years been employed to dress the hair, both among the savage and civilized nations, and it possesses properties which admirably adapt it to this use. It does not dry rapidly; and no gummy, offensive residuum remains, after taking on all the chemical changes which occur in all oils upon exposure to light and air. It is best diffused by the agency of strong spirits, in which it dissolves, the alcohol or spirit rapidly evaporates, and does not, in the slightest degree, injure the texture of the hair. This preparation for dressing the hair of children or ladies will meet nearly or quite all requirements.

A Preparation of Glycerine and Rose-water Recommended.-A cheap and very good dressing is made by dissolving four ounces of perfectly pure, dense glycerine in twelve ounces of rose-water. Glycerine evaporates only at high temperatures; and therefore, under its influence the hair is retained in a moist condition for a long time.

Relative Value of Other Oil Preparations.-As a class, the vegetable oils are better for the hair than animal oils. They do not become rancid and offensive so rapidly, and they are subject to different and less objectionable chemical changes.

Olive-oil, and that derived from the cocoa-nut, have been largely employed, but they are far inferior, in every respect, to that from the castor-bean.

How to Prevent the Hair from Turning Gray.-The hair may be prevented, generally for a considerable time, from turning gray, by keeping the head cool, and by using occasionally sage tea with a little borax added. With a small sponge apply to every part of the head just before or at the time of dressing the hair.

Washing the Hair with Soda-water, Relieves Headache.—Many persons find speedy relief for nervous headache by washing the hair thoroughly in weak soda-water. I have known severe cases almost wholly cured in ten minutes by this simple remedy. A friend finds it the greatest relief in cases of "rare cold," the cold symptoms entirely leaving the eyes and nose after one thorough washing of the hair. The head should be thoroughly dried afterward, and drafts of air avoided for a little while.

Sudden Changes in the Color of the Hair. -Sudden and severe frights have sometimes so affected the nerves connected with the papillæ at the roots of the hair, as to produce instantaneous changes in the color of the hair. A German medical magazine, now before us, reports two recent cases.

A Remarkable Case in Berlin.-A physician of Berlin, a strong, healthy, and less than middle-aged man, sent his wife and one daughter to spend last summer at a watering-place. The day that he expected a letter informing him of their arrival, there came one saying that his daughter had been taken sick very suddenly, and was already dead. The shock was terri

ble, and instantly his hair became entirely gray. He had to visit some patients that same afternoon, and they scarcely recognized him. Their peculiar actions revealed the change to him.

A Remarkable Case in Rotterdam. —Another case was that of a man thirty-five years old, living in the Netherlands. He was one day passing the canal in Rotterdam, when he saw a child struggling in the water. Не plunged in and brought it to land, but it was already dead by the time he had rescued its body. Bending over to try to restore life, he discovered that the dead child was his own son. The blow, so sudden and unexpected, and coming upon him when he himself was so much exhausted, turned his hair entirely gray, and left him scarcely recognizable.

Sudden Changes of Color without Fright. That eminent savan, Dr. Brown-Séquard, in his Archives de Physiologie, discovered a rapid transi tion in color, on certain portions of his face, while he was in perfect health. After detailing the particulars in the case, he says that, without any appreciable cause, other than that which at a certain age makes the beard turn white, there took place in his case a very rapid change of color, from black to white, in a considerable number of the hairs upon his face. As far as he could ascertain, this change occurred always in the night. He did not examine the whitened hairs with the microscope. He concludes that this experience of his puts beyond a doubt the possibility of a very rapid transformation (probably in less than a night) of black hairs into white.

Utility of Beards.—A recent writer in one of our standard magazines strongly puts the case as follows: There are more solid inducements for wearing the beard than the mere improvement of a man's personal appearance, and the cultivation of such an aid to the every-day diplomacy of life. Nature combining, as she never fails to do, the useful with the ornamental, provides us with a far better respirator than science could ever make, and one that is never so hideous to wear as that black seal upon the face that looks like a passport to the realms of suffering and death. The hair of the moustache not only absorbs the moisture and miasma of the fogs, but it strains the air from the dust and soot of our great cities. It acts, also, in the most scientific manner, by taking heat from the warm breath as it leaves the chest, and supplying it to the cold air taken in. It is not only a respirator, but, with the beard entire, we are provided with a comforter as well; and these are never left at home, like umbrellas, and all such appliances, whenever they are wanted. Moffat and Livingstone, the African explorers, and many other travelers, say that in the night no wrapper can equal the beard. A remarkable thing is, too, that the beard, like the hair of the head, protects against the heat of the sun; but, more than this, it becomes moist with the perspiration, and then, by evaporation, cools the skin.

To Remove Dandruff.-1. Wash the head thoroughly and often with pure soft water, and brush it thoroughly until the hair is dry. 2. The white of an egg rubbed thoroughly into the hair with the fingers, and then washed out with plenty of tepid water, is very good. 3. Borax removes the dandruff quickly and perfectly, but is apt to make the hair dry and stiff. 4. Ammonia, and all other alkalies, should be avoided.

CARE OF THE FEET.

Warm Feet Essential to Health.-Unless the feet be kept warm the circulation of the blood to the extremities is prevented, the whole system becomes deranged, and fever of any kind becomes aggravated as result. A distinguished medical man declares that, as a result of many years' careful observation in a large practice in his profession, he believes a large part of the sickness prevalent in any community is "nearly or remotely the result of cold feet."

How to Cure the Habit of Cold Feet.-The feet should be placed in a basin of cold water every morning for a few seconds, just deep enough to cover the toes; wipe dry, dress, and walk off. Once or twice a week the feet should be held in water, made comfortably warm, for some ten minutes, adding hot water from time to time, using a little soap; if at the end of this bathing at night the feet were placed in a pan of cold water, toe-deep, for less than a quarter of a minute, it would greatly aid in giving tone to the skin, vigor to the circulation, and softness to the skin, and thus do much toward keeping them comfortably warm.

