, pale, pasty, too white, greenish, yellow, or purple, it always proclaims a bad state of health. Sometimes a muddy complexion is natural, but much more often it denotes dyspepsia, languid circulation, etc.

A pale colour is due to an indoor life without exercise, from the habit or the necessity of shunning the daylight and the sunshine. A pasty colour belongs to a lymphatic temperament. An olive complexion is not always a sign of ill-health; those who have it should look back and see whether they have not had some Southern or Creole ancestor before making themselves uneasy on the subject. A very white complexion, without any colour, belongs to persons seriously attacked in their health, though there is at times nothing else to show this. A purple colour may be produced by heart disease; a yellow one needs quite special attention.

Thus we see that whenever the complexion is defective, care and precaution should always be taken.

Hygiene may often suffice, and we shall endeavour to trace the great outlines of this preventive remedy for the use of women at least.

A very thin woman may be in good health, but she never has a good complexion, according to the proverb which says "there is no beautiful skin over the bones. But presently we shall show her the means of growing a little fatter. We may, however, tell her and all women at once that it is necessary to restrain their impatience and irritability, which dry up the blood more than illness or even sorrow itself.

Everybody may be recommended to preserve the face from too great artificial heat.

Cold is unfavourable to dark complexions, and heat to fair ones. The wind makes the face either blueish or pale. Whenever it is possible to choose a walk, going against the wind should be avoided. Many parents dislike seeing their children kissed frequently, for the velvety skin of a baby suffers much therefrom. Too much kissing is bad for the complexion.

Further on we shall explain to women how they should live, and what they should eat, in order to preserve or improve a pretty colour, and how to remain beautiful while keeping their health.

Wrinkles.

There would be fewer wrinkles if people would correct themselves of certain bad habits. Repeated frowning leaves an indelible mark, in certain straight lines between the eyebrows. Lifting the eyebrows at every movement for nothing at all is done at the cost of long horizontal lines across the forehead, which makes people look five years older than they really are. A stereotyped artificial smile stamps two large creases from the nose to the corners of the mouth. Sitting up late at night reading novels is infallible for drawing that terrible network of crows' feet round the eyes which disfigures the prettiest face.

People who laugh a great deal have little wrinkles on their cheeks close to the mouth, but these are rather pleasing. There need be no anxiety except about wrinkles that come from causes we ought to fight against: cheerfulness is a virtue to be encouraged. Suffering traces lines on worn features, but they disappear with the return of health.

To delay the appearance of wrinkles, and to reduce the heaviness of the chin, the face should be washed and dried from the lower part up to the top. To avoid the dreaded crows' feet, wash the eyes in the direction from the temple towards the nose.

It is an immense mistake to fill up with face powder the lines made by wrinkles; it only makes them the deeper.

Some of the millionaires in New York, whose skins suffer from the over-heated rooms, have their faces sprayed with soft water for a quarter of an hour every night before going to bed. This has the effect of a very fine rain, which effaces the wrinkles and produces the required humidity for the epidermis. To counteract the disastrous effects of the dry and burning heat of stoves and calorifères, it is indispensable to stand vessels full of water on them, that the evaporation may render the air damp enough. Even better results may be obtained by using wet cloths, and renewing them as often as necessary.

The fear of wrinkles leads many women to submit to the hardest sacrifices, in the hope of conjuring away the demon of old age.

Here is the manner in which one woman in society proceeds to efface the signs which late hours and gaieties leave on her face. When she feels knocked up and in the blues, if something has gone wrong or worried her, she goes to bed and stays there till her fatigue has passed off, or her irritation is over and her good-humour come back. Then she gets up, fresh, beautiful, in an amiable frame of mind, and all her wrinkles smoothed out. She declares that if all idle women followed her example in the like circumstances, they would prolong their youth and beauty, calm their nerves, and thus gain a desirable equanimity of character.

A mother, careful of the beauty of her daughter, tried the following treatment for her during her first season. The young lady went to a ball every day in the week, but on Sundays she stayed in bed, only rising in time for five o'clock tea and retiring again at an early hour. The results of this kind of life were happy. The young girl did not catch cold once during the season, and when the time came for going to the seaside, she seemed to be the only one who did not need any of the benefits which society women expect from the sea air. She was like a country girl, and as fresh as a rose.

Women who have no children, and are deprived of the immense joys and many and arduous duties of maternity, would do well to spend their leisure in perfecting their own characters and hearts. Once again, I would persuade all women that the moral character is quite as—or, indeed, much more—worthy of interest than the physical body.

Far better have one wrinkle more, and acquire a good quality, than a smooth forehead and the faults of a child.

Nevertheless if it is possible to take a moment of respite from the accomplishment of daily duties, I would urge a little rest for the face, four or five times a day, by shutting the eyes and remaining perfectly still for one, two, or five minutes, when it can be done without neglecting anything important. Even these short rests from occupations and agitations will greatly retard the ravages that time and life imprint on the face.

Sunburn.

You are no doubt justly annoyed, dear reader, when your jasmine-tinted complexion is burnt after walking in the hot sun or sitting for a long time on the beach.

But it is easy to restore to your face the pearly whiteness of which you were justly proud.

Bathe it in the evening with a cold infusion of fresh cucumbers cut up in slices in milk. A decoction of tansy in butter-milk is still more efficacious. Butter-milk by itself even will be of some use.

Another certain means of getting rid of the burning caused by sea or country air consists in washing with the juice of green grapes, which can be obtained as follows:— Wet your bunch of grapes, and sprinkle them lightly with alum; then wrap them up in white paper, and put them to cook under hot charcoal embers. When the grapes are fender, they will be sufficiently done. Take off the paper, and squeeze the bunch under a vessel to press out the juice, and wash your face with this juice. You must perform this operation three times over at intervals of four-and-twenty hours, but it is an infallible remedy.

Many people believe, and not without reason, that it blackens the skin to wash at midday in summer. The hour of noon should be dreaded by those who have delicate skins.

A foreign physician affirms that the electric light burns the faces of those exposed to it, as much as the sun does. And the moon—even the pale moon—is supposed to have the same effect upon our skin. After all, it is said to eat away stone; so it may well have some effect upon our complexions. The Maréchale d'Aumont, "as beautiful in her old age as in her youth," was in mortal fear of the night-dew and the moon.

But let us return to the misdeeds of the sun. The Italians proceed very simply when they wish to remedy the effects of the sun or of the sea air after a sojourn in their country villas or on the borders of the Adriatic, the Mediterranean, or the lakes, in this wise:— They take the white of an egg beaten into a good froth, bathe the face with it, and leave it to dry on the skin for a quarter of an hour, then rinse it off with fresh water. This is done three or four times, and always at night, just before getting into bed. This last injunction, and also that of drying the face gently with a very fine towel, are essential. I have already given the reasons for both. Finally, a mixture of lemon-juice and glycerine in equal parts has good results against the injuries done to our epidermis by the sun and the wind. If the skin will not bear glycerine—of which more later on—it should be replaced by rose-water.

Freckles.

Freckles are the despair of blonde and florid women especially, but also of brunettes who possess a white skin. Some doctors attribute these spots to the presence of a certain amount of iron in the blood. It has been proved that the abuse of ferruginous medicines is often the determinating cause of these yellow stains which spoil many a beautiful forehead.

Others say that freckles indicate a delicate constitution and a slow and feeble circulation. The following are remedies for these annoying spots:—

1st. One of my friends found the following mixtures beneficial, with one or other of which she anointed her freckles every night, going to bed: one part of tincture of iodine and three parts of glycerine.

2nd. In half a pint of oil of turpentine dissolve 7 grammes of powdered camphor, then add 2 grammes of oil of sweet almonds. This is an excellent liniment for the inconvenience of which we are now speaking.

3rd. 28 grammes of powdered camphor and 112 grammes of pure olive oil, melted by a gentle heat.

4th. Try applications of butter-milk, which is as good as, if not better than, the foregoing recipes.

5th. In some countries the perfumed water extracted from the iris by means of steam (bain-marie) is used to beautify the skin and complexion; if a little salt of tartar is dissolved in this, it will remove freckles.

6th. Dissolve 16 centigrammes of borax in 20 grammes of rose-water and the same quantity of orange-flower water, and bathe the spots with this lotion.

7th. Fresh Leans boiled in water, mashed and applied as a poultice, will produce an excellent effect.

8th. Mix vinegar, lemon-juice, alcohol, oil of lavender, oil of roses, oil of cedar, and distilled water; use this lotion going to bed, and wash with fresh water the next morning.

9th. Use recipe No. 1 for curing redness in the nose.

10th. A mixture formed of two parts juice of watercress and one part honey is much recommended for freckles and sunburn. The two substances, when mixed, should be passed through muslin, and rubbed in night and morning.

A few very simple precautions may prevent the appearance of freckles. Our ancestors, who were most careful of their complexions, wore masks of velvet in winter to protect their skin from the cold; in summer they wore silk masks to defend their delicate epidermis against Apollo's darts, which produce these hateful spots. If it is impossible to revive the use of masks, wear straw-coloured veils in April, when the buds begin to star the meadows, and spots unfortunately begin to blossom on faces. It would be too long to explain scientifically why you will be as safe from the rays of the sun under yellow gauze as under a mask, but I will answer for the efficacy of this device. It may be objected that straw-coloured veils are hardly becoming. The question is whether you care most for the admiration of the people you meet out of doors (who are often unknown to you), or for that of the people who see you at home with your face uncovered—your friends, and, above all, your husband.

While travelling the face should be only washed at night, and add to the water for use a few drops of tincture of benzoin. Lait virginal is nothing but this. In all cases never confront the open air till you have well dried, and lightly powdered, your face. Carrots, which are a specific for the complexion, are thought highly of as a remedy for freckles. Take a thin carrot soup for your early breakfast instead of café au lait with rye bread steeped in it.

Warts.

I think it was Montaigne who said "I love Paris, down to its very warts." That may be all very well for a great and magnificent city, but a pretty or beautiful face is terribly disfigured by these little hard bumps, vulgarly called poireaux.

I will therefore give some safe and simple means of getting rid of them:—

1st. Take some small doses of sulphate of magnesia (Epsom salts). For an adult the dose is from 60 to 90 grains a day for a month. After a fortnight of this treatment the warts have almost always disappeared.

2nd. In other days the fuller's teazel (Labrum Veneris or Virga Pastoris or, scientifically, Dipsacus Fullonum) was much prized as a remedy for warts; it was thus named because the leaves are arranged in the form of a basin, "and in fact the said leaves, sometimes bent into a bow, represent a basin wherein water and dew will always be found." The warts were rubbed with the water or juice found in these hollows.

3rd. Someone recommends that the wart should be pressed against the bone with the thumb, moving it in and out till the roots become irritated and painful. The wart will then melt away or fall off.

4th. Warts may be cured by rubbing them three or four times a day with a potato. Cut the end off the potato, and rub the wart with the part freshly cut; and after each rubbing, cut another slice off the potato.

5th. Rub night and morning with the following ointment:— 4 parts by weight of chromate of potassium, well mixed with 5 parts of axungia or Vaseline. Three or four weeks of this treatment will effect a cure.

6th. Lemon-juice will remove warts. Touch them three or four times a day with a camel's-hair brush steeped in the juice.

7th. Take a slate, and have it calcined in the fire; then reduce it to powder, and mix this powder with strong vinegar. Rub the excrescences with this wash, and they will give way to the treatment.

8th. European heliotrope (herb for warts, or Verrucaria in the pharmacopoeia) is much vaunted, and its juice, mixed with salt, is said to destroy warts and lumps.

9th. Caustic or nitrate of silver exterminates warts very well; they should be touched with it every two or three days.

10th. A wart may be got rid of by steeping it several times a day in castor-oil.

11th. Melt some spirit of salts in water, and wash the warts with this water. This caustic will make them fall off in scales. The utmost care must be taken, especially if this remedy is used for the face.

12th. The caustic juice of the greater celandine may also be used.

It is a mistake to imagine that warts can be caught by contact. Before burning a wart with caustic, it should be cut to the quick.

Diseases of the Skin affecting the Face.

For the little scurfy eruptions which sometimes conic on the face, one doctor of my acquaintance recommends rubbing with lemon-juice—successfully.

Ulcerated eruptions have been cured by bathing with strawberry-juice. An easier or more agreeable remedy can hardly be imagined. It is much less repugnant than, and quite as efficacious as, a live yellow slug, with which the sore used to be rubbed till the unhappy mollusc was used up. Bathing with strawberries is sovereign against ulcers as well as eruptions. If used daily while they are in season, they will drive away all redness, inflammation, pimples, etc., from the face.

