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| author | nfenwick <nfenwick@pglaf.org> | 2025-02-02 11:21:09 -0800 |
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| committer | nfenwick <nfenwick@pglaf.org> | 2025-02-02 11:21:09 -0800 |
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diff --git a/75279-h/75279-h.htm b/75279-h/75279-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3d69d97 --- /dev/null +++ b/75279-h/75279-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,8371 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html> +<html lang="en"> +<head> + <meta charset="UTF-8"> + <title> + The Ugly-Girl Papers | Project Gutenberg + </title> + <link rel="icon" href="images/cover.jpg" type="image/x-cover"> + <style> + +body { + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; +} + + h1,h2{ + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; +} + +p { + margin-top: .51em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .49em; +} + + +hr { + width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: 33.5%; + margin-right: 33.5%; + clear: both; +} + +hr.chap {width: 65%; margin-left: 17.5%; margin-right: 17.5%;} +@media print { hr.chap {display: none; visibility: hidden;} } + +div.chapter {page-break-before: always;} +h2.nobreak {page-break-before: avoid;} + +ul.index { list-style-type: none; } +li.ifrst { + margin-top: 1em; + text-indent: -2em; + padding-left: 1em; +} +li.indx { + margin-top: .5em; + text-indent: -2em; + padding-left: 1em; +} +li.isub1 { + text-indent: -2em; + padding-left: 2em; +} + +table { + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; +} +table.autotable { border-collapse: collapse; } +table.autotable td { padding: 0.25em; } + +.tdl {text-align: left;} +.tdr {text-align: right;} +.tdc {text-align: center;} + +.pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + /* visibility: hidden; */ + position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: small; + text-align: right; + font-style: normal; + font-weight: normal; + font-variant: normal; + text-indent: 0; +} /* page numbers */ + +.blockquot { + margin-left: 5%; + margin-right: 10%; +} + + + +.smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + + +.caption {font-weight: bold;} + +/* Images */ + +img { + max-width: 100%; + height: auto; +} +img.w100 {width: 100%;} + + +.figcenter { + margin: auto; + text-align: center; + page-break-inside: avoid; + max-width: 100%; +} + + + +.author { + text-align: right; + margin-right: 20%; + font-size: x-large; + } + +.author2 { + text-align: right; + margin-right: 20%; + } + +.x-ebookmaker body {margin: 0;} +.x-ebookmaker-drop {color: inherit;} + +.ph2, .ph3, .ph4 { text-align: center; text-indent: 0em; font-weight: bold; } +.ph2 { font-size: x-large; margin: .75em auto; } +.ph3 { font-size: large; margin: .83em auto; } +.ph4 { font-size: medium; margin: 1.12em auto; } + +p.hanging-indent1 { + padding-left: 2.25em; + text-indent: -2.25em; +} + +hr.tiny {width: 10%; margin-left: 45%; margin-right: 45%;} + +.tnote {border: dashed 1px; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; +padding-bottom: .5em; padding-top: .5em; padding-left: .5em; +padding-right: .5em;} + + +/* Illustration classes */ +.illowp100 {width: 100%;} +.illowp49 {width: 49%;} +.x-ebookmaker .illowp49 {width: 100%;} +.illowp59 {width: 59%;} +.x-ebookmaker .illowp59 {width: 100%;} + + + </style> +</head> +<body> +<div style='text-align:center'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 75279 ***</div> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp49" id="cover" style="max-width: 110.0625em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/cover.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption">UGLY-GIRL PAPERS<br> + +FROM<br> + +HARPERS BAZAR</figcaption> +</figure> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<p class="ph4"> +<i>REPRINTED FROM “HARPER’S BAZAR.”</i></p> +<hr class="tiny"> + +<h1>THE<br> + +UGLY-GIRL PAPERS;</h1> + +<p class="ph4">OR,</p> + +<p class="ph3">HINTS FOR THE TOILET.</p> + + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="i_title_decor" style="width: 6.25em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_title_decor.jpg" alt="logo" +data-role="presentation"> +</figure> + + +<p class="ph3"><i>NEW YORK</i>:<br> +HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS,</p> +<p class="ph4">FRANKLIN SQUARE. +</p> +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + + +<div class="chapter"> +<p class="ph4"> +Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1874, by</p> +<p class="ph3"><span class="smcap">Harper & Brothers</span>,</p> +<p class="ph4">In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.<br> +</p> +</div> +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + + +<div class="chapter"> +<p class="ph3"> +TO</p> +<br> +<p class="ph2">AUNT SUSAN,</p> +<br> +<p class="ph3">THE DEAR AND HANDSOME OLD LADY WHO NEVER<br> +NEEDED ANY OF THESE RECIPES,</p> +<br> +<p class="ph2">LET ME OFFER MY FIRST BOOK.<br> +<br> +</p> +<p class="author">S. D. P.</p> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="PREFACE">PREFACE.</h2> +</div> + + +<p>By means of these scattered chapters the +writer has come to know women better—their +traditions, desires, and delights. If through +these pages women should know themselves +and what they may become in regard and +temper for their lovers, friends, children, and +their own sakes, it will well reward the pleasant +labor which has already met such kind +appreciation. Begun by chance, to make an +agreeable article or two for <i>Harper’s Bazar</i>, +the “Ugly-Girl Papers” were continued by +request, and have brought the writer into +friendly bearings with many of the readers +of the <i>Bazar</i>. To their questions and hints +these chapters owe more of their value than +appears on the surface; and the little book +goes out hoping to meet, if not new friends, +at least some old ones.</p> + +<p>The science of the toilet is well-nigh as +delicate as that of medicine; and as no prescription +has yet proved a specific for disease, +no recipe can reach all cases of complexion. +I could wish for this book the good-will and +consideration of physicians, under whose advice +it may be hoped its suggestions will approve +themselves of wide service.</p> + +<p class="author2"> +S. D. P.<br> +</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_i">[Pg i]</span></p> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CONTENTS">CONTENTS.</h2> +</div> + + + +<table class="autotable"> +<tr> +<td class="tdc">CHAPTER I.</td> +<td></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"><p class="hanging-indent1">Woman’s Business to be Beautiful.—How to Acquire a Clear +Complexion.—Regimen for Purity of the Blood.—Carbonate +of Ammonia and Powdered Charcoal.—Stippled Skins.—Face +Masks.—Oily Complexions.—Irritations of the +Skin.—Lettuce as a Cosmetic.—Cooling Drinks.—Sun-Baths.—Bread +and Molasses</p></td> +<td class="tdr">Page <a href="#Page_9">9</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdc">CHAPTER II.</td> +<td></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"><p class="hanging-indent1">Care of the Hair.—Children’s Hair.—When to Cut it.—Ammonia + + +Washes.—Glycerine and Ammonia.—Pomades.—How + + +to Brush the Hair.—Cutting the Ends.—German + + +Method of Treating the Hair.—Southernwood + + +Pomade.—Hair-Dyes.—Dyeing the Eyebrows and Eyelashes.—Superfluous + + +Hair.—Depilatories.—Washes for + + +the Eyelashes and Eyebrows</p></td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_22">22</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdc">CHAPTER III.</td> +<td></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"><p class="hanging-indent1">Elegance of Manner.—Grace of the Latin Races.—The + + +Secret of Grace.—Gliding Movement.—Calisthenics.—Erectness + + +of Figure.—Shoulder Braces.—How to Acquire + + +Sloping Shoulders.—Care of the Feet.—The Art of Walking.—Picturesque + + +Carriage of Southern Women</p></td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_35">35</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdc">CHAPTER IV.</td> +<td></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"><p class="hanging-indent1">N. P. Willis as a Critic of Beauty.—The Perfume of the + + +Presence.—Charm of Good Circulation.—Chills are Incipient + + +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_ii">[Pg ii]</span>Congestion.—Paper Clothing.—Luxuries of the + + +Bath.—A Substitute for Sea-Baths.—To Secure Fragrant + + +Breath.—Delicate Dentifrices.—Fine Cologne.—A + + +List of Fragrance</p></td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_48">48</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdc">CHAPTER V.</td> +<td></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"><p class="hanging-indent1">Morals of Paint and Powder.—Antique Toilet Arts.—Washington + + +Ladies.—Making Up the Face.—Whitening + + +the Arms.—Tints of Rouge.—To Make French Rouge.—Milk + + +of Roses.—Greuze Tints.—Coarse Complexions + + +Caused by Powder.—Color for the Lips.—Crystal and + + +Gold Hair Powder.—Dyeing Blonde Wigs.—To Darken + + +the Hair.—Champagne and Black-Walnut Bark.—Doom + + +of the Complexion Artist</p></td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_59">59</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdc">CHAPTER VI.</td> +<td></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"><p class="hanging-indent1">Récamier’s Training.—Diana of Poitiers’ Bath.—High + + +Beauty of Maturity.—The Worth of Beauty.—George + + +Eliot on Complexions.—Dr. Cazenave.—Barley Paste for + + +the Face.—Prescriptions of the Roman Ladies.—To Remove + + +Pimples.—Cascarilla Wash.—Varnish for Wrinkles.—Acetic + + +Acid for Comedones.—To Remove Mask.—Lady + + +Mary Montagu.—Habit of Italian Ladies.—Wash of + + +Vitriol</p></td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_70">70</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdc">CHAPTER VII.</td> +<td></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"><p class="hanging-indent1">Shining Pallor.—Lustrous Faces.—Golden Freckles.—Tiger-Lily + + +Spots.—Sun Photographs.—Nitre Removes + + +Freckles.—Old English Prescription.—For Yachting.—Almond-Oil.—Buttermilk + + +as a Cosmetic.—Rosemary and + + +Glycerine.—Lotion for Prickly Heat.—For Musquitoes.—Protecting + + +Hair from Sea Air.—Fashionable Gray Hair.—Dark + + +Eyes and Silver Hair.—To Restore Dark Hair.—Bandoline.—Cold + + +Cream.—Almond Pomade.—For + + +Skin Diseases.—Sulphurous Acid</p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_iii">[Pg iii]</span></td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_77">77</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdc">CHAPTER VIII.</td> +<td></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"><p class="hanging-indent1">Service of Beauty.—Not for Vanity, but Perfection.—Eyebrows + + +of Petrarch’s Laura.—Fashionable Baths.—Trimming + + +the Eyelashes.—Luxury of the Toilet.—Its Magnetic + + +Influence.—A Safe Stimulant.—Amateurs of the Toilet.—Cosmetic + + +Gloves.—To Refine the Skin of the Shoulders + + +and Arms.—Sulphate of Quinine for the Hair.—For + + +the Eyebrows and Eyelashes.—A Harmless Dye.—To Remove + + +Sallowness.—A Hint for Stout People.—Perfumed + + +Bathing-powder</p></td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_86">86</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdc">CHAPTER IX.</td> +<td></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"><p class="hanging-indent1">Hope for Homely People.—Two Vital Charms.—The Way + + +to Live.—Sunrise and Open Air.—Bleached by the Dawn.—Live + + +at Sunny Windows.—In Balconies and Parks.—Christiana’s + + +Breakfast.—Brown Steak and Good-humor.—True + + +Bread.—Device for Stiff Shoulders.—Corsets and + + +Girdles.—The Latter more Needed.—How to be Pleased + + +with One’s Self</p></td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_95">95</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdc">CHAPTER X.</td> +<td></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"><p class="hanging-indent1">The Bonniest Kate in Christendom.—A Word to Mothers +and Aunts.—Different Vanities.—The Sorrows of Ugly +Women.—Recipes of an Ancient Beauty.—Sand Wash.—Color + + +for the Nails.—Embrocation for the Hands.—Soap + + +to Bleach the Arms.—Freckle Lotions.—Artistic + + +Enthusiasm at the Toilet</p></td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_108">108</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdc">CHAPTER XI.</td> +<td></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"><p class="hanging-indent1">A Dark Potion.—Olive-oil and Tar for the Face.—Olive-tar + + +for Inhalation.—Carbolic Lotion for Pimples.—Cure + + +for Musquito Bites.—Pale Blondes.—A French Marquise.—Deepening + + +Colors by Sunlight.—Seductive Cosmetics.—Nose-machine.—Finger + + +Thimbles</p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_iv">[Pg iv]</span></td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_117">117</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdc">CHAPTER XII.</td> +<td></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"><p class="hanging-indent1">Removal of Superfluous Hair.—Effects of High Living.—Work + + +of Typhoid Fever.—Roman Tweezers.—Lola Montez’s + + +Recipes.—Paste of Wood-ashes.—Bleaching Arms + + +with Chloride.—Cautions about Depilatories.—Public + + +Baths.—Improving Complexions by the Sulphur Vapor-bath.—How + + +Arabian Women Perfume Themselves.—Profuse + + +Hair, Sign of Nature’s Bounty</p></td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_125">125</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdc">CHAPTER XIII.</td> +<td></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"><p class="hanging-indent1">Madame Celnart’s Works of the Toilet.—Literature of + + +Beauty.—Cares of the Toilet.—Arts of Coiffure and + + +Lacing.—How to Hold a Needle Gracefully.—Iris Powder + + +for Tresses.—Arts of Italian Women.—Depilatory used + + +in Harems.—Spirit of Pyrêtre.—Herbs used by Greek + + +Women.—Mexican Pomade.—Dusky Perfumed Marbles.—Lost + + +Perfumes.—Sultanas’ Lotion.—Brilliant Paste for + + +Neck and Arms.—Baking Enamel</p></td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_134">134</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdc">CHAPTER XIV.</td> +<td></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"><p class="hanging-indent1">The Last of the Rose.—Weighing in the Balances.—To + +Love and to be Loved.—The Enigma of Love.—Its Power + + +over the Lot of Men.—Inspiration in the Looks.—The + + +Land of Spring.—The Duchess of Devonshire.—Women + + +at and after Thirty.—Training of Emotion.—Warming + + +the Voice.—Crow’s-feet at the Opera.—Bohemian Arsenic + + +Waters.—Recipe from Madame Vestris.—Milk of Roses.—Sweet-oils.—Opera-dancers’ + + +Prescription for Restoring + + +Suppleness</p></td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_146">146</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdc">CHAPTER XV.</td> +<td></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"><p class="hanging-indent1">The Fearful Malady of which no one Dies.—<i>Esprit Odontalgique.</i>—Gray + + +Pastilles.—Important to Smokers.—Mouth + + +Perfumes.—Care of the Breath.—Directions for + + +Bathing.—Perfumes for the Bath.—Bazin’s <i>Pâte</i>.—Quality + + +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_v">[Pg v]</span>of Soaps.—Bathing and Anointing the Feet.—Nicety + + +of Stockings.—Delicate Shoe Linings.—Feet of Pauline + + +Bonaparte</p></td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_155">155</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdc">CHAPTER XVI.</td> +<td></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"><p class="hanging-indent1">“The Leaves are Full of Joy.”—Nobility of the Body.—Its + + +Possibilities.—Brain and Heart Dependent on it.—Physical + + +Culture Imperative in America.—Our Contempt + + +of Health.—Easier to be Magnificent than Clean.—Distilled + + +Water for Every Use.—Substitute for Stills.—Vapor + + +and Sulphur Baths.—Bran Baths.—Oatmeal for the + + +Hands.—Frequency of Baths.—Remedies for Hepatic + + +Spots</p></td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_165">165</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdc">CHAPTER XVII.</td> +<td></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"><p class="hanging-indent1">The Banting System.—A Quaint Author.—Trials of Corpulency.—Result + + +of Living on Sixpence a Day.—Indifference + + +of Doctors.—A Wise Surgeon.—Relation of Glucose to + + +Obesity.—Diet for Stout People.—No Starch, no Sugar.—Losing + + +Flesh at the Rate of a Pound a Week.—“Human + + +Beans.”—Humors of Banting’s Tract.—His Gratitude.—Honors + + +to Dr. Harvey.—One Day with Dives, the Next + + +with Lazarus.—Bromide of Ammonia</p></td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_175">175</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdc">CHAPTER XVIII.</td> +<td></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"><p class="hanging-indent1">A Letter.—Trials of a Plain Woman.—The Best Husband + + +in the World.—Burdock Wash for the Hair.—For Children’s + + +Hair.—Oil of Mace as a Stimulant.—To Restore + + +Color to the Hair.—Sperm-oil a Powerful Hair Restorer.—The + + +Cheapest Hair-Dye.—Cure for Chilblains.—Loose + + +Shoes the Cause of Corns.—Pyroligneous Acid for Corns.—Turpentine + + +and Carbolic Acid for Soft Corns</p></td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_185">185</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdc">CHAPTER XIX.</td> +<td></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"><p class="hanging-indent1">A Talk about Complexions.—Delicate Lotion.—Cause of + + +Rough Faces.—Sun Painting and Bleaching.—Court + + +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_vi">[Pg vi]</span>Ladies Refusing to Wash their Faces.—Experiments + + +with Olive-tar.—Consumption and Clear Faces.—Rev. + + +W. H. H. Murray on Olive-tar.—Porcelain Women.—Drawing + + +Humors to the Surface.—What is to be Done + + +for the Weak Women?</p></td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_192">192</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdc">CHAPTER XX.</td> +<td></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"><p class="hanging-indent1">Sulphur Baths.—Bleaching Old Faces.—Experiments in + + +Bathing.—Cautions.—Need of Public Baths.—Their + + +Proper Prices.—Method of Giving Sulphur Vapor-baths.—Hot + + +Baths for Hot Weather.—Russian Baths at Home.—Improvements + + +Needed in Public Baths.—What they + + +Should be.—What they Are.—The Russian Vapor-bath.—After-Sensations.—Brightness + + +and Lightness of + + +Health.—Reverence for the Physical.—Influence of + + +Bathing on the Nerves and Passions.—Necessity of + + +Public Baths</p></td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_198">198</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdc">CHAPTER XXI.</td> +<td></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"><p class="hanging-indent1">Devices of Uneasy Age.—Bread Paste and Court-plaster + + +to Conceal Wrinkles.—Accepting the Situation.—Plain + + +Women and Agreeable Toilets.—Examples.—The Rector’s + + +Daughter.—Dressing on Two Hundred a Year.—Écru + + +Linen and White Nansook.—A Senator’s Wife.—A + + +Washington Success.—Dull, Thin Faces.—Hay-colored + + +Hair.—Advantages of Lining Rooms with Mirrors</p></td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_212">212</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdc">CHAPTER XXII.</td> +<td></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"><p class="hanging-indent1">Physical Education of Girls.—A Woman’s Value in the + + +World.—High-bred Figures.—Antique Races.—Inspiration + + +of Art not Vanity.—The Trying Age.—Dress, + + +Food, and Bathing for Young Girls.—A Veto on Close + + +Study.—Braces and Backboards.—Never Talk of Girls’ + + +Feelings.—Exercise for the Arms.—Singing Scales with + + +Corsets off.—Development of the Bust.—Open-work Corsets + + +the Best.—The Bayaderes of India and their Forms.—The + + +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_vii">[Pg vii]</span>Delicacy due Young Girls.—A Frank but Needed + + +Caution.—Care of the Figure after Nursing</p></td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_224">224</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdc">CHAPTER XXIII.</td> +<td></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"><p class="hanging-indent1">Hands and Complexions.—Preparing for Parties.—Refining + + +Rough Faces.—Carbolic Baths.—Chalk and Cascarilla.—Glycerine + + +Wash.—School-girls’ Flushed Hands and + + +Faces.—To Soften the Hands.—Red Noses.—Secrets of + + +Making-up.—Cologne for the Eyes.—Cosmetic Gloves.—To + + +Impart a Brilliant Complexion</p></td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_238">238</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdc">CHAPTER XXIV.</td> +<td></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"><p class="hanging-indent1">Women’s Looks and Nerves.—A Low-toned Generation.—Children + + +and their Ways.—Brief Madness.—Women in + + +the Woods.—Singing.—Work well done the Easiest.—Sleep + + +the Remedy for Temper.—Hours for Sleep.—The + + +Great Medicines—Sunshine, Music, Work, and Sleep</p></td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_247">247</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdc">CHAPTER XXV.</td> +<td></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"><p class="hanging-indent1">Changing Wigs and Chignons.—Matching Braids.—Frizzing + + +the Hair.—Crimping-pins.—Blonde Hair-pins.—What + + +Colors Hair.—Bleaching Tresses.—Sulphur Paste.—Foxy + + +Locks.—Freshening Switches</p></td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_257">257</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdc">CHAPTER XXVI.</td> +<td></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"><p class="hanging-indent1">Hair and Complexion.—Black Dyes.—Persian Blue-Black.—Peroxide + + +of Hydrogen.—Chloride of Gold.—Transient + + +Dyes</p></td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_267">267</a></td> +</tr> +</table> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</span></p> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="THE_UGLY-GIRL_PAPERS">THE UGLY-GIRL PAPERS.</h2> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I.</h2> +</div> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p class="hanging-indent1">Woman’s Business to be Beautiful.—How to Acquire a Clear +Complexion.—Regimen for Purity of the Blood.—Carbonate +of Ammonia and Powdered Charcoal.—Stippled Skins.—Face +Masks.—Oily Complexions.—Irritations of the +Skin.—Lettuce as a Cosmetic.—Cooling Drinks.—Sun-Baths.—Bread +and Molasses.</p> +</div> + + +<p>The first requisite in a woman toward pleasing +others is that she should be pleased with +herself. In no other way can she attain that +self-poise, that satisfaction, which leaves her +at liberty to devote herself successfully to +others.</p> + +<p>I appeal to the ugly sisterhood to know if +this is not so. Could a woman be made to +believe herself beautiful, it would go far toward +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</span>making her so. Those hopeless, shrinking +souls, alive with devotion and imagination, +with hearts as fit to make passionate and worshiped +lovers, or steadfast and inspiring heroines, +as the fairest Venus of the sex, need not +for an instant believe there is no alleviation +for their case, no chance of making face and +figure more attractive and truer exponents of +the spirit within.</p> + +<p>There is scarcely any thing in the history +of women more touching than the homage +paid to beauty by those who have it not. No +slave among her throng of adorers appreciated +more keenly the beauty of Récamier than the +skeleton-like, irritable Madame De Chateaubriand. +The loveliness of a rival eats into a +girl’s heart like corrosion; every fair curling +hair, every grace of outline, is traced in lines +of fire on the mind of the plainer one, and reproduced +with microscopic fidelity. It is a +woman’s business to be beautiful. She recommends +every virtue and heroism by the +grace which sets them forth. Women of genius +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</span>are the first to lay the crown of womanhood +on the head of the most beautiful. +Mere fashion of face and form are not +meant by beauty, but that symmetry and +brightness which come of physical and spiritual +refinement. Such are the heroines of +Scott, Disraeli, and Bulwer, as inspiring as +they are rare. Toward such ideals all women +yearn.</p> + +<p>Who will say that this most natural feeling +of the feminine heart may not have some fulfillment +in the first thirty years of life? This +limit is given because the latest authorities in +social science assert that woman’s prime of +youth is twenty-six, moving the barriers a +good ten years ahead from the old standard +of the novelist, whose heroines are always in +the dew of sixteen. In the very first place, +one may boldly say that beauty, or rather fascination, +is not a matter of youth, and no +woman ought to sigh over her years till she +feels the frost creeping into her heart. Men +of the world understand well that a woman’s +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</span>wit is finest, and her heart yields the richest +wealth, when experience has formed the fair +and colorless material of youth. A sweet girl +of seventeen and a high-bred beauty of thirty, +if well preserved, may dispute the palm. I +do not mean to decry rose-buds and dew. +One hardly knows which to love them for +most—their loveliness or their briefness. But +women who look their thirties in the face +should not lay down the sceptre of life, or +fancy that its delights for them are over. +They are young while they seem young.</p> + +<p>Then we may boldly set about renovating +the outward form, sure that Nature will respond +to our efforts. The essence of beauty +is health; but all apparently healthy people +are not fair. The type of the system must be +considered in treatment. The brunette is usually +built up of much iron, and the bilious +secretion is sluggish. The blonde is apt to +be dyspeptic, and subject to disturbances of +the blood. From these causes result freckles, +pimples, and that coarse, indented skin <i>stippled</i> +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</span>with punctures, like the tissue of pig-skin—a +fault of many otherwise clear complexions.</p> + +<p>The fairest skins belong to people in the +earliest stage of consumption, or those of a +scrofulous nature. This miraculous clearness +and brilliance is due to the constant purgation +which wastes the consumptive, or to the issue +which relieves the system of impurities by one +outlet. We must secure purity of the blood +by less exhaustive methods. The diet should +be regulated according to the habit of the +person. If stout, she should eat as little as +will satisfy her appetite; never allowing herself, +however, to rise from the table hungry. +A few days’ resolute denial will show how +much really is needed to keep up the strength. +When recovering from severe nervous prostration, +years ago, the writer found her appetite +gone. The least morsel satisfied hunger, and +more produced a repugnance she never tried +to overcome. She resumed study six hours a +day and walked two miles every day from the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</span>suburbs to the centre of the city, and back +again. Breakfast usually was a small saucer +of strawberries and one Graham cracker, and +was not infrequently dispensed with altogether. +Lunch was half an orange—for the burden of +eating the other half was not to be thought +of; and at six o’clock a handful of cherries +formed a plentiful dinner. Once a week she +did crave something like beef-steak or soup, +and took it. But, guiding herself wholly by +appetite, she found with surprise that her +strength remained steady, her nerves grew +calm, and her ability to study was never better. +This is no rule for any one, farther than +to say persons of well-developed physique +need not fear any limitation of diet for a +time which does not tell on the strength and +is approved by appetite. Never eat too much; +never go hungry.</p> + +<p>For weak digestion nothing is so relished or +strengthens so much as the rich beef tea, or +rather gravy, prepared from the beef-jelly sold +by first-rate grocers. This is very different +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</span>from the extracts of beef made by chemists. +The condensed beef prepared by the same +companies which send out the condensed +milk is preferable, in all respects, as to taste +and nourishment. A table-spoonful of this +jelly, dissolved by pouring a cup of boiling +water on it, and drank when cool, will give as +much strength as three fourths of a pound of +beef-steak broiled. For singers and students, +who need a light but strengthening diet, nothing +is so admirable.</p> + +<p>Nervous people, and sanguine ones, should +adopt a diet of eggs, fish, soups, and salads, +with fruit. This cools the blood, and leaves +the strength to supply the nerves instead of +taxing them to digest heavy preparations. +Lymphatic people should especially prefer +such lively salads as cress, pepper-grass, horseradish, +and mustard. These are nature’s correctives, +and should appear on the table from +March to November, to be eaten not merely +as relishes, but as stimulating and beneficial +food. They stir the blood, and clear the eye +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</span>and brain from the humors of spring. Nervous +people should be more sparing of these +fiery delights, and eat abundantly of golden +lettuce, which contains opium in its most delicate +and least injurious state. The question +of fat meat does not seem satisfactorily settled. +I should compound by using rich soups +which contain the essence of meats, and supply +carbon by salad-oil and a free use of nuts +or cream. Plump, fair people may let oily +matters of all kinds carefully alone. Thin +ones should eat vegetables—if they can find a +cook who knows how to make them palatable. +It is strange that in this country, which produces +the finest vegetables, fit for the envy of +foreign cooks, not one out of a hundred knows +how to prepare them properly. People who +are anxious to be rid of flesh should choose +acids, lemons, limes, and tamarinds, eat sparingly +of dry meats, with crackers instead of +bread, and follow strictly the advice now +given.</p> + +<p>To clear the complexion or reduce the size, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</span>the blood must be carefully cleansed. Two +simple chemicals should appear on every toilet-table—the +carbonate of ammonia and powdered +charcoal. No cosmetic has more frequent +uses than these. The ammonia must +be kept in glass, with a glass stopper, from +the air. French charcoal is preferred by physicians, +as it is more finely ground, and a large +bottle of it should be kept on hand. In cases +of debility and all wasting disorders it is valuable. +To clear the complexion, take a teaspoonful +of charcoal well mixed in water or +honey for three nights, then use a simple purgative +to remove it from the system. It acts +like calomel, with no bad effects, purifying the +blood more effectually than any thing else. +But some simple aperient must not be omitted, +or the charcoal will remain in the system, +a mass of festering poison, with all the impurities +it absorbs. After this course of purification, +tonics may be used. Many people seem +not to know that protoxide of iron, medicated +wine, and “bracing” medicines are useless +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</span>when the impurities remain in the blood. +The use of charcoal is daily better understood +by our best physicians, and it is powerful, and +simple enough to be handled by every household. +The purifying process, unless the health +is unusually good, must be repeated every +three months. We absorb in bad food and +air more unprofitable matter than nature can +throw off in that time. If diet and atmosphere +were perfect, no such aid would be +needed; but it is the choice between a very +great and a small evil in existing conditions. +A free use of tomatoes and figs is, by the way, +recommended, to maintain a healthy condition +of the stomach, and the seeds of either should +<i>not</i> be discarded.</p> + +<p>The most troublesome task is to refine a +<i>stippled</i> skin whose oil-glands are large and +coarse. There may not be a pimple or freckle +on the face, and the temples may be smooth, +but the nose and cheeks look like a pin-cushion +from which the pins have just been +drawn. Patience and many applications are +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</span>necessary, for one must, in fact, renew the +skin.</p> + +<p>The worst face may be softened by wearing +a mask of quilted cotton wet in cold water +at night. Roman ladies used poultices of +bread and asses’ milk for the same purpose; +but water, and especially distilled water, is all +that is needful. A small dose of taraxacum +every other night will assist in refining the +skin. But it will be at least a six weeks’ +work to effect the desired change; and it will +be a zealous girl who submits to the discomfort +of the mask for that length of time. The +result pays. The compress acts like a mild +but imperceptible blister, and leaves a new +skin, soft as an infant’s. Bathing oily skins +with camphor dries the oil somewhat, when the +camphor would parch nice complexions. The +opium found in the stalks of flowering lettuce +refines the skin singularly, and may be used +clear, instead of the soap which sells so high. +Rub the milky juice collected from broken +stems of coarse garden lettuce over the face +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</span>at night, and wash with a solution of ammonia +in the morning.</p> + +<p>Blondes who are unbeautiful are apt to +have divers irritations of the skin, which their +darker neighbors do not know. People of +this type also have a tendency to acid stomachs, +the antidote for which is a dose of ammonia, +say one quarter of a spoonful in half a +glass of water, taken every night and morning. +This also prevents decay of the teeth and +sweetens the breath, and is less injurious than +the soda and magnesia many ladies use for +acid stomachs. In summer the system should +be kept cool by bathing at night and morning, +and by tart drinks containing cream of tartar. +Small quantities of nitre, prescribed by the +physician, may be taken by very sanguine persons +who suffer with heat; but pale complexions +should seek the sun when its power is not +too great, and be careful, of all things, to avoid +a chill. This deadens the skin, paints blue circles +round the eyes, and leaves the hands an +uncertain color.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</span></p> +<p>These precautions may seem burdensome, +but they all have been practiced by those who +prize beauty. Nothing is so attractive, so suggestive +of purity of mind and excellence of +body, as a clear, fine-grained skin. Strong +color is not desirable. Tints, rather than colors, +best please the refined eye in the complexion. +Some mothers are so anxious to secure +this grace for their daughters that they +are kept on the strictest diet from childhood. +The most dazzling Parian could not be more +beautiful than the cheek of a child I once +saw who was kept on oatmeal porridge for +this effect. At a boarding-school, I remember, +a fashionable mother gave strict injunctions +that her daughter should touch nothing but +brown bread and syrup. This was hard fare; +but the carmine lips and magnolia brow of +the young lady were the envy of her schoolmates, +who, however, were not courageous +enough to attempt such a régime for themselves.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</span></p> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II.</h2> +</div> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p class="hanging-indent1">Care of the Hair.—Children’s Hair.—When to Cut it.—Ammonia +Washes.—Glycerine and Ammonia.—Pomades.—How +to Brush the Hair.—Cutting the Ends.—German +Method of Treating the Hair.—Southernwood +Pomade.—Hair-Dyes.—Dyeing the Eyebrows and Eyelashes.—Superfluous +Hair.—Depilatories.—Washes for +the Eyelashes and Eyebrows.</p> +</div> + + +<p>St. Paul approved himself no less a connoisseur +of female beauty than a censor of decorum +when he wrote, “If a woman have long +hair, it is a glory to her.” This is in no wise +inconsistent with the other apostolic passage +which discourages ornate hair-dressing, for +abundant shining hair needs less care to arrange +than a scanty crop that must be disposed +to the best advantage. The woman +whose magnificent chevelure reaches to her +waist, thick as one’s wrist when tightly bound, +needs no braid nor cataract, finger-puff nor +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</span>snow-curl, nor band of gold or amber to crown +herself. Every girl ought to have such hair. +Mothers should remember that such gifts of +nature form a dowry which has no little +weight in the incidents of a woman’s life, and +should cultivate assiduously the locks of their +daughters. It is not best to keep them closely +cut: after five years they should never be +touched by scissors, save to clip the ends once +a month, as hereafter explained, but should be +smoothly braided in long Marguerite plaits, +the most convenient style, unless the mother +is ambitious of seeing her pet’s hair in curls. +Hardly any locks will resist good discipline, +if taken in the downy stage of infancy and +submitted to papillotes. It is a mistaken notion +that a luxuriant growth of hair in childhood +weakens the head. Nature is not in the +habit of providing superfluities. The Breton +women are noted for their magnificent hair, +which is allowed to grow from childhood. +The barbarity of the fine comb should be +abolished in civilized nurseries, and a daily or +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</span>semi-weekly wash with ammonia or soap substituted, +with a thorough brushing afterward. +A child’s head is too tender for any rasping +process; even knotted snarls should be cut +rather than pulled out. Send tow-headed children +into the sun as much as possible, that its +rays may affect every particle of the iron in +the blood, and change the flaxen colors to +more agreeable shades.</p> + +<p>When the hair has been neglected, cut it to an +even length, and wash the scalp nightly with soft +water into which ammonia has been poured. +This may be as strong as possible at first, so +that it does not burn the skin. Afterward +the proportions may be three large spoonfuls +of ammonia to a basin of water. Apply with +a brush, stirring the hair well while the head +is partially immersed. Do this at night, so +that it may have a chance to dry, for nothing +is so disagreeable as hair put up wet and +turned musty. Wring and wipe it thoroughly, +then comb and shake out the tresses in a +draft of air till nearly dry, when it may be +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</span>done up in a cotton net. Night-caps heat the +head and injure hair. Ammonia is the most +healthful and efficient stimulus known for the +hair, and quickens its growth when nothing +else will do so. A healthy system will supply +oil enough for the hair if the head is kept +clean. If the scalp is unnaturally dry, a mixture +of half an ounce of carbonate of ammonia +in a pint of sweet-oil makes the most +esteemed hair invigorator. Glycerine and ammonia +make a delicate dressing for the hair, +and will not soil the nicest bonnet. Pomades +of all kinds are voted vulgar, and justly. The +only excuse for their use is just before entering +a sea bath, when a thorough oiling of the +hair prevents injury from salt water. It +should be speedily washed off with a dilution +of ammonia.</p> + +<p>When a growth of young hair is established, +it ought to lengthen at least eight inches a +year in a vigorous subject. Hair is an index +of vitality. The women of the tropics, with +their abounding health, have luxuriant chevelures. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</span>Among Spanish and South American +women hair a yard long, in a coil as thick as +the wrist, is the rule, and not the exception. +The warmth of those latitudes favors the secretions, +and stimulates every organ to its fullest +development. To obtain like results, we +must try to obtain the same conditions of luxuriant +health. A good circulation is essential +to fineness and pleasing color of the hair. +The scalp must be stimulated by frequent +brushing, as well as by the ammonia bath. +A lady of fashion decreed one hundred strokes +of the brush to be given her celebrated locks +daily, and those who have tried the experiment +find that it is not at all too much. Given +quickly, this number occupies three minutes +in bestowing, and surely this is little +enough time to give a fine head of hair. Once +a month the ends of the hair should be cut, to +remove the forked ends, which stop its growth. +The patrons of a certain New York school of +high repute will remember the young daughter +of an Albany gentleman, whose wonderful +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</span>hair was the pride of the establishment. The +child was about ten years old, and her heavy +tresses reached literally to the floor. She was +not unfrequently shown to visitors as a phenomenon, +veiled in this flood of hair. On inquiry, +it was found that no peculiar treatment +was given it beyond cutting the ends regularly +every month for years.</p> + +<p>An old authority gives the following as the +German method of treating the hair. The +women of that country are known to have remarkably +luxuriant locks: Once in two weeks +wash the head with a quart of soft water in +which a handful of bran has been boiled and +a little white soap dissolved. Next rub the +yolk of an egg slightly beaten into the roots of +the hair; let it remain a few minutes, and +wash it off thoroughly with pure water, rinsing +the head well. Wipe and rub the hair dry +with a towel, and comb it up from the head, +parting it with the fingers. In winter do all +this near the fire. Have ready some soft pomatum +of beef marrow, boiled with a little +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</span>almond or olive-oil, flavored with mild perfume. +Rub a small quantity of this on the +skin of the head after it has been washed as +above. This may be efficient, but in this age +women prefer the cleanlier method of stimulating +the hair without pomade.</p> + +<p>If any ladies are as fond of stirring up cosmetics +and washes as were the wife and daughters +of the Vicar of Wakefield, they may try +these highly recommended recipes:</p> + +<p>The following is said to be an excellent curling +fluid: Put two pounds of common soap +cut small into three pints of spirits of wine, +and melt together, stirring with a clean piece +of wood; add essence of ambergris, citron, and +neroli, about a quarter of an ounce of each.</p> + +<p>Rowland’s Macassar Oil for the hair: Take +a quarter of an ounce of the clippings of alkanet +root, tie this in a bit of coarse muslin, and +suspend it in a jar containing eight ounces of +sweet-oil for a week, covering from the dust. +Add to this sixty drops of the tincture of cantharides, +ten drops of oil of rose, neroli and +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</span>lemon each sixty drops. Let these stand three +weeks closely corked, and you will have one +of the most powerful stimulants for the growth +of the hair ever known.</p> + +<p>Take a pound and a half of southernwood +and boil it, slightly bruised, in a quart of old +olive-oil, with half a pint of port-wine or spirit. +When thoroughly boiled, strain the oil +carefully through a linen cloth. Repeat the +operation three times with fresh southernwood, +and add two ounces of bear’s grease or fresh +lard. Apply twice a week to the hair, and +brush it in well.</p> + +<p>Where a hair-dye is deemed essential, the +deplorable want may be met by this recipe, +which has the merit of being less harmful +than most of the nostrums in use: Boil equal +parts of vinegar, lemon juice, and powdered +litharge for half an hour, over a slow fire, in a +porcelain-lined vessel. Wet the hair with this +decoction, and in a short time it will turn +black.