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WAISTBAND, BACK AND FRONT VIEW.

TO BE MADE OF SILK, AND WORN WITH BOTH THICK AND THIN DRESSES.

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In a state of nature, man accustoms himself to a plunge in the nearest pool or sea, and no doubt with great advantage to his health. Almost all animals are subject to the natural washing of the rains of heaven; and to a certain extent the savage has this compulsory means of cleansing his skin. But in our civilized state of society it is rarely that we get even damped by rain, and even a good and healthy perspiration is to some people a not very common mode of getting rid of the superfluous scarf-skin. It becomes, therefore, doubly necessary that we should in some way supply this want of the system, and the best means of doing this must now be examined into.

The skin is not only an investment of the body, mechanically packing up its organs, and protecting them from injury by its smooth and yielding surface, and by its constantly supplied layer of dead scarf-skin; but it is also the seat of an excretory apparatus of no mean importance. This consists of two sets of small glands, one of which is destined to free the blood of a large part of its fluid in the shape of perspiration, while the other secretes an oily matter, which is intended to soften and lubricate the skin. The former of these are extremely minute, and quite beyond the scope of the unassisted eye; but the latter may, in many parts of the body, be readily seen to open upon the surface, and are very frequently full of their peculiar secretion. Both of these sets of glands end in small tubes, and in order to the due discharge of their secretions, they must be kept unclogged. There are said to be more than three thousand perspiratory tubes opening in a square inch of the palm of the hand, and the average for the whole body is little beneath that number, so that a man of ordinary stature has seven millions of small tubes opening upon the surface of his body, besides those destined to secrete oily matter. From these tubes a constant distillation of fluid is taking place, which is insensible in small quantities, but very palpable under unusual degrees of exertion, or external heat. Its object is to regulate the temperature of the body, because in becoming converted into vapor, caloric is rendered dormant, and thus withdraws a large amount from the surface. But in addition to these there are the sebaceous follicles already alluded to, which are distributed more or less closely over the whole surface of the body, being less abundant where the perspiratory openings are most numerous, and vice ers. They are altogether absent in the palms of the hands and the soles of the feet, and abound in the face and scalp, as well as over the shoulders. Where there are hairs the sebaceous follicles and hair-tubes coalesce and emerge together, so that each hair oils itself as it grows, by passing through the course of the follicle, and this oil naturally spreads along the course of the hair.

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purpose of these follicles is clearly to keep the skin soft and free from cracks, to which it would be otherwise liable when exposed to the sun and air, and hence they are very much more abundant in those races of mankind which have been long accustomed to a tropical sun. It is also supposed by many physiologists that this secretion is intended to assist in cleansing the blood; and, I believe, with truth, for it cannot be denied that when the skin is comparatively closed by disease and

neglect of ablution, the health suffers in a certain degree. By mismanagement the skin may be made either to give way too readily, and thus produce exhaustion; or, on the other hand, to refuse to do its natural office, and so cause fever. To promote the proper cleansing of these tubes, and, while allowing of the due amount of secretion, to avoid excessive perspiration, is the office of bathing, the subject of the present article.

Bathing, as a promoter of health, may be either carried out in the open air, or in the house, or it may be confined to a mere ablution of the body. Many people may be met with whose skins have never known the sensation of water, excepting the parts visible to the eye. Hundreds and thousands have never had a bath, and a still greater number only as an exceptional case, when ordered as a part of some plan of medical treatment. Yet it is well known that health depends upon a frequent ablution of the whole body; and, though a bath is the most convenient and complete method of carrying out the process, yet, by means of a sponge or any similar object, it may be effected sufficiently to cleanse the pores. Whether by means of one or the other, this should be done at least two or three times a week, followed by strong friction by means of a coarse towel. In this way the follicles of the whole body are kept clean at their mouths, and by the towels are emptied of any thick matter contained in their extremities, while at the same time the vessels are braced, and are prevented from giving out more than a healthy amount of fluid. This effect is produced by the sponging with cold water; and, in addition, there is the reactionary glow resulting from its contact, and which appears to be a natural process established to keep up an average temperature of the body, but kept in abeyance when by the aid of artificial means it is no longer required. Those who use cold water regularly, either with the sponge or as a bath, are certainly able to bear exposure to the weather much better than without its aid; and this good effect is no doubt dependent upon the regular education of the heat-generating organs, whichever and wherever they may be, so that they are at once ready to act the moment they are called upon; and, almost immediately after the cold water is applied, a red blush appears on the skin, with a development of heat greater than before. Whenever this occurs it may be concluded that bathing or cold ablution is beneficial; and, on the contrary, when it is absent it is not prudent or safe to continue the practice without some experienced person to advise upon the case. Many people who naturally are disinclined to this reaction become gradually accustomed to the cold, so as at last to develop heat as well as their more robust neighbors; but some skins and constitutions can never be made to bear cold with advantage, and are even braced by the use of hot water. This I have known many times; and, in spite of a long and cautiously carried out plan of cold-bathing, they have at last been obliged to give up the attempt, and have recourse to the opposite extreme of hot-baths, or else let their skins remain in a state of impurity. But these are the exceptious to the rule, and cannot be considered as affecting the mass of mankind, though still the fact should be known, lest individuals might be induced to persevere too long in the attempt, from a belief that all ought to be able to bear the shock produced by the contact with cold water. It may be said that such individuals are in a state of disease; but if so, all in this country must be included in the same category, for certainly I have known some who were in all other respects free from any ailment whatever, and yet could never bear the