Eczema on the face should be treated with poultices of potato flour, and the patient should drink a tisane of alder-root (½ounce to a quart of water, decocted). A pint of the decoction should be taken, fasting, at two or three different times; another pint to be taken in the evening, at least two hours after the last meal. The diet should be very severe—neither wine nor coffee, no game, fish, or pork in any shape. In this case strawberries are forbidden, as well as asparagus, cabbage, turnips, and cheese, with the exception of Gruyère.

Almost the same diet should be used for redness (couperose) of the face; and for this the following lotion and ointment are also recommended:—

Lotion—refined sulphur, 1 oz.; alcohol, ½oz.; distilled water, 1 pint. Sponge the face with this mixture often. (Hot vapour douches are also excellent.)

Ointment—1 part of oxide of zinc to 10 parts of Vaseline. Anoint time face with this, going to bed. This treatment should be interrupted twice a week for twenty-four hours. Before bathing or anointing the face, it should be well washed in tepid water.

It is unnecessary to say that these simple remedies may be used for the same diseases on other parts of the body.

Depilatories.

Some women have another and still deeper cause for despair. I speak of the hairs which appear on time chin in maturity, and of the down which may darken and give a mannish look even to the rosy lips of a girl of twenty.

Let none give way to despair—there is more than one remedy for these ills:—

1st. I consider that the use of a pair of small steel pincers is the most efficacious and unobjectionable of all remedies. But care must be taken to pull the hair out by the roots, and not to break it during the operation: it requires a determined pull. An electrical operation has lately been much vaunted also—it is called electrolysis; the hair never grows again after this operation, while the use of the pincers must be constantly renewed.

2nd. Water distilled from the leaves and root of celandine. It is applied as a compress on the desired spot, and left on all night. It should be repeated till the down disappears.

3rd. Sulpho-hydrate of soda 1½ drachms, of quick lime 5 drachms, starch 5 drachms. Mix these into a paste with a little water, and apply it, keeping it on for an hour, and washing with fresh water afterwards.

4th. Cut up an oak-apple into little pieces, and put it into a basin, with white wine over it to the depth of a finger. Let it steep in this bath for twenty-four hours; then distil it with boiling water till nothing more ascends. Apply it in a compress on the affected part, and keep it on all night. Repeat this every night till time desired result is produced.

If it were true, as some people affirm, that lentils have the property of increasing in length and thickness the growth of the hair, of causing the moustaches of youths and the beards of men to grow and become bushy, then indeed should women who have a tendency to down on their lips and chins eschew having anything to do with this formidable vegetable.

Waters and Cosmetics for the Face.

Never use any kind of paint; all rouges are bad for the skin, and white paints are dangerous.

The Chinese have, however, discovered an inoffensive rouge, made of the juice of beet-root, with which they redden their cheeks.

The ordinary essences, ointments, and powders of commerce, are either without any effect at all, or produce exactly the opposite to the one hoped for.

Nevertheless I shall give the recipes for some waters and cosmetics, but it is because I am certain of their perfect harmlessness, and that some of them are refreshing to the skin.

We begin with the simplest.

Very greasy and oily skins will be the better for being washed with wine (all those of France and the Rhine) about once a fortnight. If the skin is dark, red wine should be preferred. Fresh cucumber-juice is among the best timings for time skin; and almost equally good is the water in which spinach in flower has been boiled. But strawberry-juice—of which we have already spoken—is superior to both.

In the sixteenth century time water in which beans were cooked was ill great favour, and this mealy water did really deserve time reputation it then had.

The Gauls, whose brilliant carnation was the envy of the Roman patricians, washed their faces with the froth of beer. They also used chalk dissolved in vinegar. I do not know what to think of this solution, but I can answer for it that the foam of beer is still used with advantage by the women of the North. Belladonna takes its name from the use the Italians made of its juice for improving the complexion.

The Roman ladies of antiquity, who were such great coquettes, considered, it is said, the blood of the hare as time most precious of cosmetics—a somewhat repellent recipe for modern taste.

The following lotion is excellent:—A wineglassful of fresh lemon-juice, a pint of rain-water, five drops of rose-water. This should be kept well corked, and used from time to time it will preserve the colour of the skin.

Flabby and relaxed skins will derive benefit from the following cosmetics, used at intervals of eight days:— Equal parts of milk, and brandy made from corn. Wet the face with this mixture by means of a soft towel, after having washed, and before getting into bed. The result is not immediate, but after a year the skin will have become sufficiently strung up, firm, smooth, and fine.

If you have a very dry skin, and require oily ointment, instead of the softening creams so erroneously praised, use highly-rectified Vaseline, with a few drops of perfumed oil in it.

Oil of cacao enriches a dry skin. A mixture called "Princess of Wales" consists of half a pint of milk, with the juice of a slice of Portugal lemon squeezed into it. The face is to be anointed with this mixture at bedtime, and washed with fresh (not cold) water the next morning.

Lastly, here are some real cosmetics which are not dangerous to the tissues:—At the end of May take a pound of the freshest butter possible (of course, perfectly unmixed with salt or anything else); place it in a white basin, and put it where the sun will be on it the whole day, but where no dust or dirt can fall on it. When the butter is melted, pour over it plantain-juice, and mix the two well together with a wooden spoon. Allow the sun to absorb the plantain-water, and put more juice on six times a day. Continue this till the butter has become as white as snow. During time last few days add a little orange-flower and rose water. Anoint your face with this ointment at night, and wipe it carefully in the morning. This is an old and good recipe of the time of la belle Gabrielle.

Here is one that dates from the time of the Crusades:—Boil six fresh eggs hard, take out the yolks, and replace them by myrrh and powdered sugar-candy in equal parts. Then join the two halves of the white of the eggs (which had been cut in two to take out the yolks), and expose the six eggs to the fire on a plate. A liquid will come from them which is to be mixed with an ounce of lard or white Vaseline, prepared as I shall direct under the heading "Pomades and Hair-Oils." The face should be covered in the morning with the ointment thus obtained, which should be allowed to dry on it, and then gently wiped off.

It is said that this secret of beauty was brought back from Palestine by a beau chevalier with whom a sultana had fallen in love. If his lady-love got wind of his infidelity, she may well have forgiven it for the sake of this cosmetic which he brought back from the harem into which he had intruded.

Cosmetics for the Hands, Arms, etc.

The recipes which we have given above may be used for the neck, arms, and hands.

Here is another, to be used on evenings, when the arms and neck are uncovered:— 80 grains of oxide of zinc to 1 oz. of glycerine, with the addition of a little rose-water. This preparation has the advantage of not coming off on the coats of one's partners.

The Use of Face Powder.

I have said that it is sometimes necessary to powder the face, and I have pointed out on what occasions. But it must be done artistically and with a light hand—simply enough to give the skin the delightful surface of the peach.

Nothing is so ugly as a face powdered like a Pierrot ready to grin. The spectator should be left in doubt as to whether the skin is imperceptibly veiled by a thin cloud of powder, or whether it is the natural bloom. Then the effect is pretty, especially under a veil; not but that a natural skin is preferable if it is fine, smooth, and just the right colour.

The puff should be dipped into the powder with precaution, so as not to come out too full of powder, which will prevent a wise use of it. Nor should the puff be wiped on the skin; it should barely touch the face, and that in a succession of small quick taps. Care must be taken not to powder the eyebrows and eyelashes, and to take off any that may have adhered to the lips.

A touch of powder should be put on the whole of the face, except the eyes, eyebrows, and lips; otherwise any part that is not touched with powder will look ridiculously dark compared with those that are.

PART III. ADVICE AND RECIPES.

Feminine Diet: Nourishment.

IN order to avoid growing old (that bankruptcy for the sex!), nourish yourself with food, light, but nutritious and varied, according to the seasons. It will be found very wholesome to take milk for one's first breakfast. Eat little at the second, especially if you are going to do any kind of work after it. The principal meal of Roman soldiers and workmen took place in the evening, after work was over. At the second breakfast an egg and a vegetable ought to suffice. Dine at six o'clock, or at seven at the latest, and do not have too great a number of dishes. Take a small cup of milk and a light biscuit when you go to bed.

A diet too rich or too recherché, the abuse of butcher's meat, sauces, liqueurs, and old wines, are very bad for the complexion.

To obtain and to preserve a good colour, you should adopt a light diet, and eat meat once a day, and then in moderate quantity. Vegetables, on the contrary, may play a prominent part in the regimen. Some are more favourable than others to good-looks. In the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries soups were made of white chickweed, to clear the complexion. These soups were called "soupes au roi" because Odette de Champdivers, who nursed Charles VI., had conceived the idea of giving him the herb in this form as a remedy. White chickweed was also eaten as a salad; decoctions and infusions were likewise made of it, and were taken to clear the face from redness and flushings. This herb might well regain the place then given it among eatables, for it still retains all its virtues.

A rhymed proverb of the Renaissance recommends certain vegetables especially, saying that "spinach and leeks bring lilies to the cheeks."

To these may be added cucumbers, carrots, and tomatoes; and many others, if not as good, are good. Gingerbread and rye-bread ought to have a foremost place among the foods preferred. A small slice of either between a second light breakfast and a moderate dinner will not overload the stomach.

Too much butter, bacon, fat, and oil in cooking, is to be deprecated, from the point of view of health as well as from that of the delicacy of the complexion. It is not necessary to exclude pastry absolutely, but only to admit it rarely: once a week at the most. Sugar should be used in moderation, and bonbons hardly ever. Acids are not all desirable. Preserves should not appear upon the table every day. In very many cases cheeses are altogether forbidden, except Gruyère, which is considered a purifier. Tea, coffee, and chocolate are harmless, if they are used moderately. Milk and lemonade are, on the other hand, excellent for the complexion. Wine should be largely diluted—at least as much of the same quantity of well-filtered water as of wine.

If it were possible to swallow a glass of hot water before the principal meal, the complexion would be all the better. Mineral and digestive waters are excellent for mixing with wine.

Eat plenty of fruit: that is to say, eat it often, every day at dessert. All fruits are good, but some are better than others. Use strawberries abundantly while they are in season, unless indeed you have a tendency to eczema. They purify the blood and the liver, and are said to cure rheumatism and gout, if their good effects are helped by a severe diet. Shall I go so far as to say that they cheer the spirits, as some affirm ? Cherries are also said to have the same quality, and to cure "vesania," a disease of the mind. Red currants are very refreshing, and so are plums. The peach, that queen of fruits, is very good for the stomach.

The apple is the most wholesome of all fruits, and its good properties are innumerable; the orange is also to be specially recommended.

It is said that the Baroness X who was one of the beauties of the Court of Louis Philippe, and who, at the age of eighty, still had bright eyes and the complexion of a young girl, lived almost entirely upon oranges during forty years; she had a dozen oranges for breakfast, a dozen oranges in the middle of the day, and a dozen oranges, a slice of bread, and a glass of claret for dinner.

I cannot say I advise such a diet, but certainly the prettiest women are generally as frugal as camels in their food.

The Marquise de Crégny, who lived last century, and died at the age of nearly a hundred, only ate, for fifty years, vegetables stewed in chicken broth, and cooked fruit. She never drank anything but water, except during pregnancy, when the doctors made her take sweetened wine. In the last forty years of her life the water she drank was boiled, and had a little sugar-candy melted in it.

Several of my acquaintances who have exquisite complexions eat nothing but vegetables and cooked fruit all through Lent, and only drink water.

A group of pretty society women out-do even these; they are not satisfied with the abstinence imposed upon them for forty days, but go on fasting for two weeks after Easter, taking nothing but vegetables and fruit. They explain this extension of penitence by the necessity of counteracting the effects of fish, which has so large a place in the Lenten diet. The inhabitants of the salt waves, when indulged in too freely, bring out pimples on the purest complexions. This is the reason why many women eat fish sparingly at all times. Shell-fish, above all, are to be looked upon with suspicion.

If you will follow the easy advice that has been given here, the results obtained will surprise you. Diet does far more for health than doctors and drugs.

There can be no beauty without health. Directly you feel a little out of sorts, a more or less curtailed diet is generally the best. If you feel unwell, give up at once the more. substantial foods and generous wines; the hours of meals should be regulated, allowing a sufficient time between each.

It is well to remember that that which sustains life may also destroy it. To keep in good health, it is necessary to know how to restrain the appetite. In spring especially, diet is of great importance; and a celebrated practitioner told me that the "medical spring" begins at the end of January.

As one grows older the quantity of food should be reduced, and only very digestible dishes should be chosen. After sixty this becomes an absolute necessity.

