are represented as having the power of removing hair. But the hair is not destroyed by these means-the root and that part of the shaft implanted within the skin still remain, and are ready to shoot up with increased vigor as soon as the depilatory is withdrawn. The effect of the depilatory is the same, in this respect, as that of a razor, and the latter is, unquestionably, the better remedy. It must not, however, be imagined that depilatories are negative remedies, and that, if they do no permanent good, they are, at least, harmless; that is not the fact; they are violent irritants, and require to be used with the utmost caution. After all, the safest depilatory is a pair of tweezers, and patience."

To Clean Hair Brushes. As hot water and soap very soon soften the hair, and rubbing completes its destruction, use soda, dissolved in cold water, instead; soda having an affinity for grease, it cleans the brush with little friction. Do not set them near the fire, nor in the sun, to dry, but after shaking them well, set them on the point of the handle in a shady place; or wash them in a mixture of one part hartshorn and two parts water; this will clean them well and stiffen the bristles.

How to Take Care of your Hat. 1. Should you get caught in a shower, always remember to brush your hat well while wet. When dry, brush the glaze out, and gently iron it over with a smooth flat iron. 2. If your hat is VERY wet, or stained with sea water, get a basin of clean cold water, and a good stiff brush; wash it well all over, but be careful to keep the nap straight; brush it as dry as you can, then put it on a peg to dry. When dry, brush the glaze out, and gently iron it over as above. 3. Should you get a spot of grease on your hat, just drop one drop of benzine on the place, and then rub it briskly with a piece of cloth until out. 4. Should you be travelling, always tie your hat up in your Irandkerchief before putting it into your case; this will save it from get

ting rubbed or damaged through the friction of the rail or steamboat. 5. Never put your hat flat on the brim, as it will spoil its shape; but always hang it up on a peg. 6. Never put your hat, wet or dry, in front of the fire, as it will soften it, and throw it all out of shape. 7. Before putting your hat down, be careful to see if the place is free from spots of grease, beer, sugar, etc., as these things often spoil a good hat more than a twelvemonths' wear, and are often very difficult to remove. These simple rules will save a good hat for a very long time.

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The Management of the FingerNails. The correct management of the nails is to cut them of an oval shape, corresponding with the shape of the fingers. Never allow them to grow too long, as it makes it difficult to keep them clean; nor too short, as it causes the tips of the fingers to become flattened, and enlarged, and turn upwards, which gives the hand an awkward appearance. The skin which grows in a semicircle on the top of the. nail requires much attention, as it is often drawn on with its growth, dragging the skin below the nail so tight as to cause it to divide into what are termed agnails. This is to be prevented by separating the skin from the nail by a blunt half-circular instrument. Many persons cut this pellicle, which causes it to grow very thick and uneven, and sometimes damages the growth of the nail. It is also injurious to prick under the nail with a pin, or penknife, or point of the scissors. The nails should be scrubbed with a brush not too hard, and the semicircular flesh pressed back with the towel without touching the quick. This method, if pursued daily, will keep the nails in proper order. When the nails are badly formed or ill-shaped, the ridges or fibres should be scraped and rubbed with a lemon, and well dried afterwards; but if the nails are very thin, the above remedy will not do them any good, but might cause them to split.

The Hands. Take a wineglassful

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of eau-de-Cologne, and another of lemon-juice; then scrape two cakes of brown Windsor soap to a powder, and mix well in a mould. When hard, it will be an excellent soap for whitening the hands.

To Whiten the Nails. Diluted sulphuric acid, two drams; tincture of myrrh, one dram; spring water, four ounces: mix. First cleanse with white soap, and then dip the fingers into the mixture. A delicate hand is one of the chief points of beauty; and these applications are really effective. STAINS may be removed from the hands by washing them in a small quantity of oil of vitriol and cold water without soap.

To Preserve the Hands Dry for Delicate Work. Take club moss (lycopodium) in fine powder and rub a little over the hands.

