Complete Women's Guide

Hair - II

Oils and pomades, very strongly impregnated with the essential oil of garden thyme (origanum) and rosemary, and lotions or liniments containing ammonia with a like addition of these essentialoils, probably come next in the frequency of their use as popular restoratives of the hair in actual and incipient baldness.

To Have Elegant Hair.—Every girl should have thick, magnificent hair. It is essential to clip the ends of the hair once a month after a child is four years of age. Ammonia and warmwater is an excellent wash for the hair and scalp, and gives life and vigor to it when all other articles fail.

Wild Rose Curling Fluid.—Take two drams (avoirdupois) dry salt of tartar; (carbonate of potassa) powdered cochineal, half dram; liquor of ammonia and spirit de rose, each one fluiddram; glycerine, one-fourth ounce; rectified spirit, one and one-half imperial fluid ounces; distilled water, eighteen ounces; digest with agitation for a week, and then decant or filter. The hairto be moistened with it, and then loosely adjusted. The effect occurs as it dries.

To Cause the Hair to Grow very Thick.—One of the most powerful stimulants for the growth of the hair is the following: Take a quarter of an ounce of the chippings of alkanet root,tie in a scrap of coarse muslin, and suspend it in a jar containing eight ounces of sweet oil [61]for a week, covering it from thedust. Add to this sixty drops tincture of cantharides, ten drops oil of rose, sixty drops of neroli, and sixty drops oil of lemon. Let this stand twenty days, closely corked, and you will have oneof the greatest hair-invigorators and hair-growers that this world has ever produced.

Lola Montez Hair Coloring.—This celebrated woman published the following, and claimed that it was as harmless as any preparation that would really color the hair: Ten grains ofgallic acid, one ounce of acetic acid, one ounce of tincture of sesgurichloride of iron. Dissolve the gallic acid, sesgurichloride, and add the acetic acid. Wash the hair with soap and water; whendried, 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, then oil and brush well.

Hair Restorative.—Four drams oxide bismuth, four drams spermaceti, four ounces pure hogs lard. The lard and spermaceti should be melted together. When nearly cool, stir in thebismuth and perfume. Prevents the hair from turning gray, and restores gray hair.

For Bald Heads.—A most valuable remedy for promoting the growth of the hair is an application, once or twice a day, of wild indigo and alcohol. Take four ounces of wild indigo andsteep it about a week or ten days in a pint of alcohol and a pint of hot water, when it will be ready for use. The head must be thoroughly washed with the liquid, morning and evening, applicationbeing made with a sponge or soft brush.

Another excellent preparation is composed of three ounces of castor oil, with just enough alcohol to cut the oil, to which add twenty drops tincture of cantharides, and perfume to suit. This notonly softens and imparts a gloss to the hair, but also invigorates and strengthens the roots of the hair.

Excellent Hair Wash.—Take one ounce of borax, half an ounce of camphor; powder these ingredients very fine and dissolve them in one quart boiling water. When cool the solution willbe ready for use. Dampen the hair frequently. This wash effectually cleanses, beautifies, and strengthens the hair, preserves the color, and prevents early baldness. The camphor will form intolumps after being dissolved, but the water will be sufficiently impregnated.

To Cure Baldness.—Cologne water, two ounces; tincture of cantharides, two drams; oil of lavender or rosemary, of each ten drops. These applications must be used twice a day forthree or four weeks, but if the scalp becomes sore they may be discontinued for a time or used at longer intervals.

When the hair falls off, from diminished action of the scalp, preparations of cantharides are excellent. The following will cause the hair to grow faster than any other preparation: Beef marrow(soaked in several waters, melted and strained), half a pound; tincture cantharides (made by soaking for a week one dram of powdered cantharides in one ounce of proof spirit), one ounce; oil ofbergamot, twelve drops.

Stimulants for the Hair.—Vinegar and water form a good wash for the roots of the hair. A solution of ammonia is often used with good effect for the same purpose. For removing scurf,glycerine diluted with a little rose-water will be found of service. Any preparation of rosemary forms an agreeable and highly cleansing wash. The yolk of an egg beaten up in warm water is a mostnutritious application to the scalp. A very good application is made in this way: Take an ounce of powdered borax and a small piece of camphor and dissolve in a quart of boiling water. The hairmust afterwards be washed in warm water. Many heads of hair require nothing more in the way of wash than soap and water. The following recipe will strengthen the hair and prevent its falling out:Vinegar of cantharides, half an ounce; eau de cologne, one ounce; rose-water, one ounce. The scalp should be brushed briskly until it becomes red, and the lotion should then be applied to the rootsof the hair twice a day.

