Page:Australian enquiry book of household and general information.djvu/148

fingers. In some instances (usually children) the application of aloes to the finger tips is a preventative, but the exercise of one's own will is the best cure for such a habit. It is only a habit, and one that can be broken only by one's own strength of mind. After washing the hands the skin should always be pressed back at the bottom or quick of the nails.

Soap for Whitening the Hands.—A good soap for whitening the hands can be made by scraping down two cakes of brown windsor soap, melt in a saucepan and mix in one wineglass of eau-de-cologne and one of lemon juice. Run into a mould and when hard it is ready to use.

Pomade to Whiten the Hands and Arms.—Cut up a quarter of a pound of white wax into a wide-necked jar or basin, melt in the oven or by standing in boiling water. Add half a pound of honey and a small bottle of the best salad oil. Squeeze in the juice of three lemons and beat all together with a fork till cold. A few drops of any sweet smelling essence can be

added if liked. Put into a toilet jar and use at night.

Pomade for the Hands.—Cut up a cake of the best almond soap into a small enamel saucepan. Melt over the fire very slowly, adding by degrees the juice of two or three lemons, two tablespoonsful of honey, and a few drops of essence of burgamot. If too stiff, a little oil may be added, or glycerine if it agrees with the skin.

Before applying either of these pomades the skin should be well washed with hot water. And it is useless to rub on the pomade. It must be rubbed in thoroughly for twenty minutes or half an hour.

THE HAIR.

THE hair should have constant and regular attention. Many young girls who possess good heads of hair are indifferent about its care and management till they begin to loose it. It should be well brushed night and morning, for only by brushing can each individual hair be cleansed. To realise this you need only put a hair from the head of someone who is not in the habit of brushing under a microscope. You will then see the tiny particles of dust, and in some instances greasy dirt sticking to it here and there. I have seen minute mites on the hair and hundreds, even thousands, of them among the combings from a dirty head. I do not mean the vermin we can see with the naked eye, or the nits; but regular mites too tiny to be seen without the glass. The hair should be well washed once a fortnight, and the ends should not be allowed to split, they should be clipped regularly to prevent it. The reason of this was told me by a ladies' hairdresser. He explained that the hair being a tube was full of life and, as it were, breathed through the tube, so that when it