Feet Wash. The feet of some persons naturally evolve a disagree able odor. Wash them in warm water, to which a little hydrochloric acid or chloride of lime has been added.

GARTERS, by the pressure which they exert, retard the passage of the arterial blood to the feet and prevent its return, giving rise to cold feet and congestion of the head or some internal organ. They frequently occasion enlargement of the veins. Garters should be abolished. The stockings can be attached to the drawers, or kept in place by various other methods. Tight

boots and shoes are another almost universal mode of applying pressure, resulting in deformed feet, corns, bunions, etc. It also prevents the circulation of the blood, and is another cause of cold feet. Shoes should be made to fit the feet, and not the feet made to fit the fashionable shape of the shoe, and should be large enough to allow the free circulation of the blood.

Woollen Wristlets. A pair of warm wool wristlets is about equal to an additional garment for keeping the whole body warm. The blood which the heart pumps into the arteries with each beat comes very near the surface

wherever you can feel the pulse beating, as at the wrists. Keep these warm and the whole circulation is favorably affected.

As a

Blistered Hands and Feet. remedy against blistering of hands in rowing, or fishing, etc.,or of feet in walking, the quickest is, lighting a tallow candle, and letting the tallow drop into cold water (to purify it, it is said, from salt), then rubbing the tallow to the hands or feet, mixed with brandy or any other strong spirits. For mere tenderness nothing is better than the above, or vinegar a little diluted with water.

Fitting Boots and Shoes to the Feet. Whenever one procures a pair

of new boots or shoes which do not fit the feet uniformly, let the part or parts of the upper leather which set uncomfortably tight be thoroughly saturated with hot water while the boots are on the feet; then let them be worn until the leather has become quite dry. If by wetting once the upper leather does not stretch so as to accommodate itself to the formation of the feet, let the process be repeated. In some instances it will be well to wet all the upper leather. But let it be remembered

that if boots or shoes are allowed to dry when not on one's feet, the leather will shrink so that it will sometimes be impracticable to get them on the feet until the leather has been wetted and stretched,

When one has a pair of rather heavy boots, before the leather is oiled or blacked, let the upper part be soaked for a few minutes in warm water, then let the boots be worn until the leather has become quite dry, after which oil and black them, and they will fit the feet far more satisfactorily than they can ever be made to fit without wetting and drying while they are being worn. To prevent the soles from shrinking they should be well saturated with linseed oil before they are worn. If this is not done, they will sometimes shrink half an inch in length; this ses counts for boots becoming too short for the feet.

The Science of Blacking Your

Boots. By a Member of the Bootblack Brigade. -Don't do it in the sunshine, for it won't shine your boots. The warmth dries the blacking rapidly and prevents a good polish. Boots, to retain their polish, should be taken off the feet and allowed to become dry before polishing, and when this process is completed, they ought not to be worn until the moisture in the polish has evaporated. If they are worn immediately the heat from the foot will force the moisture out through the polish, and cause it to assume a dull appearance.

Care for the Feet. Many are careless in the keeping of the feet. If they wash them once a week they think they are doing well. They do not consider that the largest pores of the system are located in the bottom of the foot, and that the most offensive matter is discharged through the pores. They wear stockings from the beginning to the end of the week without change, which will become completely saturated with offensive matter. Ill health is generated by such treatment of the feet. The pores are not only repellants, but absorbents, and this fetid matter, to a greater or less extent, is taken back into the system. The feet should be washed every day with pure water only, as well as the arm-pits, from which an offensive odor is also emitted, unless daily ablution is practiced. Stockings should not be worn more than a day or two at a time. They may be worn for one day, and then aired and sunned and worn another day, if necessary. If you have cold feet, immerse them morning and evening in cold water, rub with a rough towel, and run about your room till they warm. In one month you will be entirely relieved. All these red pepper and mustard applications are like rum to the stomach, relieve you to-day, but leave you colder tomorrow. But if cold feet proceed from moisture (perspiration), cotton stock ings should be worn over woollen ones. The woollen stockings will absorb the moisture as it accumulates in the cot

ton sock, and keep the latter comparatively dry.