The Golden Hair Secret.—The rage for light, gold color, or even red hair, which has prevailed for some time, has led to various expedients for procuring it. Many ladies havesacrificed fine heads of hair, and in place of their own dark tresses have adopted light wigs; but the prevailing absurdity has been the use of strong alkalies for the purpose of turning dark hairlight. This is the purpose of the ausicomus fluid, which may be procured of any hairdresser; but we warn our fair readers that the use of these products is apt to be disappointing. They certainlywill turn black to a brick-dust hue, but the color is often disagreeable. It is apt to present itself in patches in different hues, and the effect on the hair is terrible—it often rots andcrumbles away. In place of this absurd practice, we recommend the following as available for trying the effect for dress purpose: Procure a packet of gold powder of the hairdresser. Have ready avery weak solution of gum and water, and one of the small perfume vaporizers now in use. When the hair has been dressed, sprinkle it with gum and water by means of the vaporizer and then shower onthe gold powder. It may be put on thick enough to hide the color of the hair, and owing to the gum it cannot be danced off. The effect by artificial light is beautiful.

For Keeping the Hair Crimped or Curled in Summer.—A quarter of an ounce of gum tragacanth, one pint rose-water, and five drops of glycerine; mix and let stand over night. If thetragacanth is not dissolved, let it remain half a day longer; if it is thick add more rose-water and let it remain for some hours. If then it is a smooth solution, nearly as thin as glycerine, itis fit for use. Dampen the hair before crimping or curling.

To Bleach the Hair.—It has been found in the bleaching of hair that gaseous chlorine is the most effectual. The hair should be cleaned for that purpose by a warm solution of sodaand washed afterwards with water. While moist it is put into a jar with chlorine gas introduced until the air in the jar looks greenish. Allow it to remain on for twenty-four hours, and then, ifnecessary, repeat the operation.

A New French Remedy for Baldness.—Croton oil, one of the best French remedies for baldness, is employed by simply adding to it oil or pomade, and stirring or agitating the twotogether until admixture or solution is complete. The formula adopted by the eminent French physician who introduced this remedy, and who speaks in the most confident and enthusiastic way of thesuccess attending its use, is: Take croton oil, twelve drops (minims); oil of almonds, four troy grains. Mix. A little is to be well rubbed on the scalp twice a day. Soft down, we are assured,appears in three weeks.

For Improving the Hair.—Palma Christi oil for thickening the hair: Take one ounce of Palma Christi oil, add oil of lavender or bergamot to scent it. Let it be well brushedinto the hair for two or three months, particularly applying it to those parts where it may be most desirable to render the hair luxuriant. This is a simple and valuable oil, and not in the handsof any monopolist.

To Dye the Hair Flaxen.—We have heard the following is effective: Take a quart of lye prepared from the ashes of vine twigs, briony, celandine roots, and tumeric, of each half anounce; saffron and lily roots, of each two drams; flowers of mullein, yellow stechas, broom, and St. Johns wort, of each a dram. Boil these together and strain off the liquor clear. Frequentlywash the hair with the fluid, and it will change it, we are told, in a short time to a beautiful flaxen color.

A Powder for Preserving the Hair.—The following powder has the name of facilitating the regeneration of the hair and strengthening its roots. Still more valuable properties havebeen ascribed to it, such as that of rousing the imagination to vigorous efforts and strengthening the memory—delightful properties if they could be realized by such simple means. Take anounce and a half of red roses; a small quantity each of calamus aromaticus (sweet-scented flag), and of the long cyperus; an ounce of benzoin; six drams of aloes (the wood of); half an ounce of redcoral, and the same quantity of amber; four ounces of bean flour; and eight ounces of the root of Florentine iris. Let the whole be mixed together and reduced to a very fine powder, to which add afew grains of musk. This powder is to be sprinkled on the hair in the same manner as hair powder is generally used, and, having remained for a time embedded with the hair, to be removed by means ofcomb and brush; and to be occasionally applied and removed. It is said to regenerate the hair and strengthen the roots, and to possess the properties which are above enumerated.

To Make the Hair Grow and to Prevent It from Falling.—The following recipes are selected from a work published some years ago in Paris, entitled “Manuel Cosmetique desPlantes”:—

Take the roots of young vines, the roots of hemp, and young cabbages, of each two handfuls. Dry, and then burn them. Make afterwards a lye with the ashes. Before the head is washed with this lyeit must be rubbed with honey, and continue both for three successive days. This will not only make the hair grow, but restore it upon bald places, under certain habits and constitutions of body.Pulverize some parsley seed, and use it as hair powder for three nights at the commencement of the year, and it will prevent your hair from falling.

To Make the Hair Grow Quick.—Dip, every morning, the teeth of your comb in the juice of nettles, and comb the hair against the grain.

Mixture for Shampoo.—Bay rum, one pint; tincture of cantharides, one dram; carbonate of ammonia, one half dram; salts tartar, one half dram. Mix.

To Prevent the Hair Falling Out.—Boxwood shavings, six ounces; proof spirit, twelve ounces; spirits of rosemary, two ounces; spirits of nutmeg, one half ounce. Mix.