</p> + +<p>Lola Montez gives a hair-dye which is said +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</span>to be instantaneous, and as harmless as any +mineral dye used. It is made from gallic +acid, ten grains; acetic acid, one ounce; tincture +of sesquichloride of iron, one ounce. Dissolve +the gallic acid in the sesquichloride, and +add the acetic acid. Wash the hair with soap +and water, and apply the dye by dipping a +fine comb in it and drawing through the hair +so as to color the roots thoroughly. Let it +dry; oil and brush.</p> + +<p>White lashes and eyebrows are so disagreeably +suggestive that one can not blame their +possessor for disguising them by a harmless +device. A decoction of walnut-juice should +be made in the season, and kept in a bottle for +use the year round. It is to be applied with +a small hair-pencil to the brows and lashes, +turning them to a rich brown, which harmonizes +with fair hair. It may be applied to the +edge of the hair about the face and neck, when +that is paler than the rest. Let me repeat +that the best remedy for ill-used tresses is +strict care; glossy, vitalized tresses, kept in order +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</span>by constant brushing, assume by degrees +a better color. It is a mistake to soak red +hair with oil in the hope of making it darker; +it should be kept wavy and light as possible, +to show off the rich lights and shadows with +which it abounds. The sun has a good effect +on obnoxious shades of hair if it is otherwise +well attended to, and red or white locks should +be worn in floating masses, waved by fine plaiting +at night, or by crimping-pins, which <i>do not</i> +injure hair unless worn too tight. Pale hair +shows a want of iron in the system, and this is +to be supplied by a free use of beef-steaks, +soups, pure beef gravies, and red wines. Salt-water +bathing strengthens the system, and acts +favorably on the hair. As to color, hardly any +shade is unlovely when luxuriant and in a lively +condition. It is only when diseased or uncared +for that any color appears disagreeable. +Sandy hair, when well brushed and kept glossy +with the natural oil of the scalp, changes to a +warm golden tinge. I have seen a most obnoxious +head of this color so changed by a +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</span>few years’ care that it became the admiration +of the owner’s friends, and could hardly be +recognized as the withered, fiery locks once +worn.</p> + +<p>Superfluous hair is as troublesome to those +who have it as baldness is to others. There +is no way to remove it but by dilute acids or +caustics, patiently applied time after time, as +the hair makes its appearance. The mildest +depilatories known are parsley water, acacia-juice, +and the gum of ivy. It is said that nut-oil +will prevent the hair from growing. The +juice of the milk-thistle, mixed with oil, according +to medical authority, prevents the hair +from growing too low on the forehead, or +straggling on the nape of the neck. As Willis +says, Nature often slights this part of her +masterpiece. Muriatic acid, very slightly reduced, +applied with a sable pencil, will destroy +the hair; and, to prevent its growing, the part +may be often bathed with strong camphor or +clear ammonia. The latter will serve as a depilatory, +but causes great pain, and must be +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</span>quickly washed off. The depilatories sold in +the shops are strong caustics, and leave the +skin very hard and unpleasant. Bathe the +upper lip, or other feature afflicted with superfluous +hair, with ammonia or camphor, as +strong as can be borne, and the hair will die +out in a few weeks. Moles, with long hairs +in them, should be touched with lunar caustic +repeatedly. A large, dark mole on a lady’s +neck was reduced to an unnoticeable white +spot, but the nitrate of silver caused a sore +for a week in place of the mole. Care should +be taken to brush the back hair upward from +childhood, to prevent the disfiguring growth +of weak, loose hairs on the neck. Fine clean +wood-ashes, mixed with a little water to form +a paste, makes a tolerable depilatory for +weak hair, without any pain. Strong pearlash +washes also kill out poor hair.</p> + +<p>A clever scientific man suggested that the +growth of hair might be hastened by frequently +applying electric currents to it, or bathing +it in electrical water. Similar experiments +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</span>have been made on vital tissues with remarkable +success. But this theory must be left for +further development.</p> + +<p>The eyelashes may be improved by delicately +cutting off their forked and gossamer points, +and anointing with a salve of two drachms of +ointment of nitric oxide of mercury and one +drachm of lard. Mix the lard and ointment +well, and anoint the edges of the eyelids night +and morning, washing after each time with +warm milk and water. This, it is said, will +restore the lashes when lost by disease. The +effect of black lashes is to deepen the color of +gray eyes. They may be darkened for theatricals +by taking the black of frankincense, +resin, and mastic burned together. This will +not come off with perspiration.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</span></p> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III.</h2> +</div> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p class="hanging-indent1">Elegance of Manner.—Grace of the Latin Races.—The +Secret of Grace.—Gliding Movement.—Calisthenics.—Erectness +of Figure.—Shoulder Braces.—How to acquire +Sloping Shoulders.—Care of the Feet.—The Art +of Walking.—Picturesque Carriage of Southern Women.</p> +</div> + + +<p>Was it not Madame de Genlis who described +the education in manners under the +old régime of France? In her memoirs she +speaks of hating Paris, when she came from +the provinces, for the ordeal she underwent +there to fit her for polite society. She was +taught, what she fancied she knew already, +how to walk, and was placed in the stocks two +or three hours a day to teach her the right position +of her feet in standing. A corset and +back-board were provided to form an erect +habit. Whether in her day or later ones, the +elegancies of manner are not cultivated without +sincere pains. Nature, indeed, creates +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</span>some models of such refined proportions and +such informing spirit that they fall at once +into the curves of grace; but these are meant +for models, and happily nothing forbids those +of lesser merit to attempt the same lesson. Are +not some born masters of the piano, full-flown +at once over the first difficulties of music? +But does this hinder any pupil from six hours’ +daily drill, if need be, to grasp the same difficulties? +The one end is to be attained, whether +instantly or not; and in some cases the +most laborious is by all means the most delightful +player. Courage, then. The same +thing is true of other efforts than those of the +key-board; and it is quite as certain that the +woman who trains herself to be graceful will +be so, as that the clumsy young pedant at the +scales will, in time, rush victoriously through +the “Shower of Pearls,” the “Cascade of +Roses,” or any other drawing-room favorite +of gelatinized octaves.</p> + +<p>For the first comfort, it must be owned that +American women have the least natural grace +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</span>of any nation in the world. English women +are usually well trained in a sort of martinet +propriety of attitude which suits their solid +contours; but neither Anglo-Saxon race knows +an approach to those lengthened curves, those +bends of every slender joint and supple muscle, +which fill the eye in looking at a woman +of Latin race. I watched a Spanish-American +girl in the gallery of the United States Senate +one night, in order to seize, if possible, her +charm of gesture. She was rounded, yet fine +in figure, and seemed to be, as I can best +phrase it, all muscle. No one could think of +her bones as having any more stiffness than +the pliant sprays of an elm. She leaned on +the railing of the balcony, not straight forward +as even the elegant and delicate diplomatic +English ladies did, but lengthwise, as if reclining; +and the bend of her supple wrist, with +the black and gold fan, was simply inimitable +to an American woman. Those intransferable +curves bewitched the eye even to pain; but +something was gained in that five minutes’ +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</span>study which I reduce to two points: Sideway +movements and attitudes please more +than those either forward or backward. The +secret of grace is to teach every joint of the +body to bend all that it can.</p> + +<p>Take the last point first, and you have all +that you need to teach the finest grace. To +the dumb-bells, to the calisthenic exercises and +work as if you were qualifying yourself to be +a contortionist at a circus. Vitalize every +fibre, as the hot-blooded Southerner is vitalized, +and the body will play into grace of itself.</p> + +<p>The first thing is the hardest—to stand +straight. Most people are satisfied indeed to +attain this point of physical and polite culture, +and never get beyond it. Erect stiffness is +better than crookedness. To be admirable, the +figure must be perfectly flat in the shoulders. +No projecting shoulder-blades, no curves are allowed +here, however pleasing they may be elsewhere. +A stout figure can hardly be unrefined +if it is flat behind. A pair of inelastic +shoulder-braces must be called into requisition; +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</span>and these should be made of coutille, or +satin jean, two inches wide, and corded at the +edge. Make them barely long enough to reach +the belt of the skirts worn, and button on them. +Set the shoulders perfectly flat against the +wall, and find the distance between their +blades; fasten a broad strap the same length—not +more than two inches, very likely—by +sewing it to the straps behind even with the +lower edge of the scapula. This is the best, +as well as the cheapest shoulder-brace to be +found. If well proportioned, and all the measure +taken scant, it can not fail to draw the +shoulders into place. Excellent teachers of +physical training say that the will alone should +be used to force one’s self to stand straight. +This is true of a person in perfect health. +But round shoulders often result from weakness +or sedentary pursuits, against whose influence +it is useless to struggle; and I would +not debar any half-invalid from the luxury of +the support given by a strict pair of braces. +They relieve the heart and lungs by throwing +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</span>the weight of the chest on the back, where it +belongs, instead of crowding it down on the +breast. To correct the ugly rise of the shoulders +which always accompanies curvature, and +sometimes exists without it, weights must be +used. Nothing is more unfeminine than the +straight line of shoulder, which properly belongs +to a cuirassier or an athlete. Some +mothers make their young folks walk the floor +with a pail of water in each hand, to give their +shoulders a graceful droop. A substitute may +be worn in one’s room while at work, in the +shape of an outside brace of triple gray linen, +having two extra straps buckling round the +tip of each shoulder, one long end reaching the +belt, with a wedge-shaped lead or iron weight +hooked on it. This is heroic practice, but effectual; +and its pains are amply compensated +by lines of figure which are the surest exponents +of high breeding.</p> + +<p>The position of the feet is not to be neglected +in the lesson of standing. The toes +should be widely turned out, to balance well; +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</span>and if the foot is inclined to turn in, this may +be remedied by having the boot heels made +higher on the inside. This will throw the +foot into a position to develop the arched instep. +A crooked leg is a matter for surgical +treatment; and in these days of curative ingenuity, +with steel braces it will be but the +work of a few months to bring the most awkward +limb into shape. Those who have seen +the wonders wrought with deformed children +who have crooked limbs and bodies will consider +it a simple matter to bring a partial disfiguration +under control. As to the size of the +feet, sensible people will never be persuaded +that any degree of pressure which can be +borne without suffering is injurious. Nature +knows how to protect herself. A clever old +shoe-dealer gave as his experience that people +who always wear tight shoes never have corns. +It is the alternation of tight and loose shoes +that gives rise to these torments.</p> + +<p>The great-toe joint ought not to project beyond +the line of the foot. I know a zealous +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</span>young girl who regularly screwed her bare foot +up in a linen bandage before going to bed, to +keep it in shape. For painful swelling of +the feet in warm weather, no remedy is as +effectual as an ice-cold foot-bath for five minutes +in the evening or when they are most +troublesome. This, however, must never be +taken without first wetting the head plentifully +with ice-water, and keeping a cold bandage +on it all the while. It is good to soak +the feet for fifteen minutes in warm water at +least twice a week. This keeps them elastic, +and in delicate, pliant condition.</p> + +<p>An elegant carriage is the patent of nature’s +nobility, and appears of itself when the +body is held into proper attitudes, and made +properly elastic by exercise. The great cause +of all stiffness is want of exertion—a general +rustiness of all the limbs. To the slender +child of the South the climate supplies a degree +of relaxation and suppleness which dispenses +with the need of action. The women +of South American colonies seldom walk for +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</span>exercise, yet their movements are full of +grace. The stimulus of thorough circulation, +so potent and softening, can only be gained +in our colder latitude by exertion. A lazy +woman may be picturesque in a room or in a +carriage, but never on foot. Americans have +one-sided ideas of grace in walking. A woman +as straight as a dart, who moves without +any perceptible movement of the hips or limbs, +is considered an excellent walker. But this +unvarying rectitude is far from the poetry of +motion. Watch the slight <i>balancement</i> of a +graceful French woman, and you will see an +ease, a spontaneity, and variety of motion +which set the former by comparison in the +light of a bodkin out for a “constitutional.” +A fine walk is an affair of proper balance.</p> + +<p>A clever friend, who has spent more time +in the study of women’s ways and manners +in different countries than one can think +profitable, has some unique views on the subject +of their walking. He says the haughty +women of Old Spain carry their weight +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</span>mainly on the hips, which gives an indescribable +stiffness of demeanor. Americans +do the same, throwing the weight a little +more on the thigh, without bending the knee. +French women carry the weight on the calf +of the leg, and the knee bends very much at +each step, while the body is carried with the +least <i>balancement</i> of the shoulders, and the +head, so far from being held like a cockade, +or the head of tongs, is easy. <i>La tête dégagée, +les épaules tombante</i> is the rule for a good +style. Try the difference of contracting the +muscles in the calf of the leg in walking, with +the knee bent sensibly at each step. The +body involuntarily throws itself back, and a +lightness of motion is the result, which is impossible +with the usual swing of the leg from +the hips in the stiff walk of Saxon women. +The same authority says that the far-famed +serpentine glide of the creole, which travelers +admire and vainly try to describe, comes from +a peculiar movement of the hips. The weight +of the figure is thrown on the loins, and half +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</span>of the body moves alternately at each step, not +in a wriggle, as it is caricatured at the North, +but with a soft turn of the shoulders corresponding, +and a smoothness which betrays the +sensuous temperament and luxurious physique. +Such is the walk of the women of Venezuela, +Bogota, and La Plata. Such a gait, however, +would hardly be accepted in the Champs Elysées +as suggestive of high refinement. The +women of Alabama and Georgia have traits +enough of this walk to make them among the +most graceful in the world, as far as carriage +goes. The creoles of the Gulf have this sinuous +glide, betraying a flexibility of limb which we +can scarcely imagine. To gain this pliancy, +twisting movements of gymnastics are especially +suitable. Gyrations of each limb, the +head and body, produce, in a few weeks’ practice, +an enviable degree of elasticity, which +gives the carriage something more than the +up and down, forward and back, straight +lines of motion with which ladies ordinarily +favor us. A smooth, long step, the weight of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</span>the body on the loins, where nature intended +it should be, and the legs propelled from +thence, without stiffness at the knee or obtrusive +motion of the hips, is, probably, the +ideal of walking; such as one finds both in a +highly trained woman and in the untaught +perfection of a South Sea Islander.</p> + +<p>I have spoken at length on the topic of +walking, because its importance as an art of +grace can not be overrated, and because it has +a still deeper bearing on women’s health. +The training which secures an elegant carriage +is precisely that which counteracts the +tendency to a dozen fatal relaxations at different +points of the frame, and prevents their +appearance. No one ought to say that walking +brings on the disorders which blanch and +wither feminine life. The cause is the fatal, +inherited weakness of constitution, shown by +either undue redness or pallor, by indolence +or excitability, which is a slow decay from its +first breath, and poisons the hopes and the +loveliness of so many women. These doomed +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</span>beings must work out their own salvation, and +make themselves anew in the effort. The +weaknesses would develop whether they walked +or not. The care should be to adjust exercise +and nourishment, stimulus and rest, in +due proportion. But the weak woman must +have separate counsel, for she by no means +comes under the head of these unpremeditated +consultations.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</span></p> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV.</h2> +</div> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p class="hanging-indent1">N. P. Willis as a Critic of Beauty.—The Perfume of the +Presence.—Charm of Good Circulation.—Chills are Incipient +Congestion.—Paper Clothing.—Luxuries of the +Bath.—A Substitute for Sea-Baths.—To Secure Fragrant +Breath.—Delicate Dentifrices.—Fine Cologne.—A +List of Fragrance.</p> +</div> + + +<p>When Willis died, American society lost its +great personal critic. No other writer shows +such insight into the subtile elements of women’s +beauty, or speaks so assuredly on points +of mere outward attraction. That gentle and +gracious critic who blesses the order of Old +Bachelors dissects feminine manner with zest, +but is not given to that mention of ear-locks +and finger-tips which made “People I have +Met” such a conserve of hints for the dressing-table. +It is a pity such a connoisseur of +feminine graces could not have taken half a +hundred distinguished specimens into his training +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</span>to show the world such women as fill the +ideal of a refined man of the world. Willis +was susceptible to beauty wherever he found +it: a perfect ear on the head of a plain country +girl would not miss the glance of this artist, +and he betrays what single charms may +rivet the regard of a man of taste a dozen +times in those glorious sketches we never hope +to see excelled.</p> + +<p>You remember one of his heroines was remarkable +for the perfume which exhaled from +her person. We are not to suppose that this +most fascinating gift was due to Coudray’s +sachets, or to hedyosima on her hair. From +repeated experience, verified by that of very +discerning and sensitive persons, it is affirmed +that certain people of fine organism +and perfect health have a fragrance belonging +to their presence like scent to a flower. +One of the most powerful feminine novelists +of the day said that she always knew when a +favorite brother had been in a room by the +slight indefinable perfume that followed him. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</span>His pillow breathed it, and his easy-chair, and +it was perceived even by comparative strangers. +I have known persons innocent of using +perfume, whose fragrant presence was recognized +by every one who came near them. In +all cases this was accompanied by a bodily +condition of perfect health and much magnetic +attraction. This may be named the first +in that list of subtile personal properties which +constitute the strongest and most enduring of +physical charms, and which are not discussed +with any proportion to their potency. We do +not stop to ask what pleases us; refinement +attracts, sweetness detains us, and we are only +too glad to lie under the spell.</p> + +<p>May a plain woman reach her hand for +these gifts of pleasing? Surely. They +were meant to be nature’s compensation for +the lack of chiseled features and ruffled +tresses. To reach this subtile refinement requires +such preparation as the virgins underwent +for the court of Ahasuerus: “Six months +with oil of myrrh, and six months with sweet +odors”—if not in kind, yet in care.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</span></p> +<p>The secret of lively spirits, even temper, and +magnetic presence can never be attained in +the world without a perfect circulation of the +blood. It may be out of season to say that +people often keep themselves too cold; but +lay the hint away till next October, when +the weather changes, and mark the facts. +Our seasons are two thirds cold or chilly; our +habits are sedentary, which tends to reduce +the force of the system; as a people we are +not of excitable temperament; and yet stout +men and hearty doctors, who go rushing +through their business all day, complain because +women sit in overheated rooms, and can +not endure draughts in the halls. There is +but one answer to this: Nature is her own +guide, and it is one of her laws that no +creature can be uncomfortable in any way +without losing by it. If the tone of the +system is so low that a woman feels chilly in +a room at seventy degrees, put the heat at +once up to eighty, or higher, till she feels luxuriously +warm. Chilliness is a symptom to +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</span>be most dreaded. When the blood forsakes +the skin, it clogs the heart, the internal organs, +and lays the train for those diseases of the +time—neuralgia, paralysis, rheumatism, and +congestion. In fact, every person who suffers +from one of these stupid chills is in a state of +incipient congestion. How hateful is the miserable +economy which stints fires in the raw +days of May and September, because the calendar +of household routine decrees that it is +not the season for stoves and grates! Not +less irritating is it to sit with a circle half +shivering in a large parlor, because the full-blooded, +active master of the house has decided +that it is nonsense to turn the heat on. The +slow tortures such unfeeling people inflict on +their innocent victims will be witnesses against +them some day, to their great surprise.</p> + +<p>Even in summer many delicate persons +find the skin always cold. Those who are so +susceptible should never be without protection. +The most convenient is a sheet of tissue +paper quilted in marcelline silk, and worn between +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</span>the shoulders, the most sensitive point +of the whole body for feeling cold. The comfort +of this slight device can hardly be imagined. +Paper is a non-conductor of heat, but +porous enough to admit air, so that it never +leaves the dampness of rubber or oil-silk protectors. +Even in winter the warmth of these +slender linings exceeds that of a sheet of wadding. +In the change of the year, when it is +not cold enough for flannel, and one can not +be comfortable without some extra clothing, +this is just what is wanted. A sheet of quilted +paper should be worn for the back, and one for +the chest, the arms cased in the legs cut from +old silk or thread stockings, which cling to the +flesh, and keep it from the air better than any +other article. Thus equipped, a delicate woman +may face the subtle chills of spring and +autumn without a shiver. Added warmth is +not necessary about the trunk of the body till +extreme cold weather. Clothes fit closely +there, and the vital centres always generate +most heat, so that only the extremities and +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</span>the upper part of the chest need protection.</p> + +<p>The daily bath needs to be administered +with some care. The value of hot bathing is +hardly understood. In congested circulation +nothing is so effective as a ten minutes’ bath +at eighty-five degrees, the water covering the +body entirely, followed by a cold sponge-bath, +quickly given, and immediate drying. Bath-towels +are not half large enough as commonly +made. They should be small sheets in size, like +the real Turkish bath-towels used by the women +of Constantinople, which envelop the body, +and dry it at once. A bath should never chill +one, and the feelings may be safely trusted as +guides in the matter. To a constitution strong +enough to meet it, even though somewhat depressed +at the time, nothing is so inviting as +the stimulus of the cold bath, the instant’s +chill followed by the rush of warm blood all +over the body. For weak systems an invigorant +is found, so simple and effective that +the wonder is why it was not used long ago. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</span>When the season or circumstances forbid a +stay on the sea-coast, a substitute nearly if +not quite as strengthening is found in an +ammonia bath. A gill of liquid ammonia in +a pail of water makes an invigorating solution, +whose delightful effects can only be compared +to a plunge in the surf. Weak persons will +find this a luxury and a tonic beyond compare. +It cleanses the skin, and stimulates it +wonderfully. After such a bath the flesh feels +firm and cool like marble. More than this, +the ammonia purifies the body from all odor of +perspiration. Those in whom the secretion is +unpleasant will find relief by using a spoonful +of the tincture in a basin of water, and washing +the armpits well with it every morning. +The feet may be rid of odor in the same way.</p> + +<p>But what shall destroy that foe to sentiment, +that bane of all beauty, an offensive +breath? I can not imagine a woman could +fall in love with Hyperion if he had this +drawback. The suggestion of unrefinement +and of physical disorder it gives would +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</span>weigh against all the moral and intellectual +worth which might lie behind it. The antidote, +happily, is as simple as the evil is prevailing. +With attention to the health, and +brushing the teeth at least night and morning, +all besides that is needed to secure a +sweet breath is to dissolve a bit of licorice +the size of a cent in the mouth after using +the tooth-brush. This will even counteract +the effects of indigestion, and does not +convey the unpleasant suggestion of cachous +and spice, that they are used to hide an offense. +Licorice has no smell, but it sweetens the mouth +and stomach. A stick of it should be chipped +for use, and kept in a box on the toilette.</p> + +<p>A tincture which restores soundness to the +gums is one ounce of coarsely powdered Peruvian +bark steeped in half a pint of brandy +for a fortnight. Gargle the mouth night and +morning with a teaspoonful of this tincture, +diluted with an equal quantity of rose-water.</p> + +<p>For decaying teeth make a balsam of two +scruples of myrrh in fine powder, a scruple of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</span>juniper gum, and ten grains of rock alum, +mixed in honey, and apply often.</p> + +<p>It is useful also to chew a bit of orris-root, +which Browning says Florentine ladies love to +use in mass-time; or to wash the mouth with +the tincture of myrrh, or take a bit of myrrh +the size of a hazel-nut at night, or a piece of +burned alum.</p> + +<p>A very agreeable dentifrice is made from +an ounce of myrrh in fine powder and a little +powdered green sage, mixed with two spoonfuls +of white honey. The teeth should be +washed with it every night and morning.</p> + +<p>To clean the teeth, rub them with the ashes +of burned bread. It must be thoroughly +burned, not charred.</p> + +<p>Spite of all that is said against it, charcoal +holds the highest place as a tooth-powder. It +has the property, too, of opposing putrefaction, +and destroying vices of the gums. It +is most conveniently used when made into +paste with honey.</p> + +<p>A fine Cologne is prepared from one gallon +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</span>of deodorized alcohol, or spirit obtained +from the Catawba grape, which is nearly +if not quite equal to the grape spirit which +gives Farina Cologne its value. To this is added +one ounce of oil of lavender, one ounce of +oil of orange, two drachms of oil of cedrat, one +drachm of oil of neroli or orange flowers, one +drachm of oil of rose, and one drachm of ambergris. +Mix well, and keep for three weeks +in a cool place.</p> + +<p>To this list of fragrance add a recipe for +common Cologne to use as a toilet water. +It is oil of bergamot, lavender, and lemon, each +one drachm; oil of rose and jasmine, each ten +drops; essence of ambergris, ten drops; spirits +of wine, one pint. Mix and keep well closed +in a cool place for two months, when it will +be fit for use. Ladies will be grateful for this +who have known what trouble it is to find a +refreshing Cologne which does not smell like +cooking extract with lemon or vanilla. If +with these hints a woman can not keep herself +fragrant and lovely in person, her case +must need the help of the physician.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</span></p> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V.</h2> +</div> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p class="hanging-indent1">Morals of Paint and Powder.—Antique Toilet Arts.—Washington +Ladies.—Making Up the Face.—Whitening +the Arms.—Tints of Rouge.—To Make French Rouge.—Milk +of Roses.—Greuze Tints.—Coarse Complexions +Caused by Powder.—Color for the Lips.—Crystal and +Gold Hair Powder.—Dyeing Blonde Wigs.—To Darken +the Hair.—Champagne and Black-Walnut Bark.—Doom +of the Complexion Artist.</p> +</div> + + +<p>The time has gone by when it was a matter +of church discipline if a woman painted her +face or wore powder. Nor is it any serious +reflection on her moral character if she go +abroad with her complexion made up in the +forenoon, however it may call her taste in +question. All who paint their faces and look +forth at their windows are not visited with +hard names, else the parlor of every house on +the side-streets of New York might have its +Jezebel waiting the dinner-hour and the return +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</span>of masculine admirers. George declares +he could never own a wife who used powder; +and yet Annie comes down, looking innocent +in her pink bows, with a little white bloom on +each temple, and a suspicious odor of Lubin’s +Violet floating round her. I don’t think +George meditates divorce on that account. +There is something noble and ingenuous in +the sight of an uncovered skin; but we reconcile +ourselves to the pearly falsehood, accepting +the situation with the false hair, not +so gray as it is in front, and the long, artificial-shaped +nails, and the cramped feet. Every +body knows they are inventions, and accepts +them as such, like paste brilliants at a theatre.</p> + +<p>The arts of the toilet are as old as Thebes. +The painted eye of desire, the burning cheek +and dyed nails, were coeval with the wisdom +of Alexandria. Of old the Roman ladies +used the fine dust of calcined shells and the +juices of plants to restore their freshness of +color. There is no end to the modern contrivances +for the same purpose. Crushed geranium +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</span>leaves, and the petals of artificial roses +which contain carmine, friction with red flannel, +and the juice of strawberries, are homely +substitutes for rouge. The women of the +South are more given to the use of cosmetics +than their Northern sisters. Perhaps Washington +sets the example to all the states; for nowhere +else is seen such liberal use of paint and +powder, skillfully applied, as at the capital. +There women paint for the breakfast-table, and +carry the deception every where. The Spanish-American +ladies make the absurd mistake +of supposing their rich complexions and dark +eyes are not more enticing to Northern eyes +than our own cold beauties; so, by the help +of toilet bottles, they present faces like Lady +Washington geraniums from nine in the morning +till they ice themselves to frozen whiteness +for the evenings. Whited sepulchres is +the phrase forever ringing in one’s head at +sight of this folly. What indignation has +seized one at sight of Madame ——, the witty +and enviable, who had the weakness to mask +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</span>her lustrous, tropical, Murillo colors—which +enchanted every Northern heart—with poor +plaster of burned oyster-shells! It was very +well for the Treasury blondes, who looked like +human peaches till one saw them close, to dabble +in white and pink. It suited their style. +For these superb Creoles and Sevillians, never!</p> + +<p>Both from principle and preference, this +book discountenances paint and powder. It +believes that a woman needs no other cosmetics +than fresh air, exercise, and pure water, +which, if freely used, will impart a ruddier +glow and more pearly tint to the face +than all the rouge and lily-white in Christendom.</p> + +<p>But if she must resort to artificial beauty, +let her be artistic about it, and not lay on +paint as one would furniture polish, to be rubbed +in with rags. The best and cheapest +powder is refined chalk in little pellets, each +enough for an application. Powder is a protection +and comfort on long journeys or in +the city dust. If the pores of the skin must +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</span>be filled, one would prefer clean dust, to begin +with. A layer of powder will prevent +freckles and sun-burn when properly applied. +It cools feverish skins, and its use can be +condoned when it modifies the contrast between +red arms and white evening dresses. +In amateur theatricals it is indispensable, the +foot-lights throwing the worst construction on +even good complexions. In all these cases it +is worth while to know how to use it well. +The skin should be as clean and cool as possible, +to begin. A pellet of chalk, without any +poisonous bismuth in it, should be wrapped in +coarse linen and crushed in water, grinding it +well between the fingers. Then wash the +face quickly with the linen, and the wet powder +oozes in its finest state through the cloth, +leaving a pure white deposit when dry. Press +the face lightly with a damp handkerchief to +remove superfluous powder, wiping the brows +and nostrils free. This mode of using chalk +is less easily detected than when it is dusted +on dry.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</span></p> +<p>The best foundation for Lubin’s powder is +gained by soaping the face well, and taking +care not to rinse off all the smooth, glossy feeling +it leaves. Dry the face without wiping, +and the thinnest layer of oil is left, which +holds the dry powder, without that mealy look +which Lubin is apt to leave. To whiten the +arms for theatricals, rub them first with glycerine, +not letting the skin absorb it all, and +apply chalk. The country practice is to substitute +a tallow candle for the glycerine; but +ours is a progressive age. At least the moral +feeling leads one to spare an escort’s coat-sleeve.</p> + +<p>Rouge needs consideration before rashly applying. +There are more tints of complexion +than there are roses, and one can only be successful +by observing the natural colors of a +beauty of her own type. Some cheeks have a +wine-like, purplish glow, others a transparent +saffron tinge, like yellowish-pink porcelain; +others still have clear, pale carmine; and the +rarest of all, that suffused tint like apple blossoms. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</span>By making her own rouge a lady can +graduate her pallet—that is to say, her cheeks—at +pleasure. The following preparations +have the virtue, at least, of being harmless, +which can not be said of most paints and powders. +Red-lead, bismuth, arsenic, and poisonous +vegetable compounds are used in the common +cosmetics. Bismuth is most frequent; +and its least effect is to give the cheeks it has +whitened a crop of purplish pimples, which +would indicate that the wearer was freely +“dispoged” to the same tastes as Sairey Gamp. +The hideously coarse complexion of many +public singers is partly due to their use of bismuth +powder. An old dispensatory gives the +following formula for a harmless cosmetic under +the name of Almond Bloom:</p> + +<p>Take of Brazil dust, one ounce; water, +three pints; boil, strain, and add six drachms +of isinglass, two of cochineal, three of borax, +and an ounce of alum; boil again, and strain +through a fine cloth. Use as a liquid cosmetic.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</span></p> +<p>Devoux French rouge is thus prepared: +Carmine, half a drachm; oil of almonds, one +drachm; French chalk, two ounces. Mix. +This makes a dry rouge.</p> + +<p>The milk of roses is made by mixing four +ounces of oil of almonds, forty drops of oil of +tartar, and half a pint of rose-water with carmine +to the proper shade. This is very soothing +to the skin. Different tinges may be given +to the rouge by adding a few flakes of indigo +for the deep black-rose crimson, or mixing a little +pale yellow with less carmine for the soft +Greuze tints. All preparations for darkening +the eyebrows, eyelashes, etc., must be put on +with a small hair-pencil. The “dirty-finger” +effect is not good. A fine line of black round +the rim of the eyelid, when properly done, +should not be detected, and its effect in softening +and enlarging the appearance of the eyes +is well known by all amateur players. A +smeared, blotchy look conveys an unpleasant +idea of dissipation.</p> + +<p>For the finger-tips, alkanet makes a good +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</span>stain. An eighth of an ounce of chippings +tied in coarse muslin, and soaked for a week +in diluted alcohol, will give a tincture of lovely +dye. The finger-tips should be touched +with jewelers’ cotton dipped in this mixture.</p> + +<p>Hair-powder is made from powdered starch, +sifted through muslin, and scented with oil +of roses in the proportion of twelve drops to +the pound. Crystal powder is glass dust, obtained +from factories, or powdered crystallized +salts of different kinds. A golden powder +may be procured by coloring a saturated solution +of alum bright yellow with turmeric, +then allowing it to crystallize, and reducing +it to coarse powder. This certainly has the +merit of cheapness.</p> + +<p>Color for the lips is nothing more than cold +cream, with a larger quantity of wax than +usual melted in it, with a few drachms of carmine. +For vermilion tint use a strong infusion +of alkanet instead of poisonous red-lead. +Keep the chippings for a week in the +almond-oil of which the cold cream is made, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</span>and afterward incorporate with wax and +spermaceti. Always tie alkanet in muslin +when it is used for coloring purposes.</p> + +<p>When blonde wigs are not attainable for +theatricals, a switch of dark hair may be +bleached by soaking in strong vinegar, and +colored by an infusion of turmeric in Champagne, +or by the liquor obtained from the tops +of potatoes ready to flower, mixed with water, +suffering it to steep twenty-four hours. This +is too poisonous ever to be used on the head +with safety.</p> + +<p>The walnut stain for skin or hair is made +precisely like that for cloth, by boiling the +bark—say an ounce to a pint of water—for +an hour, slowly, and adding a lump of alum +the size of a thimble to set the dye. Apply +with a little brush, such as is used in water-colors, +to the lashes and eyebrows, or with a +sponge to the hair. Wrap the head in an old +handkerchief when going to sleep, or the moisture +of the hair will stain the pillow-cases.</p> + +<p>But one thing must be said: the woman +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</span>who has once taken to painting and coloring +must go on painting and coloring; rarely, if +ever, does the complexion regain its bloom, +the skin its smoothness, or the hair its gloss. +In most cases the operator must go on deepening +the hue, and in no case can he or she +be sure of the shade or tint which successive +applications will produce.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</span></p> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI.</h2> +</div> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p class="hanging-indent1">Récamier’s Training.—Diana of Poitiers, Bath.—High +Beauty of Maturity.—The Worth of Beauty.—George +Eliot on Complexions.—Dr. Cazenave.—Barley Paste for +the Face.—Prescriptions of the Roman Ladies.—To Remove +Pimples.—Cascarilla Wash.—Varnish for Wrinkles.—Acetic +Acid for Comedones.—To Remove Mask.—Lady +Mary Montagu.—Habit of Italian Ladies.—Wash of +Vitriol.</p> +</div> + + +<p>The motto that used to haunt our souls +over copy-books, “No excellence without great +labor,” is as true about personal improvement +as any thing else. Few celebrated beauties +have gained their fame without use of those +arts which must be the earliest of all, since we +have no record of their first teaching—the +arts of the toilette. Madame Récamier, who +exercised more power by her beauty than any +woman of modern times, was bred by a most +careful mother, versed in all the mysteries of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</span>training. Her exceeding delicacy of complexion +arose from the protection she gave it, +never going out except in her carriage, and +scarcely knowing what it was to set foot to +the ground. Margaret of Anjou and Mary +Stuart, in earlier times, were wise as serpents +in the magic of the toilet, disdaining +neither May dew nor less simple lotions for +cheeks whereon the eye of the world was to +dwell. Diana of Poitiers bequeathed a legacy +of value to her sex in commending the +use of the rain-water bath, which preserved +her own beauty till, at the age of sixty-five, no +one could be insensible to her. Ninon de +l’Enclos left the same testimony. It is intolerable +that women have not the ambition to +preserve their health and charms to the latest +date, and give up their cases so shamefully +soon. An intelligent maturity chisels and refines +the face to a high and feeling beauty; +that is to the attractions of youth what the +aristocratic head of Booth would be beside a +pink-and-white lady-killer of society. This serene +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</span>and finished expression should find physical +favor to accompany it. Nor is this to be +gained, as many say, by leading a passive, emotionless +life. People of vivid feeling are the +youngest. Their quick alterations of mood +make the face clean cut, yet do not settle it in +uniform furrows. Both grief and joy, yearning +passion and utter renunciation, are needed +to sculpture finely the statues for remembrance. +No one professing the loftiest aims, +who understands human nature, can despise +the care of personal beauty when, combined +with moral worth, its influence is so irresistible. +Look at the portraits of those renowned +as moral and intellectual heroes; it will be +found their greatness was rarely associated +with physical repulsiveness, and though their +faces in the conflicts of life grew seamed +and worn, yet in youth they must have been +more than ordinarily remarked for beauty of +a high order—Columbus and Galileo and +Whitefield will do for examples. And if +the reader go through the range of feminine +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</span>celebrities, from the poets to missionary biographies, +“with portrait of the original,” not +one face in ten will dispute what I have +said.