Effect of Flannel on the Skin. Dr. Fox remarks that under the use of flannel, local heat is intensified, and itching often increased and kept up. He gives us a practical rule: "Whenever you have a congestive state of the skin, or any disposition to neurosis, take off the flannel and place it, if necessary, outside the linen; this will prevent any catching cold.",

Why Run up Stairs? We do not run in the street, nor in the park or garden. Why then run up stairs, and then complain that the stairs are so high? It is difficult to answer this question; nevertheless, American people generally do run up stairs, while foreigners are well satisfied with walking up. Servants frequently complain of the height of the stairs, and leave their places in consequence. Houses of six and eight stories are now built in American cities as they are in Paris and Edinburgh. Now, there is really but little more difficulty in ascending several flights of stairs than there is in walking a straight line, provided we take sufficient time to do it, which should be about twice as long as we should be in walking the same distance in the street. Walk up stairs slowly, rest at each landing, again walk steadily, and you will reach the top flight without exhaustion or fatigue.

RAZORS. Engineers, as a class, were the first to head the modern "beard movement" in this country; but many may like to read the following extract from a little work by Mr. Kingsbury, a practical razor-maker:"The edge of a razor, a penknife, and every other very keen instrument, consists of a great number of minute points, commonly called teeth, which, if the instrument is in itself good, and in good condition, follow each other through its whole extent with great order and closeness, and constitute, by their unbroken regularity, its excessive keenness. The edge of such an instrument acts on the beard, the skin, or anything else, not so much by the

direct application of weight or force, as being drawn, even slightly, along it; because by this operation the fine teeth of which it consists pass in quick succession, in the same direction, and over the same part of the substance. My readers will be convinced of this if they will make the following experiment on their glove or their hand, as they like best: Let them hold the razor either perpendicularly or obliquely, and press on it with some considerable force in a direct line from right to left, and they will have no great reason to fear the consequences. But let them move it from that directionlet them draw it toward them, or push it from them, in the smallest degree, in the gentlest manner, and it will instantly make an incision. When they have made this experiment, they will be convinced of the truth of what I have asserted, namely, that in the operation of shaving, very little weight and even very little force are necessary." Hence it follows that the best razor will have the teeth of its edge set almost as regularly as a good saw, and that the best test in buying a razor is to examine the edge by means of a strong magnifying-glass. This also explains the good effect on the keenness of a razor caused by dipping it in hot water, which necessarily clears the edges of any small clogging substances.

Removing a Tight Finger Ring. It is seldom necessary to file off a ring which is too tight to readily pass the joint of the finger. If the finger is swollen, apply cold water to reduce the inflammation, then wrap a small rag wet in hot water around the ring, to expand the metal, and soap the finger. A needle threaded with strong silk can then be passed between the ring and finger, and a person holding the two ends, and pulling the silk while slowly sliding it around the periphery of the ring, may readily remove the ring. If the ring is a plain hoop, this process is easy; if it has a setting or protuberance, more care will be required. Another method

is to pass a piece of sewing silk under the ring, and wind the thread, in pretty close spirals, and snugly, around the tinger to the end. Then take the lower end- that below the ring -- and begin unwinding. The ring is certain to be removed, unless the silk is very weak. The winding compresses the finger, and renders the operation less difficult.