Wash for Scald Heads.—Take one half ounce of sulphate of potassa, one pint of lime water, one ounce of soap liniment. Mix, and apply to the head two or three times a day.

Its Estimation, Structure, Growth, Management, Etc. The hair is not only invaluable as a protective covering of the head, but it gives a finish and imparts unequalled grace to the featureswhich it surrounds. Sculptors and painters have bestowed on its representation their highest skill and care, and its description and praises have been sung in the sweetest lays by the poets of allages. Whether in flowing ringlets, chaste and simple bands, or graceful braids artistically disposed, it is equally charming, and clothes with fascination even the simplest forms of beauty.

O wondrous, wondrous, is her hair!

A braided wealth of golden brown,

That drops on neck and temples bare.

If there is one point more than another on which the tastes of mankind appear to agree, it is that rich, luxuriant, flowing hair is not merely beautiful in itself, but an important, nay, anessential, auxiliary to the highest development of the personal charms. Among all the refined nations of antiquity, as in all time since, the care, arrangement and decoration of the hair formed aprominent and generally leading portion of their toilet. The ancient Egyptians and Assyrians, and other Eastern nations, bestowed on it the most elaborate attention. The ancient Jews, like theirmodern descendants, were noted for the luxuriance and richness of their hair and the care which they devoted to it. Glossy flowing black hair is represented to have been the glory of the ancientJewess, and in her person to have exhibited charms of the most imposing character; whilst the chasteness of its arrangement was only equalled by its almost magic beauty. Nor was this luxuriance,and this attention to the hair, confined to the gentler sex, for among the pagan Orientals the hair and beards of the males were not less sedulously attended to. Among the males of Judah andIsrael, long flowing ringlets appear to have been regarded as highly desirable and attractive. The reputed beauty and the prodigious length and weight of the hair of Absalom, the son of David, asrecorded in the sacred text, would be sufficient to startle the most enthusiastic modern dandy that cultivates the crinal ornament of his person. Solomon the Wise, another son of David, conceivedthe beauty of hair sufficiently dignified to express figuratively the graces of the Church.

The hair, though devoid of sensibility and unsusceptible of expression under the influence of the will and the ordinary mental feelings, like the mobile portions of the face, and though it maybe popularly regarded rather in the light of a parasitic growth than as an essential portion of the body, is capable of being affected by the stronger emotions and passions, and even of aidingtheir expression in the features. Who is there that, at some period or other of his life, if only in childhood, in a moment of sudden terror or horror, has not experienced the sensation popularlydescribed as “the hair standing on end?” Or who is there that, at some time or other, has not witnessed the partial erection of the hair in children or females under like violentemotions, or seen the representation of it in sculptures or paintings? Those passions, so aptly styled by Gray the “vultures of the mind,” frequently affect with wonderful rapidity thehealth of both the body and the mind, which wreck the hair soon sympathizes with and shares. Instances are recorded in which violent grief in a few weeks has blanched the hair and anticipated theeffects of age; and others in which intense terror or horror has affected the same with even greater celerity, the change having occurred in a few days or even in a few hours.

Besides daily attention to the hair, something else is necessary to insure its cleanliness and beauty and the perfect health of the skin of the head from which it springs. For this purpose thehead should be occasionally well washed with soap and water, an abundance of water being used and great care being subsequently taken to thoroughly rinse out the whole of the soap with the water inwhich the head has been washed. The water may be either tepid or cold, according to the feelings or habit of the person; and if the head or hair be very scurfy or dirty, or hard water be used, afew grains of soda (not potash or pearlash) may be advantageously added to the water. This will increase its detersive qualities. After the hair has been washed, which should be done quickly,though thoroughly, it should be freed as much as possible by pressure with the hands and then wiped with a soft, thick towel, which should be done with care, to avoid entangling it. After laying itstraight, first with the coarse end of the dressing comb and then with the finer portion, it may be finally dressed.

In ordinary cases once every two or three weeks is often enough to wash the hair and head. The extreme length of ladies hair will sometimes render the process of washing it very troublesome andinconvenient. In such cases the patient and assiduous use of a clean, good hairbrush, followed by washing the partings and the crown of the head with soap and water, may be substituted.

The occasional washing of the head is absolutely necessary to preserve the health of the scalp and the luxuriance and beauty of the hair when much oil, pomatum or other greasy substance is usedin dressing it.

Medical writers have frequently pointed out the ill effects of the free or excessive use of oily or greasy articles for the hair; but their warnings appear to be unheeded by the mass of mankind.Some object to their use altogether. There are, however, exceptions to every rule, and some of these exceptions are noticed elsewhere in this volume. The ill effects referred to chiefly occur fromtheir being used when not required, and in excess, and are aggravated by the neglect of thorough cleanliness.

