Social Life Part 84

The care of the nails, should be strictly limited to the use of the knife or scissors to their free border, and of the ivory presser to their base, to prevent the adhesion of the free margin of the scarf-skin to the surface of the nail and its forward growth upon it.

The edge of scarf-skin should never be pared, nor surface of the nail ever sc.r.a.ped, nor should the nails be cleaned with any instrument whatever except the nail-brush.

There is no rule for the management of the nail of greater importance than that which prescribes the pressing back of the edge of the scarf-skin which forms the boundary of the base of the nail. This margin is naturally adherent to the surface of the nail, and has a tendency to grow forward with it and become ragged and attenuated.

When allowed to do so, the ragged edge is apt to split up into shreds, and these projecting from the surface, are pulled and torn, and often occasion a laceration of the skin and a painful wound. The occurrence of these little shreds, denominated _agnails_, may be effectually prevented by the regular use of the presser once or twice a week. It must be used with gentleness.

The following is said to be an excellent preparation for making the hands white; and as it cannot possibly injure them, we give it a place here. Take as much sc.r.a.ped horseradish as will fill a tablespoon; pour on it half-a-pint of hot milk. Use it before was.h.i.+ng, allowing it to dry on the hands before applying the water. Redness and chapping are sometimes caused by the hands being imperfectly dried. The greatest care should be taken in drying them, more especially in cold weather, and when the hands are exposed to cold winds.

If the hands become rough from any cause, the following may be applied with good effect: Half fill a basin with fine sand and soap-suds, as hot as can be borne. Brush and rub the hands thoroughly with hot sand.

The best is flint sand, or the powered quartz sold for filters. It may be used repeatedly by pouring the water away and adding fresh. Rinse the hands in a warm lather of fine soap, then clean cold water. While they are still wet, put into the palm of each hand a very small piece of almond cream and rub it all over them. This, again, forms a strong lather. After drying the hands, rub them in dry bran or powdered starch till every atom of moisture is absorbed, and finish by dusting off the bran or starch. This will make the hands very soft and smooth.

To Cure Burning of the Skin.

Occasionally the hands and face become red and flushed while the feet are cold. This very uncomfortable state of things may be effectually remedied by bathing the feet in hot water with a tablespoonful of Kretol in it. This will frequently be found an immediate cure for headache, but must not be attempted just before going out in cold or damp weather. A simple remedy is to wash the face and hands in very warm water, as hot as can be borne. This will frequently dispel the burning sensation and induce a cooler condition of the skin.

A slice of raw potato rubbed well into them will remove stains from the fingers and hands. Lemon juice is also effective in this way, and, if not used immoderately, may be applied without fear of evil consequences. For chapped hands and lips the following will be found efficacious: Equal quant.i.ties of white wax (wax candle) and sweet oil; dissolve in these a small piece of camphor; put it in a jam crock, and place it upon the hob till melted. It must be kept closely covered. It should be applied to the hands after was.h.i.+ng, and previous to drying them.

A few drops of glycerine poured into the palms of the hands after was.h.i.+ng, and rubbed all over them before drying with a towel, is perhaps the best and simplest remedy for chapping; but if good soap is always used, and the hands well dried and protected by warm gloves against the cold, the chapping will be prevented, which is preferable to the very best cures.

Remedy for Chilblains.

Chilblains may be cured very speedily by rubbing into them morning and evening as much spirits of turpentine as they will absorb. This must not be applied to broken chilblains, but if taken in time it will prevent their breaking. The water in which potatoes have been boiled is an excellent remedy for chilblains on feet or hands. These members should be put into the water while it is as hot as can be borne. The same specific applies equally to what are called "whitlows," or "felons" a gathering in the region of the finger-nail that is extremely painful, and to which some are const.i.tutionally liable.

When the feet are large, the owners should never be tempted into wearing any but the very plainest boots and shoes. Ornamentation of any kind makes the foot look larger. Even a pretty foot looks its best in a perfectly plain satin slipper, with only a small rosette with buckle on the toe. This rosette must not, however, be permitted to the large foot. It may, certainly, be worn on the place intended for the instep, when that ornamental rise in the outline of the foot is totally absent. Lines of white st.i.tching on the boot make it look larger than it really is. The best boot for a large foot is one in which the toe-cap comes well up on the foot. Its lines are thus broken up, and the apparent length diminished. A pretty foot, on the contrary, looks better in a boot that has no toe-cap, the "upper" of which is made all in one. This displays to advantage the beautiful outline of the foot, and the gentle but decided curve of the instep.

The possessors of large feet should be particularly careful to have their boots perfectly cleaned and very glossy. The feet look much smaller when this is the case than when the boot has a rim of mud around the sole and a shadow of dust upon the uppers. Where the instep is defective or totally absent, a pretence at one may be made by blacking that portion of the sole of the foot that is immediately adjacent to the heel. This causes a kind of optical illusion which is favorable to the flat-footed.

Patent leather is a most objectionable material for wearing upon the feet. Through it ventilation is absolutely impossible. So much for the sanitary part of the subject; and as to convenience, this is as much in the shade as sanitation, for patent leather "draws" the feet much more than any other kind. Of late, ladies and children have begun to borrow this material from gentlemen, but as much smaller shoes can be worn with comfort in any other kind of leather, it is not likely to become universally popular. Large feet should never be clad in satin.

Foot-Wear.

The fit of the stocking is almost as essential to the perfection of the foot as that of the boot or the shoe itself. It should be large enough to allow freedom to the toes, and not so large as to wrinkle on the foot. In a well-fitting stocking the foot can be more accurately measured than otherwise, and the comfort of the foot is sadly impeded by an ill-fitting one.

The feet should be bathed every morning, and for those who walk much, a daily change of stockings is advisable. This daily change is more than advisable, it is necessary, for persons who suffer from perspiring feet. Regular was.h.i.+ng of the feet preserves their strength and elasticity, and helps to keep them in shape. At least once a week they should be washed in hot water, with plenty of soap, rubbing them with a ball of sandstone, which will be found a very useful article for toilet purposes, also a tablespoonful of Kretol in the water. The nails should then be carefully pared, and, in drying the feet, much friction should be used in order to stimulate the skin to healthy action.

When corns appear, they may be accepted with resignation as lifelong acquaintances. Seldom, indeed, do they quit the victim, who has invited them by ill-advised pinchings and squeezings. All that one can do is to keep them under control by constant care. The treatment recommended is the same as that used for warts--viz., to pare the hard and dry skin from the tops, and then touch them with the smallest drop of acetic acid, taking care that the acid does not run off the wart upon the neighboring skin, which would occasion inflammation and much pain. This should be done once or twice a day with regularity.

We should, no doubt, easily get rid of all our corns if we could make up our minds to do without shoes, or even to wear them of such a large size as would prevent all pressure upon the corn. This disagreeable effect results quite as often from badly made boots as from injudiciously tight ones.

There is a particular knack to be observed in paring a corn. It should be cut in such a manner as to excavate the center, while the hardened sides are left to protect the more sensitive portion against the pressure of the boot. When the corn is small and yet young, the best application is a piece of soft buff-leather spread with adhesive plaster and pierced in the center with a hole of exactly the size of the summit of the corn. There are two varieties of corn, the hard and the soft. The latter occurs between the toes, and is quite as painful as, and less easily guarded against, than the hard variety.