</p> + +<p>Least of all let any woman heed smiling +scorn of her weakness in taking pains to secure +a good complexion—the real clearness +and color, if she eschew the coarse pretense +of powder and paint. George Eliot, with her +masculine sense, bears witness to the irresistible +tendency to associate a pure soul with a +lucent complexion. No woman can be disagreeable +if she have this saving claim; and +there will be no apology for adding a few estimable +recipes for the purpose from the collection +of a foreign physician, Dr. Cazenave. +He recommends the following as a composition +for the face:</p> + +<p>Three ounces of ground barley, one ounce +of honey, and the white of one egg, mixed to +a paste, and spread thickly on the cheeks, nose, +and forehead, before going to bed. This must +remain all night, protecting the face by a soft +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</span>handkerchief, or bits of lawn laid over the +parts on which the paste is applied. Wash it +off with warm water, wetting the surface with +a sponge, and letting it soften while dressing +the hair or finishing one’s bath. Repeat +nightly till the skin grows perfectly fine and +soft, which should be in three weeks, after +which it will be enough to use it once a week. +Always wash the face with warm water and +mild soap, rubbing on a little cold cream when +exposing one’s self to the weather. This paste +was used by the Romans. With this, care +<i>must</i> be taken to bathe daily in warm water, +using soap freely, toning the system with a +cold plunge afterward, if one can bear it.</p> + +<p>For pimples use this recipe: thirty-six grains +of bicarbonate of soda, one drachm of glycerine, +one ounce of spermaceti ointment. Rub +on the face; let it remain for a quarter of an +hour, and wipe off all but a slight film with a +soft cloth.</p> + +<p>The best wash for the complexion given is +cascarilla powder, two grains; muriate of ammonia, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</span>two grains; emulsion of almonds, eight +ounces: apply with fine linen. The frightful +discoloration known as <i>mask</i> is removed by a +wash made from thirty grains of the chlorate +of potash in eight ounces of rose-water. Wrinkles +are less apparent under a kind of varnish +containing thirty-six grains of turpentine in +three drachms of alcohol, allowed to dry on +the face. The black worms called comedones +call forth the simple specific of thirty-six grains +of subcarbonate of soda in eight ounces of distilled +water, perfumed with six drachms of essence +of roses. But I prefer the advice of a +clever home physician, who lately told me that +he removed comedones from the faces of girls +who applied to him for the purpose by touching +the head of each with a fine hair-pencil +dipped in acetic acid—a nice operation, as the +acid must only touch the black spot, or it will +eat the skin. Remembering that Lady Mary +Wortley Montagu quoted the habit of Italian +ladies to renew and refine their complexions +by a wash of vitriol, I begged to know how +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</span>such a heroic application could safely be made. +The answer was that muriatic acid, sixty per +cent. strong, diluted in twelve parts of water, +might be used as a wash, and gradually eat +away the coarse outer envelope of the skin, if +any one had fortitude to bear a slow cautery +like this. Lady Mary records that she had to +shut herself up most of a week, and her face +meantime was blistered shockingly; but afterward +the Italian ladies assured her that her +complexion was vastly improved. On the +whole, the typhoid fever is preferable as an +agent for clearing the complexion, being perhaps +less dangerous and more effective.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</span></p> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII.</h2> +</div> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p class="hanging-indent1">Shining Pallor.—Lustrous Faces.—Golden Freckles.—Tiger-Lily +Spots.—Sun Photographs.—Nitre Removes +Freckles.—Old English Prescription.—For Yachting.—Almond-Oil.—Buttermilk +as a Cosmetic.—Rosemary and +Glycerine.—Lotion for Prickly Heat.—For Musquitoes.—Protecting +Hair from Sea Air.—Fashionable Gray Hair.—Dark +Eyes and Silver Hair.—To Restore Dark Hair.—Bandoline.—Cold +Cream.—Almond Pomade.—For +Skin Diseases.—Sulphurous Acid.</p> +</div> + + +<p>The summer heats, which make nature lovely, +are the bane of our fair-skinned Northern +girls. Southern frames receive the glowing +warmth, and grow paler and paler, because—giving +a matter of fact explanation of a beautiful +appearance—the surface of the skin is +cooled by the perspiration, and the blood retreats +to the central veins. The “shining pallor” +which poets love on the faces of their +favorite creations is the sign and effect of concentrated +passion of any kind in a quick, electric +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</span>nature. I disbelieved in the expression a +long time, classing it with the “marble flush” +and such freaks of nature in novels; but the +peculiar look has come under my eye more +than once. It is a very striking one, as if the +light came from within—a lustrous, elevated +expression, too ethereal and of the spirit to be +merely high-bred. It is one of the refinements +Nature gives to her ideal pieces of humanity, +and nothing coarse lurks in the creation +of the one who presents it. The Southern +pallor is quite different—a dead but clear +olive, very admirable when the skin is fine. +Northern paleness is relieved rather than disfigured +by a few golden freckles. They are +more piquant than otherwise; and girls with +the pure complexion which attends auburn, +blonde, and brown hair ought to consider them +as caprices of nature to blend the hues of +bright, warm hair and snowy skin. When as +large, and almost as dark as the patches on the +tiger-lily, every one will find them something +to get rid of with dispatch. Freckles indicate +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</span>an excess of iron in the blood, the sun acting +on the particles in the skin as it does on indelible +ink, bringing out the color. A very simple +way of removing them is said to be as follows:</p> + +<p>Take finely powdered nitre (saltpetre), and +apply it to the freckles by the finger moistened +with water and dipped in the powder. When +perfectly done and judiciously repeated, it will +remove them effectually without trouble.</p> + +<p>An old English prescription for the skin +is to take half a pint of blue skim-milk, +slice into it as much cucumber as it will +cover, and let it stand an hour; then bathe +the face and hands, washing them off with +fair water when the cucumber extract is dry. +The latter is said to stimulate the growth +of hair where it is lacking, if well and frequently +rubbed in. It would be worth while +to apply it to high foreheads and bald crowns.</p> + +<p>Rough skins, from exposure to the wind in +riding, rowing, or yachting, trouble many ladies, +who will be glad to know that an application +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</span>of cold cream or glycerine at night, +washed off with fine carbolic soap in the morning, +will render them presentable at the breakfast-table, +without looking like women who +follow the hounds, blowzy and burned. The +simplest way to obviate the bad effects of too +free sun and wind, which are apt on occasion +to revenge themselves for the neglect too often +shown them by the fair sex, is to rub the +face, throat, and arms well with cold cream or +pure almond-oil <i>before</i> going out. With this +precaution one may come home from a berry-party +or a sail without a trace of that ginger-bread +effect too apt to follow those pleasures. +Cold cream made from almond-oil, with no +lard or tallow about it, will answer every end +proposed by the use of buttermilk, a favorite +country prescription, but one which young ladies +can hardly prefer as a cosmetic on account +of its odor.</p> + +<p>A delicate and effective preparation for +rough skins, eruptive diseases, cuts, or ulcers is +found in a mixture of one ounce of glycerine, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</span>half an ounce of rosemary-water, and twenty +drops of carbolic acid. In those dreaded irritations +of the skin occurring in summer, such +as hives or prickly heat, this wash gives soothing +relief. The carbolic acid neutralizes the +poison of the blood, purifies and disinfects the +eruption, and heals it rapidly. A solution of +this acid, say fifty drops to an ounce of the +glycerine, applied at night, forms a protection +from musquitoes. Though many people consider +the remedy equal to the disease, constant +use very soon reconciles one to the creosotic +odor of the carbolic acid, especially if the pure +crystallized form is used, which is far less overpowering +in its fragrance than the common +sort. Those who dislike it too much to use +it at night, will find the sting of the bites almost +miraculously cured and the blotches removed +by touching them with the mixture in +the morning. This is penned with grateful +recollection of its efficiency after the bites of +Jersey musquitoes a few nights ago. Babies +and children should be touched with it in reduced +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</span>form, to relieve the pain they feel from +insect bites, but do not know how to express +except by worrying. Two or three drops of +attar of roses in the preparation disguises the +smell so as to render it tolerable to human beings, +though not so to musquitoes.</p> + +<p>Ladies who find that sea air turns their hair +gray, or who are fearful of such a result, should +keep it carefully oiled with some vegetable oil; +not glycerine, as that combines with water too +readily to protect the locks. The recipe for +cold cream made with more of the almond-oil, +so as to form a salve, is not a bad sea-dressing +for the hair, and the spermaceti and wax render +it less greasy than ordinary preparations. +Animal pomades grow rancid, and make the +head most unpleasant to touch and smell.</p> + +<p>Many preparations are given to restore the +color to dark hair when it is lost through ill +health or over-study. The fashionables to-day, +with true taste, admire gray hair when in +profusion, and deem it distinguished when accompanied +by dark eyes, to which the contrast +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</span>adds a piercing lustre. But those who consider +themselves defrauded of their natural tints may +use this recipe: Tincture of acetate of iron, +one ounce; water, one pint; glycerine, half an +ounce; sulphuret of potassium, five grains. +Mix well, and let the bottle remain uncovered +to pass out the foul smell arising from the potassium. +Afterward add a few drops of ambergris +or attar of roses. Rub a little of this +daily into the hair, which it will restore to its +original color, and benefit the health of the +scalp.</p> + +<p>Ladies are annoyed by the tendency of their +hair to come out of crimp or curl while boating +or horseback-riding. The only help is to +apply the following bandoline before putting +the hair in papers or irons: A quarter of an +ounce of gum-tragacanth, one pint of rose-water, +five drops of glycerine; mix and let stand +overnight. If the tragacanth is not dissolved, +let it be half a day longer; if too thick, add +more rose-water, and let it be for some hours. +When it is a smooth solution, nearly as thin as +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</span>glycerine, it is fit to use. This is excellent for +making the hair curl. Moisten a lock of hair +with it, not too wet, and brush round a warm +curling-iron, or put up in papillotes. If the +curl come out harsh and stiff, brush it round +a cold iron or curling-stick with a very little +of the cosmetic for keeping stray hair in place, +or cold cream. To the recipe given in the last +chapter another is added, of perhaps finer proportions: +Oil of sweet almonds, five parts; +spermaceti, three parts; white wax, half a part; +attar of roses, three to five drops. Melt together +in a shallow dish, over hot water, strain +through a piece of muslin when melted, and +as it begins to cool beat it with a silver spoon +till quite cold and of a snowy whiteness. It +is well to rub it smooth on a slab of marble +or porcelain before putting in glass boxes to +keep. For the hair use seven parts of almond-oil +to the other proportions named. The secret +of making fine cold cream lies in stirring +and beating it well all the time it is cooling.</p> + +<p>Those who have the misfortune to contract +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</span>cutaneous disorders arising from exposure to +the contact of the low and degraded—and +charitable persons sometimes run narrow risks +of this kind—or from scorbutic affections or +the fumes of certain medicines, each and any of +which are liable to produce roughness and inflammation +of the skin, will be glad of a speedy +and certain cure for their affliction. It is a +wash of sulphurous acid (not sulphuric), diluted +in the proportion of three parts of soft water +to one of the acid, and used three or four times +a day till relieved. I knew a young lady +whose fine complexion was ruined by the +fumes of medicine she administered to her +grandmother, whom she tended with religious +care; and, thinking there may be others in +like case, hasten to give this prescription. <i>Sub +rosa</i>—all parasites on furniture, human beings, +or pets are quickly destroyed by this application.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</span></p> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII.</h2> +</div> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p class="hanging-indent1">Service of Beauty.—Not for Vanity, but Perfection.—Eyebrows +of Petrarch’s Laura.—Fashionable Baths.—Trimming +the Eyelashes.—Luxury of the Toilet.—Its Magnetic +Influence.—A Safe Stimulant.—Amateurs of the Toilet.—Cosmetic +Gloves.—To Refine the Skin of the Shoulders +and Arms.—Sulphate of Quinine for the Hair.—For +the Eyebrows and Eyelashes.—A Harmless Dye.—To Remove +Sallowness.—A Hint for Stout People.—Perfumed +Bathing-powder.</p> +</div> + + +<p>It is a wonder that so few educated people +address themselves to the service of beauty in +the human form. It is refined to study draperies +or design costumes for the adornment +of the body, but not to develop the perfection +of the body itself. Hair-dressers, perfumers, +and tailors find ample consolation for being +the ninth part of men, or something less, in +public estimation, since the world finds their +work a necessity, and amply repays it. Who +make fortunes faster among the working-classes +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</span>than those who minister to the desire for +beauty, let us call it, rather than the severer +name of vanity? The arts of the toilet are +advanced to the rank of a profession abroad. +English fashion journals declare this in their +advertisements. Establishments in London +and at fashionable watering-places offer brightly +furnished parlors where one may enjoy the +luxurious soothing of every appliance of the +toilet in succession. The warm bath, in all +the appealing pleasure of marble, porcelain, +and gold, instead of dingy oil-cloths and +reeking zinc basins, gives place to the deft +hands of the hair-bather and the chiropodist, +and these to the dresser, who arranges the +locks, quickly and artificially dried, in the +most elegantly simple style. Then comes the +cosmetic artist, who removes blotches and +specks from the face with quick acids, laves +it with soothing washes, or applies emollient +pastes which leave soft freshness behind. The +vulgarity of paint and enamel is not allowed +in these establishments, though the operators +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</span>have good knowledge of all secrets of their +art. Innoxious dyes are used as novices never +can apply them, superfluous hairs are removed, +and eyebrows and eyelashes are cared for by +the most skillful hands. The former have every +unnecessary hair removed, and are thinned +to the penciled line they form in the portraits +of Venetian ladies, who secured this peculiar +charm in the same way. If I could only find +out how Petrarch’s Laura trimmed her eyebrows, +and give the method to my readers!</p> + +<p>With a pair of fairy-like scissors the lashes +are trimmed a hair-breadth, and brushed with +sable pencils conveying an ointment which increases +their growth. The nails are polished, +and the hands indued with soft and perfumed +oils which leave no trace. Picture the luxury +of such a place and such attention, instead of +the frowzy rooms and careless servants of a +common hair-dressing saloon! The magnetic +benefit of such operations ought to count for +much in elegant physical culture. It unmistakably +soothes the system, and freshens its +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</span>powers better than any narcotic stimulant. +More than one of the most brilliant writers of +the time is in the habit of bathing and making +a full toilet before composition, feeling +its magic influence on the mind in rendering +one’s thoughts bright and happy.</p> + +<p>But blessed water and simples, chemicals +and strokings, do their work in stone-ware and +top bedrooms as well as in baths lined with +porcelain behind the portière of a Pompadour +dressing-room. Clever girls can do much for +each other in these matters; and let me hope +no one will have to ask more than sixteen people +before finding a friend with nerve enough +to trim her eyelashes for her, as an ambitious +maiden once did. A fresh handful of prescriptions +for these amateurs is taken from +Paris authorities.</p> + +<p>Cosmetic gloves for which there is such +demand are spread inside with the following +preparation: The yolks of two fresh eggs +beaten with two teaspoonfuls of the oil of +sweet almonds, one ounce of rose-water, and +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</span>thirty-six drops of tincture of benzoin. Make a +paste of this, and either anoint the gloves with +it, or spread it freely on the hands and draw +the gloves on afterward. Of course there is no +virtue in the gloves save as they protect the +hands from drying or soiling the bed-linen.</p> + +<p>A paste for the skin of the shoulders and +arms is made from the whites of four eggs +boiled in rose-water, with the addition of a +grain or two of alum, beaten till thick. Spread +this on the skin and cover with old linen. +Wear it overnight, or all the afternoon before +a party where one desires to appear in full +dress. This cosmetic gives great firmness and +purity to the skin, and may be used to advantage +by persons having soft, flabby flesh.</p> + +<p>A wash to stimulate the growth of hair in +case of baldness is made from equal parts of +the tincture of sulphate of quinine and aromatic +tincture.</p> + +<p>For causing the eyebrows to grow when +lost by fire, use the sulphate of quinine—five +grains in an ounce of alcohol.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</span></p> +<p>For the eyelashes, five grains of the sulphate +in an ounce of sweet almond-oil is the best +prescription; put on the roots of the lashes +with the finest sable pencil. This must be +lightly applied, for it irritates the eye to finger +it.</p> + +<p>The best dye is this French recipe, which is +seen to be harmless at a glance: Melt together, +in a bowl set in boiling water, four ounces +of white wax in nine ounces of olive-oil, stirring +in, when melted and mixed, two ounces +of burned cork in powder. This will not take +the dull bluish tinge of metallic dyes, but +gives a lustrous blackness to the hair like life. +To apply it, put on old gloves, cover the shoulders +carefully to protect the dress, and spread +the salvy preparation like pomade on the head, +brushing it well in and through the hair. It +changes the color instantly, as it is a black +dressing rather than a dye. A brown tint +may be given by steeping an ounce of walnut +bark, tied in coarse close muslin, in the oil for +a week before boiling. The bark is to be had +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</span>at any large drug-store, for about thirty cents +an ounce.</p> + +<p>The recipes which follow will be of special +value in the warm days of early spring. The +first contains nearly all the vegetable medicines +in common use for purifying the blood, +and will prevent the lassitude and bilious +symptoms which overcloud many a sweet +spring day. When made by one’s own hand, +so that the purity and excellence of the ingredients +can be insured, the mixture is far better +than most of the blood-purifiers and tonics +prescribed by the faculty. It is given here +because it removes the sallowness and unhealthy +iris hues of the complexion at a season +when a girl’s cheek should wear its brightest, +clearest flame.</p> + +<p>Half an ounce each of spruce, hemlock, and +sarsaparilla bark, dandelion, burdock, and yellow +dock, in one gallon of water; boil half an +hour, strain hot, and add ten drops of oil of +spruce and sassafras mixed. When cold, add +half a pound of brown sugar and half a cup +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</span>of yeast. Let it stand twelve hours in a jar +covered tight, and bottle. Use this freely as +an iced drink. This is a good recipe for the +root beer which New Yorkers like to taste +during warm months.</p> + +<p>People inclined to embonpoint feel the burden +of mortality oppressive during the first +heats of the calendar. They will be glad to +hear from a hill-country doctor, whose praise +is in many households, that a strong decoction +of sassafras drunk frequently will reduce the +flesh as rapidly as any remedy known. Take +it either iced or hot, as fancied, with sugar if +preferred. It is not advisable, however, to +take this tea in certain states of health, and +the family physician should be consulted before +taking it. A strong infusion is made at +the rate of an ounce of sassafras to a quart of +water. Boil it half an hour very slowly, and +let it stand till cold, heating again if desired, +and keeping it from the air.</p> + +<p>A trouble scarcely to be named among refined +persons is profuse perspiration, which +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</span>ruins clothing and comfort alike. For this it +is recommended to bathe the feet, hands, and +parts of the body where the secretion is greatest +with cold infusion of rosemary, sage, +or thyme, and afterward dust the stockings +and under-garments with a mixture of two +and a half drachms of camphor, four ounces +of orris-root, and sixteen ounces of starch, the +whole reduced to impalpable powder. Tie it +in a coarse muslin bag, and shake it over the +clothes. This makes a very fine bathing-powder.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</span></p> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX.</h2> +</div> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p class="hanging-indent1">Hope for Homely People.—Two Vital Charms.—The Way +to Live.—Sunrise and Open Air.—Bleached by the Dawn.—Live +at Sunny Windows.—In Balconies and Parks.—Christiana’s +Breakfast.—Brown Steak and Good-humor.—True +Bread.—Device for Stiff Shoulders.—Corsets and +Girdles.—The Latter more Needed.—How to be Pleased +with One’s Self.</p> +</div> + + +<p>Is there such a being as a hopelessly homely +woman? In the light of modern appliances, +study the faces and figures one meets on a +journey from the sea-board to the interior, +and confess that there are few fatally ugly +women. On the railway I often amuse myself, +in default of better things, by considering +how hygiene, cosmetics, and good taste in +dress would transform the common-looking +women about one into charming and even +striking personages. In most of them, all that +is wanting is strength of expression and a clear +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</span>complexion, two things with which no woman +can be wholly unattractive. The one is the +sign of mental, the other of physical health. +No wonder nature makes them so winning. +To show what I mean, let us mention some +common faults, and their antidotes. Nothing +is more delightful than pulling our neighbors +to pieces, with a good motive for it.</p> + +<p>Christiana is over thirty—no reason in the +least why she should not be as admired as a +three days’ rose, for one of the most beautiful +women in New York, whom every one is infatuated +with, is over sixty. Yet nobody thinks +of Christiana’s looks, for the simple reason +that she has given up thinking of them herself—believing +her poor skin can not be improved, +nor the stiff, high carriage of her +shoulders be changed. The depth of her eyes +and her really good color are lost with these +defects. To judge how the remedies should +be applied, scrutinize her entire mode of living. +Sunrise, in January or June, and she is +not up! This will never serve a candidate +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</span>for beauty. The first rays of the sun, the +purity of early air, have as potent an effect +on the complexion as the noon rays on the +webs of linen in the bleaching-ground. By +all means, if one must rob daylight for sleep, +take the hours from ten to three, but see the +fires in the east from out-of-doors, even if your +head touched the pillow only two hours before. +I don’t believe in any special morality in +getting up early, but I do know its benefits +on nerves and circulation of the blood. There +is a tonic in the dew-cool air, a lingering of +night’s romance, that stirs while it soothes the +blood like a fine magnetic hand.</p> + +<p>But getting up and staying in the house +won’t improve one’s complexion. How much +of her rose-and-lily face the English peasant +woman owes to her walk to the reaping-field +at daybreak is well known. After the first +soft days of February and March there is nothing +to hinder Christiana from reading her +prayer-book or morning paper on the porch in +the sunlight, if she choose to do this rather +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</span>than rake the dead leaves from the grass, +sweep the steps, or do something to stir her +laggard blood. If it is cold, let her plant herself +at the sunniest window, sew, run her machine, +lounge, and eat there, till she is no more +afraid of sunshine than of any other blood relation. +Our women want to imitate French +sense, and sit in the balconies and parks to do +their work. When they lose the detestable +vice of self-consciousness that saps American +well-being in all ways, they will be able to +live at their casements, sewing, singing, reading, +as thoughtless and unnoticed as the white +doves soaring above them where the sunshine +is widest. It is matter of custom merely.</p> + +<p>But Christiana’s breakfast is ready by this +time, and we will see what she eats. Coffee: +well, housekeepers buy the ready-ground coffee +now, and it is mixed trash, wanting the +heartiness of a good pure cup, but no great +harm at worst. Meat: do you call that bit +the width of two fingers, crisped, greased at +one end, raw and bleeding at the other, fit sustenance +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</span>for a woman who is to grow, work, +walk, dance, and sing to-day? She is made to +live neither on leather nor raw meat. Cook a +slice of thick beef-steak as quickly as possible +till the color is changed all the way through +without drying any of the juice. The albumen +of the blood must be coagulated before +meat is fit for human stomachs, and proper +cooking means something more than mere +warming through, and a great deal less than +crisping. Now let at least a quarter of a +pound of this browned and fragrant sacrifice +be cut for this young woman—better if she +eat half a pound—to be converted into energetic +work and Christian good-humor in the +course of the day. One, two, three, four slices +of fried potato withered in fat! And this is +what some people call nourishment! Put on +her plate two baked potatoes of unimpeachable +quality—poor potatoes are poison—and let +each be the size of her small fist. Where are +the tomatoes, the celery, the artichokes, salads, +and sauces? She has tomatoes, three bits in +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</span>a tiny saucerette, as if it held some East Indian +condiment. There ought to be a saucer +piled with them, or some savory vegetable delicately +cooked; for breakfast ought to be next +to the heartiest meal of the day. It is far the +best way to take coffee and bread on rising, +and eat the meal later when one has worked +into an appetite for it. Those who find it impossible +to alter their habits enough for this +usually have duties which ought to call them +up long enough before to be quite hungry by +seven or eight o’clock, the usual hours in this +country for breakfast.</p> + +<p>Take away that thin slip of toast; it makes +one turn invalid to see it. What do you call +this gray, broad-celled, pallid stuff? Bread—good +yeast bread? If there is any thing intolerable, +it is what the makers of it commonly +call good home-made bread. It is mealy, or +bitter, or gray and coarse-grained, sad-looking, +with white crust, as if the owners were too +poor to afford fire to bake it thoroughly. Give +me poor bread, and I can eat it in a spirit of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</span>resignation; but this domestic hypocrisy of +good bread libels the wheat that made it, and +arraigns the taste of those who eat it. Were +it ever so good, there is something better yet—the +crisp, unbolted cake that lingers with nutty +richness on the palate, once tasting of which +weans one from the impoverished gentility +of white bread forever. It is not urged on +the score of being wholesome. The phrase has +been so much abused that the cry of “healthful +food” invariably suggests something which +doesn’t taste good. But the strength and +richness and coloring of wheat-cake recommend +it to any breakfast fancier. There is +no use aiming at fine-grained complexions +without the use of coarse bread at every meal. +A slice of Graham bread at breakfast will +not counteract the evil tendencies of incorrect +diet the rest of the day. When you get your +coarse bread, two or three slices will not be +too much at a meal. Such ought to be the +breakfast of a young lady who wishes to have +roundness of contour, unfailing spirits, and self-command, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</span>with ready strength for walking, +working, or study. Brain-work takes food as +much as bodily labor. Between Mrs. O’Flaherty +in the laundry and the faithful lady editor +of a newspaper, it is probable that the former +has the easiest time of it, and uses less strength. +The women worth any thing are built and +sustained by hearty feeding. It is so that singers +and dancers eat, and lecturers and authors—Grisi +and Jenny Lind, Mrs. Kemble and +Ristori, Mrs. Edwards, the novelist, and with +her nearly every writer of note at this day. +They are well-nourished women, whose appetites +would embarrass the candy-loving sylphs +whose usefulness amounts to nothing more +than that of cheap porcelain. Women who +exercise little, of course eat little; in the end +they can do nothing, because they are not +sufficiently fed. There is no grossness in eating +largely if one work well enough to consume +the strength afforded. The best engines +are best fed. The grossness lies in eating and +being idle. A woman who limits her exertions +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</span>to a walk around the squares daily may +confine herself to a slice of toast and a strip of +meat. She will grow thin and watery-looking, +nervous and “high-strung,” to pay for it. +To know what charm there is in womanhood, +go among the girls brought up in villages +along the coast. The well-poised shoulders +that have a will of their own, the round arms +and necks, the profusion of hair, the strength +and nerve combined in their movements, give +one the idea of walking statuary. The poor +drooping figures, the stiff shoulders we complain +of, come from one cause—lack of nutrition. +Their muscles are not strong enough to +hold them erect, and their nerves are not fed +enough to stimulate the weak muscles to activity. +How many times must it be said over? +Want of sunshine and nourishing food gives +the coarse, uninteresting look to most American +women.</p> + +<p>If Christiana would invoke mechanical aid +to bring down her high shoulders and put flexibility +into her chest muscles, after thirty years +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</span>of abuse, it is easily done. Walking with a +pail of water in each hand is rather dull work +unless there is a call for domestic help. A +homely but very effectual way of educating +the muscles is to wear weights fastened to the +shoulders. A shawl-strap answers every purpose, +buckled on the shoulders with the handle +between them on the back, and fastening a +flat-iron of five or six pounds’ weight to the +straps which hang under the arms. An extra +buckle may be sewed half-way down each +strap, to fasten the iron on the end by a second +loop. The weights may be worn while reading +or writing for hours, and will be found +rather agreeable to balance the stooping propensity +by throwing the stress on fresh muscles. +With or without it, nine tenths of women +from eighteen years old upward will need another +simple support to relieve the muscles of +the trunk below the waist. It matters little +what causes this feebleness, whether too hard +work, the weight of skirts, or degeneration of +the muscular fibre from want of exercise and +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</span>lack of fresh air. Its relief is imperative to +preserve bloom and life of any kind worth +calling life. If any girl or woman can not +dance, run up stairs, take long walks, or stand +about the house-work, no matter how slight +the fatigue, support must be provided. Women +wear corsets, and say they can not exist +without them, when the demand for aid of +the relaxed muscles of the hips and back, +though far more imperative, is neglected. The +means are very simple: a bandage of linen +toweling, soft and cool, buckled, tied, or pinned, +as tight as will be comfortable, and so +arranged as to relieve every muscle that feels +fatigue. This is worth all the manufactured +appliances in the market, and its prompt use +averts a hundred distressing consequences. At +the first approach of debility these girdles +should be worn, as they have been from ancient +times among Greek and Jewish women. +It is not sure that their office of prevention is +not more essential than that of cure. Tight +corsets are an abomination, for they interfere +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</span>with flexibility, and so with that constant exercise +of the trunk muscles which alone can +keep them in tone—keep them from degeneration +and atrophy. As to the muscles of the +back and abdomen affected by the girdle, a +degree of support just sufficient to encourage +them to their work, and prevent their +giving it up in fatigue and despair, will exercise +and strengthen them. A bandage tighter +than is needed for this will do harm, not +only by keeping the muscles idle, and so +weakening them, but by compressing the abdominal +viscera, and thus producing numerous +evils.</p> + +<p>There is a game children play called “wring +the towel,” in which two clasp hands and whirl +their arms over their heads without losing +hold, that every woman ought to practice to +keep her muscles flexible. Hardly any exercise +could be devised which would give play +to so many muscles at once. A woman ought +to be as lithe from head to heel as a willow +wand, not for the sake of beauty only, but +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</span>for the varied duties and functions she must +perform.</p> + +<p>It would be an artistic feat to take Christiana +through a course of baths, diet, sun-sittings, +and open-air walks, to show her to herself. +The oleander glow on firm cheeks, the +eye of light, the tread of Diana, the buoyancy +of body that fosters buoyancy of mind and +spirits, would please her with herself.</p> + +<p>How dexterously Nature inserts the reward +of beauty before the self-denials needed to +gain health! A thoroughly healthy woman +never is unbeautiful. She is full of life, and +vivacity shines in her face and manner, while +her magnetism attracts every creature who +comes within its influence.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</span></p> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X.</h2> +</div> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p class="hanging-indent1">The Bonniest Kate in Christendom.—A Word to Mothers +and Aunts.—Different Vanities.—The Sorrows of Ugly +Women.—Recipes of an Ancient Beauty.—Sand Wash.—Color +for the Nails.—Embrocation for the Hands.—Soap +to Bleach the Arms.—Freckle Lotions.—Artistic +Enthusiasm at the Toilet.</p> +</div> + + +<p>Was the last chapter too much of a sermon +on Christiana’s breakfast? You think so, +Kate, who are longing to learn some art that +may make you the bonniest Kate in Christendom. +You say your hands are rough and unsightly, +your hair grows where you do not +want it, and is none too thick where it ought +to be. Your eyebrows are bushy—a most unfeminine +trait, that makes you look fierce as a +lamb with mustaches. You don’t seem lovely +to yourself, and this consciousness makes you +stiff and shy in your manner. Somebody is +to blame for this state of things. Either your +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</span>mother, or your aunt, or the lady principal of +the school where you studied, ought to have +taken you in hand before you were fourteen, +and showed you the remedies for these defects +that were to affect your spirits and comfort in +after-life. A girl should be taught to take +care of her skin and hair just as she is to hold +her dress out of the dust, and not to crumple +her sash when she sits down. One thing will +not make her vain more than another. There +are many vanities to be found in women’s +character. One is vain of knowing three +languages, one of her Sunday-school devotion, +another of her pattern temper, and one of her +pretty face. Of all these errors, the last is +most endurable. Every attraction filched from +a girl by neglect or design is so much stolen +from her dowry that never can be replaced.</p> + +<p>Victor Hugo says that he who would know +suffering should learn the sorrows of women. +Let him say of ugly women, and he will touch +the depth of bitterness. What tears the plain +ones shed on silent pillows, shrinking even +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</span>from the pale, beautiful moonshine that contrasts +so fatally with their homeliness. They +would give years of life to win one of beauty. +This regret is natural, irresistible, and not to +be forbidden. Better let the grief have its +way till the busy period of life takes a woman’s +thoughts off herself, and she forgets to +care whether she is beautiful or not. Dam +up the sluices of any sorrow, and it deepens +and grows wider. Is this treating a peculiarly +feminine regret over-tenderly? This is written +in remembrance of a girl who thought herself +so homely that she absolutely prayed that +she might die and go to be perfect in heaven. +More than one girl makes such a wish this +night before small mirrors in cottage or mansion +chambers, with no eye but her own to +scan her hopeless features. Why doesn’t some +one open a school of fine arts, literally <i>des +beaux-arts</i>, and make a greater success than +Worth, by improving wearers instead of costumes?</p> + +<p>Till that time comes, let us make the best of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</span>present resources, and consider these recipes, +unearthed from an ancient book-shelf belonging +to a maiden lady who was once, if tradition +may be credited, a beauty of no mean order. +There is one thing to console us, Kate: +you and I will never have to cry for our lost +beauty. Your hands are to be pitied, for soft, +sensitive fingers are what a woman can least +afford to lose. They are needed to nurse sick +folks, and do quick sewing, and handle children +with. So we are glad to learn something +of this kind.</p> + +<p>To soften the hands, fill a wash-basin half +full of fine white sand and soap-suds as hot as +can be borne. Wash the hands in this five +minutes at a time, brushing and rubbing them +in the sand. The best is flint sand, or the +white powdered quartz sold for filters. It may +be used repeatedly by pouring the water away +after each washing, and adding fresh to keep +it from blowing about. Rinse in warm lather +of fine soap, and after drying rub them in +dry bran or corn meal. Dust them, and finish +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</span>with rubbing cold cream well into the skin. +This effectually removes the roughness caused +by house-work, and should be used every day, +first removing ink or vegetable stains with +acid.</p> + +<p>Always rub the spot with cold cream or oil +after using acid on the fingers. The cream +supplies the place of the natural oil of the +skin, which the acid removes with the stain.</p> + +<p>To give a fine color to the nails, the hands +and fingers must be well lathered and washed +with scented soap; then the nails must be +rubbed with equal parts of cinnabar and emery, +followed by oil of bitter almonds. To +take white specks from the nails, melt equal +parts of pitch and turpentine in a small cup; +add to it vinegar and powdered sulphur. Rub +this on the nails, and the specks will soon disappear. +Pitch and myrrh melted together +may be used with the same results.</p> + +<p>An embrocation for whitening and softening +the hands and arms, which dates far back, +possibly to King James’s times, is made from +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</span>myrrh, one ounce; honey, four ounces; yellow +wax, two ounces; rose-water, six ounces. +Mix the whole in one well-blended mass for +use, melting the wax, rose-water, and honey +together in a dish over boiling water, and adding +the myrrh while hot. Rub this thickly +over the skin before going to bed. It is good +for chapped surfaces, and would make an excellent +mask for the face.</p> + +<p>To improve the skin of the hands and arms, +the following old English recipe is given, the +principle of which is now revived in different +cosmetic combinations. Take two ounces of +fine hard soap—old Windsor or almond soap—and +dissolve it in two ounces of lemon juice. +Add one ounce of the oil of bitter almonds, +and as much oil of tartar. Mix the whole, and +stir well till it is like soap, and use it to wash +the hands. This contains the most powerful +agents which can safely be applied to the skin, +and it should not be used on scratches or chapped +hands. For the latter a delicate ointment +is made from three ounces of oil of sweet almonds, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</span>an ounce of spermaceti, and half an +ounce of rice flour. Melt these over a slow +fire, keep stirring till cold, and add a few drops +of rose-oil. This makes a good color for the +lips by mixing a little alkanet powder with it, +and may be used to tinge the finger-tips. It +is at least harmless.