The Life one should live.

A delightful old lady was asked by some young woman the secret of her pink-and-white colour, which she retained at an advanced age, while her contemporaries were sallow and faded; and in reply she sketched out a whole plan of life, which I will now give you:—

"Sitting up too late and sleeping too long in the morning spoil the complexion. Go to bed early and get up betimes; you will age less quickly, and will long retain your beauty. If, however, your position requires you to go into society, you must take care of yourself in this way: try to get a little sleep in the afternoon of the day on which you have to sit up late. When you come in, before going to bed plunge into a warm bath for a few moments; then take a cup of soup and half a glass of Malaga. You will go to sleep immediately, and you will remain asleep until you awaken naturally, which under such circumstances will not be till about ten o'clock. Then take a cold bath, sponging yourself all over; and have a light breakfast of café-au-lait and bread without butter.

The old lady added: "How necessary it is to go out as little as possible! What an amount of precious time fétes and parties make us lose before, during, and after them!"

She continued: "Walking in the open air is very good for the complexion; but out-of-door sports must not be abused. While a daily walk of reasonable length is to be recommended, we must remember that the complexion will suffer if whole days are spent in playing lawn-tennis, croquet, etc. Wear warm and light clothing, so as to keep your body always at an equal temperature. In winter keep the spine well protected; it is even more important than to protect the chest. Wear a silk handkerchief under the chemise if you don't like to wear flannel whilst you are young. In any case, though you may be only twenty years old, if you are delicate you should cover the spine with a strip of flannel—tied with a ribbon round the throat, and reaching to the loins. You need not be afraid of colds, bronchitis, or phthisis, if you take this slight precaution, which will not prevent your wearing a dress low in front, cut in a point or square. Do not wear your clothes too tight. To do so is against both the rules of health and real beauty. To compress the vital organs too much, congests the face. The hands swell and grow red, the whole appearance becomes stiff and awkward. Give yourself plenty of breathing-room, let your hand be at ease in your glove, and let your foot have all the room it wants in the shoe.

"Take a glass of mineral water occasionally, in the morning—either of Seidlitz, Epsom, or Hunyadi Janos, etc. If your complexion becomes muddy, doctor yourself for three nights running, when you go to bed, with a teaspoonful of an infusion of powdered charcoal mixed with honey. Follow it up with a light aperient."

"Iron and quinine have a disastrous effect on the complexion. Alkalines with a little arsenic are, on the other hand, excellent for it."

"Sponge the body every day with cold water when you are in good health. Live in a healthy house; and in winter do not allow the temperature of your bedroom to fall below about 60º Fahrenheit. Work; employ your time. Read, and take an interest in the great and beautiful things of nature and humanity. Activity of mind and body keeps old age at a distance. Avoid excitements and excessive luxury; do not allow your passions to master you.

"Be temperate, and your features will become refined. Greediness disfigures and coarsens the body. There is nothing like a rigid temperance in everything for keeping or obtaining beauty and freshness of complexion. Do not make up' your face while you are young, if you wish to preserve a pure colour in your old age. When the silver threads begin to streak your hair, do not have recourse to dyes, which only make it come out, or destroy its colour and silkiness. A beautiful white head of hair is a more becoming frame for the face at a certain age than locks as black as a raven's wing or blonde curls. It is better not to have too many heavily-scented flowers near you. 'Flowers,' remarked an old doctor to one of my prettiest aunts, 'are envious of the beauty of women, and are capable of injuring it.' This was a charming metaphor by which he tried to convince his lovely patient of the danger of keeping them too near her. Headaches, which are the consequence of doing so, are certainly not an embellishment.

"It is alleged that women of a certain age do well to practise gymnastic exercises. But this would be very unbecoming to them. If they want to use their arms, why should they not do household work, as was lately prescribed to a northern queen, who followed this sensible medical advice? With the hands protected by gloves, one can dust, brush, and sweep to one's heart's content. This is a sufficient and useful form of gymnastics, natural and healthy, and not ridiculous, like the former.

"There is no doubt that the body should be exercised and the limbs kept active. But, above all, we should be cheerful, or at least serene. As we advance in life, let us try to improve ourselves more and more, and to be kind and tolerant. A benevolent disposition and a certain calmness of mind are among the indispensable conditions for preserving good-looks.

"In mature age, let us put away all pretensions to juvenility. A dowager in a decolletée tulle dress, with nothing on her head, is hideous, almost odious. It is her part to wear heavy and rich materials; she should cover her head with a lace mantilla, and her thin shoulders should be draped.

"A grandmother dressed like her granddaughter, or even like her daughter, is a horrible sight.

"She should still, however, continue to love youth in others, to welcome it with pleasure, and to smile upon it.

"In short, it is stupid to be afraid of the coming years, and which will come all the same. Let us accept our age. An octogenarian who continues to take care of her person can still be beautiful, charming, beloved by her children and her friends, young and old.

Secrets of Beauty.

You must well understand the nature of your skin in order to keep your good-looks.

If you have a dry skin, you cannot treat it as you would an oily one. If it is a flabby one, it requires quite different treatment from a firm one. But, whatever it is, it is necessary to be on your guard against the cosmetics that are sold, which corrode and coarsen, and even roughen it with horrible little white pimples, which nothing can cure.

Spring, river, and rain water seem to me the first and best of all cosmetics, excellent for every skin. The rather oily juices of melon and of cucumber suit dry skins. Strawberry-juice is good for greasy skins. An infusion of lavender or of marjoram will give tone to a soft skin.

Nevertheless, one must not overdo such remedies. They should never be used daily, at the cost of losing their effect after a time.

All treatments should be interrupted for some days from time to time. Our bodies quickly become accustomed to medicaments of all kinds, which then cease to be efficacious.

A faded face (dry skins fade the soonest) will regain some freshness by using a lotion of which the following is the recipe. This lotion softens the epidermis:—

Boil some crumb of bread and roots of mallow in filtered rain-water. When the water is a little reduced, strain it through a clean white cloth, then add a good proportion of yolk of egg and some fresh cream. Stir it well, and perfume it with orange-flower-water.

This lotion has to be made fresh every time it is used. It does not do to apply it even the next day, as it will have turned sour.

Plantain-water is equally to be recommended.

Pretty Octogenarians.

An octogenarian, as I have said, can still be beautiful and charming. I have seen more than one example of good-looks lasting to an advanced age. At eighty-five the Maréchale Davoust, Princess of Eckmühl, the wife of the conqueror of Auerstadt, had still a queenly carriage, superb eyes, and the most lovely complexion in the world, so dazzling as to rival her admirable snow-white hair.

The Maréchale had never washed her face with anything but clear water. She kept a perfectly simple table, except on the days when she entertained, and even then she did not diverge from her usual temperate habits. She was generous, benevolent, and hospitable, although (or because) she was such a great lady, and these qualities had caused her to retain her charm and grace, so that her society was sought for to the last.

She had been one of the most lovely women of her day, but she had resisted the successes of her beauty. In her youth her thoughts were always set upon her absent lover, on the husband far from her side, on the hero ever exposed to danger. Age could neither alarm nor depress her valiant nature, though she had had to endure many sorrows, and years had but made of her a matron at once attractive and dignified. Her eyes and her brow reflected healthy thoughts only, and she wore the halo of a strong, virtuous, and loving woman.

Everyone has heard of her daughter, the Marquise de Blocqueville, whose literary talent sufficed to place her in the front rank. But the Marquise is, besides, one of the most attractive hostesses in Paris, although she, too, has left youth behind her. Endowed with infinite goodness, grace, and generosity, finding her own happiness in making that of others, in bringing out the good qualities, great or small, of those she likes; her pure brow shows traces of the most noble pre-occupations of the mind; and although she has suffered, her smile is of a very penetrating sweetness. Like her mother, she wears her own white hair, lightly powdered, which heightens her likeness to the adorable women of the eighteenth century.

The Marquise dresses with rare distinction, without, however, spending so much as most women of her rank. Attractiveness is a womanly duty, even to the last.

In her delightful book of thoughts, poetically entitled "Chrysanthemums" the Marquise writes: "The coquetry of age is a sacred coquetry; it commands us to take more, pains with ourselves not to displease than we take in youth to please." All women of a certain age should follow the example of Madame de Blocqueville, instead of imitating the fashions of their granddaughters. "There comes a time," says the Marquise further, "when every woman should dress in her fashion, if she does not wish to lose the dignity of her age by following the fashion.

Here are all the secrets for remaining till the end beautiful and attractive to everyone.

OBESITY AND THINNESS.

Stout Women.

EXCESSIVE embonpoint is a disfigurement to the human body, and causes it to lose all grace of outline. A woman looks forward with dread to becoming stout, for she must say good-bye to the perfection of her profile, to the slimness of her figure, and to the grace of her appearance.

Some have indeed the courage to submit to the most severe regimen, to the hardest treatment, so as to preserve their beauty; and they do well, for a woman must absolutely be, remain, or become pretty.

An Empress of Austria, perceiving one day that her statuesque chin was getting double and her waist increasing in size, gave a cry of alarm. What! was she about to lose the slimness which made her look twenty years younger than she was, to carry herself no more with the air of a goddess treading the clouds? No, no; she would do anything in order to remain the most beautiful sovereign in Europe. She, the best horsewoman in the would, gave up riding, and took to long walks every day, in all weathers.

A little later it was a Queen of Italy who was threatened with the same disaster. But neither would she submit to losing her character of being a pretty worn an; and at once she grasped the pointed alpenstock of mountain climbers to scale the highest peaks of her kingdom.

In earlier times Diane de Poitiers took a walk every day to preserve her beauty.

A woman who is too fat cannot take a step without puffing like a grampus, and being in a bath of perspiration; she is as heavy as an elephant; her waist and the great circumference of her hips give her an appearance of vulgarity, however distinguished-looking she may have been by nature. Her hanging cheeks, her swollen eyelids, give her a repulsive countenance. She loses beauty, shape, and grace.

I would not sketch such a portrait, nor thus dwell upon the ugly effects of obesity, did I not wish to awaken the vanity of those women who have allowed themselves to grow too stout, and did I not know that with good will and courage it is possible to remedy the evil. I wish, before acting as a doctor, to hold up a mirror to them; and if I have been severe, it is only that I may the better persuade them to seek a cure for this annoying defect—a· cure which is within reach of all.

How to Avoid Growing Stout.

Obesity can be avoided by never giving way to laziness, by occupying the mind, and keeping the body active. You must be less given to taking your ease and indulging in such lengthy repose under your eiderdown, such prolonged dozing in comfortable armchairs. Did anyone ever see a peasant who had grown too fat?

In fact, when there is a tendency to grow stout it is necessary to live with a kind of Spartan frugality. But there are people whose greediness is even stronger than their vanity or than their desire for good health. They never dream of giving up good living, rich dishes, old wines, or highly-spiced cooking; and yet we see that the poor wretches who never dine with Lucullus are seldom disfigured by becoming too fat.

Rouse yourselves, ye unfortunate fat ones, for indeed I pity you! Labour till you bring the sweat to your brow. Be of some good in the world, for no one has the right to be useless. Reduce your good things in number; to-day have one dish the less, to-morrow another. You can send the unnecessary luxuries to some poor neighbour. You will thus be charitable to two people—to yourself, and to some miserable being who has to look at every crust of bread before eating it.

Take as your motto "Work and Frugality," and by these means you will save yourself.

How to Grow Thin.

Exercise, even rather exaggerated exercise, is one of the most esteemed means of bringing the body to reasonable proportions.

Even a certain amount of fatigue should not be feared; for when one is tired, the rapidity of breathing is increased, the starchy tissues and sugar are consumed, and therefore do not turn into fat. This once admitted, the habits to be cultivated have all been indicated. Tear yourself from sleep and from your bed very early; be stirring about from the first moment of the day. Go to rest late, and set yourself to some sustained intellectual work.

It is necessary that perfect sobriety and a strict diet should go hand-in-hand with exercise. Foods which make fat largely should be avoided. Of this description are those which contain starch and sugar, especially starch (such as wheat, rye, oats, rice, potatoes, tapioca, sago, etc.), which quickly produce a very undesirable embonpoint.

Excuse odious comparisons, but just consider the case of the cooped-up capon, stuffed with food till it is smothered with fat, and compare it with that of carnivorous animals which have been left by man in a wild state; these know neither idleness nor excess, and they are always lean. Let any of you ladies who are beginning to have too majestic an appearance hearken to my warning call. Give up going to the confectioner's, avoid all cakes, all. sweet things, and sugared knicknacks. Even bread should be parsimoniously dealt out to you, and preserved vegetables prohibited.