To improve the growth and luxuriance of the hair, when languid or defective, the only natural and perfectly safe method that can be adopted is to promote the healthy action of the scalp byincreasing the vigor of the circulation of the blood through its minute channels. For this purpose nothing is so simple and effective as gentle excitation of the skin by frequent continued frictionwith the hairbrush, which has the convenience of ease of application and inexpensiveness. The same object may be further promoted by the application of any simple cosmetic wash or other preparationthat will gently excite or stimulate the skin or exercise a tonic action on it without clogging its pores. Strong rosemary water or rosemary tea, and a weak solution of the essential oil of eitherrosemary or garden thyme, are popular articles of this kind. They may be rendered more stimulating by the addition of a little ammonia or a little spirit, or both of them. The skin of the headshould be moistened with these on each occasion of dressing the hair, and their diffusion and action promoted by the use of a clean hairbrush. Aromatized water, to which a very little tincture orvinegar of cantharides (preferably the former) has been added, may also be used in the same way, and is in high repute for the purpose. When the skin is pale, lax, and wrinkled, astringent washesmay be used. Strong black tea is a convenient and excellent application of this kind. When the skin and hair are dry, and the latter also stiff and untractable, a little glycerine is an appropriateaddition to each of the preceding washes or lotions. The occasional use of a little bland oil, strongly scented with oil of rosemary or of origanum, or with both of them, or with oil of mace, orvery slightly tinctured with cantharides, is also generally very serviceable when there is poorness and dryness of the hair. When the hair is unnaturally greasy and lax (a defect that seldomoccurs), the use of the astringent washes just referred to, or of a little simple oil slightly scented with the essential oil of bitter almonds, will tend to remove or lessen it.

All the articles named above promote the glossiness and waviness of the hair, and are also among the simplest, safest, and best applications that can be employed when the hair is weak and beginsto fall off.

To impart some degree of curliness or waviness to the hair when it is naturally straight, and to render it more retentive of the curl imparted to it by papers or by other modes of dressing it,various methods are often adopted and different cosmetics employed. The first object appears to be promoted by keeping the hair for a time in a state intermediate between perfect dryness andhumidity, from which different parts of its structure, being unequally affected in this respect, will acquire different degrees of relaxation and rigidity, and thus have a tendency to assume a wavyor slightly curly form, provided the hair be left loose enough to allow it. For this purpose nothing is better than washing the hair with soap and water, to which a few grains of salt of tartar(carbonate of potash) have been added; or it may be slightly moistened with any of the hair washes mentioned in the last paragraph, in each half-pint of which a few grains of the carbonate (say tenor twelve), or a teaspoonful of glycerine, has been dissolved. The moistened hair, after the application of the brush, should be finally loosely adjusted as desired with the dressing-comb. Theeffect occurs as the hair dries. When oils are preferable to hair washes, those strongly scented with the oil of rosemary, to which a few drops of oil of thyme or origanum may be added, appear tobe the most useful.

To cause the hair to retain the position given to it in dressing it, various methods and cosmetics are commonly employed. When the arrangement is a natural one and the hair healthy andtractable, the free use of the hairbrush will usually be sufficient for the purpose. When this is insufficient, the application of a few drops of oil, or, better still, moistening the hair with alittle simple water, will effect the object satisfactorily. In very elaborate and unnatural styles of dressing the hair, and to cause it to remain in curl or to retain its position during dancing,or violent exercise, bandoline and cosmetique or hard pomatum are the articles commonly employed in fashionable life. Mild ale or porter has a similar effect, and is often substituted for thepreceding expensive cosmetics. The frequent use of any of these articles is objectionable, as they clog up the pores of the skin and shield both it and the hair from the genial action of theatmosphere, which is essential to their healthy vigor. They should, hence, be subsequently removed by carefully washing the head with a little soap and tepid water. Their use may be tolerated indressing for the ballroom, but on no other occasion. Simple water skillfully employed, as noticed elsewhere, is the best and safest mixture, and under ordinary circumstances is amply sufficient forthe purpose.

The practice of artificially changing the color of the hair, and particularly of dyeing it, has descended to us from remote antiquity, and though not so common in Western Europe as formerly, isstill far from infrequent at the present day. This might be inferred from the multitude of nostrums for the purpose continually advertised in the newspapers, and from the number of persons whoannounce themselves as practicing the art, even though the keen and experienced eye did not frequently detect instances of it, as it now does, in the hair and beards of those we see around us. Therecent rage after light auburn or reddish hair in fashionable life has, unfortunately, greatly multiplied these instances. The consideration of the subject, however, in its ethical relations doesnot come within the province of the present work, and I shall confine myself to pointing out how the color of the hair may be changed in the safest and most satisfactory manner.