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contact of cold water, nor could they ever be made to develop heat rapidly after it, as in the ordinary reaction of bathing. In these individuals hot water at a temperature of 105 or 108 degrees is positively bracing, and in some cases I have known it almost as great a panacea as the cold-water cure so much vaunted in the present day. In the use of the cold bath, whether marine or of fresh water, the whole body should, as a rule, be immersed, where the object is to preserve the general health. certain remedial purposes it may be desirable to use local cold; but as a general means of cleansing the skin, and at the same time of bracing it, the better plan is to plunge the whole body beneath the surface for a moment, and as rapidly as possible afterwards emerge from the bath. It is seldom that a continuance longer than for a lew seconds in the water is of service, though in warm weather it is very pleasant, and in many cases does no harm; but that it does no good is equally clear, and, therefore, however pleasant a long-continued bath may be in hot weather, yet it is to be by no means recommended. With regard to domestic bathing in cold water, the sponging-bath is that which is chiefly to be used, as there are few people who can bear immersion in cold water in the house without too great a call upon the powers of the system. Cold sponging produces quite as great a bracing effect, without abstracting too much heat; and it also cleanses the skin quite as well as, or even better than, immersion. When regularly practised, and followed by the use of the rough towel, no soap is needed to cleanse the pores; but if only occasionally employed, this detergent is very useful. Those who take any kind of cold bath should not be slow and languid in their operations, but sponge themselves with briskness, and without delay rub themselves dry. In this way the mere activity of the process aids in generating heat and producing reaction, and avoids the tendency to chill, which is sometimes caused by a neglect of this precaution.

Where hot baths are taken on the principles previously alluded to, the temperature must be raised high enough to produce reaction, and they should not generally be taken just before getting into a warm bed, which will almost always cause excessive perspiration. Those who really benefit from a hot bath find that they feel cold after one in which the temperature is too low; but, if raised to 105 degrees, or even higher still, the skin is stimulated till it is in as great a glow as could be produced in others by a cold affusion; and when this is the case, exposure to cold afterwards is borne with nearly as great impunity as in those who use the cold bath instead, especially if after the hot bath the body is at once fearlessly exposed to a cold atmosphere or to cold water itself. Such is the Russian plan, except that in their baths steam is used instead of hot water: but the effect is the same, and the skin is stimulated exactly by the same action of high heat, though in the shape of steam instead of water. It appears in their plan to render them nearly as insensible to the effects of cold as our cold bathing does us; and there can be no doubt that there is little difference in the amount of heat-generating power produced by the two modes, however different the principles upon which they act.

MISCELLANEOUS COOKING.

To BOIL SALMON.-Salmon is dressed in various ways, but chiefly boiled in large pieces of a few pounds weight. The middle piece is considered, if not the richest, yet the most sightly; then that adjoining the jowl; the tail

part, though nearly as good, being usually kept for cutlets. It requires great attention, and the boiling must be checked more than once. A piece of four to five pounds will take nearly an hour; but if double that weight, will not require more than twenty minutes beyond that time, and if crimped, still less will be sufficient; let it, however, boil quickly in the hardest water, on a strainer placed in a large fish-kettle, and be thoroughly done, for nothing is more un wholesome and disagreeable than fish that is under-cooked. Skim it well, or the color will be bad. The moment it is ready lift up the strainer and rest it across the kettle, that the fish may drain; cover it with a thick cloth.