You must live upon lean meat, eggs, a milk diet, fresh vegetables, salads, mushrooms, fruits, etc. You are not to be pitied; you can still have a first-rate bill of fare. But you should partake very moderately of the things you are allowed to eat, and leave off while you still have some appetite. Drink very little, even at meals, and mix your wine with Vichy or Apollinaris; these waters help to expel the gas from the body, which is an advantage to people who are much, or even a little, too stout.

It is not true that coffee makes people thin; on the contrary, when it agrees with them, it makes them fat. This result is not so much due to its own nourishing properties as the fact that it is an excellent digestive.

It assists digestion, and makes it so complete that no nourishing part of the food eaten escapes assimilation; this powerful stimulant dissolves everything that can nourish or fatten. Tea has the same properties, but in a less degree. Take courage, then, and submit to work and to privation. Corpulence ruins man's strength and woman's beauty, and destroys the elegance of both. Moreover, it impedes the breath, makes it troublesome to move about, and diminishes the strength of the muscles, the nervous energy, and the agility and elasticity of the limbs. The most piquant and spirituelle faces become insignificant if outline and features are lost in superfluous fat, and the enlarged body loses the harmony that Nature has given to the human form divine.

Finally, over-fat people are most liable to suffer from apoplexy and dropsy. "People of full habit," said Hippocrates, "are more subject to sudden death than those of spare habit." Fat people hardly ever reach a very old age. Take heed, therefore, all you who love life!

Thin Women.

An angular form and a want of flesh that displays the skeleton under the skin are considered a disgrace in a woman, more especially as a bad complexion nearly always goes with them.

It requires courage to listen to the fun people make of a thin woman. "She is a stick!" "She is as flat as a board!" etc. etc. You must never imagine that, to be distinguée, it is necessary to be thin, though I have heard this asserted by some dried-up old ladies.

Excessive thinness is sometimes joined to an unpleasant temper—a fact I mention because it is curable. People of this temperament torment themselves; they are busybodies, plaguing themselves and everybody else; they are excitable, impatient, always fussing about. All feminine grace disappears in such an existence.

Fuss is not activity; but a well-ordered activity is advantageous to beauty, to health, to a wisely-regulated life.

A thin woman generally has a muddy complexion, because she is often-vulgarly, but truly, speaking-making bad blood. It is her own fault if she does not become pink and white, and rounded in form.

How to Acquire Flesh.

Thinness is often caused by too poor living—that is, by badly-chosen and insufficient food—and by over-fatigue, especially when brought on by prolonged brain-work and excessive anxiety. It is also promoted by a nervous and bilious temperament and a gloomy disposition.

"Laugh and grow fat." Cultivate peace of mind. Go to bed early, get up late, but keep regular hours. Do not overwork yourself; take moderate exercise when the weather is fine. Take your meals punctually; you require a diet that is abundant and wholesome, but without excess, composed chiefly of farinaceous foods, well selected, of the best quality, easy to digest and to assimilate—above all, bread, thickened soups, tapioca and sago, Indian sago, oatmeal, Carolina rice. Meat should have a subordinate place in your diet, but it should be of the best quality. Your early breakfast should consist of café-au-lait or chocolate; black coffee you should take after luncheon, a glass of good old claret after dinner, a cup of tea in the evening. Lead a quiet life, with as few emotions as possible; amuse yourself in your own home. Take tepid baths, and, above all, keep good-tempered and cheerful. In this way you will conquer your excessive thinness. A slim woman with graceful lines may be very attractive. A thin woman is ugly, or at least uglier than she need be. A proverb of the Ardennes affirms that there is no such thing as a beautiful skin on bones.

Concerning Aesthetics - Rational Coquetry.

It is not enough to be a good wife and a good mother in order to retain the affections of your husband, the father of your children; you must also be an attractive and pleasant woman. It is sometimes easy to become pretty and agreeable to look at. Begin by choosing, in your dress, colours which suit your complexion and your hair; make the best of your feet by wearing becoming shoes; put on occasionally a wide open sleeve (in your summer peignoirs, for instance)—a sleeve which will allow a rounded white arm to be seen; mark by a girdle the slenderness of your waist, instead of wearing shapeless garments; dress your hair so as to frame the face softly, and not to hide the shape of the head.

Instead of this, what does one often see?

A woman who adores her husband, and yet never thinks of what will please him, who wears dresses of dark and gloomy colours, giving her a dull and sad appearance. She will stuff her feet into huge and common slippers, and always hide up her pretty arms, which may be so attractive. She appears in a shapeless dressing-gown, which makes her look all of a piece; twists up her hair, tidily enough perhaps, but without taste, so losing the best opportunity of enhancing her beauty.

Believe me that a certain amount of vanity is not only allowable, but that it is even our duty to make the best of ourselves in the eyes of the man we love. He will love us all the better, more warmly and faithfully. Is not this well worth the trouble? If we give up the battle, no matter how comfortable and cosy we make his home, he may be fascinated by someone else who is cleverer than we are. Perhaps he will remain faithful to us, his heart may still be ours, but duty only keeps him at our side. He must be made to feel attraction as well as duty, so that he should make no disadvantageous comparisons between us and another.

Many women may surpass the wife in beauty, but if the latter makes the most of her natural gifts, and knows how to enhance them by the care of her person and her dress, her husband will not be conscious of the fascinations of others.

It is a mistake to take no heed when the complexion becomes muddy, or when anything happens to diminish good-looks; a remedy should, on the contrary, be sought as quickly as possible. In fact, it is not wise to neglect our appearance, even for a moment, if we value our own happiness or that of our husband or children.

When I see a woman with her hair badly done, wearing a faded and ugly dress in her own home, I feel that it augurs badly for the future, even if the present is happy.

It is for the companion of our lives that we should keep all our pretty womanly ways; it is for him that we should try to look beautiful, cared-for, and sweet. Overcome your indolence, take outdoor exercise, or indoor if you have not time for long walks, and do not neglect baths and ablutions, which will help to preserve both beauty and health.

If you are intelligent, you can both keep and improve your good-looks. Add culture of the mind to that of the body. At the same time watch over the details of your household and look after your children. Those who would remain beautiful and beloved, must keep active in body, heart, and mind.

Lastly, remember that all the advice in this book is brought together in the hope of helping you to be happy; do not, therefore, despise any of it.

The Art of Growing Old Gracefully.

The secret of vanquishing old age is not to be afraid of it, nor to shrink from facing the advancing years.

It is, not to resort to absurd, stupid, and dangerous tricks, in the vain hope of retarding it.

It is, to give up a youthful attire, which only makes people look older when it does not suit them.

It is, to keep a kind heart for the young, to like them without being jealous of them.

It is, to retire from the struggle with dignity, not trying to rival your daughters.

It is, to surround oneself with true and gentle affection, which keep the heart green.

It is, to keep up our interest in the questions of the day; to take a delight in talking of great discoveries, of beautiful inventions; not to deny the progress of things, and not to try to make out that the old times were better than the new.

It is, to give advice with gentleness, and not to imagine that years have taught you everything.

It is, to be good and beneficent, in heart and word and deed.

It is, to take more pains than ever with your person. If you neglect any of the little habits of neatness, decrepitude will come on all the faster; and an old person who is careless and untidy presents a far more repulsive appearance than a young one, though such negligence is to he reprehended at all ages.

Finally, it is to wear handsome dresses, rich but simple, without pretension, comfortable, but not necessarily without grace.

Be assured that under these circumstances men and women may overcome old age, and be a pleasure to look at and to be with to the last. If it cannot be said of them that they are young, still less will they be called old, for they are old in years only, and have none of the infirmities of age.

Great Ladies of Society.

Do we not often hear So-and-so, the Princess Z—, the Duchess X—, Mrs. A—, or Mrs. B—, spoken of as young, beautiful, and attractive women?

Suddenly you hear that they are fifty, sixty years old; but you happen to have seen them, and you cannot believe, any more than can their admirers, that they are as old as they are said to be.

These great ladies, whose whole delight and happiness is their success in society, have determined to keep young and beautiful, and they have succeeded up to a certain point. They manage to look at least fifteen years younger than they are.

Not for an instant have they neglected the care of their beauty, submitting to anything to keep off the approach of age, to preserve the least of their advantages intact, or to acquire those obtainable by care and effort.

Step by step they have struggled bitterly, every time that sickness, sorrow, or fatigue have attacked their beauty.

Bowing their heads for one moment to the storm, they have raised them again: they have battled, because for them it was a question of life and death. It was, from a worldly point of view, "to be or not to be," and they have succeeded in triumphing over time and nature.

Without going so far as to make sacrifices which are not compatible with the life of a good wife and mother, will you not also do your best, with the allowable means which I have pointed out, to retard old age and ugliness? It will be easier for you than for them to do so. The healthy activity in which you spend your days is all in your favour, while fashionable women are continually obliged to repair the ravages caused by their lives of pleasure and excitement.

They have sought to satisfy their self-love and vanity; your object is to remain the good fairy of the home, the delight of the eyes of him to whom you are entirely devoted.

The Secret of Looking Young.

"If you do not wish to grow old," said a charming old lady to her husband, when she saw him looking gloomy, "if you wish to keep always young, you must be amiable."

A darkened brow, a morose countenance, an unpleasant expression, what are these but a winter landscape?

A serene face, a sweet expression, a kind and gentle look: these are like a day in spring, and the smile on the lips is a ray of sunshine.

Discontented people, you may notice, always look ten years older than they are. The face gets wrinkled by frowning, pouting causes the mouth to protrude disagreeably, and they rapidly grow old and ugly.

Compare with them a woman with a cheerful face; all her features are in their right place, her mouth curves delightfully, benevolence softens the expression of her eyes, and goodness beams from her smooth brow.

She is perhaps older than the ill-tempered woman whom you see beside her, but she will always look like her younger sister.

Grace of Movement.

Harmony must govern our movements if we wish to be graceful.

The stars in their courses are harmonious, but if they attempted to escape from the laws of attraction and gravitation, a terrible confusion would ensue in the universe. Discords, neither calculated nor resolved, destroy the harmony in music, and offend the ear. Examples might be employed indefinitely to show that harmony rules, or ought to rule, everything, from the procession of the stars to the movements of the smallest insect.

Some women have, in an extraordinary degree, the gift of unconscious harmony. I know some who choose their seats, their attitudes even, to suit their toilette, and they do so unconsciously. If they are dressed in a simple costume, they will lean against a piece of furniture severe in style, or will choose an oak chair which will be in perfect harmony with their appearance in their rather stiff tailor-made costume. They sit bolt upright in this chair which does not conduce to ease. If they are clothed in silk and lace, it is to the sofas covered with satin, to the plush ottomans, and the velvet easy-chairs that they will turn with a charming movement: careless indeed, but without awkwardness. Their bare shoulders will seem to caress the soft object against which they lean, and they will appear to sink into the deep cushions of their seat. They thus unconsciously make adorable tableaux-vivants and harmonious pictures.

It can never be the same with the stiff, dry, angular woman who has not learned to be graceful, whose movements are sudden, abrupt, and full of awkwardness, because she does not know how to balance her body properly, which is the real secret of grace. Those who know how to walk and to hold themselves have this equilibrium. Nature may bestow this gift upon them; they have, at any rate, not lost it by bad habits, by not keeping a watch over themselves; or they have regained it by practice. This is the case with great actresses. Watch them moving on the stage: when their feet are in motion, the weight of the body is thrown upon the hips, and thus. keeps its proper balance. All their movements are good, because they understand the laws of harmony. When the actress bows, she bends her body and raises it again with one quiet and equable movement.

You will never see her arm stretched out straight, imitating the horizontal line in the first position. If the arm has to be stretched out, it is only in the second stage of the gesture that it attains that position. It is raised first, and then extended. If it was at once stretched out, she would look like a wooden doll. I am now going to point out what is necessary in order to learn the science of grace, which is not an affectation, as might be feared, for it rests upon a principle of Nature.

How to Walk.

If you are in the habit of stooping when you walk, go about with your hands behind your back when alone in your garden or your own house. Children should be taught to hold their shoulders well back; and to do this, they must be made to keep their elbows close to their bodies. They will then walk naturally, with the head up and the chest thrown out. The back will be straight and the shoulder-blades well in their places; the bust will be properly curved, the entire weight of the body thrown upon the hips, as it ought to be, to preserve its perfect balance. You must be careful to place the ball of the foot first on the ground, so as not to walk on your heels with the toes turned up—an ugly and vulgar habit, which makes the whole appearance ungainly, and entails unnecessary effort. Nature enables us to avoid this by providing us with an instep.