To change the color of the hair various methods and preparations are employed. The principal of these are intended to darken it, but sometimes the contrary is aimed at. Whichever object isdesired, it is necessary that the article or preparation employed to carry it out be not of a caustic or irritant nature, capable of injuriously affecting the delicate skin to which it is applied,or that it may be liable to come in contact with, as is the case with many of the nostrums vended for the purpose. Some of the substances that necessarily enter into the composition of hair strainsand hair dyes, or that are used in connection with them, possess these objectionable properties in a high degree, and can, therefore, only be safely employed in a state of proper dilution andcombination. If any doubt exists respecting such an article, it is a wise precaution to regard it with suspicion and to test its qualities before applying it for the first time. This may be done byplacing some of it on the soft skin of the inner side of the wrist or fore-arm, and allowing it to remain there as long, and under the same conditions, as it is ordered to be left in contact withthe hair or skin of the head or face. In this way the injury or loss of the hair, sores, and other serious consequences that too often follow the use of advertised and ill-prepared hair dyes may begenerally avoided.

To gradually darken the shade of the hair on these principles, provided its normal sulphur be still secreted by the hair-bulbs and be still present in its structure, it will, therefore,generally be sufficient to occasionally employ a weak solution of any of the milder salts of iron as a hair wash. The menstruum may be water, to which a little spirits and a few drops of oil ofrosemary to increase its stimulating qualities have been added. In applying it, the head being first washed clean, care should be taken to thoroughly moisten the whole surface of the hair and theskin of the head with the wash; and its absorption and action should be promoted by the free use of a clean hairbrush. Wine is the favorite solvent for the iron; ale and beer are also sometimes soemployed. Most of the fashionable ferruginous hair washes also contain a few grains of acetate of copper or distilled verdigris, the objections to which have been already pointed out.

The daily use of oil or pomatum, with which a few grains of carbonate of lead, lead plaster, or trisnitrate of bismuth, have been blended by heat and careful trituration, has generally a likeeffect on the hair to ferruginous solutions; so also has a leaden comb, but its action is very [58]uncertain. None of these last are, however, safe for long-continued use. Atrophy of the scalp,baldness, and even local paralysis, have sometimes, though rarely, been caused by them.

When the normal sulphur of the hair is absent, or deficient, the preceding substances fail to darken the hair. In this case the desired effect may often be produced by also moistening the head,say twice a week, with water, to which a little sulphuret of potassium or hydrosulphuret of ammonia has been added.

When it is desired to dye or darken the hair more rapidly, as in a few hours, or even a few minutes, plumbite of lime, plumbite of potassa, or nitrate or ammonia—nitrate of silver—isusually employed. The first is commonly produced by the admixture of quicklime with oxide of lead (litharge), carbonate of lead, or acetate of lead. These ingredients should be in appropriateproportions, but very generally the reverse is the case in those of the shops.

It may be laid down as a rule that when the lime is in greater proportion than about two to one of the oxide, and to the corresponding equivalents of the other substances mentioned, or when thelime has not been prepared in a proper manner, the compound is not safe, and very likely to prove injurious to the skin and hair-bulbs, and perhaps to act as a depilatory. The effects of these leaddyes arise partly in the way previously described and partly by direct chemical action between the sulphur of the hair and the lead which they contain, sulphuret of lead being formed in thesurfacial portion of the hair. It is on the last that their more immediate effect depends. If there be no sulphur in the hair, they will not darken it. After the necessary period of contact, theyshould be gently but thoroughly removed from the hair and skin by rubbing them off with the fingers, and by the use of the hairbrush, the head being then washed clean with tepid water. Should thetint imparted by them not be deep enough, or be too fiery, it may be darkened and turned on the brown or black by moistening the hair the next day with a very weak solution of sulphuret ofpotassium, or of hydrosulphuret of ammonia.

None of the compounds of lead stain the skin, an advantage which has led to a preference being given to them by many persons who are clumsy manipulators, and to the more extensive use of themthan of other hair dyes.

The salts of silver above referred to are more rapid in their action as hair dyes than those containing lead. It is only necessary to wash the hair quite clean and free from grease, then tomoisten it with a weak solution of one of them, and, lastly, to expose it to the light, to effect the object in view. Sunlight will fully darken it in a few minutes, but in diffused daylight itwill take two or three hours, or longer, to acquire the deepest shade. To avoid this delay and inconvenience, the common practice is, a few minutes after applying the silver solution, to moisten orwet the hair with a solution of sulphuret of potassium, or of hydrosulphuret of ammonia. The effect is immediate, and the full depth of shade which a silver solution of the strength employed iscapable of imparting is at once produced. A few minutes later and the hair and skin may be rinsed with tepid water, gently wiped dry, and the hair finally adjusted with the comb. The effect of itsapplication, its rapid action, and the satisfactory nature of the effect produced, all tend to render a solution of nitrate of silver the favorite hair dye of those who have sufficient skill andsteadiness of hand to use it properly.