TO BROIL SALMON.-Cut slices an inch thick; put them into buttered paper and place them on the gridiron; or the paper may be omitted, and the slices broiled upon the gridiron, rubbing the slices with a bit of fresh butter wrapped in gauze; sprinkle freely with salt. They will be done in a few minutes, and should be served as hot as possible.

TO FRY TROUT.-Scale, gut, and clean them; take out the gills, egg and crumb them; then fry in lard or oil until of a light brown. Serve with anchovy sauce and sliced lemon.

BOILED TURKEY.-Fill the body with oysters, and let it boil by steam without any water. When sufficiently done, take it up; strain the gravy that will be found in the pan; thicken it with a little flour and butter, add the liquor of the oysters intended for sauce, also stewed, and warm the oysters up in it; whiten it with a little boiled cream, and pour it over the turkey,

GOOSE.-Scald four or six sage-leaves, according as they are fresh or dry, the fresh ones being the strongest; chop them fine; take one large or two small onions, chop them, and then pour boiling water over them to make them eat mild; mix the sage and onion with rather more than an equal quantity of fine bread-crumbs; season well with pepper and salt; put this inside the body of the goose; roast before a quick fire an hour or more, according to the size of the bird. Geese are sometimes stuffed with potatoes, the whole body being filled with them, either whole or mashed; but it absorbs so much of the gravy as to injure the richness of the bird. Apple-sauce and gravy are sent up with geese in separate

tureens.

TO ROAST PIGEONS.-Scald some parsley, chop it with the livers, mix them with a piece of fresh butter, season with pepper and salt; put a portion inside each pigeon; cover the breast with a slice of bacon fat; roast them; serve with parsley and butter in the dish.

SWEETBREADS STEWED-After blanching, stuff them with a forcemeat of fowl, fat and lean bacon, an anchovy, nutmeg, lemon-peel, parsley, and a very little Cayenne and thyme; when well mixed, add the yolks of two eggs, and fill the sweethreads. Fasten them together with splinter-skewers, and lay them in a pau, with slices of veal over and bacon under them; season with pepper and salt, mace, cloves, herbs, and sliced onion; cover close over the fire ten minutes, then add a quart of broth, and stew gently one hour; take out the sweetbreads, strain and skim the broth, and boil it to half a pint; warm the sweetbreads in it, and serve with lemon round.

VEAL CUTLETS.-Cutlets are cut either from the fillet Some or the neck, but chops are taken from the loin. persons have deprecated the practice of beating meat, but it is essentially necessary in veal cutlets, which

otherwise, especially if merely fried, are very indigesti ble. They should be cut about one-quarter, or, at the most, one-half an inch in thickness, and well beaten; they will then, when fried, taste like sweetbread, be quite as tender, and nearly as rich. Egg them over, dip in bread-crumbs and savory herbs, fry, and serve with aushroom sauce and fried bacon.

Or: Prepare as above, and fry them; lay them in a dish, and keep them hot; dredge a little flour, and put a bit of butter into the pan; brown it, then pour a little boiling water into it, and boil quickly; season with pepper, salt, and catsup, and pour it over them.

TO STEW LAMB.-Put it into a stewpan, with a little il, parsley, chives, and mushrooms, or half a dozen black truffles, either whole or sliced, together with some trenches of bacon. Let it stew gently in any kind of broth, and when thoroughly done take it out, strain the gravy, and serve the joint along with truffles or mushrooms only. To be well done it will require four hours in stewing.

BREAST OF LAMB.-Cut off the thin ends, half boil, then strew with crumbs of bread, pepper, and salt, and serve in a dish of stewed mushrooms.

LEG OF MUTTON BRAISED.-Take a very small leg of mutton, cut off the knuckle, and trim it nicely; half roast it; then put it into a stewpan, with the trimmings, the knuckle-bone broken, a few slices of fat bacon, or two ounces of butter, an onion stuck with cloves, and a bundle of sweet herbs. Shake the stewpan over the fire until there is gravy enough from the meat and the trimmings to stew the mutton, and take care to turn it in the braise. When very tender, take it up, remove the fat from the gravy, strain it, and boil it quickly until it is reduced to a glaze; pour it over the mutton, and serve it up on a purie of vegetables.

CAKES, PUDDINGS, ETC.