When we are going upstairs or climbing a hill, we often stoop and bend down our heads. But we should hold ourselves well up, for the sake of the lungs as well as of appearance.

Women who walk well by nature, or who have been taught to do so, like goddesses scarcely crush the flowers upon which they tread.

Grace of Form.

If you wish to remain slim, you must learn to hold yourself well. If women were more careful about their carriage, they would keep their waists small and be less corpulent than they often are by the time they reach the age of thirty. The woman who holds herself upright, and does not bury her chin in her dress, but keeps her shoulders back, thus naturally curves out her chest, preserves the muscles firm and well stretched, and the whole frame in good shape. In this manner is avoided that dreaded thickening which robs the figure of all youthful elegance.

A well-balanced figure gives a queenly carriage and the movements of a nymph. Do not be afraid of looking too haughty. If your eyes are sweet and your smile pleasant, a slightly haughty air will not deprive you of sympathy from others, but rather the contrary.

I do not tell you to go so far as to hold up your head, to stiffen yourself, and spread your tail like a peacock; but to hold yourself up, as you are intended to do by Nature, whether you are sitting, standing, or walking. You will thus avoid looking like a bundle, and preserve the proper structure of your figure.

When you have to stoop or to bend, you will accomplish this with much more grace and flexibility than a woman who has allowed her back to become round, and spoilt her whole figure by neglecting her carriage.

Nature always punishes us if we violate her laws. She requires the human race to hold upright the body she has given it; she wishes man to raise up his head. If you allow yourself to be drawn down to the earth, you will lose all beauty of form.

Advice to a Stout Woman.

A stout woman should not wear a tailor-made dress. It marks the outline too decidedly, and throws every pound of flesh into relief.

She must deny herself bows and rosettes of ribbon at the waist, both back and front, as this adornment adds to its size. She ought not to wear short sleeves, as the upper part of her arm is sure to be too fat. and to look hike a ham or a leg of mutton.

A ruffle round the throat will not suit her, nor a very high and tight collar. She ought to have her dress slightly open in a point in the front, or her collar a little turned back. A feather boa is the only one which will not shorten her neck too much.

Short basques will make her look ridiculously stout.

Wearing the hair low down will not be becoming to her. She ought to dress it high up on her head, without dragging it too tight; the front should not be plastered down. A certain carelessness in arranging her hair will be best for her, and she must not oil it too much.

Patterns with large flowers, and both large or small checks, must be avoided for her mantles and dresses. Stripes and plain materials, or small patterns in one colour, are all that she can allow herself and she should wear dark shades.

Few jewels, no pearls round her throat, no earrings, and only as many rings as are indispensable.

Sleeves high on the shoulder and with tight cuffs must also be avoided, and she should not wear tight gloves.

Principles of Dressing.

The woman who pretends to be indifferent to her toilette is wanting in good sense. There is no doubt that it is an important question for us. The shape of one's garments, the colour and texture of the material of which they are made, have an importance that it is absurd to deny.

A badly-dressed woman is only half a woman, if her being so comes from indifference. Madame de Maintenon alleged that good taste was an indication of good sense.

She, too, it was who condemned those women who trim up common materials and bedizen themselves with hideous things. And how right she was! It is not by sticking on a ribbon here and a flower there that we can achieve elegance. Nothing spoils a toilette as much, or makes it look so ridiculous, as ornaments out of place. A dress of inexpensive material can look well if it is simple and unpretentious.

We should never follow the fashion of wearing harsh and stiff stuffs. In skirts they go into hard folds, and in bodices they are hurtful both to the skin and the complexion.

Woollen materials are only wearable when they are soft to the eye and to the touch. Stiff silks can never make pretty dresses. Coloured silks of moderate prices make charming costumes when they are well cut and tastefully made up; but a black silk must be of good quality, and therefore a good price. You cannot wear cheap black.

Handsome feathers are a great help to good dressing, and last a long time. They are the best ornament for a bonnet. If you can only afford poor feathers, it is better to have none.

Stiff ribbons are very ugly trimming for a bonnet; it is worth while making a little sacrifice to obtain a soft and pretty one.

Never add ornaments to your dress that you cannot replace if by accident they are spoilt, as their absence would be too evident.

A velvet dress is very useful if you have two or three other dressy gowns; but if worn too much, it becomes crushed and ugly.

Mixed woollen and cotton stuffs are not pretty, and are worth nothing. A material all wool is more than twice as good as a common one.

Fair women are mistaken in wearing light blue, which gives a livid hue to some complexions. A rich blue, on the other hand, suits them very well. A dark blue velvet is perhaps what brings out their good points best of all. Neutral tints are very unbecoming to them.

Brunettes with sallow complexions should avoid blue altogether. It will give them a greenish hue, or make them look tanned. Those who have a good colour may venture to wear it. Green is doubtful for them, unless the skin is very white; but it is extremely becoming to blondes, especially those with a pink colour.

Pale brunettes should affect those shades of red which heighten their beauty. Crimson may perhaps be admitted for fair women. Yellow is a splendid colour for a pale dark woman, especially by candle-light, as it is much less strong by night than by day: it harmonises with the olive colour of the skin, which it softens very much. The complexion takes from it a creamy tint, which blends wonderfully well with bright eyes and dark hair. People may say what they like, but yellow is very unbecoming to blondes.

No one should wear a low dress who has not a good neck and arms. Sharp shoulder-blades and pointed elbows are not pleasant to look at, and are best covered. But what are you to do if you are going to a ball or to the opera? Your dress may be cut low, but veil your neck and shoulders cleverly with tulle or lace, and do as much for your arms.

Neither should a very fat woman wear a low dress.

As freshness is the great requisite in a toilette, do not wear your smart ones in bad weather. Do your shopping and business in a last year's dress and bonnet, and keep your best clothes for occasions on which correct and handsome dresses are necessary.

It is ridiculous to have too great a number of toilettes at once. We know how short a time a fashion lasts, and it is unpleasant, and almost ridiculous, to be out of the fashion.

A morning gown is a necessity. It ought to be very neat and appropriate, whatever else it is. You must have an indoor dress for the afternoon, a simple toilette for walking, and a more dressy costume for ceremonious visits. This is the least any woman can do with. A clever woman of slender means will turn her old smart dresses into indoor ones. I need not make for rich women a list of dresses for church, dinner, the opera, evening parties, concerts, balls, etc., or of the accessories they should have.

I shall restrict myself to saying that it is impossible to wear diamond earrings by day with a tailor-made dress, and that the details of each toilette should go well together, from the boots to the bonnet: for instance, a smart bonnet should not be worn with thick boots and a common dress; with a neat little costume, a simple and becoming little hat must be worn; with a velvet dress, a suitable bonnet, gloves, and mantle.

DIVERS COUNSELS.

Making-Up.

I CAN hardly expect my advice will be of sufficient weight with all my readers to make them give up the deplorable and unbecoming mania for painting themselves—a mama which lowers womanly dignity at a certain age, as much as it compromises beauty in youth.

For those who will continue, in spite of my protestations, to make up their faces, I will at least explain how to put on rouge as it was done in the eighteenth century.

"It should be put on in straight lines under the eyes, for a layer of carmine heightens their brilliancy; three other layers lower down should be gently rounded off, and be placed exactly between the nose and ears, never reaching below the mouth.

This slight touch of rouge will not altogether vulgarise the face, as so often happens when would-be improvements are foolishly overdone, and thus offend people of taste.

In the last century, when rouge was a necessity, and indicated a certain rank in women, the ladies of the Court made a serious study of how to put it on their faces in a refined manner.

These charming women would have been much prettier if they had kept their own delicate wild-rose colour. As to enamelling! I will only just mention it. An enamelled woman can neither smile nor cry, for fear of cracking the plaster with which her skin has been covered. Her head is like china, cold and expressionless, and her complexion by daylight is livid.

And if you ask me about whitening your skins, I would reply that to do this is even worse for them than rouging. In the name of good sense and good taste, let this be left out of your dressing-rooms altogether, for to look like a clown ought not to be an object of ambition.

Various Dyes.

I can give a description of some harmless dyes to those women who will not reconcile themselves to wearing their own grey or white hair.

Very strong tea dyes light hair which is becoming grey a tolerably good light chestnut.

Chicory, in a brown and oily paste, is also a dye for light hair. It should be prepared in a strong decoction.

Iron nails steeped in tea for fifteen days will make another dark dye.

The Romans used walnut-juice when silver threads began to appear. Persians dye theirs with henna, which they apply daily. The henna-leaves are powdered, and then formed into a sort of paste with water. This is rubbed on the hair, which is washed two hours later, by which time it has become ruddy brown, the colour of old mahogany. If the operation is repeated the next day, and indigo is added to the henna, a superb black, like a raven's wing, will be the result.

But I must repeat that even these anodynes are injurious to the hair. They make it dry, stiff, and brittle.

The dyes of which the base is lead or silver are extremely dangerous. Not only do they bring on baldness (very common in our days, alas! with the fair sex), but they bring on mischief in brain and eyesight.

Is it possible that anyone, knowing the danger, will imperil not only their most precious ornament, but also their intelligence and the most precious of all their senses?

Turkish women have a dye which is less dangerous than ours. It is composed of the ashes of incense and mastic, blended together with a perfumed oil.

The Greeks use another process, which I will mention, because I fear that I cannot bring all the world over to my opinion, and because it is less dangerous than those of our hairdressers.

Take of sulphate of iron 2½ drachms, and of gall-nut 1½ ounces. Boil the gall-nut in 10 ounces of water, strained through a cloth. Add to the water the sulphate of iron, and boil again till it is reduced two-thirds. Perfume it with a few drops of scent, and keep it in a well-corked bottle. Apply it with a camel's-hair brush, and repeat several times.

Modes of Softening and Strengthening the Skin.

All the vaunted cosmetics for polishing and strengthening the skin will, believe me, be used in vain, and may even end by making it look 1eaden and flabby.

Bathing in cold water and friction are the only means that exist for making the flesh firm and the skin like marble. The shock given to the blood by cold water produces a vitality which makes the flesh firm, and naturally benefits the skin also. Friction removes little roughnesses from the skin. The down which sometimes comes on the arms will quickly disappear under the vigorous rubbing of the flesh-brush, or will at least remain below the surface.

A rough and dry skin can be improved by being rubbed with olive-oil scented with thyme. A flabby skin will be better for rubbings with essence of pimpernel mixed with essence of rose.

Nursing and after Nursing.

Do not believe that your bosom will lose its beauty and its form if you fulfil the sacred duties of a mother, and nourish the beloved child whom you have borne.

While you are nursing, you must, for the child's sake as well as your own, keep to a healthy, generous, and well-chosen diet, and afterwards still continue the same regimen for a certain time. With this care your bust will soon resume its proper shape and firmness. Nurse though you be, you may wear stays, but these should be special ones, suitable to your condition.

Do not, however, deny the fountain of life to the being to whom you owe it. And be assured that you will only keep younger and prettier for having submitted cheerfully to the law of Nature. If you hand over your maternal duties to a stranger, you will have to endure all sorts of evils and inconveniences, and you will only lose the beauty of your figure all the sooner.

TOILET-WATERS, PERFUMES, POMADES.

Toilet-Waters.

I DO not recommend the use of toilet-waters, or vinegar, either for the face or hands; but they may be useful for other parts of the body, as they give a tone to the skin.

The following are four recipes for eau de Cologne to suit various tastes.

(1)

Alcohol at 30º ... 1¾ pints.

Essence of lemon ... 90 minims.

"  of bergamot ... 90 minims

"  of cedrat ... 45 minims

"  of lavender ... —23 grains.

"  of neroline ... 8 grains

"  of roses ... 2 drops.

Shake the mixture well, strain it, and put it into bottles.

(2)

Essence of lemon ... 2½ drachms.

"  of cedrat ... 2½ drachms.

"  of bergamot... 2½ drachms.

"  of fine lavender ... 2½ drachms.

"  of wallflower ... 2½ drachms.

"  of rosemary ... 1 drachm.

"  of thyme ... ½ drachm.

Rectified Alcohol ... 3½ pints

Mix the essences with the alcohol, and strain through paper.

(3)

Essence of cedrat ... 1½ drachms.

"  of bergamot ... 1½ drachms.

"  of neroline ... 15 minims.

"  of lavender ... 23 minims.

"  of romarin ... 23 minims.

"  of wallflower ... 1 drop.

"  of China cinnamon ... 1 drop

Tincture of musk amber ... 20 minims.