It will be useful here to inform the inexperienced reader that all solutions and compounds which contain nitrate of silver stain the skin as well as the hair, if they be allowed to touch it.These stains may be removed, when quite recent, by rubbing them with a piece of rag or sponge wetted with a weak solution of potassium, of hydrosulphuret of ammonia, or of iodide of potassium; butas this is attended with some trouble and inconvenience, the best way is to avoid the necessity of having recourse to it. The hairdressers commonly adopt the plan of smearing hard pomatum orcosmetique over the skin immediately surrounding the hair to be operated upon, in order to protect it from the dye. By very skillful manipulation, and the observance of due precautions, the hairmay be thoroughly moistened with the silver solution without touching the adjacent skin; but this can only be done when the hair of the head is under treatment by a second party.

In reference to the tone and shades of color given by the substances commonly employed to dye the hair, it may be useful to state that the shades given by preparations of iron and bismuth rangefrom dark brown to black; those given by the salts of silver, from a fine natural chestnut to deep brown and black, all of which are rich and unexceptional. The shades given by lead vary fromreddish-brown and auburn to black; and when pale or when the dye has been badly applied or compounded, are generally of a sandy, reddish hue, often far from agreeable. However, this tendency of thelead dyes has recently led to their extensive use to impart that peculiar tint to the light hair of ladies and children which is now so fashionable. Other substances, hereafter referred to, are,however, preferable, as imparting a more pleasing hue.

The reddish tint produced by lead, as already hinted, may be generally darkened into a brown, more or less rich, by subsequently moistening the hair with a weak solution of either sulphuret ofpotassium or hydrosulphuret of ammonia.

The favorite compounds for external use in baldness, and, perhaps, the most convenient and best, are such as owe their stimulating quality to cantharides or Spanish flies, or to their activeprinciple, cantharidine. This application of these drugs has received the sanction of the highest medical authorities, both in Europe and America. The leading professional hair-restorers now relyalmost exclusively on cantharides, and all the more celebrated advertised nostrums for restoring the hair contain it as their active ingredient.

There are very few beautiful hands, but to make the hands beautiful rests, with scarcely an exception, with the possessor. Now that chiromancy has become so fashionable as to be a part of agreat many entertainments, it is very desirable that the hands should present an attractive appearance. A soft, white, delicate hand, with neatly-kept nails, forms an important factor in a pleasingpersonal appearance, and is something any man or woman may possess themselves of with a little care. Of course it goes without saying, that requisite is perfect cleanliness of both the hands andnails. The best and purest soap should be used, and when soft water cannot be obtained, a few drops of ammonia, or a little borax, should be added to the water in which the hands are washed, andthey should always be thoroughly dried. A lotion of one ounce glycerine, one ounce rose-water, ten drops of carbolic acid, and forty drops of hamamelis, is excellent to use on the hands before theyare dried each time they are washed.

Persons who do housework should wear the India rubber gloves which are made for the purpose and can be purchased in any size for from $1.00 to $1.25 as they are with or without wrists.

Rubbing the hands once or twice a day in oatmeal tends to whiten them and make them soft and flexible.

The following bleaches the hands and arms and makes them beautifully soft and white:—

Bleaching Lotion.—Bitter almonds, ten ounces; iris powder, one ounce; pulverized horse-chestnut, two ounces; essence of bergamot, one dram; carbonate of potash, two drams; mix. Useon the hands after washing, and on retiring for the night.

Five grains of chloridated lime in a pint of warm water will whiten the hands and remove all stains, but as this is not always quite harmless to a delicate skin, it is perhaps better to removestains with a cut of lemon, and use the preparation given above for whitening them.

Tight lacing and tight sleeves, and even tight shoes, will cause the hands to be an unsightly red, for which no lotion or care is a remedy. If, however, all the clothing is worn so as to allow afree circulation, and the directions which have been given are regularly and constantly followed, any hand will become white, supple and delicate—a pleasure to both possessor and beholder;and it is really worth the care, which after a little time becomes a fixed habit and so is scarcely noticeable, to have such hands.

To Make the Hands White and Delicate.—Should you wish to make your hands white and delicate, wash them in hot milk and water for a day or two. On retiring to rest, rub them wellover with palm oil, and put on a pair of woollen gloves. The hands should be thoroughly washed with hot water and soap the next morning, and a pair of soft leather gloves worn during the day; theyshould be frequently rubbed together to promote circulation. Sunburnt hands should be washed in lime water or lemon juice. Should they be severely freckled, the following will be good to use: Takeof distilled water, half a pint; sal ammoniac, half a dram; oxymuriate of quicksilver, four grains; divide the two last in spirit, and gradually add the water to them; add another half pint ofwater, mix well together, and it is ready for use. It should be applied as often as desirable, with a piece of soft sponge. If rose-water is substituted for distilled water, the effect ispleasanter.

Remedy for Chapped Hands.—The simplest remedy is the camphor ball, to be obtained of all chemists. Powdered hemlock bark put into a piece of muslin and sprinkled on the chaps ishighly recommended. Or, wash with oatmeal, and afterwards rub the hands over with dry oatmeal, so as to remove all dampness. It is a good thing to rub the hands and lips with glycerine before goingto bed at night. A good oil is made by simmering: Sweet oil, one pint; Venice turpentine, three ounces; lard, half a pound; beeswax, three ounces. Simmer till the wax is melted. Rub on, or applywith a rag.