</p> + +<p>Oil of almonds, spermaceti, white wax, and +white sugar-candy, in equal parts, melted together, +form a good white salve for the lips +and cheeks in cold weather. A fine cold cream, +much pleasanter to use than the mixtures of +lard and tallow commonly sold under that +name, is thus made:</p> + +<p>Melt together two ounces of oil of almonds +and one drachm each of white wax and spermaceti; +while warm add two ounces of rose-water, +and orange-flower water half an ounce. +Nothing better than this will be found in the +range of toilet salves.</p> + +<p>A wash “for removing tan, freckles, blotches, +and pimples,” as the high-sounding preface +assures us, is made from two gallons of strong +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</span>soap-suds, to which are added one pint of alcohol +and a quarter of a pound of rosemary. +Apply with a linen rag. This is better when +kept in a close jar overnight.</p> + +<p>Freckle lotion, for the cure of freckles, tan, +or sunburned face and hands—something +which I would prefer to the rosemary wash before +given, is thus made: Take half a pound +of clear ox gall, half a drachm each of camphor +and burned alum, one drachm of borax, +two ounces of rock-salt, and the same of rock-candy. +This should be mixed and shaken well +several times a day for three weeks, until the +gall becomes transparent; then strain it very +carefully through filtering-paper, which may be +had of the druggists. Apply to the face during +the day, and wash it off at night.</p> + +<p>Now, Kate, do you see your way clear to the +use and benefit of these mixtures? All these +articles are to be found at any large druggist’s, +or, if not, he will tell you where to find them. +The rosemary and honey may be found in that +still fragrant store-room of your aunt’s, in the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</span>country, unless she has taken to writing very +poor serial articles, and let the herb garden and +the bees run out. To save trouble, take the +recipes and have them made up at once by the +druggist, who understands such things; but it +is pleasant to dabble in washes and lotions +one’s self, like the Vicar of Wakefield’s young +ladies. Then have you patience to persevere +in their use? For making one’s self beautiful +is a work of time and perseverance as much +as being an artist, or a student, or a Christian. +I wish I were with you, and could keep you +up to your preparations, brush your eyebrows, +trim your eyelashes, and do the dozen different +offices of sympathy and womanly kindness. I +should feel that I was the artist putting the +touches on something more valuable than any +statue ever moulded. Can you feel so yourself? +For if you can once get hold of that +artistic impulse, you have the secret of all these +toilet interferences.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</span></p> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XI">CHAPTER XI.</h2> +</div> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p class="hanging-indent1">A Dark Potion.—Olive-oil and Tar for the Face.—Olive-tar +for Inhalation.—Carbolic Lotion for Pimples.—Cure +for Musquito Bites.—Pale Blondes.—A French Marquise.—Deepening +Colors by Sunlight.—Seductive Cosmetics.—Nose-machine.—Finger +Thimbles.</p> +</div> + + +<p>Neither distilled waters perfumed like May, +nor embrocation smoother than velvet, are this +time to be offered you. The compound in its +ugliness is more like a witch’s potion, and the +odor is generally liked by those only who are +used to it. But its merits are equal to its ugliness—nay, +so firmly am I persuaded of its effectiveness +that before sundown I doubt not +its virtues will be in active test within this +household. Sea winds will roughen the face, +and miscellaneous food deteriorate the softest +skins. There are wrinkles, too, showing +their first faint daring on the brow before +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</span>the glass—wrinkles which had no business +there for ten years to come, at any +rate. “What hand shall soothe” their trace +away?</p> + +<p>It is a hunter’s prescription that comes +in use. You will hear of it along the Saranac, +or up in the Franconia region, where the +pines and spruces yield fresh resins for its +making. It is popular there for its efficacy +in keeping the black-flies and musquitoes away; +yet even hunters bear witness to its excellence +in leaving the skin fair and innocent. Thus +runs the formula, simple enough, in all conscience, +yet how few will have the boldness to +try it: Mix one spoonful of the best <i>tar</i> in a +pint of pure olive or almond-oil, by heating the +two together in a tin cup set in boiling water. +Stir till completely mixed and smooth, putting +in more oil if the compound is too thick to +run easily. Rub this on the face when going +to bed, and lay patches of soft old cloth on +the cheeks and forehead to keep the tar from +rubbing off. The bed-linen must be protected +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</span>by old sheets folded and thrown over the pillows. +The odor, when mixed with oil, is not +strong enough to be unpleasant—some people +fancy its suggestion of aromatic pine breath—and +the black, unpleasant mask washes off +easily with warm water and soap. The skin +comes out, after several applications, soft, moist, +and tinted like a baby’s. Certainly this wood +ointment is preferable to the household remedy +for coarse skins of wetting in buttermilk. +Further, it effaces incipient wrinkles by softening +and refining the skin. The French have +long used turpentine to efface the marks of +age, but the olive-tar is pleasanter. A pint +of best olive-oil costs about forty cents at the +grocer’s; for the tar apply to the druggist, +who keeps it on hand for inhaling. A spoonful +of the mixture put in the water vase of a +stove gives a faint pine odor to the air of a +room, which is very soothing to weak lungs. +Physicians often recommend it.</p> + +<p>What is to be done with the malignant little +red pimples that crop out annoyingly at +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</span>the close of warm weather? The cause is very +plain. When cool days check the perspiration, +the system must send out matter by some +other outlet before it can adjust itself to the +new state of things. Nothing is better for the +irritable face than bathing with a dilution of +carbolic acid—one teaspoonful of the common +acid to a pint of rose-water. The acid, +as usually sold in solution, is about one half +the strength of really pure acid, which is very +hard to find. The recipe given above was +furnished by a regular physician, and was +used on a baby, to soothe eruptions caused by +heat, with the happiest results. Care must be +taken not to let the wash get into the eyes, as +it certainly will smart, though it may not be +strong enough to do further harm. No more +purifying, healing lotion is known to medical +skill, and its work is speedy. Poor baby was +not beautiful with his face of unaccustomed +spots and blotches, when the laving with the +fluid began at night, but next morning they +were hardly visible. I commend this again to +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</span>mothers as a specific against those irritations +with which children suffer. For soothing musquito +bites alone it is worth all the camphor, +soda washes, and hartshorn that ever were +tried.</p> + +<p>There is a word of comfort to-day for those +most hopeless cases of unloveliness, tow-colored +blondes. Light hair of the faintest shade, +without a tinge of gold or auburn, is now fancied +abroad. Chignons of pale hair, dressed +in abundant frizzes, command nearly as high +a price as those pure <i>blondes dorées</i> which +have been worth so many times their weight +in gold. Ladies of fashion in France dye their +hair, or rather bleach it, to this colorless state; +and the effect is very piquant with dark eyes +and complexion. At the fêtes in Paris recently +a marchioness of daring taste attracted general +admiration by her pale tresses, relieved by +profuse black velvet trimmings. Indeed, the +only wear for <i>très blondes</i> is black, even if it +is only black alpaca, with transparent ruches at +the neck and wrists. Let such not fear to expose +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</span>themselves to the fiercest sun to gain a +shade or two of color in the face. If the fine-grained +skin which accompanies such hair take +on a pale, even brown, so much the better for +artistic effect. Dark eyes will give brilliancy to +the dullest face; and dark they must be, if the +harmless crayon can make them so by skillful +shading about the light lashes. If ever art is +a boon, it is when called in to change the sickly +whiteness of too blonde brows and lashes. +We can hardly expect that girls will carry +their zeal for coloring so far as to feed for +months on the meal from sorghum seed, which +has the powerful effect of deepening the tint +of the entire flesh—a phenomenon as true as +strange; but we must hope that they will live +and work in the rays of that great beautifier, +the sun, which brings out and perfects all undeveloped +tones in Nature’s painting. Pale +eyes darken in exercise out-of-doors, and pasty +skins grow prismatic like mother-of-pearl, in +that wonderful way which fascinated Monsieur +Taine when he beheld the miraculous brows +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</span>and shoulders of English ladies. The idea did +not seem to suggest itself to the critical Frenchman, +but it will to every woman, that these +charms were not wholly due to Nature. It +is bewildering to read the announcements of +toilet preparations under seductive names—rosaline, +blanc de perle, rose-leaf powder, magnolia, +velvetine, <i>eau romaine d’or</i>, and the rest. +Think of the potent chemistry which waits +outside our windows untried! Among the list +of “eyebrow pencils,” “nail polishes,” and lip +salves, a foreign paper brings to notice one invention +which might be of use—a nose-machine, +which, we are told, so directs the soft +cartilage that an ill-formed nose is quickly +shaped to perfection. No surgeon will deny +that this is possible to a great degree. That it +would be a boon nobody can doubt, seeing +how many unfortunates walk the world whose +noses have every appearance of having been +sat upon, or made acquainted with the nether +millstone. Long thimbles reaching to the second +joint for shaping fingers are a new device, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</span>though something of the kind was used by +very particular beauties fifty years ago. The +only thing women would not do to increase +their comeliness is to put themselves on the +rack, unless indeed it were to live healthily.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</span></p> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XII">CHAPTER XII.</h2> +</div> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p class="hanging-indent1">Removal of Superfluous Hair.—Effects of High Living.—Work +of Typhoid Fever.—Roman Tweezers.—Lola Montez’s +Recipes.—Paste of Wood-ashes.—Bleaching Arms +with Chloride.—Cautions about Depilatories.—Public +Baths.—Improving Complexions by the Sulphur Vapor-bath.—How +Arabian Women Perfume Themselves.—Profuse +Hair, Sign of Nature’s Bounty.</p> +</div> + + +<p>A correspondent wishes to know what will +remove superfluous hair, adding that she is annoyed +with such a growth of it on her face +that she is the remark of her friends. These +unfortunate cases are the result of morbid constitution, +freaks of nature which are to be combated +as one would eradicate leprosy or scrofula. +The extreme growth of hair where it +should not be comes from gross living, or is +inherited by young persons from those whose +blood was made of too rich materials. Living +for two or three generations on overlarded +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</span>meats, plenty of pastry, salt meats, ham, and +fish, with good old pickles from brine—in +short, what would be called high living among +middle-class people—is pretty sure to leave its +marks on lip and brow. Sometimes typhoid +fever steps in and arrests the degeneration by +a painful and searching process, which, as it +were, burns out the vile particles, and, if the +patient’s strength endure, leaves her almost +with a new body. The red, scaly skin peels +off, and leaves a soft, fresh cuticle, pink as a +child’s; the dry hair comes out, and a fine, +often curling suit succeeds it, while moles and +feminine mustaches disappear and leave no +sign. But this fortunate end is not secured +to order, and there are preferable ways of renewing +the habit of body.</p> + +<p>For immediate removal of the afflicting shadows +which mar a feminine face there are many +methods. The Romans used tweezers, regularly +as we do nail-brushes, to pull out stray +hairs; and Lola Montez speaks of seeing victims +of a modern day sitting for hours before +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</span>the mirror painfully pulling out the hairs on +their faces. But this often makes the matter +worse; for if the hairs are broken off, and not +pulled up by the roots they are sure to grow +coarser than before. Often one hair pulled +out sends two or three to grow in its place. +A paste of fine wood-ashes left to dry on the +skin is said to eat off hairs, and is probably as +safe as any remedy. The authority on feminine +matters quoted above recommends very +highly a plaster which pulls the hairs out by +the roots. Spread equal parts of galbanum +and pitch plaster on a piece of thin leather, +and apply to the place desired; let it remain +three minutes, and pull off suddenly, when it +brings the hairs with it, and they are said not +to grow again. This will probably bring the +tears into the eyes of any one who tries it; +but the courage of damsels desiring a smooth +face is not to be damped by such trifles as an +instant’s pain. If the plaster were left on +more than three minutes, it would be apt to +bring the skin with it in coming off. It is +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</span>better to use daily a paste of ashes or caustic +soda, left on as long as it can be borne, washing +with vinegar to take out the alkali, and +rubbing on sweet-oil to soften the skin, which +is left very hard by these applications. Applied +day after day, it would not fail to kill +the hair in a month, when it would dry and +rub off. This may be used on the arms, which +might be whitened and cleared of hair together +by bathing them in a hot solution of chloride +of lime as strong as that used for bleaching +cotton, say two table-spoonfuls to a quart of +water. Bathe the arms daily in this, as hot as +can be borne, for not over two minutes, washing +afterward in vinegar and water, and rubbing +with almond or olive-oil. This should be +done in a warm room before an open window +to avoid breathing the fumes of the chloride, +which are both unpleasant and noxious. Strong +soft-soap left to dry on the arms would in time +eat away any hair. But the trouble is that +these strong agents eat away the skin almost +as soon as they do the hair, and nice care must +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</span>be used to prevent dangerous results. If the +blood should be in bad order, though not suspected +by any one, least of all by the person +interested, caustic of any sort might eat a hole +in the flesh that would fester, and be a long +time healing. I saw a frightful sore that a +lady made on her neck, trying to remove a +mole with lunar caustic, and should advise every +one to be careful how they run such painful +risks. It is not wise to endure pain heroically, +thinking to have the matter over and +done with at once. Better try the applications +many times, leaving them to do their work +gradually and surely.</p> + +<p>To lay the foundation of true beauty, the +system should be purified within as well as +without. Nothing is of so much value in this +respect as the vapor-bath. In all our large +cities public establishments exist for taking +these baths, and their virtues are well appreciated +by those who once try them. At the +largest bathing-houses in New York ladies +attend regularly for the sole object of improving +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</span>their complexion. Perhaps the most +successful form administered is the sulphur +vapor-bath, which works wonders for neuralgia. +It purifies and searches the blood, and I +have seen a patient who had lost one of the +loveliest complexions in the world, as she +thought forever, come out of her bath day +after day visibly whitened at each trial. For +ladies past youth nothing restores such softness +and child-like freshness to the cheek or +such suppleness to the figure. Of course these +baths can only be taken at places for the purpose, +where chemical means are not wanting. +I only mention them to urge all ladies who +have the chance of trying them not to fail of +doing so, both for pleasure and benefit.</p> + +<p>The vapor-bath, pure and simple, has stood +for some time among household remedies for +various ills, and is given by seating the undressed +patient on a straw or flag chair over a +saucer in which is a little lighted alcohol, and +wrapping chair, patient, and all in large blankets. +After a few minutes the perspiration +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</span>streams as if he were in a caldron of steam, +and may be kept up any length of time. Fifteen +minutes are enough. A tepid bath should +follow, if one is not chilled by it, and after +that either a good sleep or exercise enough +to keep one in a glow. Impurities are discharged +from the system in this way which +else might occasion fever. The hair, skin, +and nails are insensibly renewed and refined +by it. There is not the least danger of taking +cold if the precautions are taken of rubbing +dry, dressing quickly and warmly, and keeping +the blood at its proper heat by work or +fire—in short, by doing just those things +which ought to be done should one never go +near a vapor-bath.</p> + +<p>Arabian women have a similar method of +perfuming their bodies by sitting over coals +on which are cast handfuls of myrrh and spices. +The heat opens the pores, which receive the +fumes, till the skin is impregnated with the +odor, and the women come out smelling like a +censer of incense. Twice a week is often +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</span>enough for the vapor-bath; as for the fumigation, +some creature doubtless will be wild +enough to try the experiment once, which will +be sufficient for a lifetime. <i>If she do</i>, she will +be very glad to know that ammonia bathing +will destroy most traces of her adventurous +caprice.</p> + +<p>A profusion of hair, however, is a sign of +nature’s liberality, and this growth is found in +connection with a strength and generosity of +constitution that is capable of the best things +when duly refined. South Americans, with +their supple bodies overflowing with vitality, +have splendid tresses, and so have the Spaniards +and Italians. Such people are quick and +lasting in the dance, own deep tuneful voices, +move with vigor and ease, and have a luxuriance +of blood and spirits, which is too +precious to restrain or lose. Fasting, denial +of pleasant food and plenty of it, till one is +worn to an anchorite, may do for religious +penance, but does not reach physical ends so +well as moderate and satisfying indulgence. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</span>If any poor girl think, from reading this paper, +that she ought to starve and waste herself +by sweating because she has a pair of mustaches +and a coat of hair on her arms, she is +vastly mistaken. If she want to know what +she may eat, let her study Professor Blot’s +cookery-book. Whatever is there she may eat, +<i>as</i> it is there, assured that all the delightful +French seasoning will not do her blood half +the injury of a season’s course of pies made +after good Yankee fashion—the crust half +lard and half old butter, the filling strong +with spice or drenched with essence, as the +case may be.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</span></p> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XIII">CHAPTER XIII.</h2> +</div> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p class="hanging-indent1">Madame Celnart’s Works of the Toilet.—Literature of +Beauty.—Cares of the Toilet.—Arts of Coiffure and +Lacing.—How to Hold a Needle Gracefully.—Iris Powder +for Tresses.—Arts of Italian Women.—Depilatory used +in Harems.—Spirit of Pyrêtre.—Herbs used by Greek +Women.—Mexican Pomade.—Dusky Perfumed Marbles.—Lost +Perfumes.—Sultanas’ Lotion.—Brilliant Paste for +Neck and Arms.—Baking Enamel.</p> +</div> + + +<p>If ever a woman deserved a seat in the +French Academy for the value of her literary +labors to her kind, it was Madame Celnart.</p> + +<p>The works of this lively author on manners, +dress, cosmetics, and kindred topics no +less interesting to her sex, are found in eight +small octavos in their native French. The +lady was an industrious and brilliant writer +on themes of the toilet, the household, and +deportment, on which Mrs. Farrar, author of +<i>The Young Lady’s Friend</i>, of our mothers’ +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</span>time, and Mrs. Beeton, the editor of <i>The Englishwoman’s +Magazine</i>, in our day, have succeeded +her with much adornment but hardly +equal scope. Madame Celnart talks—one can +hardly imagine her holding a pen—like a Parisian, +with empressement, with drollery, precision, +and inimitable sprightliness. Her lectures +sound like those of a gentle old beauty, +secure in the charm of her finished manner +against the loss of her earlier fascinations, telling +the secrets of her age to a younger generation, +with half a smile at their readiness to +seize these arts, and seriously pointing out the +most graceful or the most modest way of doing +things, with the concern of one who is conscious +that grace and prudence do not come +to all her sex by nature. Imagine the arch +gentleness with which she opens her work on +the toilet in such easy, sparkling guise as this:</p> + +<p>“<i>Je viens de feuilleter les arts de plaire, les +livres de beauté, et autres évangiles des courtisane</i>,” +which may be freely translated, “I come +to speak of the arts of pleasing, the literature +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</span>of beauty, and other evangels of coquetry.” +She has a well-bred curl of disdain for “<i>une +allure bourgeoise mesquine</i>;” but with the reverence +of a true Frenchwoman, whose creed is +her mirror, she pronounces her work “<i>consacré +à la toilette, et la conversation de la beauté</i>.” +These duties she divides with serious precision +into the “<i>soins de la toilette</i>,” which include +cosmetic arts, and “<i>l’art de se coiffer, lacer, et +chausser</i>.” It was indeed an art, in the time +of hundred-boned corsets without clasps, to +lace one’s self, and in the days of classic sandals +to put on one’s shoes. She is as exact in +all her details as a school-mistress, though one +fancies a covert smile on her wise face as she +rallies the young demoiselles who dreaded the +bath—because it was so cold? Oh no; but +because their modesty could not endure the +baring of their person even to themselves. +Such, she gravely advises, may save their “<i>pudeur</i>” +by bathing in a peignoir. One inevitably +recalls Lola Montez’s dedication of her +famous <i>Book of Beauty</i>, “To all men and +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</span>women who are not afraid of themselves,” on +encountering these French demoiselles with +their conventual susceptibility.</p> + +<p>The graceful preceptress goes on with directions +for sitting, for holding one’s needle, +for dancing, and holding one’s petticoats out +of the mud. Nobody will allow that these +hints are superfluous who notices the varied +awkwardness which women fall into who are +habitually thoughtless on these points. Some +of these nice customs may have been carried +to our shores, possibly with Rochambeau’s +French ladies at Newport or Salem. I remember +hearing one of the fine Newburyport +ladies, who answer to the description of gentlewomen +still, maintain earnestly that it was +most graceful to “sew with a long point”—that +is, to push the needle nearly its whole +length through at each stitch, instead of pulling +it out, so to speak, by the nose. And she +was right, as you can verify by the next sewing +you take up.</p> + +<p>In the time of Madame Celnart, fine ladies +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</span>used to powder their hair with the dust of +Florentine iris, which gave their love-breathing +tresses the violet odor of spring. A pleasant +idea; but their iris, our orris-root, must +have been a trifle fresher than comes to this +country. It makes us sure that the beauties +of Titian’s and Guido’s times were real women, +to know that they steeped their tresses in +bleaching liquids and dyes, and spread their +locks in the sun for hours to gain the coveted +golden tinge; and the hair of the Bella +Donna herself might have caught part of its +enchantment from the sprinkling of violet +powder that lent its waves a soul. Those immortal +beauties would have canonized Lubin +had he been alive with his pomades and perfumes +in their time. Celnart was a courageous +advocate of cosmetics, or else she was +wise enough to put the worst first, for one of +her earliest recipes is this depilatory, which is +not at all quoted by way of recommendation. +It is the Oriental Rusma, a depilatory used +in harems:</p> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</span></p> +<p>Two ounces of quicklime, half an ounce of +orpiment and red arsenic; boil in one pint of +alkaline lye, and try with a feather to see +when it is strong enough. Touch the parts +to be rid of hair, and wash with cold water. +When we say that orpiment and realgar are +deadly poisons, and add Madame Celnart’s remark +that the mixture is of “<i>une grande causticité</i>,” +often attacking the tissue of the skin, +our readers will quite agree with her that it is +only to be used with “<i>la plus grande circonspection</i>,” +or, still better, not at all. The +<i>Crème Parisienne depilatoire</i> is harmless, and +is given for what it is worth: One eighth of +an ounce of rye starch, and the same of sulphate +of baryta (or heavy-spar), the juice of +purslane, acacia, and milk-thistle, mixed with +oil.</p> + +<p>The high-sounding Paste of Venus, devised +by a Parisian cosmetic artist, who shared the +mythologic fancy which prevailed years ago, +was spread over the skin to soften and perfume +it. Esther herself might have used it, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</span>for its conjugation of spices would delight an +Oriental. It was made of fat, butter, honey, +and aromatics—the more the better; but as +none of our belles wish to try the anointing +bodily, I spare them the list, and give instead +the <i>Esprit de pyrêtre</i>. The pyrethrum, or +Spanish pellitory, is an herb highly valued by +cosmetic artists, and appears in several recipes +of the French:</p> + +<p>Powdered cinnamon, one drachm; coriander, +nineteen scruples; vanilla, the same; clove, +eighteen grains; cochineal, mace, and saffron, +the same; simple spirit of pyrethrum, one litre +(about seven eighths of a quart). Let these +ingredients digest for fifteen days, and add +orange-flower water, half an ounce; oil of anise, +eighteen drops; citron, ditto; oils of lavender +and thyme, each nine drops; ambergris, +three grains. Mix the ambergris with the +pyrêtre, and put the two liquids together. Filter +after two days. Use as a toilet water.</p> + +<p>No wonder French cosmetics are so highly +valued, when their composition embraces +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</span>such a variety of pleasing ingredients. Thyme, +anise, and saffron seem homely herbs for a +woman’s use, but they assisted at every toilet +among the Greek women of old; and Rhodora +wove the crocus (meadow-saffron) with the +rose, and fennel among her jasmines, without +a thought such as these things give us of sick-teas +and home-made dyes. Why should herbs +of such excellent renown lose the poetry that +belongs to them? Mingled in variety with +ambergris and orange flowers, they give body +to a perfume rich enough to have satisfied +Cleopatra.</p> + +<p>If this recipe is complicated, what will be +said to the next, compounded by South American +women, and fashionable in Paris not so +very long after the time of Josephine, who +may have patronized, or, indeed, introduced +this souvenir of creole coquetry. Madame +Celnart says of it, “Only the Tartuffes of +coquetry could blame the Mexican pomade,” +whose proportions indicate that the formula +came straight from the perfumer’s hands, and +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</span>is therefore correct. Any one who wishes to +try it can reduce the measure to suit herself:</p> + +<p>Extract of cocoa, sixty-four ounces; oil of +noisette, thirty-two ounces; oil of ben, thirty-two +ounces; oil of vanilla, two ounces; white +balsam of Peru, one drachm; benzoin flowers, +half a drachm; civet, ditto; neroli, one drachm; +essence of rose, one drachm; oil of clove flowers, +one ounce; citron and bergamot waters, +each half a pint. Steep the vanilla in the cocoa +butter eight days in a hot place; dissolve +the balsam in half a glass of alcohol, with the +benzoin and civet, and add the spirit of clove. +Mix the essence of rose and neroli in the oils +of ben and noisette, and beat the whole forcibly +together in a large marble or china bowl.</p> + +<p>Creole women spread this paste on their +smooth skins, which the oil of cocoa softens +and moistens, while the delightful changing +odor is absorbed, till their forms are like living, +dusky, but perfumed marbles. These recipes +are given not so much for imitation, or +to contribute to the lore of perfumers this side +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</span>the water, as curiosities of national arts and +feminine vanity. Where in our country would +we find the ingredients of the celebrated <i>Eau +de Stahl</i>, known to the Parisian chemists forty +years ago? Its compound was as follows:</p> + +<p>Alcohol, nine litres; rose-water, three litres; +the root of Spanish pellitory, five ounces; gallingale +root, three ounces; tormentil, three +ounces; balsam of Peru, three ounces; cinnamon, +five drachms; rue, one ounce; ratania, +eight ounces. Powder the whole, and put in +alcohol; shake well, and leave to macerate six +days. Pour off, and let it stand twenty-four +hours to clear, after which add essential oil of +mint, one and a half drachms; powdered cochineal, +four drachms. Leave to infuse anew +three days; filter through filtering-paper, and +decant. Use for a tooth-wash, for washing +the face, or for baths.</p> + +<p>Peruvian powder was a standard dentifrice +of the same date. It is made of white sugar, +half a drachm; cream of tartar, one drachm; +magnesia, ditto; cinnamon, six grains; mace, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</span>two grains; sulphate of quinine, three grains; +carmine, five grains. Powder and mix carefully, +adding four drops of the oils of rose and +mint.</p> + +<p>The following cosmetic, called the <i>Serkis du +Sérail</i>, is said to be a favorite lotion used by +the Sultanas, for whom it is imported from +Achaia—though this sounds more like one +of those pleasant fictions which perfumers delight +to invent concerning their oils and pomades +than any thing we are obliged to believe. +This may be said in favor of the assertion—it +is such a mixture of starch and oils +as no one but an odalisque could endure to +use. It is made of sweet-almond paste, ten +livres; rye and potato starch, each six livres; +oil of jasmine, eight ounces; the same of oil of +orange flowers and of roses; black balsam of +Peru, six ounces; essence of rose and of cinnamon, +each sixty grains. Mix the powders +and essences separately in earthen vessels, then +add the powder to the liquid little by little, +bruise well together, and strain through muslin.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</span></p> +<p>An elegant preparation for whitening the +face and neck is made of terebinth of Mecca, +three grains; oil of sweet almonds, four ounces; +spermaceti, two drachms; flour of zinc, one +drachm; white wax, two drachms; rose-water, +six drachms. Mix in a water-bath, and melt +together. The harmless mineral white is fixed +in the pomade, or what we would call cold +cream, and is applied with the greatest ease +and effect. It must be to some preparation +of this subtle sort that the lustrous whiteness +of certain much-admired fashionable complexions +is due. It is a cheap enamel, without the +supposed necessity of <i>baking</i>, which, by the +way, is such a blunder that I wonder people +of sense persist in speaking of it as if it could +be a fact.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</span></p> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XIV">CHAPTER XIV.</h2> +</div> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p class="hanging-indent1">The Last of the Rose.—Weighing in the Balances.—To +Love and to be Loved.—The Enigma of Love.—Its Power +over the Lot of Men.—Inspiration in the Looks.—The +Land of Spring.—The Duchess of Devonshire.—Women +at and after Thirty.—Training of Emotion.—Warming +the Voice.—Crow’s-feet at the Opera.—Bohemian Arsenic +Waters.—Recipe from Madame Vestris.—Milk of Roses.—Sweet-oils.—Opera-dancers’ +Prescription for Restoring +Suppleness.</p> +</div> + + +<p>For any woman, maid or matron, past youth, +who hears the leaves begin to drop, and sees +the roses curl in the warm summer of her life, +this chapter is written. It is well that with +the decay of bloom and outward charm there +should be a lessening of feeling, an amiable +indifference to the homage that youth covets +eagerly. The woman of—who dares fill in +the age?—the woman who finds the faint +lines on her cheek and the pallor creeping to +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</span>her lip should have learned and tasted many +things in her life—so many that she can appraise +the value of all, and resign them contentedly, +with a little sigh, not for what they +were, but for what they were not.</p> + +<p>She should have loved, and, if possible, have +won love in return, though that is less matter. +The wisdom, the blessedness, come through +loving, not through being loved.</p> + +<p>It is well if she can accept the complement +of her affection, and find out of what mutable +elements it is made: its fervor and forgetfulness; +its devotion, often eclipsed and as often +surprising with its fresh strength—weak where +we trust it most, and standing proof where we +surely expect it to fail.</p> + +<p>Such is the love of man. It is a riddle, +whose learning has cost gray hairs on tender +temples, the roses from many cheeks.</p> + +<p>It is the tradition that love makes or mars +a woman’s life; but I have yet to learn that it +does not exert an equal though silent power +over the lot of men. Be that as it may, a +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</span>woman in love is far more beautiful than one +out of it. And this is true if the love last to +threescore.</p> + +<p>Let women, if they would remain charming, +by all means keep their hold on love, their +faith in romance. The power of feeling gives +vitality and interest to faces long after their +first flush has passed. Speaking as matter of +fact, this is the case, for emotion has a livelier +power than the sun has over the blood, and +the miracle of love in making a plain girl +pretty is explained by the stimulating effects +of happiness on the circulation. If you would +preserve inspiration in your looks, beware how +you repress emotion. Cultivate, not the signs +of it, but emotion itself, for the two things are +very distinct. Suffer yourself to be touched +and swayed by noble music and passion. To +do this, place yourself often under the best influences +within reach. There may be pathos +enough in the rendering of a poor little girl’s +song at the piano to stir tenderly chords of +feeling that were growing dull for want of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</span>use. The rose of morning, the perfume of +spring, have rapt many a middle-aged woman +away to divine regions of fancy, from which +she came back with their dewy freshness and +smell lingering about her. Youth has its daylong +reveries while its hands are at work. We +older ones need to reserve with jealous care +our hours of solitude, in which the springs fill +up.</p> + +<p>The faces of old beauties have no charm beyond +that of feeling. Look at the women +who were reputed the belles of our large +cities twenty years ago. They may be well +preserved; but in most cases they are mere +masks in discolored wax. The pearly teeth, +the small Grecian features, the soft, fine hair +and regular eyes are left, but the brow has +learned neither to weep nor smile, the lips are +composed, and might be mute for all the expression +that replaces their lost crimson. One +could adore the wasted beauty of the Duchess +of Devonshire, “worn by the agitations of a +brilliant and romantic life,” for the sake of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</span>the fire and kindness that lit even its death-pillow; +and the Josephine of Malmaison, with +eyes always eloquent of tears, wins more devotion +than the empress at Saint Cloud, confessed +the loveliest woman of France. Let no woman +fall into the mistake of preserving her +beauty by refraining from emotion, for all she +can keep by such costly pains will be the coffin-like +shapeliness of flowers preserved in sand.</p> + +<p>Laugh, weep, rejoice, or suffer as life provides. +Only feel something natural, worthy +and vivid enough not to leave your face a +blank.</p> + +<p>There is a time between twenty-five and +thirty-five when the struggle of life, mean or +lofty as it may be, oppresses women sorely. +Fret and care write crossing script on their +faces, which grow yellow and pinched till they +despair of comeliness. This is when they are +learning to live. Ten years or so make the +lesson easy, and it is one of the thankfulest +things in the world to see such faces going +back to the blossom and sunny sweetness of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</span>their spring. Many a woman is handsomer at +thirty-nine than she was at thirty. Nature responds +wonderfully to the reliefs afforded her. +The only counsel is to let Nature go free. +Do not think, because trial has bent spirit and +frame together, that they should stay so a moment +after the heavy hand is off. If you feel +like singing, sing, not humming low, but joyful +and clear as the larks, that would carol +just as gayly at ninety, if larks lived so long, +as the first summer they left their nests. The +worst of English and American systems of +manners is the constant repression they demand. +It impairs even the physical powers, +so that in training a singer the first thing +great artists do is to teach her to feel, in +order, as they say, to “warm up” the voice +and give it fullness. Women need to cultivate +pleasure and amusement far more after +they are thirty than before it, I mean romantic +pleasures, such as come from exquisite colors +and sceneries in nature or their homes, +from poetry and the loveliest music. They +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</span>are twice as impressible then as they are in +youth, if they know how to get hold of the +right notes. They leave themselves to fall out +of tune, and forget to respond.</p> + +<p>Yet, as a woman does not love to carry her +thinned tresses and crow’s-feet into the glare +of the opera, or to talk poetry when rheumatism +twinges her middle finger, the craft of +the toilet comes in most gratefully. The +freshness of the skin is prolonged by a simple +secret, the tepid bath in which bran is stirred, +followed by long friction, till the flesh fairly +shines. This keeps the blood at the surface, +and has its effect in warding off wrinkles. +Bohemian countesses over thirty may go to +arsenic springs, as they were wont to do, for +the benefit of their complexions; but the home +bath-room is more efficacious than even the +minute doses of quicksilver with which the +ladies of George the First’s court used to +poison themselves—a primitive way of getting +at the virtues of blue-pill.</p> + +<p>The celebrated Madame Vestris slept with +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</span>her face covered by a paste which gave firmness +to a loose skin and prevented wrinkles. +It was a recipe which the Spanish ladies are +fond of using, which requires the whites of +four eggs boiled in rose-water, to which is +added half an ounce of alum, and as much +oil of sweet almonds, the whole beaten to a +paste.</p> + +<p>A favorite cosmetic of the time of Charles +II. was the milk of roses, said to give a fair +and youthful appearance to faded cheeks. It +was made by boiling gum-benzoin in the spirits +of wine till it formed a rich tincture, fifteen +drops of which in a glass of water made a fragrant +milk, in which the face and arms were +bathed, leaving the lotion to dry on. It obliterates +wrinkles as far as any thing can besides +enamel.</p> + +<p>To restore suppleness to the joints, the +Oriental practice may be revived of anointing +the body with oil. The best sweet-oil or oil +of almonds is used for this purpose, slightly +perfumed with attar of roses or oil of violets. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</span>The joints of the knees, shoulders, and fingers +are to be oiled daily, and the ointment well +rubbed into the skin, till it leaves no gloss. +The muscles of the back feel a sensible relief +from this treatment, especially when strained +with work or with carrying children. The +anointing should follow the bath, when the +two are taken together. It is a pity this custom +has ever fallen into disuse among our +people, who need it quite as much as the sensuous +Orientals.</p> + +<p>Opera-dancers in Europe use an ointment +which is thus given by Lola Montez: The +fat of deer or stag, eight ounces; olive-oil, +six ounces; virgin wax, three ounces; white +brandy, half a pint; musk, one grain; rose-water, +four ounces. The fat, oil, and wax are +melted together, and the rose-water stirred into +the brandy, after which all are beaten together. +It is used to give suppleness to the limbs in +dancing, and relieves the stiffness ensuing on +violent exercise. Ambergris would suit modern +taste better than musk in preparing this.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</span></p> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XV">CHAPTER XV.</h2> +</div> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p class="hanging-indent1">The Fearful Malady of which no one Dies.—<i>Esprit Odontalgique.</i>—Gray +Pastilles.—Important to Smokers.—Mouth +Perfumes.—Care of the Breath.—Directions for +Bathing.—Perfumes for the Bath.—Bazin’s <i>Pâte</i>.—Quality +of Soaps.—Bathing and Anointing the Feet.—Nicety +of Stockings.—Delicate Shoe Linings.—Feet of Pauline +Bonaparte.</p> +</div> + + +<p>Among the recipes, more or less valuable, +which come to light in old collections, one for +the toothache, by Boerhaave, is too useful to be +lost. Even beauties have the toothache sometimes, +especially after going home from the +Academy of Music on a snowy night with a +tulle scarf folded about their heads, or after +sitting with their backs to the window in a +half-warmed parlor during a ceremonious call. +Use before beauty, mademoiselles; and with +no more excuse is proffered the <i>Esprit Odontalgique</i>, +which should be kept in the dressing-room, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</span>ready for the slightest signs of that most +terrible malady, from which nobody dies.</p> + +<p>Alcohol of thirty-three degrees, one ounce; +camphor, four grains; opium in powder, twenty +grains; oil of cloves, eighty drops. The efficacy +of this lotion will be seen at a glance, +and no other authority for its use is needed +than that of the learned and excellent physician +who gave it its name.