"  of benzoin ... 1½ drachms.

Alcohol at 90º ... 1 quart.

Dissolve the essences thoroughly in the alcohol, and strain.

(4)

An exquisite recipe of the last century is

Essence of bergamot ... 2½ drachms.

"  of orange ... 2½ drachms.

"  of lemon ... 75 minims

"  of cedrat ... 45 minims.

"  of rosemary ... 15 minims.

Tincture of amber ... 75 minims

"  of benzoin ... 75 minims

Alcohol at 90º ... 1¾ pints

The alcohol used should always be the best, and straining is indispensable. Eau de Cologne improves much by keeping. The firm of Jean Marie Farina keep it in barrels of different size, made of cedar-wood. Cedar preserves the perfume, and does not communicate its own.

Lavender-water can also be made at home. To make it, use:—

Essential oil of lavender ... 1 ounce.

Musk ... 1 drop.

Spirit of wine ... 1½ pints.

Put the three things into a quart bottle, and shake the mixture well for a long time. Leave it to settle for a few days, then shake it well again, and pour it into little bottles which must be hermetically sealed.

Or use:—

Refined essence of lavender 1 ounce.

Best brandy ... 1¾ pints.

Mix a teaspoonful in a glass of water before using.

Use the same recipe for rosemary water, replacing the ounce of essential oil of lavender by 1 ounce of essential oil of rosemary.

As rosemary is mentioned, I must say something of the good qualities with which it is credited. It is asserted that the woman who uses it constantly, both as perfume and toilet-water, keeps young for ever. I will not answer for the truth of this assertion. Rosemary certainly belongs to the family of labiates, which are considered to be tonics and stimulants.

The pink has antiseptic qualities, which make it very useful as a toilet requisite. With its flowers can thus be made an exquisite toilet-water having a delicious perfume:—

Petals of Pinks ... 8 ounces

Alcohol at 90º ... 1 pint

Infuse the petals in the alcohol for ten days, then strain through paper, and add 4 ounces of tincture of benzoin.

To make spirit of mint, take of:—

Refined essence of mint (called English essence of mint) ... 2½ drachms.

Rectified Alcohol at 90º ... 3 ounces

8 or 10 drops mixed in a glass of water.

N.B.—Never use brandy made from corn nor methylated spirit.

Toilet-Vinegars.

Never buy your toilet-vinegar; make it yourself.

Acetic acid is sold under the name of vinegar, and is very hurtful to the skin, which it dries, corrodes, and wrinkles.

Take of:—

Eau de Cologne ... 3 ounces

Tincture of benzoin ... 5 drachms.

Good plain Orleans vinegar ... 1¾ pints

Pour into a big bottle or jug the Eau de Cologne and the tincture, and then the vinegar. Leave it for fifteen days, shaking the bottle every morning. Then strain it through paper. (Proper strainers can be obtained at any chemist's).

Although these home-made vinegars are safer than the bought ones, even they should be used with caution. A few drops in a good quantity of water are enough to make it refreshing.

Beware of using white vinegar in any of your preparations.

Here is a recipe for a medicated vinegar as a remedy for rashes and pimples:—

Eau de melisse ... 6½ drachms.

Spirit of mint ... 6 drachms.

"  of sage... 6 drachms.

"  of rosemary ... 6 drachms.

"  of lavende r... 6 drachms.

"  Orleans vinegar ... 3½ pints

Lavender vinegar is easy to make:—

Rose-water ... 6 drachms.

Spirits of lavender ... 1½ ounces

Orleans vinegar ... 2¼ ounces

Aromatic vinegar is very inexpensive if you gather the herbs for yourself:—

Dry wormwood tops ... 10 drachms.

Rosemary... 10 drachms.

Sage... 10 drachms.

Mint... 10 drachms.

Garden rue ... 10 drachms.

Cinnamon peel ... 75 minims.

Cloves... 75 minims.

Pistachio nuts... 75 minims.

Infuse for a fortnight in half a quart of alcohol, then add two quarts of white-wine vinegar; strain through paper.

When flowers are in season, you can prepare exquisite flower-vinegars, for which the only expense is the vinegar:—

Good Orleans vinegar ... 1¾ pints

Provence roses ... 1½ ounces

Roses Cent Feuilles ...1½ ounces

Flowers of jasmine ... 5 drachms

"  of meadow-sweet ... ¾ ounce

"  of melilot ...¾ ounce

Leaves of lemon-scented verbena ... 5 drachms.

If, instead of fresh, dried flowers are used, a quart and a half of vinegar will be required. It is left to infuse for a month, and then strained.

For rose-vinegar:—

Dried petals of red roses ... 3 ounces

Orleans vinegar ... 1¾ pints

Eight days of infusion will be sufficient; but the large-necked bottle into which the petals and the vinegar have been poured, must be well shaken, and the leaves well squeezed when the vinegar is poured off. Leave it to stand for about a couple of days, then strain.

All flower-vinegars can be made with 3 ounces of dried petals or flower-tops and 1 quart of vinegar. Mignonette is the sweetest of them all.

Virgin Milk.

To make virgin milk take

Powdered benzoin ... 1½ ounces

Alcohol at 90º ... ¾ pint

Good Orleans vinegar...¾ pint

Put all into a bottle, and shake every morning. After fifteen days' mixing, strain through paper.

N.B.—it is necessary to blend the powdered benzoin with a small quantity of the alcohol and vinegar mixed, so as to make a light-coloured liquid, then add the remainder, stirring all the time, and pour into a bottle.

Perfumes: Their Antiquity.

Perfumes were held in high esteem among the ancients. In Egypt they were used even to excess; scents, more or less sweet, impregnated the persons and clothes, the tombs and houses of the people of that country; and at festivals the gutters ran with perfumed waters.

Did not the Shulamite plunge her fingers into the precious myrrh before hurrying to meet her spouse? The entire Bible is fragrant with nard and dittony; and the whole of the East has preserved this love of perfumes.

The Greeks had a scent for each part of the body: marjoram for the hair, apple for the hand, serpolet for the throat and knees, etc.; an infusion of vine-leaves was also highly esteemed by them.

This mixture of odours could not have been very pleasant. The ancients found out the use of the vaporiser before we did. The gilded youth of Athens used to let loose, above the festive board, doves which had been bathed in different scents, and which, hovering, aloft, rained from their wings delicious perfumes over the guests.

At Rome the slaves filled their mouths with sweet-smelling waters, and blew them in showers over the hair of their mistresses.

The Romans, especially the ladies, carried the habit of scenting themselves and of living in the midst of strong perfumes so far that Plautus exclaimed:

"By Pollux! the only woman who smells sweet is certainly the one who is not scented at all!"

Amber and verbena were favourite perfumes at the end of the Middle Ages. In the thirteenth century women hung up with their dresses certain kinds of apples, which impregnated the presses with a very delicate odour.

The favourites of Henri III. adored neroline and frangipani. La belle Gabrielle, who reproached the Bearnese for their liking for leeks, loved iris-root and orange-flower. Anne of Austria had her cosmetics scented with vanilla, and the Pompadour was perfumed with rose and jasmine.

The Choice or Perfumes.

Scents may be used in moderation from the point of view of hygiene, on account of their stimulating and refreshing properties, but both health and good taste forbid their being over-done. They are not without effect upon the constitution and good-looks, especially, it is said, those made from lavender, lemon, roses, violets, and benzoin.

They are also supposed to have a certain effect upon the mind. Musk produces sensitiveness; geranium tenderness; benzoin dreaminess; dark-blue violets predispose to piety; white ones facilitate digestion. It is also asserted that a woman who likes the smell of lemon-scented verbena ought to cultivate the fine arts; for by this choice of perfume she reveals her artistic nature.

Without being over-scented, which is a mistake, it is well to perfume your linen and all your garments with a light and delicate odour—of one kind only—from head to foot. This enhances your attractions.

I repeat that every woman should reject a mixture of scents. She should choose a perfume, and keep to it. All her belongings, her books, her note-paper, her boudoir, the cushions of her carriage (in the eighteenth century they used to be stuffed with sweet-scented herbs, called "herbes de Montpellier"), her clothes, the smallest things she uses, should give out the same sweet fragrance.

It remains to choose that scent. A great lady wrote: "Satan smells of sulphur, and I smell of orris-root." She could not have chosen a more exquisite odour. Some people, in love with the last century, choose peau d'Espagne.

I consider it a mistake to look upon Russia leather as a scent.

Some women are satisfied with the aroma that their rose-wood wardrobes communicate to their clothes.

Others only use the scent of the fresh flowers and herbs that are in season. They begin with violets, roses, mignonette, etc., with which they fill in turn their drawers, their pockets (when the dresses are put away), muslin sachets, etc. etc. The perfume communicated by these fresh flowers and herbs, which fade and die where they are placed, would no doubt be very fugitive, but is extremely pleasant. The same people prepare flowers of melilot, meadowsweet, and aspernla, dried in the shade, for winter use, and simply fill muslin bags with them, and place them about among their things. When they pass you by, they remind you of meadows full of flowers.

Our ancestors preferred pot-pourri among scents. They filled their sachets with it, so we give recipes for those who like it

(1)

Rose leaves dried, or

Powdered orris-root ... 1,500 parts

Powdered bergamot peel ... 250 parts

Cloves and cinnamon ... 150 parts

Orange flowers and clusters of dried acacia flowers .. 250 parts.

Powdered starch ... 1,500 parts

(2)

Powdered orris-root ... 500 parts

Lavender ... 50 parts

Benzoin ... 25 parts

Sandal citrine ... 25 parts

Orange peel ... 25 parts

Tonquin beans ... 10 parts

Cloves ... 10 parts

Cinnamon ... 10 parts

Mix very carefully. The powders need not be very fine, and if they are not to be bought, it is easy enough to pound them for oneself.

(3)

Florence orris-root powdered ... 750 parts

Rosewood ... 165 parts

Calamus ... 250 parts

Sandal citrine ... 125 parts

Benzoin ... 155 parts

Cloves ... 15 parts

Cinnamon ... 31 parts

Modern perfumery, aided by chemistry, has invented delightful perfumes, among which it is easy to make a good choice. A refined woman will always reject odours which are too strong or too penetrating. Hers will be sweet, light, and delicate, and will please without being overpowering.

Sachets.

Sachets are very easily prepared. You have simply to sprinkle, more or less abundantly, square pieces of cotton-wool with the perfumed powder you like best. These squares are sewn up in muslin, which is trimmed with lace. Another way is to put the powder into little bags of cambric or thin silk, and to prettily tie them up with ribbons to match.

Sachets for gloves, laces, handkerchiefs, and stockings are as easily made. They have only to be larger, and trimmed as prettily as possible. These large squares of wadded silk are simply doubled, and fastened with ribbons.

Many refined women have their drawers and the shelves of their wardrobes lined with a thin satin quilt, of a delicate colour, wadded with scented cotton-wool, held in with rosettes of ribbon, forming in reality a very large sachet.

All their odds and ends of different materials, and their linen, lie thus upon beds of perfumed satin. Laces, handkerchiefs, and gloves are enclosed in delicately-scented sachets. Bonnet-boxes are impregnated with sweet fragrance; dresses, costumes, skirts, and mantles are hung up in wardrobes and cupboards among bags which give out a delicious odour. Everywhere the one favourite scent is introduced: in the hems of dresses, in the folds of sleeves, at the collars, and in the stays. The woman is entirely enveloped in it.

You can perceive her presence before you see her. You know by the fragrance of her note-paper whom the letter is from before you recognise the handwriting. If she lends you a book, its perfume is a standing reproach to you, if you have not returned it.

Cold Cream.

Oil of sweet almonds ... 1½ ounces.

White wax ... 2½ drachms.

Spermaceti ... 2½ drachms.

Mix these ingredients quite smoothly. Then add

Rose water ... 5 drachms.

Tincture of benzoin ... 75 minims.

Tincture of amber ... 30 minims.

I ought to say the wax and spermaceti should be melted, to mix with the oil.

Cucumber Cream.

Cut up into little pieces a pound of peeled cucumber, with the seeds taken out. Add as much of the flesh of melon, prepared in the same manner, and a pound of clarified lard and half a pint of milk. Let it simmer in a bain-marie for ten hours, without allowing it to boil. Squeeze it through a sieve with a cloth over it, leaving it to drip through and to congeal. Then wash the cream several times till the water runs clear. Wring it well in a cloth, and keep it in little pots. Here is another recipe:—

Axunge... 1 part

Cucumber juice... 3 parts

Mix well 1 part of cucumber juice with the whole of the axunge, which should be softened first. When you have beaten them well together for two hours, let it stand till the next day. Then let the liquid run out, and put another part of the cucumber juice into the ointment. Repeat as before. Do the same a third time, to use up what is left of the juice. Melt the ointment for five or six hours over a gentle fire, to let all the water evaporate. It must be often stirred to obtain this result. To make it light and smooth, the ointment is again beaten up, and then poured into pots.

