purpose. The receipts which we have already given as emollients for the skin are suitable for softening the hands and rendering them smooth and delicate. The nails require daily attention: they should be cut every two or three days in an oval form. A piece of flannel is better than a nail-brush to clean them with, as it does not separate the nail from the finger.
When dried, a little pummice-stone, finely powdered, with powdered orris-root, in the proportion of a quarter of a tea-spoonful to a tea-spoonful of the former, mixed together, and rubbed on the nails gently, gives them a fine polish, and removes all inequalities.
A piece of sponge, dipped in oil of roses and emery, may be used for the same purpose.
When the nails are disposed to break, a little oil or cold cream should be applied at night.
Sand-balls are excellent for removing hardness of the hands. Palm soap, Castille soap, and those which are the least perfumed, should always be preferred. Night-gloves are considered to make the hands white and soft, but they are attended with inconvenience, besides being very unwholesome; and the hands may be rendered as white as the nature of the com-