</p> + +<p>Very properly follow the gray pastilles for +purifying the breath. They do so, not by disguising +it, but by reaching the root of the difficulty, +arresting decay in the teeth, and neutralizing +acidity of the stomach. The mixture +is very simple: Chlorate of lime, seven +drachms; vanilla sugar, three drachms; gum-arabic, +five drachms—to be mixed with warm +water to a stiff paste, rolled, and cut into lozenges.</p> + +<p>Madame Celnart archly advises all good +wives to let their spouses know that these lozenges +entirely remove the traces of tobacco in +the breath. As a good wife will hardly interfere +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</span>with a favorite habit of her husband who +is fond of smoking, the least any gentleman +can do is to render his presence acceptable +after the indulgence.</p> + +<p>Another pastille, preferable on some accounts +to the above, but owing its value to the +same principle, is made from chlorate of sodium, +twenty-four grains; powdered sugar, +one ounce; gum-adraganth, twenty grains; +perfumer’s essential oil, two drachms. Powder +the chlorate in a glass mortar; put the +powder in a cup, and pour in a little water; +let it settle, and pour off. Repeat the process +three times with fresh water, filtering what is +poured off each time, and mix the gum and +sugar with it, adding the perfume last.</p> + +<p>A gargle for the mouth which combines +all the virtues of <i>Eau Angelique</i>, and every +other wash of heavenly name, is made of the +chlorate of lime in powder, three drachms; +distilled water, two ounces. Reduce the chlorate +with a glass pestle in a glass mortar, add +a third of the water, stir, and pour off, as directed +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</span>before, till all is added. To this add +two ounces of alcohol, in which is dissolved +four drops of the volatile oil of roses and four +drops of perfumer’s essential oil. Half a teaspoonful +of the solution in a wine-glass of water +is to be used at a time as a tooth-wash and +gargle for the mouth and gums.</p> + +<p>With the best intentions as to physical neatness, +many persons are unable to make the impression +of their company wholly agreeable. +They may remember with advantage that +rinsing the mouth with this fluid six times a +day is not too much pains in order to make +themselves acceptable to others. There is no +surer passport to esteem than an innocent, +taintless person, which wins upon one before +moral virtues have time to make their way. +If you think this truth is repeated too often, +study the impression made by the respectable +people you meet for the next month. The result +will satisfy you that those who are as neat +as white cats are as one to fifteen of the careless, +easily satisfied sort.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</span></p> +<p>Slight disorders of the system make themselves +known by the sickly odor of the perspiration, +quite sensible to others, though the person +most interested is the last to become conscious +of it. The least care, even in cold +weather, for those who would make their physical +as sure as their moral purity, is to bathe +with hot water and soap twice a week from +head to foot. Carbolic toilet soap is the best +for common use, as it heals and removes all +roughness and “breakings out” not of the +gravest sort. Ladies whose rough complexions +were a continual mortification have found +them entirely cleared by the use of this soap. +The slight unpleasant odor of the acid present +soon disappears after washing, and it may be +overcome by using a few spoonfuls of perfume +in the water.</p> + +<p>An excellent preparation for bathing is +Bacheville’s <i>Eau des Odalisques</i>. The French +recommend it highly for frictions, lotions, and +baths. It is made in quantity for free use after +this recipe: Two pints of alcohol, one of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</span>rose-water, half a drachm of Mexican cochineal, +four ounces of soluble cream of tartar, five +drachms of liquid balsam of Peru, five drachms +of dry balsam of the same; vanilla, one drachm; +pellitory root, one and a half ounces; storax, +one and a half ounces; galanga, one ounce; +root of galanga, one and a half ounces; dried +orange peel, two drachms; cinnamon, essence +of mint, root of Bohemian angelica, and dill +seed, each one drachm. Infuse eight days, and +filter. For lotions, add one spoonful of this to +six of water. It is also useful for freshening +the mouth, adding twenty-four drops of it to +four teaspoonfuls of tepid water. For diseased +gums, double the dose, and gargle with +it several times a day.</p> + +<p>The <i>Pâte Axérasive</i> of Bazin, the celebrated +perfumer, has the distinction of being highly +commended by the French Royal Academy +of Medicine. It is better for toilet use than +soaps which contain so much alkali. Take +powder of bitter almonds, eight ounces; oil +of the same, twelve ounces; <i>savon vert</i> of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</span>the perfumers, eight ounces; spermaceti, four +ounces; soap powder, four ounces; cinnabar, +two drachms; essence of rose, one drachm. +Melt the soap and spermaceti with the oil in +a water-bath, add the powder, and mix the +whole in a marble mortar. It forms a kind +of paste, which softens and whitens the skin +better than any soap known.</p> + +<p>Make toilet waters and pastes of this kind in +quantity, as they improve with age. It costs +about one fourth as much to prepare them +as to buy the same quantity at the perfumer’s, +and one has the advantage of a finer article. +Do not use cheap soap for the toilet. Such +is almost always made of rancid or half-putrid +fat, combined with strong alkalies, which dry +and crack the skin, sometimes causing dangerous +sores by the poisonous matter they introduce +from vile grease. <i>Never</i> allow such +soap to touch the flesh of an infant. To do +so is little better than absolute cruelty. White +soaps are the safest, as they are only made of +purified fat.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</span></p> +<p>The feet should be washed every night and +morning as regularly as the hands. It preserves +their strength and elasticity, and helps +to keep their shape. What person of refinement +can take any pleasure in looking at her +own feet presenting the common appearance +of distortion by shoes <i>too tight in the wrong +place</i>, and the dry, hardened skin of partial +neglect? One’s foot is as proper an object +of pride and complacency as a shapely hand. +But where in a thousand would a sculptor find +one that was a pleasure to contemplate, like +that of the Princess Pauline Bonaparte, whose +lovely foot was modeled in marble for the delight +of all the world who have seen it?</p> + +<p>As nice care should be given to feet as to +hands, beginning with a bath of fifteen minutes +in hot soap and water, followed by scraping +with an ivory knife, and rubbing with a +ball of sand-stone, which will be found most +useful for a dozen toilet purposes. The nails +may be left to take care of themselves, with +constant bathing and well-fitting shoes, unless +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</span>they have begun to grow into the flesh, +when all to be done is to scrape a groove +lengthwise in each corner of the nail. The +whole foot should be anointed with purified +olive-oil or oil of sweet almonds after such a +bath. A pair of stockings should be drawn on +at night to preserve the bedclothes from grease-spots. +The oil will soak off the old skin, and +wear away the scaly tissue about the nails, +while it renders the soles as soft and pliant +as those of a young child.</p> + +<p>A daily change of stockings is as desirable +for those who walk out as a fresh handkerchief +every morning—but how many people +consider it necessary? It may sound audacious +to suggest that when laundry-work is an +item, a lady would show her ingrain refinement +by washing her own Balbriggan hose as +truly as by stinting herself to two pair a week +on account of washer-women’s bills. As for +the vulgarity of wearing colored stockings +“because they show dirt less,” it is to be repudiated, +save in the case of children, who +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</span>are quite capable of going through with a +box of white stockings in a day, and looking +none the cleaner for it at the end. Our bootmakers +are in fault about the lining of shoes, +which ought to be changeable when soiled. +Soiled, indeed! When are common shoes ever +clean within? Our manufacturers are the opposite +of the French, whose workmen wear +fresh linen aprons, and wash their hands every +hour, for fear of soiling the white kid linings +at which they sew. The time will come when +we will find it as shocking to our ideas to wear +out a pair of boots without putting in new lining +as we think the habits of George the First’s +time, when maids of honor went without washing +their faces for a week, and people wore +out their linen without the aid of a laundress. +Cleanliness means health in every case, and a +plea must be offered for those neglected members, +that only find favor in our eyes by making +themselves as diminutive as possible.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</span></p> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XVI">CHAPTER XVI.</h2> +</div> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p class="hanging-indent1">“The Leaves are Full of Joy.”—Nobility of the Body.—Its +Possibilities.—Brain and Heart Dependent on it.—Physical +Culture Imperative in America.—Our Contempt +of Health.—Easier to be Magnificent than Clean.—Distilled +Water for Every Use.—Substitute for Stills.—Vapor +and Sulphur Baths.—Bran Baths.—Oatmeal for the +Hands.—Frequency of Baths.—Remedies for Hepatic +Spots.</p> +</div> + + +<p>How lusty and delicate the young leaves +grow on their stems in their nook of sunshine! +What could be lovelier in its way than the +three geranium leaves starting from the mould +in the window-box where the sun strikes across +the corner of the sill? They are so firmly +poised, yet glancing; each full of green juice +that the sun turns to jewel-light, with spots of +darker tint where the feathered edges overlie—a +subtle piece of color wrought by sun and +soil for no eye to see but by chance, yet ecstatic +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</span>in its delight, as if meant for the centre trefoil +of an altar window. So the sun does all his +work. So leaves grow by myriads in the garden +and the forest. So the forces of nature +bring forth every thing perfect if left free to +their impulses.</p> + +<p>There is something like the leaves in our +frames, that would grow springy and strong, +soft-colored and brilliant, upright and joyous, +if it were suffered to. It appeals for sunshine +and gayety, for abundant food and ease, +for copious watering, tendance, and freedom. +Give it these, and the body, under present +conditions, is as far beyond its common dullness +and weakness as it is below the saints in +light; for heavenly bodies can not be very different +from ours unless they cease to be bodies.</p> + +<p>The mortal frame is noble enough as it is. +No harp ever vibrates like it with emotion +and pleasure; no star shines so fair or so wise +as the face of man. God made it, and God +loves it, which is the reason it wins so closely +upon us, and is so dear. There is no wisdom +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</span>in despising the body or its sensations. It is +crudity to uphold that the mental part of us +should absorb all the rest. Brain and heart +are dependent on the body, and it was meant, +not for the slave—as men seem never weary +of preaching—but for the interpreter and +companion of both.</p> + +<p>Honor is due the body, and thanks for its +pleasures, which should be enjoyed with intelligence +and leisure. They are no more +low or debasing than mental pursuits may be +when pursued to the exclusion of all others. +The sensualist is no more intolerable in the +order of nature than the pedant or pretender +in literature, and does little more harm in the +long-run. The former ruins himself; the latter, +by a false philosophy, may lead thousands +astray. Give the body its due—its thirds with +the mind and the soul. Neither is the better +for having more than its share.</p> + +<p>The need of physical culture grows more +and more urgent in this country. Here most +unlike races mix sullen and mercurial blood +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</span>together in the most variable of climates. +They interchange habits as well, though the +only one peculiar to Americans as such is a +tolerable contempt for the conditions of health—a +contempt inherited through half a dozen +generations. The climate is not in fault, but +the people are. It is much easier in this +country to be magnificent than to be clean. +At any hotel there is enough of useless upholstery, +as a matter of course, but a bath is +an extra, often not to be had on any terms. +This is the case even in the metropolis, where +at least a better idea of civilization ought to +prevail. For the rest, there is not much to be +said for the intelligent culture of any family +who have carpets before their bath-room is +fitted up.</p> + +<p>When refinement has reached a step beyond +faucets and water-pipes, each house will have +its distilling apparatus to provide the purest +water for drinking and bathing. Nobody will +any more think of drinking undistilled water +than they do now of eating brown sugar when +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</span>they can get white. Her Majesty the Queen +of England uses nothing but distilled water +for her toilet, and the luxury and softness of +such a bath are so great that no one used to +its indulgence will consent to forego it. A +small still costs five dollars, and would provide +all the water that is needed for family +use. It should be kept in action all the time, +and fill a close reservoir for bathing, while that +for cooking and drinking should be freshly +distilled each day. A simple substitute for a +still is a tea-kettle, with a close cover and a +gutta-percha or lead pipe fastened to the +spout, leading through a pail of cold water +into a jar for holding the distilled water. The +steam from the boiling water goes off through +the tube, condenses under the cold water, +and runs off pure into the receiver. Where +houses are heated by steam, I am told, they +may be amply provided with distilled water +by adding a pipe to one of the tubular heaters, +that will carry steam into a cooler, from +which pure water may run day and night.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</span></p> +<p>Besides the distilled-water baths in a complete +household, there should be facilities for +the vapor-bath at any time. This is invaluable +in colds, rheumatism, congestions, and neuralgia. +The readiest substitute is the rush-bottomed +chair and lighted saucer of alcohol +described in a former chapter. A sulphur +bath requires a shallow pan of coals with a +tin water-pan above it, and an elevated seat +over the whole. Sulphur is thrown on the +coals, which mingles with the steam, and enters +the system by the pores, which are opened +by the vapor. The patient, brazier, and chair +must be enveloped with a water-proof covering +in the closest manner, leaving only the +head exposed, so that no sulphurous vapor can +possibly be breathed, as that would be suffocation +at once. In regular bathing establishments +the patient sits in a wooden box, +having a cover and a water-proof collar which +fits tight about the neck, leaving the head out. +This box is filled with steam by a pipe, and +the vapor impregnated with sulphur from a +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</span>spoonful burning in one corner of the box, +or from a generator outside with connecting +tube. It is difficult, if not impossible, to administer +a sulphur bath without proper and +special appliances.</p> + +<p>The bran bath, recommended before, is taken +with a peck of common bran, such as is used +to stuff pincushions, stirred into a tub of warm +water. The rubbing of the scaly particles of +the bran cleanses the skin, while the gluten in +it softens and strengthens the tissues. Oatmeal +is even better, as it contains a small +amount of oil that is good for the skin. For +susceptible persons, the tepid bran bath is better +than a cold shower-bath. The friction of +the loose bran calls the circulation to the surface. +In France the bran is tied in a bag for +the bath, but this gives only the benefit of the +gluten, not that of the irritation.</p> + +<p>The frequency of the bath should be determined, +after it has been taken for a week or +two, by feeling. Take the refreshment as often +as the system desires it. The harm is done +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</span>not so much by bathing often as by staying in +the water long at a time. A hot soap-suds +bath once a week is beneficial to persons with +moist and oily skins. Bay-rum and camphor +may be used to advantage by such persons +each time after washing the face. The hot +suds bath should be taken thrice a week by +those who wish to remove moth patches.</p> + +<p>One of the best ways to make the hands +soft and white is to wear at night large mittens +of cloth filled with wet bran or oatmeal, +and tied closely at the wrist. A lady who +had the finest, softest hands in the county +confessed that she had a great deal of house-work +to do, but kept them white by wearing +bran mittens every night.</p> + +<p>Pastes and poultices for the face owe most +of their efficacy to the moisture, which dissolves +the old coarse skin, and the protection +they afford from the air, which allows the +new skin to form tender and delicate. Oat +meal paste is efficacious as any thing, though +less agreeable than the pastes made with white +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</span>of egg, alum, and rose-water. The alum astringes +the flesh, making it firm, while the egg +keeps it sufficiently soft, and the rose-water +perfumes the mixture.</p> + +<p>What are called indiscriminately moth, +mask, morphew, and, by physicians, hepatic +spots, are the sign of deep-seated disease of +the liver. Taraxacum, the extract of dandelion +root, is the standing remedy for this, +and the usual prescription is a large pill four +nights in a week, sometimes for months. To +this may be added the free use of tomatoes, +figs, mustard-seed, and all seedy fruits and +vegetables, with light broiled meats, and no +bread but that of coarse flour. Pastry, puddings +of most sorts, and fried food of all kinds +must be dispensed with by persons having a +tendency to this disease. It may take six +weeks, or even months, to make any visible +impression on either the health or the moth +patches, but success will come at last. One +third of a teaspoonful of chlorate of soda in +a wine-glass of water, taken in three doses, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</span>before meals, will aid the recovery by neutralizing +morbid matters in the stomach. There +is no sure cosmetic that will reach the moth +patches. Such treatment as described, such +exercise as is tempting in itself, and gay society, +will restore one to conditions of health +in which the extinction of these blotches is +certain.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</span></p> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XVII">CHAPTER XVII.</h2> +</div> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p class="hanging-indent1">The Banting System.—A Quaint Author.—Trials of Corpulency.—Result +of Living on Sixpence a Day.—Indifference +of Doctors.—A Wise Surgeon.—Relation of Glucose to +Obesity.—Diet for Stout People.—No Starch, no Sugar.—Losing +Flesh at the Rate of a Pound a Week.—“Human +Beans.”—Humors of Banting’s Tract.—His Gratitude.—Honors +to Dr. Harvey.—One Day with Dives, the Next +with Lazarus.—Bromide of Ammonia.</p> +</div> + + +<p>Request is often made for the details of +Mr. Banting’s system of reducing flesh. The +popular idea of the writer, whose modest pamphlet +has linked his name with the system he +observed, is very like the caricature of the +dry modern savant. The severe scientist who +keeps his child for years without fire or clothes +to demonstrate the superiority of human beings +to cold, or who throws a new-born baby +into a tub of water to prove that the race can +swim by nature, should not be mentioned on +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</span>the same page with the kindly enthusiast of +the letter on corpulency.</p> + +<p>There is no evidence in its pages that the +writer ever tried authorship before. He was +over sixty-six years old, when, in a burst of +gratitude for his relief from the burden of too +much flesh, he took up his pen to tell his fellow-creatures +of help for those who suffer a +like infliction. The quaintness of his pages +reminds one of Izaak Walton, from his opening +sentences, where he declares, “Of all the +parasites that affect humanity, I do not know +of, nor can I imagine, any more distressing +than that of obesity”—an opinion with which +all his fellow-sufferers will agree. He is fond +of terming his grievance a parasite, and the +name slips out with a frequency which is like +the echo of objurgations hurled at his infirmity. +Being called to account for it later, he +meekly declares that the word is used wholly +in a figurative sense. His state might have +justified a stronger epithet. No parents on +either side, to use his own phrase, ever showed +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</span>a tendency to corpulency, but between thirty +and forty he found the habit growing upon +him. His physician advised violent exercise, +and he took to rowing. Finding his flesh increase, +he consulted “high orthodox authority +(never any inferior adviser), tried sea air and +bathing, took gallons of physic and liquor potassæ, +always by advice, rode horseback, drank +the waters of Leamington, Cheltenham, and +Harrowgate”—doses enough, we should think, +to have disgusted him with life forever—“lived +on sixpence a day, and earned it, at +least by hard labor, and used vapor-baths +and shampooing,” without any help for his infirmity.</p> + +<p>The rich gentleman found his position, the +good things of this life, his houses, horses, and +friends, small enjoyment, save as they lessened +the increasing burden life heaped upon him. +He was obedient and intelligent in using every +means of relief suggested, but his doctors were +of very small use to him. As he pathetically +says, “When a corpulent man eats, drinks, and +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</span>sleeps well, has no pain and no organic disease, +the judgment of able men seems paralyzed.” +His state was pitiable, and there are +too many companions in distress who answer +to the same picture. He could not tie his +shoe, and often had to go down stairs slowly +backward, to save the jar of increased weight +on his ankles and knee-joints. Low living was +prescribed, and he followed it so heartily that +he brought his system into a low, irritable +state, and broke out in boils and large carbuncles, +for which he had to be treated and +“toned up” in a way that brought him into +heavier condition than ever.</p> + +<p>He speaks feelingly, yet with simple dignity, +of the trials which stout people endure, being +crowded in cars and stages, uncomfortable in +warm theatres and lecture-rooms, besides finding +themselves the butt of ridicule, or, at least, +the object of remark. The last caused him +for many years to give up public pleasures. +Many persons, as they read, will have cause to +reproach themselves, for those who are considerate +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</span>of every other species of human infirmity +fail to recognize the real suffering of +those who carry a load of flesh. A sensitive +person encumbered with adipose feels keenly +the glances, if not the smiles, which follow his +entrance into a public vehicle. It is a test of +delicacy for others to appear unconscious of +his infirmity.</p> + +<p>When Turkish baths came into fashion, Mr. +Banting tried them, with the result of six +pounds’ loss after taking fifty baths, which was +not encouraging, though they have been of +service in other like instances. In August, +1862, his case stood thus: He was nearly sixty-six +years old, five feet five inches high, and +weighed over two hundred pounds. He went +to no excess in eating or drinking, his diet +being chiefly bread, beer, milk, vegetables, +and pastry. Flesh impeded his breathing, his +eye-sight failed, and he lost his hearing, yet +most of the doctors he went to for relief considered +his trouble of no account, as one of the +accompaniments of age, like wrinkles and gray +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</span>hairs. The faculty are to blame for overlooking +such a foe to human comfort.</p> + +<p>Mr. William Harvey, Surgeon of the Royal +Dispensary for Diseases of the Ear, was the +first person wise and considerate enough to +prescribe a remedy. He reasoned from M. +Bernard’s accepted theory of the product of +glucose as well as bile from the liver. Glucose +is allied to starch and saccharine matter, +and is produced in the liver by ingestion +of sugar and starch. The substance is always +present in excess both in diabetes and obesity, +and it struck this eminent surgeon that the +same dry diet which drains the excess of glucose +in the former disease might be of service +in the latter. Abstinence from food containing +starch and sugar reduces diabetes, and accordingly +he prescribed it for his patient. He +was to leave off all bread, milk, butter, beer, +sugar, and potatoes, besides other root vegetables, +as these contain the largest amount of fat +material.</p> + +<p>Yet the diet allowed was liberal. Breakfast +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</span>was four or five ounces of beef, mutton, kidney, +broiled fish, and any cold meat except +veal and pork; a large cup of tea without milk +or sugar, a little biscuit—<i>i. e.</i>, crackers—or an +ounce of dry toast.</p> + +<p>Dinner: five or six ounces of any fish except +salmon, herring, and eels, which are too +fat; any vegetables but potatoes, beets, parsnips, +carrots, or turnips, green vegetables being +especially good; an ounce of dry toast; +the fruit of a pudding; any poultry or game; +two or three glasses of good claret, sherry, or +Madeira, but no champagne, port, or beer.</p> + +<p>Tea: two or three ounces of fruit, a rusk or +two, and a cup of tea without milk or sugar. +Supper, at nine: three or four ounces of meat +or fish, and a glass of claret. Before going to +bed, if desired, a nightcap of grog without sugar +was allowed, or a glass of claret or sherry.</p> + +<p>This was comfortable compared to his former +diet, which was bread and milk for breakfast, +or a pint of tea, with plenty of milk and +sugar, and buttered toast; dinner of meat, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</span>beer, bread, of which he ate a great deal, +and pastry, of which he was fond, with fruit +tart and bread and meat for supper. Yet on +the liberal diet his flesh went down at the rate +of more than a pound a week for thirty-five +weeks.</p> + +<p>He explains his belief that certain food is +as bad for elderly people as beans are for +horses, and thenceforth he calls the forbidden +food “human beans.” He suffers himself to +make a little mirth over the enemy that held +him in durance so long. We can well believe +he would “scrupulously avoid those <i>beans</i>, +such as milk, beer, sugar, and potatoes,” after +he had groaned a score of years from “that +dreadful tormenting parasite on health and +comfort.” He sensibly writes his opinion that +“corpulence must naturally press with undue +violence upon the bodily viscera, driving one +part on another, and stopping the free action +of all.” He calls Mr. Harvey’s system “the +tram-road for obesity,” and says, “The great +charm and comfort of this system is that its +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</span>effects are palpable within one week of +trial.”</p> + +<p>He protests that he found not the slightest +inconvenience in the probational remedy, +which reduced his girth twelve inches and his +weight thirty-eight pounds in thirty-five weeks. +He could go up and down stairs naturally, and +perform every necessary office for himself +without the slightest trouble; his sight was +restored, and his hearing unimpaired. In token +of his gratitude, he gave the doctor, besides +his fees, the sum of £50, to be distributed +among the hospital patients. To prove +the reality of his dedication of his letter “to +the public simply and entirely from an earnest +desire to benefit his fellow-creatures,” the +editions were distributed gratuitously in hopes +of reaching his fellow-sufferers from flesh. He +was eager that they should find the relief which +to him was rapturous. It must have reached +some cases, for more than 58,000 copies had +been issued at the date of this edition. The +author was urged to sell his work, even if the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</span>proceeds were given to the poor; but with the +sensitiveness of a man not used to appear in +public, he says, “On reflection, I feared my +motives might be mistaken.” In giving the +credit of this system to Dr. Harvey, we are +sure of obeying the wishes of the author, who +speaks of his benefactor with extreme gratitude, +and says, “He has since been told it is a +remedy as old as the hills, but the application is +of recent date.” He thinks any one who suffers +from obesity may “prudently mount guard +over the enemy, if he is not a fool to himself.” +He was so far delivered from his malady as +to indulge in the forbidden articles of food; +but says, “I have to keep careful watch, so +that if I choose to spend a day or two with +Dives, I must not forget to devote the next to +Lazarus.”</p> + +<p>No medicine was given with this diet save +a volatile alkali draught in the morning during +the first month. This was probably the +bromide of ammonia, which is of great use in +reducing an over-amount of flesh.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</span></p> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XVIII">CHAPTER XVIII.</h2> +</div> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p class="hanging-indent1">A Letter.—Trials of a Plain Woman.—The Best Husband +in the World.—Burdock Wash for the Hair.—For Children’s +Hair.—Oil of Mace as a Stimulant.—To Restore +Color to the Hair.—Sperm-oil a Powerful Hair Restorer.—The +Cheapest Hair-Dye.—Cure for Chilblains.—Loose +Shoes the Cause of Corns.—Pyroligneous Acid for Corns.—Turpentine +and Carbolic Acid for Soft Corns.</p> +</div> + + +<p>Among inquiries not seldom repeated is an +urgent demand for a prescription to keep the +hair from coming out. The following letter +will be acceptable to many readers.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“I was emphatically one of the ‘ugly girls,’ being of a +very large figure, and inheriting thin hair; otherwise I suited +myself well enough. But oh! the agonies I have suffered +through my personal deficiencies. Now, with a happy home +of my own and the best husband in the world, I can smile +at the old distress. Yet it was no less real, and I can pity +the ugly girls as nobody but one who has ‘been there’ can.</p> + +<p>“My hair began coming out when I was just in my teens, +and has always been the trial of my life. I have been up +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</span>and down the whole scale of restoratives, with all manner +of recipes volunteered by sympathizing friends. Last fall, +after returning from a two months’ stay near Saratoga, where +I had undergone a severe course of treatment for sundry physical +ills, my hair came out frightfully, till I was almost without +any, and nothing seemed to check it. A relative, an old +lady, told me to use burdock-root tea. I tried it, and it +worked like a charm. My hair has never grown as it does +now, and it has absolutely ceased coming out—something +that has not been the case for fifteen years. Something of +this may be due, as far as growth is concerned, to a receipt +given me by a friend a month or so ago. It is a family receipt, +and something of a family secret. The ladies of the +house, who use it, have magnificent hair, which they attribute +to this receipt. It is a queer conglomerate, as you see: +One pound of yellow-dock root, boiled in five pints of water +till reduced to one pint; strain, and add an ounce of pulverized +borax, half an ounce of coarse salt, three ounces of sweet-oil, +a pint of New England rum, and the juice of three large +red onions, perfumed at pleasure—(a quarter of an ounce of +oil of lavender and ten grains of ambergris would be efficacious +in overcoming the powerful scent of the ingredients).</p> + +<p>“My little girl has magnificent hair, but it troubles me +by coming out this winter. As she is only five years old, +I have hesitated about putting any thing on. I wish you +would some time say if it is best to doctor a child’s hair, or +let nature take its course. I have learned that to shampoo +the head with cold water every morning is an excellent thing, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</span>as is an occasional thorough washing with soap-suds, not rinsing +the soap out completely. I have sometimes checked the +fall of hair by such means. The burdock root was also used +by steeping it in boiling water till a strong tea was made +and used as a wash two or three times a day, then at longer +intervals.”</p> +</div> + +<p>In answer to the query in the excellent letter +above, it may be said that it is always well +to cure where there is disease. Simple remedies +aid nature. A child’s hair is too valuable +to lose. One teaspoonful of ammonia to +a pint of warm water makes a wash that may +be used on a child’s head daily with safety. +It does not split the hair, as soap will do if +left to dry in.</p> + +<p>One of the most powerful stimulants and +restoratives for the hair is the oil of mace. +Those who want something to bring hair in +again are advised to try it in preference to +cantharides, which it is said to equal, if not to +surpass, without the danger of the latter. A +strong tincture for the hair is made by adding +half an ounce of the oil of mace to a +pint of deodorized alcohol. Pour a spoonful +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</span>or two into a saucer; dip a small, stiff brush +into it, and brush the hair smartly, rubbing +the tincture well into the roots. On bald +spots, if hair will start at all, it may be stimulated +by friction with a piece of flannel till +the skin looks red, and rubbing the tincture +into the scalp. This process must be repeated +three times a day for weeks. When the hair +begins to grow, apply the tincture once a day +till the growth is well established, bathing the +head in cold water every morning, and briskly +brushing it to bring the blood to the surface.</p> + +<p>When the hair loses color, it may be restored +by bathing the head in a weak solution +of ammonia, an even teaspoonful of carbonate +of ammonia to a quart of water, washing the +head with a crash mitten, and brushing the +hair thoroughly while wet. Bathing the head +in a strong solution of rock-salt is said to restore +gray hair in some cases. Pour boiling +water on rock-salt in the proportion of two +heaping table-spoonfuls to a quart of water, +and let it stand till cold before using.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</span></p> +<p>The old specific of bear’s grease for the hair +is hardly found now, and one can never be +sure of getting the real article; but an equally +powerful application is discovered in pure +sperm-oil, of the very freshest, finest quality. +This forms the basis of successful hair restoratives, +and will not fail of effect if used alone. +It is, however, procured in proper freshness +only by special importation from the north +coast of Europe.</p> + +<p>In the list of hair-dyes, one agent has long +been overlooked which is found in the humblest +households. It is too common and humble, +indeed, to excite confidence at first; but +it is said that the water in which potatoes +have been boiled with the skins on forms a +speedy and harmless dye for the hair and eyebrows. +The parings of potatoes before cooking +may be boiled by themselves, and the water +strained off for use. To apply it, the +shoulders should be covered with cloths to +protect the dress, and a fine comb dipped in +the water drawn through the hair, wetting it +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</span>at each stroke, till the head is thoroughly +soaked. Let the hair dry thoroughly before +putting it up. If the result is not satisfactory +the first time, repeat the wetting with a sponge, +taking care not to discolor the skin of the +brow and neck. Exposing the hair to the sun +out-of-doors will darken and set this dye. No +hesitation need be felt about trying this, for +potato-water is a safe article used in the +household pharmacopœia in a variety of ways. +It relieves chilblains if the feet are soaked in +it while the water is hot, and is said to ease +rheumatic gout.</p> + +<p>Inquiries have been made after a cure for +corns. It is not always the case that they +come from wearing tight shoes. I have seen +troublesome ones produced by wearing a loose +cloth shoe that rubbed the sides of the foot. +It is best always to wear a snugly fitting shoe +of light, soft leather, not so tight as to be painful, +nor loose enough to allow the foot to +spread. The muscles are grateful for a certain +amount of compression, which helps them +to do their work.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</span></p> +<p>When corns are troublesome, make a shield +of buckskin leather an inch or two across, with +a hole cut in the centre the size of the corn; +touch the exposed spot with pyroligneous acid, +which will eat it away in a few applications. +Besides this, a strong mixture of carbolic acid +and glycerine is good—say one half as much +acid as glycerine. Of course, only a very +small quantity will be needed, and it must be +kept out of the way, for it is a burning poison. +In default of these, turpentine may be used +both for corns and bunions. A weaker solution +of carbolic acid will heal soft corns between +the toes.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</span></p> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XIX">CHAPTER XIX.</h2> +</div> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p class="hanging-indent1">A Talk about Complexions.—Delicate Lotion.—Cause of +Rough Faces.—Sun Painting and Bleaching.—Court +Ladies Refusing to Wash their Faces.—Experiments +with Olive-tar.—Consumption and Clear Faces.—Rev. +W. H. H. Murray on Olive-tar.—Porcelain Women.—Drawing +Humors to the Surface.—What is to be Done +for the Weak Women?</p> +</div> + + +<p>A Southern lady sends the following recipe +for glycerine lotion, which is refined and pleasant +as well as useful. The pain of sunburned +and freckled skin, so troublesome to many of +our fair readers, can be relieved, and the shining +morning face of youth restored, by this application: +Take one ounce of sweet almonds, +or of pistachio-nuts, half a pint of elder or +rose-water, and one ounce of pure glycerine; +grate the nuts, put the powder in a little bag +of linen, and squeeze it for several minutes in +the rose-water; then add glycerine and a little +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</span>perfume. It may be used by wetting the face +with it two or three times a day. This is a +grateful application for a parched, rough skin. +It should be allowed to dry thoroughly, when, +if it feel sticky or pasty, it may be washed off +with warm water.</p> + +<p>The reason why so many young women +have rough faces is, they wash their faces every +day but neglect to cleanse their bodies. +The pores are clogged by secretions, and +morbid matters in the blood break out in the +only free spot, the face. The ladies of King +George’s court were perfectly logical when +they refused to wash their faces lest it should +spoil their complexions. They seldom washed +either bodies or linen, and it was dangerous to +give their festering blood an outlet by clearing +a place for it.</p> + +<p>Full-blooded girls whose complexions give +them trouble should not eat fat meat save in +the depth of winter, nor drink milk. They +may take these in after-years, if they grow thin +and weak from hard work or the nursing of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</span>children. Their systems can turn the grapes +and pears they ought to feed on, the fish, +chicken, and lean meat, the nutty oatmeal and +wheat cakes (not mushes), into flesh enough to +round their elbows, and strength enough to +make their walk like the figure of a dance. +They should try daily bathing, or rather scrubbing +with soap and hot water, followed by a +cold dip, a process taking a matter of ten minutes +a day, at most, if they know the meaning +of dispatch. Very likely they will need a few +bottles of Saratoga water or doses of salts to +clear the blood, adhering religiously to a Graham +diet the while, or their last state after the +medicine will be worse than the first. After +taking the sulphur vapor-baths they must go +out-of-doors, and finish bleaching themselves +in the sun. By living in it five hours a day, +they may gain the lovely painted marble of +the English girl’s face, who reaps all day in +the harvest field.</p> + +<p>Cosmetics sometimes play tricks with fair +skins which are quite mysterious to the unlucky +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</span>subject. This is the case with the tar +and olive ointment named a few chapters ago. +Those who find that its application brings out +a fearful crop of pimples, and turns the skin +yellow, should feel that the ointment has been +a friend to them, in detecting a state of the +blood that is any thing but safe. People of +sedentary habits, who pay little attention to +their health, are not aware how vitiated their +blood may be for want of sunshine, good food, +and exercise. Its torpid current leaves no +mark of disease on the surface; humors concentrate +in the vital organs, and finally appear +in the form of chronic disorders. Consumption +leaves the skin clear and brilliant, because +the morbid matters which usually pass off +through the skin are eating away the life in +ulcers beneath. The tar brings them to the +surface, and one application sometimes leaves +a face in a sorry state. Three ladies of different +families tried the recipe at the same +time, with frightful results, for the reason that +they were all in the state when a dose of blood +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</span>purifier would have had the same effect. One +lady kept on using the lotion, and her face +became smooth after trying it three or four +times. When people perspire freely, such unhappy +effects are seldom noticed. Apropos of +this, come a few lines from W. H. H. Murray, +the author of the <i>Hand-book of the Adirondacks</i>. +A lady who was puzzled by the effect +of the cosmetic wrote to him about it, knowing +he was familiar with its use in the mountains, +and received this merry answer:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“I have had a hearty laugh over your perplexity. All +I know is, the mixture was common sailors’ tar and sweet-oil, +with the consistency of sirup. Our party, ladies and +gentlemen both, have used it freely for years in the woods, +and the ladies have always declared that it made their skin +as soft as satin. Certain it is, it never caused any <i>rash</i> in +their case.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Delicate, fair-skinned women are the very +ones on whom this cosmetic will have the +effect of drawing humors to the surface. +Heavens! how many of this sort there are in +the world—pale, shadowy as porcelain, fragile +of bone and tender of skin, about as useful as +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</span>wish-bones of a Christmas chicken! They have +intense souls; it is a pity they have not enough +body to hold them. Is there not wit enough +in the world to conjure flesh to the bones and +strength to the muscles of this great army of +weak women?</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</span></p> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XX">CHAPTER XX.