Glycerine.

We have already said that glycerine does not suit every skin. You can soon find out whether it suits yours or not; if it makes it red, do not use it.

Even if it does agree with you, it should not be used by itself. Having the property of absorbing water, it uses up the moisture which the skin requires; it is for this reason that the latter, especially with some people, gets red and irritable when they use glycerine.

Glycerine should therefore be diluted, and even more than diluted, with eau de Cologne equal parts of glycerine, soft water, and eau de Cologne should be used..

Soaps.

If the face must be occasionally soaped, you should at least be careful to wash it afterwards two or three times with clear tepid water, and only use very pure white soap. Soaps are often scented in order to conceal the smell left in them from being badly made; and the colours with which they are tinted, especially green and pink, are very injurious to complexion and health.

Do not forget that soap has a tendency to dry the skin and to stop up the pores. If it were possible to make our own soap, it would probably be much less hurtful. It is at least easy to improve it. Cut up a pound of white soap, and put it in an earthenware pot, add a little water, and place it before the fire. When the soap begins to soften, mix it with oatmeal into a thick paste. Melt it again, put it into shapes, and before it is quite cold make it into squares and balls.

In this manner all little ends of soap can be utilised, which would otherwise be wasted; they can at all events be used in the kitchen. Dissolve half a cupful of bits of soap in a cupful of water, and proceed as above.

The moulds should be greased before the soap is poured into them.

Face Powder.

The powder you buy is oftentimes hurtful to the skin. If we could make it for ourselves, not only would it be harmless, but very useful in those instances when, as I have already mentioned, it is necessary to use it.

It is quite easy to make, in the following manner:—

Take a new earthenware pot and fill it with six quarts of water and 2½ lbs. of rice; leave the rice to soak for twenty-four hours, and then pour the water off. Put the same quantity of water over the rice for three days running. After the three immersions, each lasting twenty-four hours, drain the rice over a new hair-sieve kept for the purpose. Expose it to the air in a safe place, on a clean white cloth. As soon as it is dry, pound it quite fine with a pestle in a very clean marble mortar with a cover. Then strain it through a fine white cloth placed carefully over the pot which is to hold it, and which ought to be provided with a tight-fitting cover. This powder is better without perfume.

If you run short of home-made powder, you can replace it safely by oatmeal-flour, of which you must take very little at a time on your puff.

If you buy your rice-powder, be careful not to choose it perfumed with orris-root, should your skin be inclined to be irritable.

You should never leave your puffs lying about; they should be kept in separate clean china boxes.

How to Perfume Soaps.

The soaps for which we have given recipes may be perfumed with good scents.

When the preparation is taken off the fire, pour in the scent, stirring it well before putting it into the moulds.

A soap scented with raspberry juice is perfectly delicious. For jasmine-scented soap, melt at the same time as the soap some ointment perfumed with this delightful flower. Essence of rose is very good to use in the same way.

PART IV. LITTLE HINTS.

How to Take Care of Jewellery.

Pearls.—If pearls are shut up with a piece of ash-tree root, it prevents them losing their colour. Should wiseacres laugh at this recipe, let them laugh, and believe the experience transmitted in old families from generation to generation. This precaution will prevent them even from growing dim, and is well worth knowing for those who possess finely-shaped pearls of fine quality, which might perish at the end of a hundred years.

It is well to take an experienced connoisseur with you when you buy coloured pearls, as they are easily imitated. The beauty and "skin" of the real pink pearl is evident to the most superficial observer.

Pink pearls set with white ones and diamonds form the most beautiful of all ornaments. The pink pearl of the Bahamas looks at first sight something the colour of pink coral, but is of a softer shade. It is not only lustrous, but its velvety surface has also charming iridescent effects.

The value of a pearl depends on its shape, size, "skin," and shade of colour. When it is round, it is called button-shaped; when irregular, baroque.

The happy possessor of a row of pearls the size of wild cherries may be interested to know that in the seventeenth century they went by the name of "esclavage de perles," and that the knots of diamonds sometimes suspended from it were called "boute en train."

Pearls are said to foretell tears. But women of the people, who do not possess a single one, weep as much as the duchesses whose jewel-cases are filled with these most beautiful of feminine ornaments.

Diamonds.—Diamonds should be brushed in a lather of soap, and rubbed afterwards very carefully with eau de Cologne. Diamonds shaken in a bag of bran acquire extreme brilliancy.

To discover whether a diamond is real, make a hole in a card with a needle, and look at the card through the stone. If it is false, you will see two holes in the card; if it is real, only one. Or, again, put the gem on your finger, and look through the stone with a lens; if it is false, you will see the grain of the finger perfectly well, but it will not be visible if the diamond is real. The setting cannot be seen through a real stone, but it can be seen quite clearly through a false one.

Gems.—Cut stones should never be wiped after they are washed. A soft brush dipped in a lather of white soap should be used to clean them. They should then be rinsed, and put on their faces in sawdust till they are quite dry. Sawdust of boxwood is the best.

Gold Jewels.—Gold ornaments should be washed in soap and water, and well rinsed afterwards; they should be left in sawdust for some time, and when they are quite dry, rubbed well with chamois leather.

Opals.—Russian superstition has caused this many-coloured gem to be looked upon as a fatal stone. But medieval alchemists did not agree with the subjects of the Czar about this. They maintained that the opal renewed affection, and kept the wearers from all evil, from all contagious germs, and that it also preserved them from syncope and all diseases of the heart. The Orientals allege that it is sentient, and that it changes colour according to the emotions of its wearers, flushing with pleasure in the presence of those they love, and paling before their enemies.

"The ancients," says Buffon, "held the opal in high repute," for its beauty chiefly. Charming things have been said about its varying tints. "Its light is softer than that of the dawn." "It might be said that a ray of rose-coloured light lies captive under its pale surface." It has been called the "tear-drop of the moon." It has been dedicated to the month of October, and those who are born in that month should prefer it to all other gems.

I might say much more about it, but I am forgetting that my object was simply to say how to restore its polish when it has been scratched and dimmed by wear. Rub it well with oxide of tin, or with damp putty spread on chamois leather, and finish with chalk, powdered and sifted, also spread on chamois leather and damped. Then wash the opal in water with a soft brush. If you are very careful, you can do all this without taking the stone out of its setting.

Silver Jewellery.—Filigree silver can be cleaned in various ways when it has become black and dull. It should be first washed in potash water, not too strong, and well rinsed. The objects should then be immersed in the following solution:—Salt one part, alum one part, saltpetre two parts, water four parts. They should not be left in this for more than five minutes, then rinsed in cold water, and wiped with a chamois leather.

Or they can be washed in hot water with a brush dipped in ammonia and green soap, then steeped in boiling water and dried in sawdust. They should always be put by wrapped in silver-paper.

Oxidised silver should be steeped in a solution of sulphuric acid one part, and of water forty parts.

Silver ornaments can also be cleaned by being rubbed with a slice of lemon and rinsed in cold water, then washed in a lather of soap and again rinsed, this time in hot water; dry them with a soft cloth, and polish with chamois leather.

Nickel and silver are kept bright by being rubbed with flannel dipped in ammonia. Tarnished amber should be rubbed with powdered chalk wet with water, then with a little olive-oil on flannel, till the polish has reappeared.

Ivory can be whitened with a solution of peroxide of hydrogen. Letting it stand in spirits of turpentine in the sunshine will also have a good result. A simple way of cleaning ivory is with bicarbonate of soda; rub it with a brush wet with hot water and dipped in the soda.

How to Take Care of Furs, Feathers, and Woollen Things.

Many things and substances are highly spoken of as preservatives against insects.

Pliny relates that the Romans used lemon to keep moths and their grubs from their woollen garments.

Nowadays some people use horse-chestnuts, others cloves, others walnut-leaves, others again kitchen salt, to keep this destructive insect from furs, feathers, and woollens; they vaunt the efficacy of these remedies, transmitted from one generation to another.

Generally, however, cedar-shavings, pepper, and large lumps of camphor (if powdered, it evaporates too quickly) are unanimously considered the best preservatives.

Whatever you prefer to use, you must be careful to shake, beat, and brush the fur the wrong way up, as well as everything you are putting away, when the season for wearing them is over. Sprinkle them then with pepper, and scatter pieces of camphor, or anything else of that kind you like, among them; pack them, well sewn up, in clean linen, and put them into a well-dusted case, into which you should also scatter some of the same disinfectant.

Cigar-boxes are the best receptacles that you can choose for your feathers when you are not wearing them.

If you have trunks of cedar-wood, or cupboards lined with it, you will find it quite sufficient simply to shake and brush your things before putting them away.

There are yet other preventives against moths. A liquid may be made by mixing half a pint of. alcohol with the same quantity of spirits of turpentine and 65 grammes of camphor; it should be kept in a stone bottle, and well shaken before used. When you are putting away your winter clothes, soak some pieces of blotting-paper in the liquid, and scatter them about in the cases; after the things have been wrapped up in linen, put a layer of the paper under the things, and others over them and at the sides.

Another plan is to cover an old brandy barrel with pleated cretonne trimmed with brown guipure. Wrap up your furs and best woollen things in linen, and put them into the barrel; it will not look amiss standing in the corner of your dressing-room, with a pretty plant on top of it, and is the safest place possible for your things at the dangerous time.

If you have neither cedar-boxes nor barrels, it will be sufficient to sew up your winter garments in linen bags, taking the same precautions, and then hanging them up in a dark cupboard.

Dark furs are cleaned by rubbing them the reverse way with warm bran, and light ones with magnesia.

How to Clean Lace.

Many ladies have their valuable point lace washed before their own eyes whenever it is absolutely necessary, for good lace should be washed as seldom as possible. It is, however, easily cleaned. Make a lather with hot soft water and glycerine soap. Roll the lace on a glass bottle covered with a strip of fine linen, and leave it in the lather for twelve hours. Repeat this three times; then rinse it slightly by dipping the bottle in clear soft water, taking it out almost immediately. The soap which is left in serves to give a little stiffness to the lace when it is ironed. Each point must be pinned down before ironing it, which should always be done on the wrong side, with muslin over it. When it is done, all the flowers which have been flattened should be raised with an ivory stiletto.

Lace can also be cleaned by being put out in the sun in a basin of soapy water. It is then dried on a napkin, the points being pinned out as before, and very gently rubbed with a soft sponge dipped in a lather of glycerine soap; when one side is clean, do the other in the same way, and then rinse the lace in clear water with a little alum in it, to take out the soap; sponge it with a little rice-water before ironing it, and raise the flowers as above. If lace is not very much soiled, it can be cleaned by rubbing it very gently with bread-crumbs.

Blonde lace should boil for an hour in water with a little blue in it; this should be repeated twice in fresh water, and the third time the blue should be left out. It should not be rinsed. The blonde should be put into gum mixed with a little brandy and alum, then it is lightly sprinkled with sulphur, and ironed while it is damp.

Valenciennes should be rolled up in a convenient-sized packet, then sewn in a bag of fine white linen, and soaked for twelve hours in olive-oil, and boiled for a quarter of' an hour in water in which a little white soap is cut up. Rinse it well, dip the bag in a thin rice-water, then unsew it, and pin the Valenciennes out flat, to let it dry. Iron it with muslin over it.

Black lace should also be folded up so as to form a small lengthy packet (which should be kept together by being well tied up with strong cotton), and then dipped into beer. Rub it in your hands, but very gently, to clean it. Squeeze it so as to get the beer out, but do not wring it, and roil it up in a cloth. Iron it when it is more or less damp, according to the amount of stiffening that you want, placing it right side upwards upon a thick blanket, and covering it with muslin to prevent it looking shiny.

When you put away dresses trimmed with lace, cover up the lace with silver-paper.

To clean silver lace or braid, enclose them in a linen bag, plunge the bag in a pint of water to which 2 ounces of soap has been added, and boil; then rinse it out in fresh water. Apply a little spirits of wine to the parts that are tarnished.

How to Clean and Wash Woollen Materials.

Pink cashmere should be cleaned in a cold lather. Do not try putting any colouring into the water; you will spoil the stuff.

Rinse it well in cold water, and dry indoors in a subdued light.