To Cure Red Hands.—Wash them frequently in warm, not hot, water, using honey soap and soft towel. Dry with violet powder, and again with a soft, dry handkerchief. Take exerciseenough to promote circulation, and do not wear gloves too tight.

Almond Paste for the Hands.—Take one pound of sweet almonds, one-quarter of a pound of bread crumbs, one half a pint of spring water, one-half a pint of brandy, and the yolks of twoeggs. Pound the almonds with a few drops of vinegar or water, to prevent them oiling; add the crumbs of bread, which moisten with the brandy as you mix it with the almonds and the yolks of eggs.Set this mixture over a slow fire, and stir it continually or it will adhere to the edges.

Almond Paste for Chapped Hands (which will preserve them smooth and white).—The daily use of the following paste will keep the hands smooth and white: Mix a quarter of a pound ofunsalted hogs lard, which has been washed in common, and then in rose, water, with the yolks of two fresh eggs and a large spoonful of honey. Add as much paste from almonds (well pounded in amortar) as will work it into a paste.

General Remarks.—The human hand, regarded either with reference to its ingenious construction and usefulness, or to its beauty, stands alone, in its superlative excellence, in thewhole animal world. In no species of animal is the hand so wonderfully formed and so perfectly developed as in man.

To preserve the delicacy and beauty of the hands, some little care, and more than that which is ordinarily bestowed on them, is required. Foremost in consideration must be the subject ofcleanliness. Dirty and coarse hands are no less marks of slothfulness and lowbreeding than clean and delicate hands are of refinement and gentility. To promote softness and whiteness of the skin,mild emollient soaps, or those abounding in oil or fat, should alone be adopted for common use; by which means the tendency to contract chaps and chilblains, and roughness from drying winds, willalso be lessened. The coarse, strong kinds of soap, those abounding in alkali, should be rejected, as they tend to render the skin rough, dry and brittle. Rain, or soft, water is the best naturalwater for washing the hands, as it cleanses them more rapidly and completely than ordinary hard water, and with the use of less soap. It may be advantageously used tepid, or even warm; but hotwater should be avoided. Distilled water, when obtainable, is preferable to even rain water. In the absence of these, water that has been boiled and allowed to settle and cool may be employed. Withhard water the hands are cleansed with difficulty, and though it may be readily softened by the addition of a little soda, such an addition tends to make the skin of a delicate hand somewhat hardand rough. If hard water must be used to wash with, the only harmless substance that can be conveniently added to it is a little good powdered borax. This will also cause it to exert a genialaction on the skin. Oatmeal and warm water used every night and morning as a wash will whiten and soften the roughest and darkest hands.

Coarse, Red, Dark-Skinned Hands may be whitened by the occasional use of a few grains of chloride of lime, with warm water, in the manner mentioned above.

Roughness of the Hands, induced by exposure to cold and drying winds, may, in general, be removed by the use of a little powdered pumice stone with the soap in washing them. Thesubsequent application, particularly at night, of the above lotions, or of two or three drops of almond or olive oil, well rubbed in, will usually effect the object completely.

The hands may be preserved dry for delicate work by rubbing a little club moss (lycopodium), in fine powder, over them. So repellent is this substance of moisture, that if a small quantity of itbe sprinkled on the surface of a basin of water, the hand, by a little adroitness, may be plunged to the bottom of the basin without becoming wet.

Excessive moisture or perspiration of the hands without obvious cause is generally indicative of debility, or disordered stomach, and requires corresponding treatment. Frequently washing thehands in moderately cold water often proves a local remedy for the inconvenience. The addition of a few grains of alum, sal ammoniac, or sulphate of zinc, or of a teaspoonful of vinegar, to thewater greatly increases its efficacy. Extremely delicate and susceptible persons cannot always bear the excessive perspiration of their hands to be thus suddenly lessened, and therefore somediscretion should be exercised by them in their attempts to check it.

The Finger Nails require special attention if we desire to preserve them in their highest condition of beauty and usefulness. To keep them clean, the nailbrush and soap and water shouldbe used once or oftener daily, as circumstances demand. Once a day at least, on wiping the hands after washing them, and whilst they are still soft from the action of the water, the free edge ofthe scarfskin, which, if not attended to, is apt to grow upward over the nails, should be gently loosened and pressed back in a neatly rounded form, by which the occurrence of cracks and soresabout their roots (agnails, nail springs, etc.) will be prevented, and a graceful, oval form, ending in a crescentlike space of white, will be ensured. The skin, as a rule, should never be cut,pared, picked or torn off, as is commonly done, and the less it is meddled with, otherwise than in the way just mentioned, the better. The ends or points of the nails should be pared once everyweek or ten days, according to the rapidity of their growth, which somewhat varies with the season of the year and the habit of the individual. This is best done with a sharp penknife ornail-knife. Scissors are less convenient for the purpose, and have the disadvantage of straining and distorting the nails during the process.