A tablespoonful of chloride of lime in a basin of warm water is an excellent wash for removing foot odor.

How to Sleep with Warm Feet. Before retiring to bed, especially in fire time of year, hold both feet before a blazing fire, stockings removed, for ten minutes at least, rubbing them with the hands all the time until they feel perfectly dry and warm; such a process will warm the feet more effectually in five minutes than can be done in an hour by holding them to the fire with stockings and shoes on.

Waking up with Cold Feet.-Sometimes, without apparent cause, a person will suddenly wake up to the knowledge that his feet are cold, and a disagreeable sensation is caused which pervades the whole body, and the mind and temper become fretful and morose. This is often the case in the very midst of summer. When this is observed you are taking cold, and you should instantly treat the feet to a blazing fire as named above. If this is not practicable, give them a hot foot bath as just directed. In either case

you will not only avert the cold, but you will also experience a feeling of comfortableness which is delightful. This same kind of bath is the speediest and most comfortable means of warming the feet when they are found to be uncomfortably cold after coming in from a walk, or a long day's work.

To Keep the Feet Dry.-Many ways have been devised for rendering the upper leather of shoes impervious to water; a much better plan is to keep out of the water, for whatever will keep water out will also keep the perspiration and ill odor always in. To make leather impervious is to make it board-like, hard, unyielding, and hot as fire of a summer's day; but if it be absolutely necessary at any time to wear a shoe which shall exclude water, the application of castor oil or petroleum with a brush, and then allow it to dry, is perhaps the most familiar, accessible, and facile mode known.

Short and High-heeled Shoes.-Thousands of people lose their natu ral ease and grace of motion, and become stiff and awkward walkers, simply from wearing short-heeled shoes, and thereby losing their natural elasticity of step. Another effect of flattening the arch of the foot is to increase its length, and the foot is often lengthened in this way to the extent of half or three-quarters of an inch. The matter is made still worse by wearing the heels very high, and many a foot has been ruined by this pernicious practice. Short and high-heeled shoes also readily permit the easy turning over of the ankle, and many a strained and weakened ankle is the result of them.

Cause of Chilblains.-These are slight inflammations which occur on the toes and fingers, and sometimes the nose and ears-generally in winter, and where a part has been rapidly heated when it was very cold. They consist of red and swollen patches, sometimes accompanied with blisters, and these, upon breaking, are apt to become ulcerated, and to occasion much annoy

ance.

To Cure Chilblains.-In the simpler forms, some stimulating liniment, such as equal parts of spirit of wine and vinegar, or spirit of camphor, will prove sufficient to cure chilblains, but when ulcerations occur, some stronger remedy will be found necessary.

One very good remedy is to place red-hot coals on a pan, throw a handful of corn meal over them, and hold the suffering feet in the dense smoke.

Severe weather may produce a recurrence of the trouble at intervals, but persistent use of this remedy will prevent it as well as cure it. It has been known to effect very marked cures, where the persons were unusually exposed, and when all other remedies were useless.

A foreign medical journal thinks the cause of chilblains is often due to impoverishment of blood and a languid, weakly condition of the whole system not to be met by any local remedy. Yet there are local applications which sometimes afford relief, if a person can strike on the right one. Turpentine

is to many a great blessing. Glycerine is a good thing to rub into the hands before washing with castile soap and tepid water. Warm vinegar sometimes avails. Kid gloves, lined with wool, are recommended, and, in general, care must be taken to keep the hands and feet from wet and cold. The London Chemist recommends a lotion, which should be used with some caution; liniment of belladonna two drams, liniment of aconite one dram, carbolic acid ten drops, collodion one ounce, to be painted over the surface with a brush. If the skin is broken, the aconite should be left out. This will form a film or varnish which will keep the air out.

How to Prevent and How to Remove Corns.-For prevention of corns use daily friction of cold water between the toes. For their removal, the following suggestions are given :—

1. Hard corns may be carefully picked out by the use of a small, sharppointed scalpel or teuolomy knife, and if well done the cure is often radical, always perfect for the time.

2. They may be equally successfully removed by wearing over them for a few days a small plaster made by melting a piece of stick diachylon and dropping on a piece of white silk. The corn gradually loosens from the adjacent healthy skin, and can be readily pulled or picked out.

3. Soft corns require the use of astringents, such as alum dissolved in white of egg, or the careful application of tincture of iodine.

4. A simple cure for both hard and soft corns, which rarely fails, is a poultice of bread dipped in cider vinegar and applied every night until cured. 5. Lemon juice effects only a temporary cure, unless applied before the corn has gained ground firmly.

6. A large cranberry or raisin split open and bound to the toe is very good. 7. The strongest acetic acid (vinegar) applied night and morning with a camel-hair brush to either soft or hard corns, will remove them in one week's time.

8. The heart of a potato boiled in its skin, placed on a corn and left there for twelve hours will give temporary relief.

9. Apply a good coat of gum-arabic mucilage over them every evening on going to bed

10. Apply castor-oil, after paring closely, every night before going to bed. This softens the corn, and it becomes as the other flesh.

11. Take a little-sweet oil, on getting up in the morning and before retiring at night, and rub it on the corn with the tip of the finger, keeping the corn well pared down. This relieves the friction, which causes corns, and will cure them in a short time.

12. Apply with a brush morning and evening a drop of a solution of the per-chloride of iron. After a fortnight's continued application, without pain, a patient who had suffered martyrdom for nearly forty years, from a most