For cleaning serge, use a strong decoction of the root of soapwort, which will make it very white and soft to the touch. Soap hardens materials, and always makes them a little yellow.

Knitted and crocheted garments should be washed as follows:—Cut up a pound of soap into small pieces, and melt it till it is as thin as jelly; when cold, beat it with your hand, and add three spoonfuls of grated hartshorn. Wash the things in this liquid, and rinse them well in cold water.

Plunge them into salt-and-water to fix the colour, if they are coloured. Put them in a bundle before the fire, and shake them frequently to dry them; never spread them out for this purpose.

If you want to refresh a faded black cashmere, rub each breadth separately with a sponge dipped in equal parts of alcohol and ammonia diluted in a little hot water.

Merinos and cashmeres should be washed in tepid water with some potato grated in it, and well rinsed in fresh spring-water. They should not be wrung out, but spread out singly on a rope, where they can drip till they are two-thirds dry, and then ironed.

Black cashmere can also be washed in Panama-water (that is to say, water in which Panama wood has been boiled), ivy-water (prepared in the same way), or ox-gall; this last is also very good for green cashmere. Here is another way of cleaning black cashmere:—Pick it to pieces, carefully taking out all the threads, cover the stains with dry soap. Put 6 ounces of mustard-flour in six quarts of boiling water, and allow it to boil up for two minutes. Strain it through a cloth, and let it cool till you can bear your hand in it. Put the stuff into an earthenware crock, and pour the mustard-water over it. Soap carefully, especially where it is stained, rinse it several times till the water runs clear, and stretch the material on a rope. When it is quite dry, cover it with a damp cloth, and iron it.

Coloured flannels should be washed in a warm lather, but never rubbed with soap. Shake them well, so as to get the water out as much as possible, and hang them up to dry.

Blue flannel must be washed in bran-water without soap; to preserve the colour, throw a handful of salt into the water it is rinsed in.

The juice of potatoes will remove mud-stains from woollen materials.

The white woollen fichus in Russian or Pyrenean wool, which are so useful in winter, can also be easily washed at home. Prepare a lather by boiling good white soap in soft water, which must be beaten continually while the soap is dissolving; then plunge the fichu into it, after having soaked it in clear tepid water. Squeeze without rubbing it, and repeat a second time; but this is not all. Dilute well two spoonfuls of powdered gum arabic in rather less than a quart of luke-warm water. When the liquid is thick, dip the fichu in, and squeeze it with your hands several times. Wring it out first in your hands, and then in white napkins. Dry the fichu by stretching it out and fastening it along the edges on a cloth, and covering it with another.

How to Clean Silks.

Silks can be very well cleaned if carefully done. Mix well together 12. drachms of honey, the same quantity of soft soap, and 12/10 ths of a quart of brandy. When the dress is unpicked and spread on a table, brush it well with the mixture. Rinse twice, and a third time in a tub of water in which 15 drachms of gum have been melted. Hang up to dry without wringing, and then iron it on the wrong side.

Another recipe:—Grate five potatoes in some clear fresh water. If your silk is a thin one, cut up the potatoes instead of grating them, and in any case do not forget to wash them well before using. Leave the water to stand for forty-eight hours, and then strain it. Dip the silk into it several times, taking care not to crush it; spread it on a table, and dry it well with a clean cloth on both sides. Iron on the wrong side. If the silk has any grease-stains upon it, they must be taken out first, either with chalk, or with magnesia and ether, or with yolk of egg and water.

White brocade should be cleaned with bread-crumbs; plain white silk (not satin) as follows:—Dissolve some soft soap in water as hot as you can bear it. Rub the silk between your hands in this soapy water, giving the stains extra attention, and rinse in tepid water. To dry, spread it out pinned on a cloth.

How to Clean Velvet.

If you have a good lady's-maid, you can easily get her to renew your worn, stained, or shabby velvet garments. It is necessary to unpick them, whatever they may be, so as to clean each breadth or piece separately.

Heat a thick plate of copper of suitable size; when it is very hot, put on it a cloth folded several times, and damped in boiling water. Then spread the velvet on it right side up, and do not be surprised to see a very thick black steam rising from it. At this moment pass, very lightly, a soft brush over the velvet. Take it off, and dry it by stretching it out on a table; when dry, it wil1 be as good as new. If you are not going to use it at once, wrap it up in silver-paper.

When velvet is crushed and flattened, it should be held stretched over boiling water, with the wrong side exposed to the steam, and then brushed up the reverse way.

Before putting away dresses and garments of all kinds made of velvet or plush, they should be well dusted. To do this, shake very fine dry sand on them, and brush them till the last grain of sand has disappeared. To take off mud-stains, brush with a soft brush dipped in gall diluted with some nearly boiling water, to which a little spirits of wine has been added; repeat if necessary. Lastly, sponge a weak solution of gum on the wrong side of the velvet.

Stains.

Spots on a dress are disgraceful; they should be removed the moment they are discovered.

Ink-stains on wool and cloth can be removed with oxalic acid; but to prevent it from taking out the colour, put some strong vinegar over the stain. Lemon, milk, the juice of ripe tomatoes, etc., are infallible for stains in white materials.

Should the colour of a material be accidentally destroyed by any acid, it will re-appear if the place be rubbed with ammonia. Candle-grease can be removed with eau de Cologne.

Varnish or paint stains should first be covered with butter or sweet oil, and then rubbed with turpentine. If it is an old stain, replace the turpentine by chloroform, which should of course be used with precaution.

Sherry will take out stains of claret; they must be gently rubbed with it.

Blood-stains should be soaked with petroleum, and then washed in warm water.

Fruit or any other stain should be removed by rubbing according to the grain of the material, and in no other direction.

Grease-stains are the most unsightly, more especially as they gradually increase in size. Fortunately, there are means to get rid of them. Before trying to take them out, place over them a piece of blotting~ paper, iron with a hot iron, then use soap and water and ammonia. Chloroform and a mixture of alcohol and ammonia are also efficacious.

Stains can likewise be damped with ammonia and water, a piece of white paper placed over them, and ironed with a hot iron. Or they can be rubbed, on the wrong side of the stuff, with chalk, which should be left on for a day; then split a visiting-card, lay the rough side on the place, and iron lightly.

Many people prepare balls for taking out grease, so as to have them ready to hand. Make a stiff paste of fuller's-earth and vinegar, roll it into balls, and dry. To use it, grate the ball over the stain, which you must damp first. Leave it to dry, and then remove it with tepid water. Here are three more recipes for lotions and mixtures for removing stains:—

(1) Twenty-six parts of very pure spirits of turpentine, 31 parts of alcohol at 40º, and 31 parts of sulphuric ether. Cork the bottle, and shake well to mix the ingredients. In using the mixture, spread your material over a cloth thickly folded; damp the stain with the liquid, and rub lightly with a soft rag. If it is an old stain, warm the place first.

(2) Mix equal parts of ammonia, ether, and alcohol. Wet the stain with a sponge, then put a piece of blotting-paper over it, damp it with the mixture, and rub the place. In an instant it is absorbed, and dispersed by the sponge and the paper.

(3) Here is a recipe which no stain will resist:—Pour two quarts of clean spring. water into a large bottle, add a piece of white amber about the size of a walnut, a piece of potash the size of a hazel-nut, and two lemons cut into slices. Let it stand twenty-four hours. Strain, and keep it in well-corked bottles. Damp the stain with it, and rub the place with fresh water immediately afterwards.

Little Hints on Various Matters of Dress.

Faded ribbons can be cleaned in a cold lather; they should be rinsed, shaken, and spread upon the ironing-board, covered with muslin, and ironed while damp.

Long crape veils falling from the back of the bonnet, and crape trimming on the dresses worn in mourning, are often more spoilt by the ignorance of the lady's-maid than by the rain. Crape should be quickly dried by being spread out, but never put near the fire. If it is stained with mud, wash it in cold water, and dry it without exposing it to the sun, the air, or the fire. If the crape has become limp, put it round a wooden roller, damping it throughout with brandy. Milk may also be used to damp it, and will restore the colour, but it should be carefully sponged afterwards. The black thread stockings which are worn in mourning during summer are washed as follows:—You must not use soap, but a sort of lather made with bran (about a teacupful), shaken about in tepid water in a muslin bag. Wash your stockings in this; when you take them out of the water, roll them up in a clean cloth, wringing them out well, and dry them by a quick fire, not in the open air.

By this process the stockings will keep a good black instead of turning brown. If this precaution has been neglected, and they have turned rusty, the colour can be restored by boiling them in a quart of water, to which have been added some shavings of logwood.

A felt hat may be drenched without being spoilt, but do not let it dry without brushing it. Unpick the trimming at once, begin to brush round the edge, and continue in the same way till you come to the middle of the crown, then place it on a block, and let it dry before putting it away. It will be as good as new.

Nothing is better for preserving white dresses than wrapping them up in blue paper. Although you should be careful not to crush the trimmings, the garments should be so covered as to entirely exclude the air. They should then be hung up in the wardrobe. White silk dresses should have a second covering of linen. The bodices should be put separately in boxes of their own. The trains should be left hanging their full length.

To clean the collars of garments, dissolve one part salt in four parts alcohol, —put it on with a sponge, and rub well.

Cloth, serge, and felt hats may be cleaned with a short hard brush dipped in spirits of ammonia. Brush till the grease-spots have disappeared.

APPENDIX.

Stings of Insects.

COUNTRY life has one great drawback: we refer to the unbearable stings of mosquitoes or gnats. If you are stung, run into the garden for a leek or an onion, and rub the place with it. This is, no doubt, a remedy as heroic as it is excellent.

The leaves of scented verbena keep off unpleasant insects; and washing with vinegar and water or syringa-flower-water preserves the skin against their onslaughts. Honey-and-water allays the irritation produced by them; use a teaspoonful of honey in a quart of boiling water, putting it on the place while the liquid is tepid.

Flour applied on the sting takes away redness, itching, and swelling. A good and easy remedy can be made by covering it with a little soap and water, letting the lather dry on the skin.

Lastly, a small quantity of menthol mixed with alcohol is excellent as a lotion for the painful stings of wasps, bees, gnats, and nettles.

Many people use little sticks of butter of cocoa as a cosmetic. If a little cocaine (2 per cent.) be added to it, and the sting rubbed with the stick, it will procure immediate relief, and the irritation will diminish at once.

If a bee has mistaken red lips for a rose or a white brow for a lily, and if you have nothing better at hand to cure the wound inflicted by the busy insect beloved of Virgil, rub the sting with a bunch of parsley for several minutes. Chloroform is also very useful for mosquito bites; it diminishes the swelling, the irritation, and the pain which they cause. Ammonia is equally good for these little bites. Before applying it, remove the sting which the insect may have left in, and then dab the place with the alkali.

Migraine and Neuralgia.

External applications of oil of peppermint are much recommended for the terrible pain of neuralgia. The simple remedy recommended by a country doctor of poultices of black night-shade (plant and berries) is rapid and permanent in its effects. The same doctor ordered a spoonful of common salt to be taken directly a patient showed the first symptoms of migraine, and the indisposition disappeared in half an hour: a harsh remedy, certainly, but, to save hours of suffering, worth trying.

It is stated that the Queen, who was very subject to bad headaches when she was middle-aged, used to have her temples lightly stroked with a camel's-hair pencil, which cured her in a quarter of an hour.

A negress has been known to relieve her mistress from the same distressing complaint by applying slices of lemon to her temples, and pressing her head firmly.

Inflammations.

Poultices of cooked apples are good for styes and inflammation, of the eyelids. Crushed leaves of bindweed applied to styes are also very efficacious.

Insomnia.

Pillows stuffed with camel's-hair, and covered with the skin of the same animal, are useful against insomnia.

Hops have the same properties, and so have onions. Sleep on a mattress of the former, and inhale the latter.

Hay-Fever.

This indisposition concerns us, for it makes the sufferer look ugly and almost ridiculous. Its symptoms are well known: a red and swollen nose, eyes full of tears a smothered voice, constant sneezing, etc. etc. No beauty can withstand it.

It should therefore be struggled against from the beginning. Aromatic vinegar is much used as a remedy in England; a little is poured into the hand, and is inhaled up the nostrils till it is quite evaporated.

Some doctors recommend inhaling salt water several times a day, others ammonia (the bottle containing it being held to the nostrils for a minute at a time, and then withdrawn); and a little camphorated powder used like snuff sometimes has good results.

FINIS.

(Title image: François Boucher, Portrait of Mme de Pompadour at Her Toilette, 1758.)

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26/09/2007

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26/09/2007