</h2> +</div> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p class="hanging-indent1">Sulphur Baths.—Bleaching Old Faces.—Experiments in +Bathing.—Cautions.—Need of Public Baths.—Their +Proper Prices.—Method of Giving Sulphur Vapor-baths.—Hot +Baths for Hot Weather.—Russian Baths at Home.—Improvements +Needed in Public Baths.—What they +Should be.—What they Are.—The Russian Vapor-bath.—-After-Sensations.—Brightness +and Lightness of Health.—Reverence +for the Physical.—Influence of Bathing on +the Nerves and Passions.—Necessity of Public Baths.</p> +</div> + + +<p>It is not a little amusing to receive requests +for a way to give sulphur vapor-baths to the +face alone. Somebody wants a fair complexion, +and fancies it may be gained by bleaching +the face like an old Leghorn bonnet in a barrel. +Aside from the certainty of being choked +to death by this method, there is no way of +whitening and refining the face by applications +to it alone, when the conditions of health +are not regarded in other things. Carbolic +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</span>acid may heal pimples, and glycerine masks +soften the skin; but lovely red and white, +with lips like currants, and skin like the flesh +of young cranberries, can not be had unless +the blood is pure. For this it is indispensable +that food should be regulated, plenty of exercise +and sunshine taken, and all the bodily +functions kept in the best order.</p> + +<p>The woman who thought she could take +the sulphur vapor-bath at home in her own +bath-room finds that her experience reads like +a chapter from the Danbury <i>News</i> man. A +bouquet of burning matches would furnish +the perfume inhaled in the process, and the +vapor reaching her face, left it pale and +brown in spots, as if she had moth patches. +That she escaped with hair only partially +tinged, and any eyebrows to speak of, is due +to Nature’s guardian care, which prompted the +struggle for life half a minute sooner than +pride was inclined to give up. The fumes +lingering about the premises have induced the +gravest suspicions on the part of her neighbors. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</span>She is inclined to think that, if her face +would only turn brown again all over, she +would forego her dreams of Parian brow and +cheeks like peaches.</p> + +<p>A sulphur vapor-bath is a matter of caution, +when given by the best of hands. It is not +well to take it in the damp, “breaking-up” +weather of March, for the bath opens the +pores, and catching cold with several grains +of sulphur in one’s body is the next thing to +salivation by mercury. The consequence is +that one feels heavy and aching, the eyes +grow weak, and teeth grumble, while latent +rheumatic pains wake up to sharp reminder +of one’s imprudence. When the weather is +warm and settled, these baths are a luxury +and medicine combined. They are most effectual +purifiers of the system, searching out +and removing all waste particles, to leave the +skin as new and fair as a baby’s. I have seen +old and darkened complexions restored by +them in a way that was little short of miraculous. +These baths are also of benefit in +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</span>neuralgia, and deal powerfully with scrofulous +affections.</p> + +<p>The time is not far distant when every town +that owns a public hall will also have its public +baths. Before that time comes, physicians +ought to moderate the charges for these remedial +agents. Outside of our large cities, the +cost of taking sulphur vapor-baths is $5 each, +and they are given only in series, as prescribed +by the judgment or humor of the +physician. When will people learn the laws +and habits of their own bodies, so that they +need not be at the mercy of every specialist +who chooses to make money out of their emergencies? +For the benefit of outsiders it ought +to be said that the charge in the best establishments +of New York is not higher than $2 50 +for the single bath, and a great reduction from +this is common.</p> + +<p>The essential difficulty of the sulphur vapor +treatment is to keep from the face the powerful +fumes, which are dangerous to breathe. For +this object the bather enters a wooden box, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</span>with a cover that fits the neck. She takes a +seat in the box undressed, and the cover is +adjusted so that only the head is left out. +Cloths or a rubber collar are closely drawn +about the neck to prevent the least escape of +gas, and a wet sponge is laid on the top of +the head, or, what is better, a very wet towel +folded turbanwise round the back of it, and +over the top, thus cooling the base of the +brain, the side arteries, and sensitive upper +part. This compress must be frequently wet +with cold water during the bath—a precaution +which removes the danger of apoplectic seizures +by the intense heating of the blood. +Steam charged with sulphur is then let into +the box by pipes, and in three minutes the +perspiration flows as if the luckless victim +were melting away. In the best establishments +an attendant fans the bather all the +time the steam is let on, to cool the head, +into which the heated blood rushes in a way +that makes the wet towel smoke directly. +And this is an attention the patient must +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</span>insist upon, for faintness or apoplexy may be +the alternative.</p> + +<p>In the sultry and oppressive weather of +summer the hot bath is of all others most +cooling. No matter how heated the system, +water as hot as possible is the safest and most +efficient relief. One wants to remain in it +long enough to give every part of the body a +thorough scrubbing with soap and a mohair +wash-cloth, which cleanses the skin more thoroughly +than a brush. The hot water dissolves +every particle of matter that clogs the +pores, the rough cloth and soap remove it +searchingly, and the towel is hardly laid aside +before a delicious coolness and freshness passes +upon one, like that of a dewy summer morning. +The dangers resulting from a sudden +check of perspiration by plunging into cold +water when overheated, or by sitting in a +draught to cool, are avoided, and a greater +sense of coolness follows. People who suffer +much in warm weather should reckon this a +daily solace. All enervating effects are warded +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</span>off by an instant’s plunge into cool water of, +say, seventy degrees. I say cool, for it certainly +will feel as if iced after a bath of nearly +a hundred and fifty degrees. In a common +bath-room, by this means, one may experience +much of the real benefit of a Russian vapor-bath.</p> + +<p>The bath lasts fifteen minutes, when the +vapor is turned off. When the steam in the +box has had time to condense, the cover is unjointed, +and the bather treated to a scrubbing +with soap and warm water, which gradually +cools and cleanses the body. Then cooler water +is poured over the body, and, after wiping, +one is wrapped in a fresh sheet and lies down +to pleasant dreams.</p> + +<p>It is hard that such a necessary requisite +to the highest vigor should rank, as it does, +among luxuries. One can hardly imagine an +addition to a fine house more desirable than +a bathing-hall, such as Roman patricians added +to their palaces, where any form of vapor +or hot bath was at command.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</span></p> +<p>Many improvements are needed in our public +baths. There should be small dressing-closets, +as there are at swimming-baths, where +one’s clothes may be kept from contact with +beds on which a thousand people rest in the +course of a year. The reposing-hall should be +well lighted, and paved with tiles, instead of +being spread with bits of carpet to be tossed +about; and there should be ample space between +the couches. Every thing should convey +the impression of space and repose—of +sunshine, for the sake of its reviving power, +and of refinement, for the soothing it always +brings the nerves.</p> + +<p>Usually the bath-house is built in a court-yard, +where high walls on every side shut out +the sunlight. The basement dressing-room is +filled with narrow couches covered with light +rubber sheets, suggestive of nothing more pleasant +than cast-off clothing, and rest measured +by the bath clock, when one’s pillow must be +given up to a new-comer.</p> + +<p>From this huddled room the bather steps +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</span>into one beyond summer heat, dark and dripping +with moisture, with a plunge bath in +the centre. Passing through it, one finds +next what seems like a wide marble staircase +running the length of each side almost to +the low roof, with gratings let in the face of +the steps. The bather ascends one of these +stony couches, and lies down with head on the +stony pillow carved every six feet or so for +the purpose. Wrapped in a sheet, already wet +with moisture since leaving the dressing-room, +a large sponge dipped in cold water at the +back of one’s head, and another at the mouth +and nose, one feels as if there were perspiration +enough already for sanitary purposes; +but when, with a hiss and a roar, the steam is +let on through the gratings, one finds the difference. +Rolling vapor fills the room, so dense +that every outline is shut out as completely as +in the darkest night. The heat rises to suffocation, +the new bather thinks, and rushes again +and again to the douche against the wall to +wet her throbbing head, or into the next room, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</span>which seems cool as a waterfall, for a gasp of +air that she can breathe. Old and experienced +bathers lie still, declaring that, with head down +and the wet sponge pressed to the nose, they +breathe without difficulty. What was perspiration +is literally a flowing away in rills and +sheets of water that drip from the bather’s +reeking sides. One seems to have turned to +jelly, and submits helplessly to the scrubbing-brush +and final shower-bath of water at eighty +degrees, which causes a shiver by contrast.</p> + +<p>The outer room is refreshing in its coolness, +and one wraps a dry sheet and blanket round +one and lies down on the India-rubber cloth +in dreamy indifference to all the rest of the +world.</p> + +<p>What follows is Elysium. Every ache and +pain, every care, is dispelled in a trance of rest.</p> + +<p>All the descriptions by Eastern travelers +of the luxury of the bath are found true in +this last stage of enjoyment. One is rejuvenated, +entranced, and sinks into a light sleep, +whose approach seems a prelude to paradise. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</span>The eyes close to keep out the sordid surroundings +of the bathing-room; and every +idea, or rather sensation—for the brain is too +passive to think—is bliss. This is the <i>dolce +far niente</i> Italians aspire to—the sum of all +delight possible to sensation. Passion and +rapture have no charms that equal it. It is +the death and extinction of all pain. Quite +as beautiful is the return to consciousness, +sense after sense regaining double brightness +as softly and steadily as the unfolding of a +flower.</p> + +<p>After a reluctant waking and going out into +the sunlight again one seems to have found a +new self. The feather-like lightness and elasticity +of every limb amount almost to delirium, +they are so different from one’s usual dullness. +It is freedom that feels like flying. If this is +simply health, in our common state we must +be farther toward extinction than we imagine.</p> + +<p>In this state of purity and light one learns +to reverence one’s physical self. A body that +at its best is so glorious and happy ought not +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</span>to be exposed to the disturbance of appetite +and the contact of gross things. We need to +be very much more refined in our living, eating, +and breathing. We ought to be nicer +about our clothes and our food, choosing the +best of meats, and fruit far better than we are +now content with, and should place our dwellings +out of the reach of the least impure air. In +this altered and steadied frame evil dispositions +lose their sway. Irritable temper is soothed, +despondency flees as by magic, and fiercer passions +lie asleep as at the stroking of their +manes. If any one should read this page who +battles with unnatural desires, which make life +less blessed and lofty than it was meant to be, +let her have recourse to this efficient ally. It +will restore one from the horrible depression +which craves alcohol or opium, it will rescue +from the perilous excitement of overwrought +nerves or too much brain-work, and +banish those morbid feelings which consciously +or unconsciously incline to impurity of imagination +if not of life. The purity of the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</span>body and the soul are too closely interwoven +for any one to dare neglect them.</p> + +<p>In the old time, saints used to subdue the +body by prayer and fasting. The modern +way is by prayer and bathing.</p> + +<p>It is hard enough to keep a peaceable, +firm, and sweet habit of soul without letting +loose on it the humors and insanities of the +body. These are in no way so surely quelled +as by warm baths, and this is why they ought +to be among the public buildings of every +village, and made as cheap as possible. There +the drunkard might find a stimulus which +has no reaction, the emotionally insane a sedative +that would clear his brain and steady his +nerves. There the exhausted watcher by the +sick might recruit, and the overwrought student, +lawyer, or physician find support without +recourse to perilous stimulants. The doors of +such a place in a large city should stand open +night and day, like those of churches.</p> + +<p>Women need the bath for all these purposes +even more than men. The feeble mother +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</span>will find no soothing for her jarred nerves or +lightener of her burdens like the well-applied +bath. Strange as it sounds, the vapor-bath +does not weaken. It washes away the worse +particles of the body that weigh it down, and +leaves it as if winged. I have known an invalid +of years take it twice and thrice a week, +gaining strength every time. If harm came, it +is because the head was not kept cool by fanning, +or because the final sponging was not +gradual enough. There is harm in every +remedy used unskillfully. It is the doctor’s +province to direct in such matters, always premising +that the best and wisest physicians prefer +to teach their clients the rules of health +and treatment for themselves, and seldom refuse +to give the reason and theory of their +orders. It is safe to be shy of the perceptions +and methods of a doctor who doesn’t like to +tell what medicines he gives, and why he gives +them. The keenest and best medical men are +impatient to have others see and understand +the truth as well as themselves.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</span></p> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXI">CHAPTER XXI.</h2> +</div> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p class="hanging-indent1">Devices of Uneasy Age.—Bread Paste and Court-plaster +to Conceal Wrinkles.—Accepting the Situation.—Plain +Women and Agreeable Toilets.—Examples.—The Rector’s +Daughter.—Dressing on Two Hundred a Year.—Écru +Linen and White Nansook.—A Senator’s Wife.—A +Washington Success.—Dull, Thin Faces.—Hay-colored +Hair.—Advantages of Lining Rooms with Mirrors.</p> +</div> + + +<p>Did you ever go to see a lady, not of uncertain +but of uneasy age, and find yourself +ushered into the family sitting-room by a new +servant, who did not know the ways of the +house? Did you find her with a court-plaster +lozenge an inch wide between her eyes, and +one at the outer ends of her eyebrows? At +sight of this remarkable ornament, did concern +express itself lest she had fallen down +stairs, or had a difference with the cat? Were +these insinuations parried with veteran resources, +and were you dissuaded from further +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</span>inquiry by the delicate remark that she could +interest you better than by giving the history +of her scratches? Of course you knew there +was a mystery about those bits of court-plaster, +and perhaps feel so to this day, unless Nature +have given you the mind of a detective. If +so, your patience is to be rewarded. The +secret of those patches was not scratches, but +wrinkles.</p> + +<p>I trust due tribute will be paid to the ingenuity +of failing age, which has perfected this +device for warding off its unwelcome tokens. +The rationale of the plan is very simple. The +plaster contracts the skin, and prevents its +sinking into creases and lines. It also protects +and softens the skin. I have heard of +one oldish lady who wears these ornamental +appendages all the time in the house when not +receiving company, and covers parts of her +face with a dough made of well-mumbled +bread to keep her complexion fair. The heroism +of this resistance to time must be applauded, +but it is an open question whether +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</span>the play is worth the candle. The beauty of +age lies not in freshness like that of sixteen, +but in clear and lofty expression, in the look of +experience and not unkindly shrewdness, in the +finish of self-repression, of calmness, trust, and +sympathy. These things grow on a face as it +loses freshness and roundness, just as the sky +begins to show through thinning boughs.</p> + +<p>The greatest of blessings for some people +would be to learn to accept themselves and +their gifts. If they could stand apart from +themselves a while to see their becoming +points, much of their repining would be dropped. +Every thing and every body is beautiful +in its season. There is a wholesome plainness +that accords with domestic life and natural +surroundings, as the bark of trees relieves their +green. The color of health, the gentleness +and sweetness that come of a conquered self, +are elements of beauty that make any face +tolerable. How dear are the plain faces that +have watched our childhood, with whom we +have grown up so closely that feature and +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</span>form have lost their significance, so that we +really do not know whether they are homely +or not, and see only the love or the humor +that lives in their faces. In general, very +ugly people are happily indifferent to their +looks, and degrees of imperfection may always +be lessened by judicious use of the arts +of dress.</p> + +<p>A young and homely woman makes herself +agreeable by the complete neatness of +a very simple toilet. Let her eschew dresses +of two colors, or of two shades even, though +the latter are allowable, if the shadings are +very soft. When the complexion is dull, there +must be some warm or lively tinges of color +in the costume, and vice versa. But it is easier +to dress real figures than to generalize.</p> + +<p>Cornelia Jackson is the rector’s daughter, +and hasn’t above $200 a year to spend on her +clothes and to buy Christmas presents. She +is a little too plump, is brown, with some +warm color in her cheeks in summer, and has +dark hair. Her face never would be noticed +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</span>except for the jollity lurking in it, which she +inherits from her father. In winter and fall, +when she looks pale, she “tones up” with a +morning dress of all-wool stuff, one of those +brown grounds with small bunches of brilliant +crimson or purple flowers—a cheery pattern +that the rector likes behind the coffee +urn of a cold morning—with crisp white +ruffles, set off by the brown dress. Crimson +or purple, in soft brilliant shades, are her +colors for neck-ties. Her street dress is a +dark walnut-brown cloth, trimmed with cross-cut +velvet the same shade. The over-skirts of +Cornelia’s dresses are always long, so that she +will not look like a fishing-bob or a doll pin-cushion; +and there is deep rose-color about +her bonnet. Not roses, by the way—she has +an unspoken feeling that it is not for every +body to wear roses—but velvety mallows and +double stocks, imitations of fragrant common +garden flowers that are very like herself. The +brown and crimson maiden is a pleasant sight +of a winter’s day, when the gray of the church +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</span>and white of the snow need something warm +to come between them. In summer she chooses, +or her cousin in New York chooses for her, not +the light percales that every one else is wearing, +nor the grays and stone-colors that walk to +church every Sunday, but écru linens, with relief +of black or brown for morning, when she +goes from pantry to garden, and from sewing-machine +to nursery. Afternoons she doesn’t +divide herself by putting on a white blouse +and colored skirt, or a buff redingote over a +black train, but wears a dress of one color, +that looks as if it were meant to stay at home. +White nansook is her delight, its semi-transparency +wonderfully suiting her clear brownness, +but solid white linen or cambric she eschews. +Soft violet jaconet, and the whole +family of lilacs, are made for her; and she is +luxurious in ruffles and flounces on her demi-trained +skirts, since she makes and often irons +them herself. Black grenadine, of course, she +wears, with high lining to give her waist its +full length, every bit of which it needs; and +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</span>she is not too utilitarian to neglect the aid +which a modest demi-train on a house dress +gives to her height. All the other girls may +wear puffed waists and pleated waists. She +knows they are not for her plump shoulders, +though clusters of fine tucks on a blouse give +length to the waist, and lessen the width of +the back. Shawls she never wears, nor short +perky basques, that are considered—I don’t +know why—the proper thing for stout figures. +Her choice is the long polonaise, and +the French jacket, which by its short shoulders +and simple lines conveys a decent comeliness +of figure to any one who wears it. If she had +a party dress, it would be white muslin, or +light silvery green silk, trimmed with pleatings +of tulle, and with them she would wear +her mother’s pearls, or her own fine carbuncles.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Senator, with all her fortune and position, +is doomed to hear people speak of her in +under-tones at parties, “She is rich, but very +plain.” Being a shrewd woman, she does not +waste her efforts on trying to alter her thin +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</span>features, nor does she make herself ridiculous +by a false complexion of rouge and pearl-powder, +though her face and her hair are about of +a brownness. But on her entry into Washington +society she defied criticism by appearing +with her hair créped to show its soft brown +lights and shades, and give the best outline +to her head, her gypsy face opposed to a dead +white silk, of Parisian origin, with flounce of +pleated muslin, and corsage trimmings of rich +lace. It is a real dress and a real woman +that is described, and it is no fiction that she +was the success of the evening. The colorless +dress without <i>reflets</i>, and her ornaments +of clustered pearls, were in most artistic contrast +to the nut-brown hair and dusky face. +A spot of color would have destroyed the +charm. The dress stamped her, as she was, a +woman of skill sufficient to draw from the +most unlikely combination the elements of +novel and complete success.</p> + +<p>The girl who sits near me at the hotel table +tries my eyes with her thin, curious features, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</span>her pale, frizzed hair, that makes her face +more peaked than it is, and her oversized +skirts. She ought not to wear those light +dresses, for she has no color, and her thin +complexion is not even clear. She has that +difficult figure to dispose of, which is at once +girlish and tall, without seeming so. A trained +dress would make her look lean, so she should +dispense with a large tournure, and let her +dresses brush the floor a few inches, wearing +as many small flounces below the knee as +fashion and sense allow. If her mother, who +is rather a strict lady, would insist on having +the girl’s dresses made with puffed waists, or +loose blouses of thick linen, instead of the +Victoria lawns that iron so flat, and show +the poor shoulder-blades frightfully, the effect +would be rather delightful. She ought to +wear puffed grenadines and lenos of maroon, +rosy lilac, or deep green—the first lighted with +pale rosy bows at the throat and in the hair, +the latter with light green and white, the lilac +with periwinkle knots. How one would like +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</span>to dress her over again, and turn the poor +thing out charming as she ought to be. Her +hair-dressing would all have to be done over +again. Sharp-featured people shouldn’t wear +curls, which make the peaked effect still more +prominent. Soft waves, drawn lightly away +from the face and brushed up from the neck +behind, would be better, and smooth braids +best of all, with little waves peeping out under +them. If the young woman could train herself +not to be excitable, or to smile so overcomingly, +and not be so eager to meet new acquaintances, +she would make a pleasing impression, +while now she gets snubbed in a tacit +way, and those who take her up out of pity +hardly feel as if they were paid for it. If +women with hay-colored hair could be brought +to believe that light brown, of all others, wasn’t +the color for their style, one could afford to +overlook minor deficiencies.</p> + +<p>One is tempted to think sometimes that +there is a loss in not adopting the French plan +of lining houses with mirrors. If people continually +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</span>caught sight of themselves, they would +hardly indulge in the grimaces and gaucheries +which they inflict on the world. It could hardly +lead to vanity in most cases, and would settle +many vexing problems of dress and demeanor. +One is not always to be censured for studying +the glass. The orator must use it to learn +how to deliver his sentences with proper +facial play and easy gesture. The public +singer studies with a mirror on the music-rack +to get the right position of the mouth +for issuing the voice without making a face. +The want of such training mars the work of +some great artists with blemishes which nearly +undo the effect of their talents.</p> + +<p>The injunction that all things should be +done decently and in order means that they +ought to be pleasing. The study of ourselves +can hardly be complete without the aid of the +mirror, which shows candidly the cold smile, +the vacant, bashful gaze, we give our fellow-beings, +instead of the decent attention, the +kind, full glance it is meet they should have +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</span>from us, and which we prefer to receive from +them. It shows the frown, the sour melancholy, +which creep over the face in reveries, +and leads us to try and feel pleasant that we +may look so. How much confidence one assuring +glance at a mirror has given us in going +to receive a visitor, and what kindly warning +of what was amiss in expression or toilet before +it was too late! Is our vanity so easily +excited that we are ready to fall in love with +ourselves at sight? The intimate acquaintance +with our appearance which the glass can give +is more likely to make one genuinely humble. +In a world which owns among its maxims the +gay and wicked refrain of “manners for us, +morals for those who like them,” good people +can not afford to neglect either their toilets +or their mirrors.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</span></p> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXII">CHAPTER XXII.</h2> +</div> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p class="hanging-indent1">Physical Education of Girls.—A Woman’s Value in the +World.—High-bred Figures.—Antique Races.—Inspiration +of Art not Vanity.—The Trying Age.—Dress, +Food, and Bathing for Young Girls.—A Veto on Close +Study.—Braces and Backboards.—Never Talk of Girls’ +Feelings.—Exercise for the Arms.—Singing Scales with +Corsets off.—Development of the Bust.—Open-work Corsets +the Best.—The Bayaderes of India and their Forms.—The +Delicacy due Young Girls.—A Frank but Needed +Caution.—Care of the Figure after Nursing.</p> +</div> + + +<p>American girls begin to make much of +physical culture. As they advance in refinement +they see how much of their value in society +depends on the nerve and spirit which +accompanies thorough development. It is not +enough that they know how to dance languidly, +and carry themselves in company. To distinguish +herself, a young belle must row, swim, +skate, ride, and even shoot, to say nothing of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</span>lessons in fencing, which noble ladies in Germany, +and some of foreign family here, take +to develop sureness of hand and agility. The +heavy, flat-footed creature who can not walk +across a room without betraying the bad terms +her joints are on with each other, must have +a splendid face and fortune to keep any place +in the world, no matter how good her family, +or how varied her acquirements, though she +speaks seven languages like a native, and has +played sonatas since she was eight years old. +A woman’s value depends entirely on her use +to the world and to that person who happens +to have the most of her society. A man likes +the society of a woman who can walk a mile +or two to see an interesting view, and can +take long journeys without being laid up by +them. He likes smooth motions, round arms +and throat, head held straight, and shoulders +that do not bow out. When you see that a +fine figure must be a straight line from the +roots of the hair to the base of the shoulder-blade, +you will realize how few women approach +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</span>this high-bred ideal. Special culture, +indeed, is discerned where such excellence of +line meets the eye. The polished races of the +East, who, untutored and degraded, yet have +the entail of antique subtlety and art, inherit +such figures along with the proverbs of sages +and palace mosaics. The best-born of all +countries have this noble set of head, this +lance-like figure, and easy play of limb. +As surely as one can be educated to right +thoughts and manners, so the motions and +poise of limb can be trained to correctness. +The work must begin early. A girl should +be put in training as soon as she passes from +the plumpness of childhood into the ugly +age of development. The mother should inspect +her dressing to see what improvement is +needed, and stimulate the child by the desire +to possess beautiful limbs and figure. The +senses are early awake to the sense of grace. +There is no better way to inspire a girl with it +than to take her to picture-galleries, show the +faces of historical beauties, or the figures of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</span>Italian sculpture, and ask her if she would +not like to have the same fine points herself. +This substitutes the love of art for that of admiration, +and makes self-cultivation too deep +a thing for vanity.</p> + +<p>There is a time when girls are awkward, +indolent, and capricious. Their boisterous +spirits at one time, their sickly minauderies at +another, are very trying to mothers and teachers. +The cause is often set down as depravity, +when it is only nature. Girls are lapsided +and indolent because they are weak or languid, +between which and being lazy there is +a vast difference. They have demanding appetites +that strike grown people with wonder. +They go frantic on short notice when their +wishes are crossed. Mother, if such is the +case, your growing girl is weak. The nursery +bath Saturday night is not enough. Encourage +her to take a sponge-bath every day. +When she comes in heated from a long walk +or play, see that she bathes her knees, elbows, +and feet in cold water, to prevent her growing +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</span>nervous with fatigue when the excitement is +over. See that she does not suffer from cold, +and that she is not too warmly dressed, remembering +a plump, active child will suffer +with heat under the clothes it takes to keep +you comfortable. If she is thin and sensitive, +care must be taken against sudden chills. +Keep her on very simple but well-flavored +diet, with plenty of sour fruit, if she crave it, +for the young have a facility for growing bilious, +which acids correct. Sweet-pickles not +too highly spiced are favorites with children, +and better than sweetmeats. Nuts and raisins +are more wholesome than candies. New +cheese and cream are to be preferred to butter +with bread and vegetables. Soup and a little +of the best and juiciest meat should be given +at dinner. But the miscellaneous stuffing that +half-grown girls are allowed to indulge in +ruins their complexion, temper, and digestion. +No coffee nor tea should be taken by any human +being till it is full-grown. The excitement +of young nerves by these drinks is ruinous. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</span>Besides, the luxury and the stimulus is +greater to the adult when debarred from these +things through childhood. Neither mind nor +body should be worked till maturity. Children +will do all they ought in study and +work without much urging; and they will +learn more and remember more in two hours +of study to five of play, than if the order is +inverted. Say to a child, Get this lesson and +you may go to play—and you will be astonished +to see how rapidly it learns; but if one lesson +is to succeed another till six dreary hours +have dragged away, it loses heart, and learns +merely what can not well be helped. A girl +under eighteen ought not to practice at the +piano or sit at a desk more than three quarters +of an hour at a time. Then she should +run out-of-doors ten minutes, or exercise, to +relieve the nerves. An adult never ought to +study or sit more than an hour without brief +change before passing to the next. This +keeps the head clearer, the limbs fresher, and +carries one through a day with less fatigue +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</span>than if one worked eight hours and then rested +four.</p> + +<p>Thoughtful teachers do not share the prejudice +against braces and backboards for keeping +the figure straight, especially when young. +It is the instinct of barbarous nations to use +such aids in compelling erectness in their children. +These appliances need not be painful +in the least, but rather relieve tender muscles +and bones. Languid girls should take cool +sitz-baths to strengthen the muscles of the +back and hips, which are more than ordinarily +susceptible of fatigue when childhood is +over. But <i>never</i> talk of a girl’s feelings in +mind or body before her, or suffer her to +dwell on them. The effect is bad physically +and mentally. See that these injunctions are +obeyed implicitly; spare her the whys and +wherefores. It is enough for her to know +that she will feel better for them. Of all +things, deliver us from valetudinarians of fifteen. +Never laugh at them; never sneer; +never indulge them in self-condolings. Be +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</span>pitiful and sympathetic, but steadily turn their +attention to something interesting outside of +themselves.</p> + +<p>Special means are essential to special growth. +Throwing quoits and sweeping are good exercises +to develop the arms. There is nothing +like three hours of house-work a day for giving +a woman a good figure, and if she sleep +in tight cosmetic gloves, she need not fear that +her hands will be spoiled. The time to form +the hands is in youth, and with thimbles for +the finger-tips, and close gloves lined with +cold cream, every mother might secure a good +hand for her daughter. She should be particular +to see that long-wristed lisle-thread gloves +are drawn on every time the girl goes out. +Veils she should discard, except in cold and +windy weather, when they should be drawn +close over the head. A broad-leafed hat for +the country is protection enough for the summer; +the rest of the year the complexion +needs all the sun it can get.</p> + +<p>There is commonly a want of fullness in +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</span>those muscles of the shoulder which give its +graceful slope. This is developed by the +use of the skipping-rope, in swinging it over +the head, and by battledoor, which keeps the +arms extended, at the same time using the +muscles of the neck and shoulders. Swinging +by the hands from a rope is capital, and so is +swinging from a bar. These muscles are the +last to receive exercise in common modes of +life, and playing ball, bean-bags, or pillow-fights +are convenient ways of calling them +into action. Singing scales with corsets off, +shoulders thrown back, lungs deeply inflated, +mouth wide open, and breath held, is the best +tuition for insuring that fullness to the upper +part of the chest which gives majesty to a +figure even when the bust is meagre. These +scales should be practiced half an hour morning +and afternoon, gaining two ends at once—increase +of voice and perfection of figure.</p> + +<p>This brings us to the inquiries made by +more than one correspondent for some means +of developing the bust. Every mother should +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</span>pay attention to this matter before her daughters +think of such a thing for themselves, by +seeing that their dresses are never in the least +constricted across the chest, and that a foolish +dressmaker never puts padding into their +waists. The horrible custom of wearing pads +is the ruin of natural figures, by heating and +pressing down the bosom. This most delicate +and sensitive part of a woman’s form must always +be kept cool, and well supported by a +linen corset. The open-worked ones are by +far the best, and the compression, if any, should +not be over the heart and fixed ribs, as it generally +is, but just at the waist, for not more +than the width of a broad waistband. Six +inches of thick coutille over the heart and +stomach—those parts of the body that have +most vital heat—must surely disorder them and +affect the bust as well. It would be better if +the coutille were over the shoulders or the abdomen, +and the whalebones of the corset held +together by broad tapes, so that there would +be less dressing over the heart, instead of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</span>more. A low, deep bosom, rather than a bold +one, is a sign of grace in a full-grown woman, +and a full bust is hardly admirable in an unmarried +girl. Her figure should be all curves, +but slender, promising a fuller beauty when +maturity is reached. One is not fond of over-ripe +pears.</p> + +<p>Flat figures are best dissembled by puffed +and shirred blouse-waists, or by corsets with a +fine rattan run in the top of the bosom gore, +which throws out the fullness sufficiently to +look well in a plain corsage. Of all things, +India-rubber pads act most injuriously by +constantly sweating the skin, and ruining the +bust beyond hope of restoration. To improve +its outlines, wear a linen corset fitting so close +at the end of the top gores as to support the +bosom well. For this the corset must be fitted +to the skin, and worn next the under-flannel. +Night and morning wash the bust in the coldest +water—sponging it upward, but never +down. Madame Celnart relates that the bayaderes +of India cultivate their forms by wearing +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</span>a cincture of linen under the breasts, and +at night chafing them lightly with a piece of +linen. The breasts should never be touched +but with the utmost delicacy, as other treatment +renders them weak and flaccid, and not +unfrequently results in cancer. A baby’s bite +has more than once inflicted this disease upon +its mother. But one thing is to be solemnly +cautioned, that no human being—doctor, nurse, +nor the mother herself—on any pretense, save +in case of accident, be allowed to touch a girl’s +figure. It would be unnecessary to say this, +were not French and Irish nurses, especially +old and experienced, ones, sometimes in the +habit of stroking the figures of young girls +committed to their charge, with the idea of +developing them. This is not mentioned from +hearsay. Mothers can not be too careful how +they leave their children with even well-meaning +servants. A young girl’s body is more +sensitive than any harp is to the air that plays +upon it. Nature—free, uneducated, and direct—responds +to every touch on that seat of the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</span>nerves, the bosom, by an excitement that is +simply ruinous to a child’s nervous system. +This is pretty plain talking, but no plainer +than the subject demands. Girls are very different +in their feelings. Some affectionate, +innocent, hearty natures remain through their +lives as simple as when they were babes taking +their bath under their mothers’ hands; while +others, equally innocent but more susceptible, +require to be guarded and sheltered even from +the violence of a caress as if from contagion +and pain.</p> + +<p>Due attention to the general health always +has its effect in restoring the bust to its roundness. +It is a mistake that it is irremediably +injured by nursing children. A babe may be +taught not to pinch and bite its mother, and +the exercise of a natural function can injure +her in no way, if proper care is taken to sustain +the system at the same time. Cold compresses +of wet linen worn over the breast are +very soothing and beneficial, provided they do +not strike a chill to a weak chest. At the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</span>same time, the cincture should be carefully +adjusted. Weakness of any kind affects the +contour of the figure, and it is useless to try to +improve it in any other way than by restoring +the strength where it is wanting. Tepid sitz-baths +strengthen the muscles of the hips, and +do away with that dragging which injures the +firmness of the bosom. Bathing in water to +which ammonia is added strengthens the skin, +but the use of camphor to dry the milk after +weaning a child is reprehensible. No drying +or heating lotions of any kind should ever be +applied except in illness.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</span></p> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXIII">CHAPTER XXIII.</h2> +</div> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p class="hanging-indent1">Hands and Complexions.—Preparing for Parties.—Refining +Rough Faces.—Carbolic Baths.—Chalk and Cascarilla.—Glycerine +Wash.—School-girls’ Flushed Hands and +Faces.—To Soften the Hands.—Red Noses.—Secrets of +Making-up.—Cologne for the Eyes.—Cosmetic Gloves.—To +Impart a Brilliant Complexion.