The length and shape of the nails, both for beauty and use, should exactly correspond with the tips of the fingers. Nails extending beyond the ends of the fingers are vulgar, clawlike, andinconvenient; whilst if shorter, particularly much shorter than the fingers, they are unsightly and of little use, and cause the tips of the fingers to become thick and clumsy. Biting the nailsshould be avoided as a dirty and disagreeable habit, and one utterly destructive to their beauty, strength, and usefulness.

To remove stains and discolorations of the nails, a little lemon juice or vinegar and water is the best application. Should this fail, a few grains of salt of sorrel, oxalic acid, or chloride oflime, each diluted with warm water, may be applied, care being taken to thoroughly rinse the hands in clean water, without soap, afterwards. Occasionally a little pumice stone, in impalpablepowder, or powdered cuttlefish bone, putty powder (polishers peroxide of tin), may be used along with water and a piece of wash-leather, flannel, or the nailbrush, for the same purpose. Thefrequent use of any of these substances is, however, injurious to the healthy growth, strength, and permanent beauty of the nails. The common practice of scraping the surface of the nails cannot betoo strongly censured, as it causes them to become weak and distorted. Blows on the nails, and, indeed, violence to them in any form, also distorts and marks them.

The ladies of Oriental nations commonly dye the nails; and amongst many savage tribes the same practice is adopted, and is not confined to the gentler sex. Amongst Western Europeans, andAmericans, white and regularly-formed nails are alone esteemed.

Chapped Hands are common among persons with a languid circulation, who are continually “dabbling” in water during cold weather, and particularly among those with a scrofuloustaint, who, without the last, expose their ungloved hands to bleak, cold winds. The best preventives, as well as remedies, are the use of warm gloves out of doors, and the application, night andmorning, of a little glycerine, diluted with twice its weight of water, or a little cold cream, spermaceti cerate, salad oil, or any other simple unguent or oil, which should be well rubbed in, thesuperfluous portion being removed with a towel. This treatment will not only preserve the hands from the effects of cold and damp, but also tend to render them soft and white. Deep chaps which havedegenerated into sores should be kept constantly covered with a piece of lint wetted with glycerine or spread with spermaceti ointment, the part being at the same time carefully preserved fromdirt, cold, and wind. It is said that a once favorite actress, celebrated for the beauty of her hands, even when in the “sere and yellow leaf,” covered them nightly with the flare of acalf or lamb, with the fat attached, over which was drawn a glove or mitten of soft leather. The application of a little glycerine or fatty matter, in the way just indicated, would have beenequally effective.

Warts, like chilblains, are too well known to require description. They chiefly attack the hands, and particularly the fingers, but sometimes occur on other portions of the body. They maybe removed by rubbing or moistening their extremities every day, or every other day, with lunar caustic, nitric acid, concentrated acetic acid, or aromatic vinegar, care being taken not to wash thehands for some hours after. The first is an extremely convenient and manageable substance, from not being liable to drop or spread; but it produces a black stain, which remains till the cauterizedsurface peels off. The second produces a yellow stain, in depth proportioned to the strength of the acid employed. This also wears off after the lapse of a few days. The others scarcely discolorthe skin.

To Cause the Skin to become Satin-smooth, and to Smell like a bunch of Violets.—Any one using the following preparation will be noted for the fair softness of her complexion and thedelicate perfume which emanates from her person. For ladies who like perfume, and care for a satin-smooth skin, the following is an invaluable toilet preparation:—

Have your druggist mix for you one ounce tincture of orris, one ounce tincture of benzoin, ten drops oil of neroli, and ten drops oil of lemon. To use this perfume, add a tablespoonful of it toabout a pint of warm water. It will turn as white as milk, and the real perfume will be given off, whereas while in the bottle it has anything but a pleasing odor. Now, after your bath, just take asoft cloth and go over yourself with this milk, dry thoroughly, and you will smell like a bunch of violets. The perfume may be altered to suit you, or you may add any handkerchief extract, butdont omit the benzoin, for that is what gives permanence to the perfume and softness and smoothness to the skin.

To Cause Those Who have Lost the Bloom and Fairness of Early Youth to Regain Them.—Many ladies who as young girls were fair with a lovely rosy bloom, lose these beauties very earlyin life; very many do this at twenty, or very little later, and become sallow and heavy-eyed, thus losing their principal charm. Now, this is very easily remedied. Go to your druggist and ask himfor some iron pills and for some simple purgative to take with them. Get from him directions for taking both, and take strictly according to his directions. In a very short time you will again befair and rosy and your eyes bright and sparkling; in fact, you will seem to have renewed your youth, and, indeed, you will feel like another person, so light-hearted will you become, in addition toyour return of beauty.