How to Take Care of your Watch. - In the first place, see that the key is well fitted, and do not carry it in your pocket, but keep it in some place where dirt or dust will not reach it, or the dirt will soon find its way into the watch, and injure it. Wind it slowly, and at the same time every day (a good plan is to keep the key hanging in the chamber, and wind the watch every night on going to bed). Do not let the watch lie on its back, but hang it up in the same position it is carried in the pocket. Do not hang it against a wall, or other hard surface, or the jar will soon spoil the watch. Heat expands and cold contracts all metals,a watch should, therefore, be kept at an equal temperature. When carried in the pocket, it is in a moderately warm place; it should therefore be hung up in a moderately warm place when not worn. Do not move the hands of a chronometer or duplex watch backward; in fact, it is best not to turn the hands of any watch backward, or forward either, to any extent; it had better be allowed to run down, and then wind it up at the time indicated on its face. If a watch runs too slow, take it into a warm, dry room, free from dust, open it carefully, and move the regulator a trifle toward the place where marked FAST. If it runs too fast, move it a little to where marked SLOW. Move it as gently as possible, and a little at a time, for it is better to have to re-move it three times in one direction, than to move it too far, and have to re-move it back. The less a watch is opened the better. In fact, a good rule with a watch is to "let it alone as much as possible." The above rules being attended to, and

the watch cleaned once in three years, by a good watchmaker, you will have a good watch for life, if it was a good new one when you first received it.

Teeth Set on Edge.- All acid foods, drinks, medicines, and tooth washes and powders are very injurious to the teeth. If a tooth is put in cider, vinegar, lemonjuice, or tartaric acid, in a few hours the enamel will be completely destroyed, so that it can be removed by the finger nail as if it were chalk. Most people have experienced what is commonly called teeth set on edge. The explanation of it is, the acid of the fruit that has been eaten has so far softened the enamel of the tooth that the least pressure is felt by the exceedingly small nerves which pervade the thin membrane which connects the enamel and the bony part of the tooth. Such an effect cannot be produced without injuring the enamel. True, it will become hard again, when the acid has been removed by the fluids of the mouth, just as an egg-shell that has been softened in this way becomes hard again by being put in the water. When the effect of sour fruit on the teeth subsides, they feel as well as ever, but they are not as well. And the oftener it is repeated, the sooner the disastrous consequences will be manifested.

Effect of Tobacco upon Pulsation. -Dr. A. Smith states that tobaccosmoking increases the rate of pulsation in some persons and decreases it in others, hence there is a diversity in the action of tobacco upon different constitutions. He experimented with tobacco upon Dr. Dale, at Scarborough, and found that the effect of tobacco upon him was as follows:-During the first six minutes of smoking there was only an increase in the beat of his pulse of four beats per second, but after that there was a steady increase, and after smoking twenty-one minutes the beats increased to thirty-seven and a half per minute. After smoking had ceased, the pulsations rapidly decreased. Dr. Smith states that tobacco-smoking acts as a stimulant like alcohol upon those persons whose pulse is excited. When

the body is of full habit, the use of tobacco, he believes, leads to disturbed sleep, and in some cases may end in apoplexy.

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BATHING.-If to preserve health be to save medical expenses, without even reckoning upon time and comfort, there is no part of the household arrangement so important to the domestic economist as cheap convenience for personal ablution. For this purpose baths upon a large and expensive scale are by no means necessary; but though temporary or tin baths may be extremely useful upon pressing occasions, it will be found to be finally as cheap, and much readily convenient, to have a permanent bath constructed, which may be done in any dwelling-house of moderate size, without interfering with other general purposes. As the object of these remarks is not to present essays, but merely useful economic hints, it is unnecessary to expatiate upon the architectural arrangement of the bath, or, more properly speaking, the bathing-place, which may be fitted up for the most retired establishment, differing in size or shape agreeably to the spare room that may be appropriated to it, and serving to exercise both the fancy and the judgment in its preparation. Nor is it particularly necessary to notice the salubrious effects resulting from the bath, beyond the two points of its being so conducive to both health and cleanliness, in keeping up a free circulation of the blood, without any violent muscular exertion, thereby really affording a saving of strength, and producing its effects without any expense either to the body or to the purse.

WHOEVER FITS UP A BATH in a house already built must be guided by circumstances; but it will always be proper to place it as near the kitchen fireplace as possible, because from thence it may be heated, or at least have its temperature preserved, by means of hot air through tubes, or by steam prepared by the culinary fireplace, without interfering with its ordinary uses.