CARE OF THE HANDS

All admire pretty hands, and yet how few are the happy possessors- of them. The principal cause of an imperfect hand is the abuse and neglect of it while young. Neglecting the nails, or clipping them too closely, gives the hand a stubby look that all the care in after years can- not remedy. If children could be taught while young that the hand was of due importance with the teeth, and that the same care must be bestowed upon it, there would be fewer hqmely hands upon grown- up people. Many people, who are fastidious in all other parts of the toilet, often ignore the hand, except by washing and keeping the nails clean. Then there are those who sleep in glo\es to keep the hand soft, but this is a habit not conducive to health, as the hands have breathing places as well as the rest of the body.

To soften the hands, fill a wash basin half full of fine white sand and soapsuds 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 tor filters. It may be used repeatedly by pouring the water out and addmg fresh. To keep it from blowing about, rinse in warm lather of fine soap. After drying the hands rub them with dry bran or corn meal. Dust them, and finish by rubbing cold cream well into the skin. This effectually removes the roughness caused by housework, and should be used every day, first

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removing ink or vegetable stains with acid. 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.

Another way is to wear large mittens of cloth filled with wet bran and tied closely at the wrist, but a woman must have a deal of pride to make herself thus uncomfortable for the sake of havmg handsome hands, when there are easier ways of improving them,

Many form their children's hands in youth by keeping small, tapering thimbles on their fingers while asleep. This gives the fingers the taper- ing shape that is deemed so necessary, and that is looked upon by many as an evidence of aristocratic birth. These are not painful nor annoy- ing, and where is the maiden who would not in after years be grateful to the mpther who had taken so much pains to have her possess a beautiful hand. Sweet almond oil rubbed into the skin will soften them, and plastering them with as much fine chalk as they can take on going to bed, three nights in succession, will whiten the hands in three days' time. Rubbing the hands with a sUce of raw potato will remove vegetable stains.

The avoidance of placing the hands in extreme temperatures of water will quickly render them soft. Always washing the hands in tepid — not warm — water, and, in winter, rubbing two or three drops of glycerine over them previous to drying with a towel, will prevent rough- ness and redness of the skin. If the glycerine has a little rose-water in it. it is better for some skins, for, to many, pure glycerine only injures the skin. A free use of glycerine in warm weather imparts a yellow tinge to the skin.

Wipe the hands perfectly dry after immersing them in water ; this is imperative if they are desired to be kept white. To keep the hands from chapping in cold weather, use of glycerine, one ounce; sper- maceti, two drachms; olive oil. two ounces. Mix together with the aid of heat. Apply this every night, and, if time will admit of it, every morning. In winter, do not wash them in cold or hot water. It should be just blood warm, and no more nor less. Do not go out of doors with them uncovered. In summer, use cold water, unless the hands per- spire very much, as the hands of some people do. These latter should use tepid water. In warm weather, a good preparation for the hands is this : Take half an ounce of powdered alum, the whites of two eggs and mix together. Then add enough bran to make into a thick paste. Apply this once a day, after washing, and, after rubbing the hands together well for a few minutes, wipe off with a soft towel. This will give them a soft, brilliant hue, and check any undue amount of perspi- ration. What is called cream of roses is also an excellent preparation for the hands, either in winter or summer. It is made as follows : Take

3t;2 THE TOILET.

compound tincture of benzoin half an ounce, almond and Malaga oil of each an ounce, attar of roses five drops, ho.ney two ounces, and enough rose-water to make the mixture measure six ounces. Apply as often as you like. This is equally good for the face, and will soften and keep the skin white.

For very warm weather a mixture of lemon juice and powdered borax is a fine whitener of the skin, and is also suited to those who have bluish hands, in which the blue veins show too strongly. Those who have their hands disfigured by warts can rid themselves of them by using carbolic acid, pure and undiluted. Apply it twice a day to the warts, and the acid will slowly destroy them. Every day they should be carefully scraped with a dull knife, but be careful not to make them bleed. If this fails, then use C. P. (chemically pure) nitric acid. Use this with care, as, if it touches the skin, it will burn it, as well as impart to it a nasty-looking yellow color, which nothing will remove. The nitric acid should be dropped on the wart with the point of a needle, and be allowed to remain there before washing off, untij a burning sensation is felt. By both these chemicals, warts can always be removed without leaving a scar.

Care of the Nails — The shape of the nails is very significant. The slender, tapering nail, of a rosy pink line, with a shell-like, transparent edge, denotes a refined nature. Broad, stubby nails indicate coarse- ness, though often great good nature, and the slender, tapering nail is often the accompaniment of a shrewish and quick temper. The best appliance is a nail brush used in water softened by the addition of a little borax and really fine toilet soap. In well-brushed and well-cared- for nails, the little curtain-like rim which surrounds them is well pushed or rolled back, displaying generally a dehcate little crescent at the root. The skin of the finger should never be allowed to grow up on the nail. In paring and trimming, the shape given should always be as long an oval as possible. The corners should be carefully and closely cut, and the centers left rather long, so as to give the long, oval shape. In clean- ing the nails the knife should never scrape off the inner substance of the nail, as this renders the edge opaque and muddy in appearance, whereas it should be transparent.

The nail is susceptible of a high degree of polish by rubbing with the towel when drying the hands. At drug stores small boxes are sold containing the whole outfit for polishing the nails, and with directions for using the implements. If dark or brown looking, dip them once or twice a day in the following, and then polish with a towel : Take of hydrochloric acid two drachms, soft water one ounce. This will render them exceedingly white and handsome. When paring the nails be care- ful not to dig mto the quick. Rubbing the nails with a coarse towel keeps back the flesh from the nails ; this will also keep the fingers free from harig-nails, and thus save a deal of pain.

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