TO MAKE A PLAIN PUDDING.-Weigh three-quarters of a pound of odd scraps of bread, whether crust or crumb, ent them small, and pour on them a pint and a half of boiling water, to soak them well. Let it stand till the water is cool; then press it out, and mash the bread smooth with the back of a spoon. Add to it a teaspoonful of beaten ginger, some moist sugar, and three-quarters of a pound of currants. Mix all well together, and lay it in a pan well buttered. Flatten it down with a spon, and lay some pieces of butter on the top. Bake it in a moderate oven, and serve it hot. When cold, it will turn out of the pan, and eat like good plain cheese

cakes.

TO MAKE A TEA-CAKE.-Rub into a quart of dried flour of the finest kind a quarter of a pound of butter; then beat up two eggs with two teaspoonfuls of sifted sugar and two tablespoonfuls of washed brewers' or unwashed distillers' yeast; pour this liquid mixture into the centre of the flour, and add a pint of warm milk as you mix it; beat it up with the hand until it comes off without sticking; set it to rise before the fire, having covered it with a cloth; after it has remained there an hour, make it up into good-sized cakes an inch thick; set them in tin plates to rise before the fire during ten minutes, then bake them in a slow oven. These cakes may be split and buttered hot from the oven, or split, toasted, and buttered after they are cold.

SCOTCH SHORT BREAD-Put two pounds of butter in some warm place over night, where it will gradually

become soft without at the same time melting. Take two quarterns of flour, and mix with it half a pound of loafsugar in powder, and lemon-peel and blanched sweet almonds (in quantities according to taste), cut very fine. Add all these to the butter, and knead the whole till it appears like dough; then add a tablespoonful or two of yeast; again knead it, and roll out into cakes of the proper size and thickness. Ornament the edges with candied lemon and comfits, having previously pricked the edges with a fork.

A PATNA RICE PUDDING.-Wash a quarter of a pound of whole rice, dry it in a cloth, and beat it to a powder. Set it upon the fire with a pint and a half of new milk till it thickens, but do not let it boil; pour it out and let it stand to cool. Add to it some cinnamon, nutmeg, and mace, pounded, sugar to the taste, half a pound of suet, shred very small, and eight eggs, well beaten, with some salt. Put to it either half a pound of currants, clean washed and dried by the fire, or some candied lemon, citron, or orange-peel. Bake it half an hour with a puff crust under it.

BAKED CUSTARD.-Boil and sweeten with fine sugar a piut of milk, another of cream, with a stick of cinnamon and a bit of lemon-peel, fill the cups, and bake for ten minutes.

TO MAKE APPLE FRITTERS.-Take one pint of milk, three eggs, salt just to taste, and as much flour as will make a batter. Beat the yolks and whites separately, add the yolks to the milk, stir in the whites with as much flour as will make a batter, have ready some tender apples, peel them, cut them in slices round the apple, take the core carefully out of the centre of each slice, and to every spoonful of batter lay in a slice of the apple, which must be cut very thin. Fry them in hot lard to a light brown on both sides.

TO MAKE A RICH SEED CAKE.-Take a pound and a quarter of flour, well dried, a pound of butter, a pound of loaf-sugar, beat and sifted, eight eggs, and two ounces of caraway seeds, one grated nutmeg, and its weight in cinnamon. Beat the butter into a cream, put in the sugar, beat the whites of the eggs and the yolks separately, then mix them with the butter and sugar. Beat in the flour, spices, and seed a little before sending it away. Bake it two hours in a quick oven.

TO MAKE RUSKS.-Beat up seven eggs, mix them with half a pint of warm new milk in which a quarter of a pound of butter has been melted, add a quarter of a pint of yeast and three ounces of sugar; put them gradually into as much flour as will make a light paste nearly as thin as batter; let it rise before the fire half an hour, add more flour to make it a little stiffer, work it well, and divide it into small loaves or cakes, about five or six inches wide, and flatten them. When baked and cold, put them in the oven to brown a little. These cakes, when first baked, are very good buttered for tea; if they are made with caraway seeds, they eat very nice cold.

PREPARATIONS OF FOOD FOR INVALIDS.

ONE of the loveliest accomplishments of a lady is to understand how to make the invalid in her family comfortable. Food prepared by the kind hand of a wife, mother, sister, friend, has a sweeter relish than the mere ingredients can give, and a restorative power which money cannot purchase. These receipts will enable the watchful attendant to vary the food as choice or symptoms may render expedient. Jellies and meat broths,

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