</p> +</div> + + +<p>People are in trouble in cold weather about +their hands and their complexions, which take +the time when parties abound, and owners +need their very best looks, to put on a ruinous +air. It is more than suspected that the young +lady who begs for some good face powder or +wash that will hide a bad complexion without +spoiling it entirely, has the end in view of +making herself presentable in society for the +winter. Her entirely reasonable request shall +be attended to, no less on her own account +than because she writes in the name of four +devoted subscribers. Carbolic soaps fail to +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</span>remove the roughness of her used complexion, +and internal remedies must be resorted to. +These should be prescribed by a physician, and +would be passed over at once to his province +had not long experience shown that doctors +scoff at the idea of prescribing for such puny +troubles as flesh-worms and pimples while +there are so many typhoid fevers and chronic +ulcers to be treated. The pimples foretold +the fever, and the impurities that first showed +themselves in the shape of “black-heads” +might have been discharged at the time, and +not left to malignant issues. Pimples are disease +of a light form, and nature tries to throw +off in this way bad blood that might give one +a worse turn if kept in the body. It can not +be said too often that next to keeping murder +and wickedness out of one’s soul is the necessity +of keeping one’s blood pure by good food, +strict cleanliness, warmth, and bright, sweet +air. These troublesome pimples are a sign +that the young ladies who complain of them +have eaten food that did not suit them, eaten +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</span>irregularly, or not bathed often enough, since +some skins require more frequent cleansing +and stimulus than others, because they secrete +more. Perhaps other functions are disturbed, +or the blood is not stirred enough by lively +exercise. Directions for diet have been given +before in these pages. It will be enough to +recommend people with irritable blood to +drink a glass or two of mild cider, or eat oranges +or lemons, as they fancy, within the half +hour before each meal, especially before breakfast. +As hard work or exercise as one can endure +stirs sluggish secretions, and work should +always be brisk. Many a young woman mopes +over house-work day after day, standing on +her feet most of the time, and fancies that +she has exercise, when her slow blood does +not once in ten hours receive impulse enough +to send it vigorously from head to foot in a +way one could call living. “Work swiftly +and rest well,” ought to be a woman’s rule. +When the blood flows swiftly, the eye is clear, +the sight better, the skin refined, and the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</span>whole body feels improvement; memory and +thought are improved, idleness takes wing, +and happiness steals into the heart.</p> + +<p>Young ladies should not give up their +bathing with carbolic soap. Hot water, with +a spoonful of prophylactic fluid or phenyl to +each quart, is a very wholesome bath in skin +disorders, followed by a brisk rub with crash +till warm, or wrapping in a blanket by the +fire till all danger of chilliness is past. The +phenyl and prophylactic fluid are milder +forms of carbolic acid, and, like it, disinfectant +and healing. A sponge-bath or plunge at +seventy-five degrees after a hot bath prevents +all weakening effects and taking cold. None +but robust persons should ever take baths except +in a warm room. The bath-room should +always be so arranged as to be heated in a +few minutes. Otherwise the bath is best +taken in one’s own room before the fire.</p> + +<p>The disguise for a bad skin is easily found. +Refined chalk is the safest thing to use, and +costs far less by its own name than put up in +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</span>photograph boxes as “Lily White,” etc. Cascarilla +powder, which the Cuban ladies use so +much, is recommended as entirely harmless. +It is prepared from a root used in medicine, +and in New York is sold at all the little Cuban +shops, with cigars, tropic sweetmeats, and other +necessaries of life. Either wash the face with +thick suds from glycerine soap, and dust the +powder on with a swan’s-down puff, removing +superfluous traces with a fresh puff kept +for the purpose, or else grind the powder in +wet linen by pressing it in the fingers, and +apply what oozes through to the skin. A fine +wash for a rough or sunburned skin is made +of two ounces of distilled water, one ounce of +glycerine, one ounce of alcohol, and half an +ounce of tincture of benzoin. Without the +water, and with the addition of two ounces of +prepared chalk free from bismuth, it makes a +far better cosmetic for whitening the face than +any of the expensive “Balms of Youth” or +“Magnolia Blooms.” If a flesh tint is desired, +add a grain of carmine.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</span></p> +<p>The lesser trial of rough, red hands that +are not chapped but unsightly, when not +caused by exposure and work, indicates bad +circulation of the blood. School-girls who +study a good deal without due exercise often +go home with flushed faces and red hands, to +say nothing of an irritable state of the nerves, +that can only be righted by very regular sleep +and exercise, aided by hot foot-baths. Out-door +exercise in winter is an excellent corrective +for rush of blood to the head. Dancing +brings the blood into play more healthfully +than any movement allowed to grown women. +The hands are improved by wearing gloves +that fit closely, especially if they are of soft +castor or dog-skin. In most cases, all that +is needed to soften hands is to rub sweet-almond oil +into the skin two or three days in +succession. A quicker way than this in the +country is to hold the hand on a rapidly turning +grindstone a moment or two. It leaves +the palm, forefinger, and thumb satin smooth, +and removes callosities incredibly quick, taking +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</span>off bad stains at the same time. Farmers’ +girls will take note of this, and also that +rubbing the hands with a slice of raw potato +will remove vegetable stains. Rubbing the +hands well with almond-oil, and plastering +them with as much fine chalk as they can +take, on going to bed, will usually whiten them +in three days’ time, and this hint may be of +service before a party of consequence.</p> + +<p>Redness of the nose is a sign of bad circulation +and of humor in the blood. It is best +treated by applications of phenyl, rubbed on +often each day, and by alteratives. A spoonful +of white mustard-seed taken in water before +breakfast every morning is of service in +this case and in rush of blood to the head, +which always has something to do with constipation. +Refined chalk made into a thick +plaster with one third as much glycerine as +water, and spread on the parts, will cool erysipelatous +inflammation and reduce the redness.</p> + +<p>The secrets of “making-up” have hardly all +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</span>been mentioned, though the list is growing +long. What girl does not know that eating +lump-sugar wet with Cologne just before going +out will make her eyes bright, or that the +homelier mode of flirting soap-suds into them +has the same effect? Spanish ladies squeeze +orange juice into their eyes to make them +shine. A Continental recipe for whitening the +hands looks strong enough: Take half a pound +of soft-soap, a gill of salad-oil, an ounce of +mutton tallow, and boil together; after boiling +ceases, add one gill of spirits of wine and +a scruple of ambergris; rip a pair of gloves +three sizes too large, spread them with this +paste, and sew up to be worn at night. A +curious wash, evidently Italian in its origin, is: +Equal parts of melon, pumpkin, gourd, and +cucumber seeds pounded to powder, softened +with cream, and thinned to a paste with milk, +perfumed with a grain of musk and three drops +of oil of lemon (oil of jasmine may be substituted +for the musk). The face, bosom, and arms +are anointed with this overnight, and washed +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</span>off in warm water in the morning. The authority +quoted says it adds remarkable purity +and brilliance to the complexion. Such pains +will women take for that beauty which, after +all, is only skin deep. But did not De Staël +say she would give half her knowledge for +personal charms.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</span></p> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXIV">CHAPTER XXIV.</h2> +</div> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p class="hanging-indent1">Women’s Looks and Nerves.—A Low-toned Generation.—Children +and their Ways.—Brief Madness.—Women in +the Woods.—Singing.—Work well done the Easiest.—Sleep +the Remedy for Temper.—Hours for Sleep.—The +Great Medicines—Sunshine, Music, Work, and Sleep.</p> +</div> + + +<p>Women’s looks depend too much on the +state of their nerves and their peace of mind +to pass them over. The body at best is the +perfect expression of the soul. The latter +may light wasted features to brilliance, or +turn a face of milk and roses dark with passion +or dead with dullness; it may destroy a +healthy frame or support a failing one. Weak +nerves may prove too much for the temper of +St. John, and break down the courage of Saladin. +Better things are before us, coming +from a fuller appreciation of the needs of +body and soul, but the fact remains that this +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</span>is a generation of weak nerves. It shows +particularly in the low tone of spirits common +to men and women. They can not bear sunshine +in their houses; they find the colors of +Jacques Minot roses and of Gérome’s pictures +too deep; the waltz in <i>Traviata</i> is too brilliant, +Rossini’s music is too sensuous, and Wagner’s +too sensational; Mendelssohn is too light, +Beethoven too cold. Their work is fuss; instead +of resting, they idle—and there is a +wide difference between the two things. People +who drink strong tea and smoke too many +cigars, read or stay in-doors too much, find +the hum of creation too loud for them. The +swell of the wind in the pines makes them +gloomy, the sweep of the storm prostrates +them with terror, the everlasting beating of +the surf and the noises of the streets alike +weary their worthless nerves. The happy +cries of school-children at play are a grievance +to them; indeed, there are people who +find the chirp of the hearth cricket and the +singing tea-kettle intolerable. But it is a +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</span>sign of diseased nerves. Nature is full of +noises, and only where death reigns is there +silence. One wishes that the men and women +who can’t bear a child’s voice, a singer’s practice, +or the passing of feet up and down stairs +might be transported to silence like that which +wraps the poles or the spaces beyond the stars, +till they could learn to welcome sound, without +which no one lives.</p> + +<p>Children must make noise, and a great deal +of it, to be healthy. The shouts, the racket, +the tumble and turmoil they make, are nature’s +way of ventilating their bodies, of sending +the breath full into the very last corner of +the lungs, and the blood and nervous fluid into +every cord and fibre of their muscles. Instead +of quelling their riot, it would be a blessing to +older folks to join it with them. There is an +awful truth following this assertion. Do you +know that men and women go mad after the +natural stimulus which free air and bounding +exercise supply? It is the lack of this most +powerful inspiration, which knows no reaction, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</span>that makes them drunkards, gamesters, +and flings them into every dissipation of body +and soul. Men and women, especially those +leading studious, repressed lives, often confess +to a longing for some fierce, brief madness +that would unseat the incubus of their lives. +Clergymen, editors, writing women, and those +who lead sedentary lives, have said in your +hearing and mine that something ailed them +they could not understand. They felt as if +they would like to go on a spree, dance the +tarantella, or scream till they were tired. They +thought it the moving of some depraved impulse +not yet rooted out of their natures, and +to subdue it cost them hours of struggle and +mortification. Poor souls! They need not +have visited themselves severely if they had +known the truth that this lawless longing was +the cry of idle nerve and muscle, frantic +through disuse. What the clergyman wanted +was to leave his books and his subdued demeanor +for the hill-country, for the woods, +where he could not only walk, but leap, run, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</span>shout, and wrestle, and sing at the full strength +of his voice. The editor needed to leave his +cigar and the midnight gas-light for a wherry +race, or a jolly roll and tumble on the green. +The woman, most of all, wanted a tent built +for her on the shore, or on the dry heights of +the pine forest, where she would have to take +sun by day and balsamic air by night; where +she would have to leap brooks, gather her own +fire-wood, climb rocks, and laugh at her own +mishaps. Or, if she were city-pent, she needed +to take some child to the Park and play +ball with it, and run as I saw an elegant girl +dressed in velvet and furs run through Madison +Square one winter day with her little sister. +The nervous, capricious woman must be +sent to swimming-school, or learn to throw +quoits or jump the rope, to wrestle or to sing. +There is nothing better for body and mind +than learning to sing, with proper method, +under a teacher who knows how to direct the +force of the voice, to watch the strength, and +expand the emotions at the same time. The +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</span>health of many women begins to improve +from the time they study music. Why? Because +it furnishes an outlet for their feelings, +and equally because singing exerts the lungs +and muscles of the chest which lie inactive. +The power for the highest as well as the +lowest note is supplied by the bellows of +the lungs, worked by the mighty muscles of +the chest and sides. In this play the red +blood goes to every tiny cell that has been +white and faint for want of its food; the +engorged brain and nervous centres where the +blood has settled, heating and irritating them, +are relieved; the head feels bright, the hands +grow warm, the eyes clear, and the spirits +lively. This is after singing strongly for half +an hour. The same effect is gained by any +other kind of brisk work that sets the lungs +and muscles going, but as music brings emotion +into play, and is a pleasure or a relief as +it is melancholy or gay, it is preferable. The +work that engages one’s interest as well as +strength is always the best. Per contra, whatever +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</span>one does thoroughly and with dispatch +seldom continues distasteful. There is more +than we see at a glance in the command, +“Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it +with thy might.” The reason given, because +the time is short for all the culture and all the +good work we wish to accomplish, is the apparent +one; but the root of it lies in the necessities +of our being. Only work done with our +might will satisfy our energies and keep their +balance. Half the women in the world are +suffering from chronic unrest, morbid ambitions, +and disappointments that would flee like +morning mist before an hour of hearty, tiring +work.</p> + +<p>It is not so much matter what the work +is, as how it is done.</p> + +<p>The weak should take work up by degrees, +working half an hour and resting, then going +at it steadily again. It is better to work a little +briskly and rest than to keep on the slow +drag through the day. Learn not only to do +things well, but to do them quickly. It is +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</span>disgraceful to loiter and drone over one’s +work. It is intolerable both in music and in +life.</p> + +<p>The body, like all slaves, has the power to +react on its task-master. All mean passions +appear born of diseased nerves. Was there +ever a jealous woman who did not have dyspepsia, +or a high-tempered one without a tendency +to spinal irritation? Heathen tempers +in young people are a sign of wrong health, +and mothers should send for physician as well +as priest to exorcise them. The great remedy +for temper is—sleep. No child that sleeps +enough will be fretful; and the same thing is +nearly as true of children of larger growth. +Not less than eight hours is the measure of +sleep for a healthy woman under fifty. She +may be able to get on with less, and do considerable +work, either with mind or hands. +But she could do so much more, to better satisfaction, +by taking one or two hours more +sleep, that she can not afford to lose it. Women +who use their brains—teachers, artists, writers, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</span>and housewives (whose minds are as hard +wrought in overseeing a family as those of +any one who works with pen or pencil)—need +all the sleep they can get. From ten to six, +or, for those who do not want to lose theatres +and lectures altogether, from eleven to seven, +are hours not to be infringed upon by women +who want clear heads and steady tempers. +What they gain by working at night they are +sure to lose next day, or the day after. It is +impossible to put the case too strongly. Unless +one has taken a narcotic, and sleeps too +long, one should <i>never</i> be awakened. The body +rouses itself when its demands are satisfied. +A warm bath on going to bed is the best aid +to sleep. People often feel drowsy in the +evening about eight or nine o’clock, but are +wide awake at eleven. They should heed the +warning. The system needs more rest than it +gets, and is only able to keep up by drawing +on its reserve forces. Wakefulness beyond +the proper time is a sign of ill health as much +as want of appetite at meals—it is a pity that +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</span>people are not as much alarmed by it. The +brain is a more delicate organ than the stomach, +and nothing so surely disorders it as want +of sleep. In trouble or sorrow, light sedatives +should be employed, like red lavender or the +bromate of potassa, for the nerves have more +to bear, and need all the rest they can get. +The warm bath, I repeat, is better than either.</p> + +<p>Sunshine, music, work, and sleep are the +great medicines for women. They need more +sleep than men, for they are not so strong, and +their nerves perhaps are more acute. Work +is the best cure for ennui and for grief. Let +them sing, whether of love, longing, or sorrow, +pouring out their hearts, till the love returns +into their own bosoms, till the longing has +spent its force, or till the sorrow has lifted +itself into the sunshine, and taken the hue of +trust, not of despair.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</span></p> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXV">CHAPTER XXV.</h2> +</div> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p class="hanging-indent1">Changing Wigs and Chignons.—Matching Braids.—Frizzing +the Hair.—Crimping-pins.—Blonde Hair-pins.—What +Colors Hair.—Bleaching Tresses.—Sulphur Paste.—Foxy +Locks.—Freshening Switches.</p> +</div> + + +<p>The secret of content for most women is +not perfection, but change. They can not +even be satisfied with their looks long at a +time; but Mary, Queen of Hearts as well as +Scots, must draw an auburn wig over her luxurious +tresses, dark and smelling of violets, for +which regal-haired Elizabeth would have given +the ruffs out of her best gowns, and her recipe +for yellow starch with them. The “pretty +Miss Vavasour,” who changed her chignon every +morning with her costume, was a type of +the fickle beauties of the day, who are always +better satisfied with some other woman’s style +than their own. Women of intelligence send +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</span>urgent requests for something to change the +color of their hair, either to make the front +locks match the châtelaine braid, or to bleach +it outright. Fair blondes, whose sunny locks +have been their pride, find with dismay that +this infantile tinge, which makes a woman look +so young and charming, is deepening into mature +ash-brown—a shade with no prestige or +attraction whatever. In their exact eyes it is +mortifying to wear a blonde braid several degrees +lighter than the crown tresses. These +last are growing, and constantly change, while +the ends keep their early tinge. Very few +light-haired people pass from youth to middle +age without such a change. But, unless the +difference is very startling, it may be made +agreeable by skillfully dressing the hair. +Light or varied hair should be crimped or +waved, when its tints will appear like the play +of light and shade. Contrary to all writers on +this point, I contend that crimping does not +necessarily injure the hair. If it is killed—pulled +out by the roots, or broken by frizzing—the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</span>blame is due to careless or ignorant +dressing. My own hair was dressed regularly +twice or thrice a week with hot irons for +years, and it never grew so fast or was in such +a satisfactory state. It was thoroughly combed +and brushed, kept clean by weekly washing, +and each time it went under the curling-tongs +it came out moist and stimulated by the heat. +The reason was, the clever French coiffeur +knew his business, and never allowed the hot +iron to come directly in contact with the hair. +Each lock was done up in papillotes, and then +pinched with irons as hot as could be without +scorching. Stiff hair may be trained to curl +by long and patient treatment with hot irons, +and be all the better for it. The secret of safe +hair-dressing is never to pull the hair, never +scorch, and always wrap a lock in paper before +applying the iron. Common round curling-irons +and frizzing-tongs may be safety +used if thin Manilla paper is folded once +around them. So in crimping: the hair may +be done up on stout crimping-pins held by +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</span>slides, or braided in and out of a loop of thick +cord, a bit of thin paper folded over the crimp, +and the pinching-iron used with safety every +day, provided the hair is not pulled too tight +in braiding it. The country method, where +friseur’s irons are unknown, is to lay the head +on a table, and set a hot smoothing-iron on +the woven lock—an awkward but efficient +process. It is not good to put the hair up on +metal pins or hair-pins overnight for two reasons: +the perspiration of the head will rust +the pins, insensibly, so that they will cut the +hair; and the contact of iron with the sulphurous +gas given out by hair during sleep +tends to darken and render the color displeasing. +Rubber crimping-pins, fastened by a +rubber catch, are a late invention, and a great +improvement. But a loop of thick elastic +cord is better than any thing. The hair is +woven in and out as on a hair-pin, the elastic +holds it when the fingers are withdrawn, and +it is pleasanter to sleep in than half a dozen +stiff pins. I know more than one piquant little +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</span>lady whose “naturally” waving tresses are +the admiration of her friends by this simple +means; and as the process has gone on for +years without lessening the flow of ruffled +hair, it must be conceded that crimping does +not always hurt it. Iron hair-pins hurt the +head more than a generation of friseurs. The +latest accusation against them is that they +draw off the healthy electricity of the head; +and to a generation which complains of paralysis +from using steel pens, and uses patent +glass insulators for the legs of its bedsteads, +this will seem no frivolous charge. The patent +insulators are a fact. Their use is advised +by medical men for all neuralgic, rheumatic, +and sleepless people, and one of the largest +glass firms in New York makes their manufacture +a specialty. The patent and perfect +hair-pin is not yet invented. Rubber pins are +clumsy if harmless, but there are gilt hair-pins +made of a yellow composition metal which are +pleasanter to use than common ones, and very +becoming in blonde hair. Dark-haired people +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</span>must stick to the rubber pins, or at least see +that their black ones are well japanned, so as +not to cut their locks.</p> + +<p>Now, to give an opinion about the change +of hair, we must know something of its nature, +and what colors it. Wise men say that +light hair is owing to an abundance of sulphur +in the system, and dark hair to an excess of +iron. So if we comb light or red locks with +lead combs for a long time, the lead acts on +the sulphureted hydrogen evolved by the hair, +and darkens it. If we can neutralize the iron +in any way, a contrary effect will be obtained. +To do this, work at the dark hair precisely as +if it were an ink-spot to be taken out. The +skin should not suffer, and to prevent this, oil +it carefully along the parting, edges, and crown +of the head, wiping the oil from the hair with +a soft cloth. Oxalic acid, strong and hot, is +the best thing to take out spots of ink made +with iron, and we may try this with the hair. +To apply this, or any of the preparations +named, one should be in undress, wearing not +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</span>a single article whose destruction would be of +account, for all the acids and bleaching powders +used ruin clothes if a drop touch them, +taking the color out, and eating holes in the +stoutest fabrics. The eyelids and brows should +be well oiled to prevent the acid from attacking +them, and the hands, shoulders, and face +will be the better for similar protection. On +one ounce of pure, strong oxalic acid pour one +pint of boiling water, and, as soon as the hands +can bear it, wet the head with a sponge, not +sapping it, but moistening thoroughly. The +effect may be hastened by holding the head in +strong sunlight, or over a register, or the steam +of boiling water. Five minutes ought to show +a decided change, but if it do not, wet again +and again, allowing the acid to remain as long +as it does not eat the skin. This may not be +hard to bear, but it will make the hair fall out.</p> + +<p>Another mode is to cover the hair with a +paste of powdered sulphur and water, and sit +in the sun with it for several hours. The Venetian +ladies used to steep their tresses in +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</span>caustic solutions, and sit in their balconies in +the sun all day, bleaching it; and yet another +day, that the same rays might turn it yellow. +Perhaps they gained by their folly in one way +what they lost in another, for such an airing +and sunning would benefit the health of any +woman. A paste of bisulphate of magnesia +and lime is very effectual for bleaching the +hair; but it must be used with great caution +not to burn hair, skin, and brains together. +The moment it begins seriously to attack the +skin it should be washed off in three waters, +with lemon juice or vinegar in the last one to +neutralize the alkali. These pastes are recommended +to turn ash-colored hair light. To +bleach dark hair is a long and tedious process, +and such an utter piece of foolery that I do +not care to recount the directions for it. The +desire to change the color of the hair can only +be justified when it is of a dull and sickly appearance, +and this is best mended by improving +the general health. Hair can not be +glossy, rich-colored, and thick unless the bodily +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</span>vigor is what it should be. Indeed, hair is +one of the surest indexes to the state of health. +Scorched and foxy locks are a sign of neglect +and of bad secretions. Brushing remedies the +first condition, hygiene the next. But among +the varieties of treatment specially appropriate +to restoration of the hair, sulphur vapor-baths +must once more be mentioned. Doses +of sulphur, taken in Dotheboys’ fashion weekly, +with molasses, will be of service in keeping +the blood pure, and in time will affect the +hair; but this powerful agent should not be +used without advice of a physician, and the +dose should be always followed by simple purgatives, +like mustard-seed, figs, or prunes, eaten +freely. Chlorines and chlorides are specifics +for bleaching hair, but they turn it gray or +white, and the yellow tinge is dyed afterward. +Sulphurous applications are the safest, if common +caution is used not to take cold afterward +or to breathe any fumes from them.</p> + +<p>Switches that have lost freshness may be +very much improved by dipping them into +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</span>common ammonia without dilution. Half a +pint is enough for the purpose. The life and +color of the hair is revived as if it were just +cut from the head. This dipping should be repeated +once in three months, to free the switch +from dust, as well as to insure safety from +parasitic formations. The subject of coloring +the hair will be spoken of in another +chapter.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</span></p> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXVI">CHAPTER XXVI.</h2> +</div> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p class="hanging-indent1">Hair and Complexion.—Black Dyes.—Persian Blue-Black.—Peroxide +of Hydrogen.—Chloride of Gold.—Transient +Dyes.</p> +</div> + + +<p>If it were easy to change the color of one’s +hair, and possible to fix that change, which it +is not, the result in most cases would be far +from desirable. Nature tints hair and complexion +in harmony with each other, and +both should be deepened if one is altered. +Human pictures as well as canvas would often +be improved by bringing out the colors, +but the free hand of Health, that divine artist, +is the only one whose work is tolerable or enduring. +In health this harmony of tint is varied +and delicate, ranging from the rose-and-snow +complexions that suit the true <i>blonde +dorée</i>, the translucent honeysuckle-pink that +sets off red-brown, blue-black, and olive-brown +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</span>hair with decided warmth of cheeks, or purple-black +reflets of the tresses with Spanish +crimson, or rather the burning rose of tropic +blood seen through smooth skin. Occasionally +there comes an exciting discord, a minor +strain of color that affects one like subtle +music, such as the finding of dark eyes and +golden hair, or clear, brilliant blue eyes in a +gypsy face; but it is impossible to compose +heads in reality with any satisfying results as +yet. We have yet to learn how to work from +the inside out, which is the only true method +with human modeling.</p> + +<p>All that can be said on this point, however, +will not make the red-haired girl one whit less +ardent in her desire to see her locks of darker +shade, that they may be less conspicuous, or +keep the dark-haired woman from the coveted +vision of bright locks and black eyes. It is +useless to talk about the dangers of the process, +or hint that orpiment and realgar are +deadly poisons. If every hair had to turn +into a living snake while undergoing the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</span>change, it would hardly daunt this courageous +vanity. The best to be hoped from any farther +enlightenment is that they will renounce +these active poisons for something comparatively +harmless. <i>Du reste</i>, all readers will be +interested in the secrets of the toilet, and the +sight of science turned coiffeur.</p> + +<p>It is comparatively a simple matter to dye +hair black. Sulphur is one of the constituents +of hair, which exhales it constantly in the +form of sulphureted hydrogen, fortunately of +the weakest sort, or it would be intolerable. +When wet with a solution of certain metals, +the action of this gas turns the hair black. +Lead combs owe their efficiency to this cause. +The lead which rubs on the hair is darkened +by the gas, but the trace of lead at each +combing is so slight that the operation must +be many times repeated before it takes effect. +But lead-coloring, whether applied by combs +or by the paste of litharge, is a slow poison, +not seldom causing paralysis, and even death. +The absorption of lead into the system at any +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</span>part is dangerous, but trebly so when applied +so closely to the brain. The tint given by +this means, as well as that dyed with nitrate +of silver, is unnatural, greenish, and rusty in +the light, needing continual repetition to appear +decent.</p> + +<p>Orientals are in the habit of dyeing their +hair and beards the deep jetty black which +they admire, if nature have not given them +the desired depth of color. For this purpose +Turks and Egyptians use a thick solution of +native iron ore in pyrogallic acid, which gives +the blackest and most unimpeachable color. +The Persians prefer blue-black, and use indigo +to produce it. European hair-dyers use a solution +of iron, with hydrosulphate of ammonia +to develop and fix the color, but the odor is +objectionable. Dyes need to be applied once +a week to keep the color vivid, and it is well +to touch the partings twice as often with a +fine comb dipped in the dye, as the hair always +shows the natural color as fast as it +grows from the roots.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</span></p> +<p>Red and flaxen hair is changed to gold +with little trouble, but dark hair must be +bleached with chlorine before the desired tinge +is given. The bleaching is the most difficult +part of the work. Solutions sold for the purpose +oftenest consist of peroxide of hydrogen—a +somewhat costly liquid, I am told. Solution +of sulphurous acid will also bleach hair; +so will solutions of bisulphide of magnesia +and of lime. The hair, properly faded or +whitened, is colored yellow with solutions of +cadmium, arsenic, or gold, but the cause of +the change is the same that produces black +dye. The reaction of sulphureted hydrogen +on silver or lead turns things black, but on +the metals first named turns them yellow. +Arsenic in the shape of orpiment or realgar, +two deadly poisons, is the base of most +golden hair-dyes, and numerous cases of poisoning +have resulted from their use. Cadmium +is harmless, and yields quite as brilliant +a tinge as arsenic, though less used. Chloride +of gold dyes a very satisfactory brown, available +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</span>for eyebrows, lashes, and whiskers. It +must be used with exceeding care, however, +for it stains the skin as well as the hair. If +applied with a fine-tooth comb dipped in the +liquid, combing the ends first, and ceasing just +before the skin is reached, the dye will probably +“take” by means of capillary attraction, +without affecting the face. Cautious use of +this preparation on the brows and lashes gives +very pleasing results when these are much +paler than the hair. They should be first +carefully oiled, and the oil wiped off the hair, +which is then touched with a fine sable pencil.</p> + +<p>Fortunately, bleaching and dyeing are both +such tedious processes that this circumstance +alone will keep many persons from submitting +to their bondage. Once applied, the dye becomes +a necessity, much harder to leave off +than to begin, as the English Dr. Scoffern +says, who is authority for most suggestions in +this chapter. One can not blame those persons +who brush the roots of the hair or forehead +and neck with amber lavender to disguise +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</span>their pale, unsightly appearance, and a +touch of the same liquid on white eyebrows +does no harm. Walnut bark, steeped a week +in Cologne, gives a dye that is transient, but +easily applied with a brush each day, and has +instant effect. It takes a day or two to bleach +hair, and hours to color it either black or yellow; +and the work has to be done over month +by month in a fashion that brings the victim +to speedy repentance of her folly.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</span></p> +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</span></p> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="INDEX">INDEX.</h2> +</div> + + + +<ul class="index"> +<li class="ifrst">Acid, Sulphurous, page <a href="#Page_85">85</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Age, Devices of Uneasy, <a href="#Page_212">212</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Amateur Hair-dressers, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Appearance, how to Improve your Personal, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Arabian Women Perfume themselves, how, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Arms—</li> +<li class="isub1">Whitening the, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">a Paste for Arms and Shoulders, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">how to Whiten the, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">a Paste for Whitening the, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Exercise to Develop the, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Artists, Woman’s, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Authors Eat, how, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Awakened, Persons should not be, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Awkward, when Girls are, <a href="#Page_227">227</a>.</li> + + +<li class="ifrst">Balconies and Parks, in, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Banting System for Reducing Flesh, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">a Quaint Author, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Bath—</li> +<li class="isub1">Towels, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Diana of Poitiers’, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Sun, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">the Vapor, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>, <a href="#Page_170">170</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Sulphur Vapor, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Tepid, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">a Bath is an Extra at a Hotel, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Sulphur, <a href="#Page_170">170</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">the Bran, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">the Russian Vapor, <a href="#Page_205">205</a>, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>, <a href="#Page_207">207</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Sensations after a Russian, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">the Sitz, <a href="#Page_230">230</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">a Hot Soap-suds, <a href="#Page_241">241</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">a Sponge, <a href="#Page_241">241</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">a Warm Bath Good for the Nerves, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Bathe, how Often we should, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Bathing—</li> +<li class="isub1">the Value of Hot, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Magic Influence of, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Bathing-Powder, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Directions for, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Experiments in Sulphur, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Influence of, on Nerves and Passions, <a href="#Page_209">209</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Bathing for Girls, <a href="#Page_227">227</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Baths—</li> +<li class="isub1">Sun, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">a Substitute for Sea, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Fashionable, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Public, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">a Substitute for Vapor, <a href="#Page_170">170</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Turkish Baths for Corpulency, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Sulphur, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Cautions about Sulphur Vapor, <a href="#Page_200">200</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">the Time to take Sulphur, <a href="#Page_200">200</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Prices of Sulphur, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">how to take Sulphur, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Hot Baths for Hot Weather, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Russian Baths at Home, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">what Public Baths are, <a href="#Page_205">205</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">what Baths should be, <a href="#Page_205">205</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Improvements Needed in Public, <a href="#Page_205">205</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">for Drunkards, <a href="#Page_210">210</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Bay Rum for the Face, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Bazin’s Pâte, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Beauty—</li> +<li class="isub1">the Worth of, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Care of Personal, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Beauty in the Human Form, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Literature of, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Bed, Time to go to, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Beer, Root, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Belle, a, must Row, Swim, Skate, and Ride, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Belles of our Cities, Old, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Bites of Insects on Children, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Blackboards, <a href="#Page_230">230</a>.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</span></li> + +<li class="indx">Bleached by the Dawn, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Blonde Hair, how to Make, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Blonde Hair-pins, <a href="#Page_261">261</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Blondes, Advice to, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Blood, Mild Cider for Irritable, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Dew-cool Air as a Blood Tonic, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Bloom—</li> +<li class="isub1">Almond, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Decay of, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Body, Nobility of the, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Bonaparte, Princess Pauline—her Lovely Foot, <a href="#Page_162">162</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Braces, <a href="#Page_230">230</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Shoulder Braces, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Braids, Matching, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Brain—</li> +<li class="isub1">Brain-work takes Food, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">the Brain Dependent on the Body, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">the Brain more Delicate than the Stomach, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Bread, True, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Breakfasts, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Christiana’s Breakfast, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Breath—</li> +<li class="isub1">an Offensive, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">how to Secure a Fragrant, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Bust—</li> +<li class="isub1">Development of the, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Improving the, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>.</li> + + +<li class="ifrst">Calisthenics, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Camphor for the Face, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Carriage of Southern Women, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Cascarilla Powder, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Caution, a Needed, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Cazenave’s, Dr., Composition for the Face, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Celnart’s, Madame, Works of the Toilet, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Recipe for Removing all Traces of Tobacco in the Breath, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Chignons and Wigs, Changing, <a href="#Page_257">257</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Chilblains, a Relief for, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Children—</li> +<li class="isub1">their Irritations, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">their Ways, <a href="#Page_248">248</a>, <a href="#Page_249">249</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Chilliness is a Symptom of Diseases, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Chills are Incipient Congestion, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Christiana’s Looks, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">her Breakfast, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Cider, Mild, for Irritable Blood, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Cigars, People who Smoke too Many, <a href="#Page_248">248</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Circulation, Charm of, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Cleanliness means Health, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Clergymen, Sensations of, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Clothing, Paper, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Coiffure, Arts of the, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Cold Cream, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Cologne, how to Make, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Color, how to Procure Freshness of, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Comedones, or Black Worms, how to Remove, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Complexion—</li> +<li class="isub1">how to Acquire a Clear, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">to Clear the, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Preparations for Oily, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">how to Procure a Fine, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Danger of Painting the, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Rain-water as a Bath for the, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Best Wash for the, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Cure for Bad Effects of Sun and Wind on the, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">the Complexion Ruined by Fumes of Medicine, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Iris Hues of the, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">what Complexion is the Sign of, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>:</li> +<li class="isub1">Early Walks Improve the, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Effect of Sunshine on the, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Complexions Improved by Taking Sulphur Vapor-Baths, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">about Complexions, <a href="#Page_192">192</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Complexion gives Trouble to Full-blooded Girls, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Pure Blood Makes a Good, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">how to Dress with a Dull, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Girls’ Complexions, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Trouble with the Complexion in Cold Weather, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">how to Impart a Brilliant, <a href="#Page_245">245</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">the, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</span></li> + +<li class="indx">Composers, a Nervous Opinion of, <a href="#Page_248">248</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Congestions, Vapor-Bath Good for, <a href="#Page_170">170</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Cooking, Proper, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Corns—</li> +<li class="isub1">Loose Shoes the Cause of, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Soft, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Remedies for, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Corpulence, Danger of, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Corpulency, Trials of, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Turkish Baths for, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Corsets—</li> +<li class="isub1">about, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Girdles more Needed than, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Singing Scales with Corsets off, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">the Best, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Cosmetic—</li> +<li class="isub1">Artist, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Gloves, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>, <a href="#Page_245">245</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Cosmetic, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Sultana’s, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Milk of Roses as a, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Cosmetics sometimes play Tricks, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Crimping—</li> +<li class="isub1">the Art of, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">does not Injure the Hair, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Crimping-pins, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Rubber Crimping-pins, <a href="#Page_260">260</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Curl the Hair, how to, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Curling Fluid, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Curling-irons, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Custom, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Cuts, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>.</li> + + +<li class="ifrst">Dancers Eat, how, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Dancing, <a href="#Page_243">243</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Daughter’s Dressing, a Mother should Inspect her, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Dawn, Bleached by the, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Dentifrice—</li> +<li class="isub1">Delicate, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Standard, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Depilatories, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Cautions about, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Devices of Uneasy Age, <a href="#Page_212">212</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Devonshire, Duchess of, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Diet—</li> +<li class="isub1">for Persons with Hepatic Spots, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">for Stout People, <a href="#Page_180">180</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">for Girls, <a href="#Page_228">228</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Digestion, Food for Weak, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Diseases—</li> +<li class="isub1">Chilliness is a Symptom of, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Eruptive, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Dress—</li> +<li class="isub1">how to, <a href="#Page_219">219</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Poor Taste in, <a href="#Page_220">220</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">for Girls, <a href="#Page_228">228</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">for Flat Figures, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Dresses for Girls, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Dressing on Two Hundred a Year, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Drinks—</li> +<li class="isub1">Cooling, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Summer, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Drowsy, go to Bed when you feel, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Dwellings, about our, <a href="#Page_209">209</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Dye—</li> +<li class="isub1">a Harmless, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">how to Apply, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">French, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Persian Blue-black, <a href="#Page_270">270</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">for White Eyebrows, <a href="#Page_273">273</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Dyes—</li> +<li class="isub1">for the Hair, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">for the Eyelashes and Eyebrows, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">for Theatricals, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Chloride of Gold, <a href="#Page_271">271</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Transient, <a href="#Page_273">273</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Dyspepsia, Jealous Women have, <a href="#Page_254">254</a>.</li> + + +<li class="ifrst">Eat, how to, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">“Eau Angelique,” <a href="#Page_157">157</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Editors, Sensations of, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Eliot, George, on Complexions, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Emotion, Training of, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Enamel, Baking, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Enigma of Love, the, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Exercise—</li> +<li class="isub1">to Develop the Arms, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">for Girls, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Out-door, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Expression is the Sign of, what, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Eyebrows—</li> +<li class="isub1">how to Grow, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">a Dye for White, <a href="#Page_273">273</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Eyelashes and Eyebrows—</li> +<li class="isub1">Dyeing the, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Washes for, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Trimmed and Brushed, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">how to Grow, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</span></li> + +<li class="indx">Eyes Bright, Eating Sugar with Cologne on Makes the, <a href="#Page_245">245</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Eyes, Dark, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>.</li> + + +<li class="ifrst">Face—</li> +<li class="isub1">Means of Softening the, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Making-up the, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Compositions for the, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Olive-oil and Tar for the, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">a Preparation for Whitening the, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Pastes and Poultices for the, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Faces—</li> +<li class="isub1">Good for Irritable, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Bleaching, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Dull, Thin, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">School-girls’ Flushed, <a href="#Page_243">243</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Faults, Common, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Feelings, never Talk of a Girl’s, before Her, <a href="#Page_230">230</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Feet—</li> +<li class="isub1">Care of the, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>, <a href="#Page_162">162</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Position of, when Standing, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">how to Keep the Feet Elastic, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Painful Swelling of, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">how to Bathe the, <a href="#Page_162">162</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Oil for the, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Figure—</li> +<li class="isub1">Erectness of the, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">the Proper Carriage of the, when Walking, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">what a Fine Figure must be, <a href="#Page_225">225</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Care of the, after Nursing, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Figures, Flat, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Fine Arts, School of, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Finger Thimbles, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Finger-tips, Coloring of the, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Flesh—</li> +<li class="isub1">how to Reduce, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Banting System for Reducing, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Losing Flesh at the Rate of a Pound a Week, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Folks, Older, to Join with the Children, <a href="#Page_249">249</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Food—</li> +<li class="isub1">for Weak Digestion, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Brain-work takes, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">about our, <a href="#Page_209">209</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Form—</li> +<li class="isub1">Renovating the Outward, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Beauty in the Human, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Freckles—</li> +<li class="isub1">Golden, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">how to Remove, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Freckle Wash, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">French Dye, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Frizzing the Hair, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Frizzing-tongs, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>.</li> + + +<li class="ifrst">Gargle for the Mouth, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Generation, a Low-toned, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Girdle, a Linen, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Girdles more Needed than Corsets, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Girls—</li> +<li class="isub1">Physical Education of, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">when Girls are Awkward, <a href="#Page_227">227</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Bathing for, <a href="#Page_227">227</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Diet for, <a href="#Page_228">228</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Dress for, <a href="#Page_228">228</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Exercise for, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Care of Young, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Delicacy due Young, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Gloves, Cosmetic, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Close-fitting, <a href="#Page_243">243</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Grace—</li> +<li class="isub1">the Secret of, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">how to Inspire a Girl with, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">in Women, Sign of, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Gums, a Recipe for Diseased, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>.</li> + + +<li class="ifrst">Hair—</li> +<li class="isub1">Black, how to Dye, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Care of the, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">how to Cultivate Children’s, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Washes, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Means of Obtaining Luxuriant, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">when to Cut, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">German Method of Treating the, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Curling Fluid for the, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Oil for the, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Dyes, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">how to Treat Red, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Superfluous, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Growth of, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">how to Brush the, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Hair Powders, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">to Darken the, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">how to make Blonde, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Fashionable Gray, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Preparation for Preventing the Sea-air from Turning the Hair Gray, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Preparation for Restoring the Color of the, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">how to keep Hair Crimped or Curled, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">how to Curl the, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Bather, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Dressers, Amateur, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">a Wash to Stimulate the Growth of, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>;<span class="pagenum" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</span></li> +<li class="isub1">Bleaching, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Removal of Hair on the Face, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Removal of Superfluous, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">a Paste for Removing Hairs from the Face, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Countries where Women have the Finest, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Effect of the Sun on the, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Burdock Wash for the, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">how to keep, from Coming Out, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">how to Restore Color to the, <a href="#Page_188">188</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Dye, Cheapest and most Harmless, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Restorer, Sperm-oil a, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Hay-colored, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">how to Dress the, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">False, <a href="#Page_257">257</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Changing the Color of the, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Crimping does not Injure the, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Light, should be Crimped, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Dead, should be Pulled Out by the Roots, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Frizzing the, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Hair-pins, Blonde, <a href="#Page_261">261</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Iron Hair-pins Hurt the Head, <a href="#Page_261">261</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Cause of Light, <a href="#Page_262">262</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">what Colors, <a href="#Page_262">262</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Foxy, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">how to Change Red and Flaxen, <a href="#Page_271">271</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Hands, how to Soften the, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>, <a href="#Page_243">243</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">how to Whiten the, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Bran Mittens for Whitening the, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">how to Secure Good, for Girls, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Trouble with the, in Cold Weather, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">School-girls’ Flushed, <a href="#Page_243">243</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">for Removing Vegetable Stains from the, <a href="#Page_244">244</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Harvey, Mr. William, <a href="#Page_180">180</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Honors to Dr., <a href="#Page_184">184</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Health, Cleanliness means, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Heart Dependent on the Body, the, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Hepatic Spots, Remedies for, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">High Living, Effects of, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Homely Women, Hope for, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Hours of Solitude, Reserve our, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Hugo says, what Victor, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Humors to the Surface, Drawing, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>.</li> + + +<li class="ifrst">Infant, do not Wash an, with Cheap Soap, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Ink or Vegetable Stains, how to Remove, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Insulators, Patent, <a href="#Page_261">261</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Iris, Florentine, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Italian Ladies, Habit of, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>.</li> + + +<li class="ifrst">Joints, to Restore Suppleness to the, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>.</li> + + +<li class="ifrst">Lacing, Arts of, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Leaves are Full of Joy, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Lecturers Eat, how, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Linen, Écru, and White Nansook, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Lip-Salve, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Lips, Color for the, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Looks, Woman’s, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Love—</li> +<li class="isub1">the Enigma of, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">the Love of Man, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">to Love and be Loved, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Power of, over Man, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Effect of, on Women, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Miracle of, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>.</li> + + +<li class="ifrst">Madness, Brief, <a href="#Page_249">249</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Magnificent, Easier to be, than Clean, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">“Making-up,” the Secrets of, <a href="#Page_244">244</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Malmaison, Josephine of, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Man Admires in Woman, what, <a href="#Page_225">225</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Manners, Education in, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Medicines for Women, the Great—Sunshine, Music, Work, and Sleep, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Milk of Roses, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</span></li> + +<li class="indx">Mirrors, Advantages of Lining Rooms with, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Moles, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Montagu, Lady Mary, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Montez, Lola, Recipe of, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Mother, a, should Inspect her Daughter’s Dressing, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Mothers—</li> +<li class="isub1">a Word to, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Prescription for Feeble, <a href="#Page_211">211</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Mouth, Gargle for the, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Murray’s Book, Lines from, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Music—</li> +<li class="isub1">Influence of, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Women should Study, <a href="#Page_252">252</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Musquito Bites, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>.</li> + + +<li class="ifrst">Nails—</li> +<li class="isub1">Polishing the, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">how to give a Fine Color to the, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Ingrowing, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Nansook, White, <a href="#Page_212">212</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Neck, a Preparation for Whitening the, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Needle, how to hold a, Gracefully, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Neighbors, Pulling our, to Pieces, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Nerves, Woman’s, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Nervous Prostration, Cure for, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Nervous and Sanguine People, Diet for, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Nets <i>vs.</i> Night-Caps, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Neuralgia, Sulphur Vapor-Bath for, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>, <a href="#Page_170">170</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Nose, Redness of the, <a href="#Page_244">244</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Nose-Machine, a, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Nursing, Care of the Figure after, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>.</li> + + +<li class="ifrst">Oil—</li> +<li class="isub1">for the Hair, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">of Mace, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Oils, Sweet, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Ointment, Olive, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Olive-Oil and Tar for the Face, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Out-door Exercise, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>.</li> + + +<li class="ifrst">Padding, against, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Paint and Powder, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Painting the Complexion, Danger of, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Paleness, Northern and Southern, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Pallor, Shining, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Paper as a Preventative against Chilliness, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Parks and Balconies, in, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Parties, Preparing for, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Passions, how to Quiet our, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Paste—</li> +<li class="isub1">for Shoulders and Arms, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">for Removing Hairs from the Face, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">for Whitening the Arms, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">of Venus, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Sulphur, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Pastilles, Gray, for Purifying the Breath, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Pàte, Bazin’s, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Perfume—</li> +<li class="isub1">of the Presence, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">how Arabian Women Perfume themselves, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Perfumes, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">for the Body, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Lost, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">of Spring, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">of the Bath, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Perspiration—</li> +<li class="isub1">Preparation for Profuse, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Cure for Odor of the, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Dangers Resulting from Suddenly Checking, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Petrarch’s Laura, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>.<br></li> + +<li class="indx">Physical Culture Urgent, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Physical Education of Girls, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</span></li> + +<li class="indx">Piano, Practice at the, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Pimples—</li> +<li class="isub1">a Recipe to Remove, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">are Disease, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Pimple-Wash, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Pomades, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Southernwood, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Almond, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Mexican, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Powder, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Chalk, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Cascarilla, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Bathing, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Powder and Paint, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Preparation for Profuse Perspiration, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Presence, Perfume of the, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Prime, Woman’s, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>.<br></li> + +<li class="indx">Principals of Schools, a Word to, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Prophylactic Fluid, <a href="#Page_241">241</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Prostration, Cure for Nervous, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>.</li> + + +<li class="ifrst">Queen of England, the, uses Distilled Water for her Toilet, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>.</li> + + +<li class="ifrst">Races—</li> +<li class="isub1">Grace of the Latin, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Antique, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Récamier’s Training, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Recipes—</li> +<li class="isub1">for Warm Days, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Perfume, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Rheumatism, Good for, <a href="#Page_170">170</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Rooms, Advantages of Lining, with Mirrors, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Roses, Milk of, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Rouge—</li> +<li class="isub1">Tints of, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Devoux French, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Rusma, Oriental, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>.</li> + + +<li class="ifrst">Sallowness, how to Remove, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Salve—</li> +<li class="isub1">Lip, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Toilet, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Scalp, Preparations for Dry, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Scrofulous Affections, Good for, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Sea-Baths, a Substitute for, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Shoe-Lining, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Shoes, Tight, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Shoulder—</li> +<li class="isub1">Braces, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">how to Acquire Sloping Shoulders, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">a Paste for Arms and Shoulders, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Device for Stiff Shoulders, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Singers and Students, Diet for, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">how Singers Eat, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Training of, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Singing Scales with Corsets off, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Singing, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Situation, Accepting the, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Skin—</li> +<li class="isub1">Irritations of the, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Prescription for the, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Cure for Rough Skins from Yachting, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Rough, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Summer Irritations of the, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Inflammation of the, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">for Improving the, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">how to Prolong the Freshness of the, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Bran Cleanses the, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">a Recipe for Sunburned and Freckled, <a href="#Page_192">192</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Cause of Rough, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Effect of Consumption on the, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Sleep—</li> +<li class="isub1">the Remedy for Temper, <a href="#Page_254">254</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Number of Hours to, <a href="#Page_254">254</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">People who Need Much, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Soaps—</li> +<li class="isub1">Quality of, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">do not use Cheap, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Carbolic, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Solitude, Reserve our Hours of, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Southern Women, Carriage of, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Southernwood Pomade, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Spirits, how to Obtain Unfailing, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Stains, how to Remove Ink or Vegetable, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Still, a Small, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Stippled Skin, Cure for, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Stockings, how Often to Change, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Stomach, to Maintain a Healthy Condition of the, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_282">[Pg 282]</span></li> + +<li class="indx">Stout and Thin People, Food for, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">a Hint to Stout People, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">why People Grow Stout, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Study, a Veto on Close, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Superfluous Hair, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Surgeon, a Wise, <a href="#Page_180">180</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Swimming-School, Nervous Women should go to, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Switches, Freshening, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>.</li> + + +<li class="ifrst">Tan-Wash, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Tar, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Tea, People who Drink Strong, <a href="#Page_248">248</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Teeth—</li> +<li class="isub1">for Decaying, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Cleansing of the, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Wash for the, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Temper, how to Soothe the, <a href="#Page_209">209</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Sleep the Remedy for, <a href="#Page_254">254</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Heathen Tempers a Sign of Wrong Health, <a href="#Page_254">254</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Theatricals, Dyes for, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Thin and Stout People, Food for, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Tint, a Brown, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Tobacco in the Breath, Remedy for, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Toilet—</li> +<li class="isub1">Water, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Antique Toilet Arts, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">the Toilet a Profession, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Influence of a Luxurious, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Luxury of the, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Artistic at the, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Cares of the, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Craft of the, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Toilet Waters and Pastes, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Distilled Water for the, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Plain Women and Agreeable, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Toothache, Recipe for the, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Tooth-Wash, <a href="#Page_158">158</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Towels, Bath, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Training, Récamier’s, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Tweezers, Roman, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Typhoid Fever sometimes Caused by High Living, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>.</li> + + +<li class="ifrst">Ulcers, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Unfeminine Traits, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>.</li> + + +<li class="ifrst">Vanities, Different, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Vestris, Madame, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Vitriol, Wash of, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>.</li> + + +<li class="ifrst">Wakefulness a Sign of Ill-Health, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Walking in Relation to Health, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Warm Days, Recipes for, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Wash—</li> +<li class="isub1">of Vitriol, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">to Stimulate the Growth of Hair, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">a Sand, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">for Tan, Freckles, Pimples, and Blotches, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">for Teeth or Hands, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">for Sunburned Skin, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Glycerine, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Water—</li> +<li class="isub1">Toilet, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Distilling 168;</li> +<li class="isub1">Distilled Water for the Toilet, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Weak, how the, should Work, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Wife, a Senator’s, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Wigs, Blonde, for Theatricals, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Wigs and Chignons, Changing, <a href="#Page_257">257</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Willis, N. P., on Beauty, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Woman—</li> +<li class="isub1">her Business to be Beautiful, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Woman’s Artists, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">a Healthy Woman, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">the Loveliest Woman of France, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Trials of a Plain, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">how a Homely Woman can make Herself Agreeable, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">what Man Admires in a, <a href="#Page_225">225</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Woman’s Value in the World, <a href="#Page_225">225</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">a Woman’s Rule, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Woman’s Looks and Nerves, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_283">[Pg 283]</span></li> + + +<li class="indx">Women—</li> +<li class="isub1">Carriage of Southern, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Hope for Homely, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Transformation of Homely Women into Charming Beings, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Sorrows of Ugly, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Effect of Being in Love on, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">at and after Thirty, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Counsel to Women of Thirty, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Porcelain, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">what is to be Done with Weak, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Plain Women and Agreeable Toilets, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Sensations of Writing, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Nervous Women should go to Swimming-School, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">why Women should Study Music, <a href="#Page_252">252</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Jealous Women have Dyspepsia, <a href="#Page_254">254</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">why Women Need more Sleep than Men, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">the Secret of Content for most, <a href="#Page_257">257</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Work—</li> +<li class="isub1">a Nervous Person’s, is Fuss, <a href="#Page_248">248</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">how the Weak should, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">well done the Easiest, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Worms—</li> +<li class="isub1">Black, or Comedones, how to Remove, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Flesh, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx">Wrinkles—</li> +<li class="isub1">a Kind of Varnish for, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">how to Ward off, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Bread Paste and Court-Plaster to Conceal, <a href="#Page_213">213</a>.</li> +</ul> + + + + + +<p class="ph3">THE END.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp59" id="i_back_cover" style="max-width: 58.6875em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_back_cover.jpg" alt="" +data-role="presentation"> +</figure> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<div class="tnote"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="Transcribers_note">Transcriber’s note</h2> + +<p>Minor punctuation errors have been changed without notice. +Inconsistencies in hyphenation have been standardized.</p> + +<p>Page number references in the index are as published in the original +publication and have not been checked for accuracy in this eBook.</p> + +<p>Other spelling has also been retained as originally published except +for the changes below.</p> + + +<table class="autotable"> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">Page <a href="#Page_93">93</a>:</td> +<td class="tdl">“of sassafras drank”</td> +<td class="tdl">“of sassafras drunk”</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">Page <a href="#Page_121">121</a>:</td> +<td class="tdl">“for <i>trés blondes</i>”</td> +<td class="tdl">“for <i>très blondes</i>”</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">Page <a href="#Page_125">125</a>:</td> +<td class="tdl">“CHAPTER XI .”</td> +<td class="tdl">“CHAPTER XII.”</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">Page <a href="#Page_192">192</a>:</td> +<td class="tdl">“A southern lady”</td> +<td class="tdl">“A Southern lady”</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">Page <a href="#Page_217">217</a>:</td> +<td class="tdl">“its semi-tranparency”</td> +<td class="tdl">“its semi-transparency”</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">Page <a href="#Page_277">277</a>:</td> +<td class="tdl">“Washes for, ;”</td> +<td class="tdl">“Washes for, 34;”</td> +</tr> +</table> +</div> +</div> + + +<div style='text-align:center'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 75279 ***</div> +</body> +</html> + diff --git a/75279-h/images/cover.jpg b/75279-h/images/cover.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..d909420 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