The Ladies Book of Useful Information Part 7

=Excellent Hair Wash.=-Take one ounce of borax, half an ounce of camphor; powder these ingredients very fine and dissolve them in one quart boiling water. When cool the solution will be ready for use.

Dampen the hair frequently. This wash effectually cleanses, beautifies, and strengthens the hair, preserves the color, and prevents early baldness. The camphor will form into lumps after being dissolved, but the water will be sufficiently impregnated.

=To Cure Baldness.=-Cologne water, two ounces; tincture of cantharides, two drams; oil of lavender or rosemary, of each ten drops. These applications must be used twice a day for three or four weeks, but if the scalp becomes sore they may be discontinued for a time or used at longer intervals.

When the hair falls off, from diminished action of the scalp, preparations of cantharides are excellent. The following will cause the hair to grow faster than any other preparation: Beef marrow (soaked in several waters, melted and strained), half a pound; tincture cantharides (made by soaking for a week one dram of powdered cantharides in one ounce of proof spirit), one ounce; oil of bergamot, twelve drops.

=Stimulants for the Hair.=-Vinegar and water form a good wash for the roots of the hair. A solution of ammonia is often used with good effect for the same purpose. For removing scurf, glycerine diluted with a little rose-water will be found of service. Any preparation of rosemary forms an agreeable and highly cleansing wash. The yolk of an egg beaten up in warm water is a most nutritious application to the scalp. A very good application is made in this way: Take an ounce of powdered borax and a small piece of camphor and dissolve in a quart of boiling water. The hair must afterwards be washed in warm water. Many heads of hair require nothing more in the way of wash than soap and water. The following recipe will strengthen the hair and prevent its falling out: Vinegar of cantharides, half an ounce; eau de cologne, one ounce; rose-water, one ounce. The scalp should be brushed briskly until it becomes red, and the lotion should then be applied to the roots of the hair twice a day.

=The Golden Hair Secret.=-The rage for light, gold color, or even red hair, which has prevailed for some time, has led to various expedients for procuring it. Many ladies have sacrificed fine heads of hair, and in place of their own dark tresses have adopted light wigs; but the prevailing absurdity has been the use of strong alkalies for the purpose of turning dark hair light. This is the purpose of the ausicomus fluid, which may be procured of any hairdresser; but we warn our fair readers that the use of these products is apt to be disappointing. They certainly will turn black to a brick-dust hue, but the color is often disagreeable. It is apt to present itself in patches in different hues, and the effect on the hair is terrible-it often rots and crumbles away. In place of this absurd practice, we recommend the following as available for trying the effect for dress purpose: Procure a packet of gold powder of the hairdresser. Have ready a very weak solution of gum and water, and one of the small perfume vaporizers now in use. When the hair has been dressed, sprinkle it with gum and water by means of the vaporizer and then shower on the gold powder. It may be put on thick enough to hide the color of the hair, and owing to the gum it cannot be danced off. The effect by artificial light is beautiful.

=For Keeping the Hair Crimped or Curled in Summer.=-A quarter of an ounce of gum tragacanth, one pint rose-water, and five drops of glycerine; mix and let stand over night. If the tragacanth is not dissolved, let it remain half a day longer; if it is thick add more rose-water and let it remain for some hours. If then it is a smooth solution, nearly as thin as glycerine, it is fit for use. Dampen the hair before crimping or curling.

=To Bleach the Hair.=-It has been found in the bleaching of hair that gaseous chlorine is the most effectual. The hair should be cleaned for that purpose by a warm solution of soda and washed afterwards with water. While moist it is put into a jar with chlorine gas introduced until the air in the jar looks greenish. Allow it to remain on for twenty-four hours, and then, if necessary, repeat the operation.

=A New French Remedy for Baldness.=-Croton oil, one of the best French remedies for baldness, is employed by simply adding to it oil or pomade, and stirring or agitating the two together until admixture or solution is complete. The formula adopted by the eminent French physician who introduced this remedy, and who speaks in the most confident and enthusiastic way of the success attending its use, is: Take croton oil, twelve drops (minims); oil of almonds, four troy grains. Mix. A little is to be well rubbed on the scalp twice a day.

Soft down, we are a.s.sured, appears in three weeks.

=For Improving the Hair.=-_Palma Christi oil for thickening the hair_: Take one ounce of Palma Christi oil, add oil of lavender or bergamot to scent it. Let it be well brushed into the hair for two or three months, particularly applying it to those parts where it may be most desirable to render the hair luxuriant. This is a simple and valuable oil, and not in the hands of any monopolist.

=To Dye the Hair Flaxen.=-We have heard the following is effective: Take a quart of lye prepared from the ashes of vine twigs, briony, celandine roots, and tumeric, of each half an ounce; saffron and lily roots, of each two drams; flowers of mullein, yellow stechas, broom, and St. John's wort, of each a dram. Boil these together and strain off the liquor clear. Frequently wash the hair with the fluid, and it will change it, we are told, in a short time to a beautiful flaxen color.

=A Powder for Preserving the Hair.=-The following powder has the name of facilitating the regeneration of the hair and strengthening its roots. Still more valuable properties have been ascribed to it, such as that of rousing the imagination to vigorous efforts and strengthening the memory-delightful properties if they could be realized by such simple means. Take an ounce and a half of red roses; a small quant.i.ty each of calamus aromaticus (sweet-scented flag), and of the long cyperus; an ounce of benzoin; six drams of aloes (the wood of); half an ounce of red coral, and the same quant.i.ty of amber; four ounces of bean flour; and eight ounces of the root of Florentine iris.

Let the whole be mixed together and reduced to a very fine powder, to which add a few grains of musk. This powder is to be sprinkled on the hair in the same manner as hair powder is generally used, and, having remained for a time embedded with the hair, to be removed by means of comb and brush; and to be occasionally applied and removed. It is said to regenerate the hair and strengthen the roots, and to possess the properties which are above enumerated.

=To Make the Hair Grow and to Prevent It from Falling.=-The following recipes are selected from a work published some years ago in Paris, ent.i.tled "Manuel Cosmetique des Plantes":-

Take the roots of young vines, the roots of hemp, and young cabbages, of each two handfuls. Dry, and then burn them. Make afterwards a lye with the ashes. Before the head is washed with this lye it must be rubbed with honey, and continue both for three successive days. This will not only make the hair grow, but restore it upon bald places, under certain habits and const.i.tutions of body. Pulverize some parsley seed, and use it as hair powder for three nights at the commencement of the year, and it will prevent your hair from falling.

=To Make the Hair Grow Quick.=-Dip, every morning, the teeth of your comb in the juice of nettles, and comb the hair against the grain.

=Mixture for Shampoo.=-Bay rum, one pint; tincture of cantharides, one dram; carbonate of ammonia, one half dram; salts tartar, one half dram. Mix.

=To Prevent the Hair Falling Out.=-Boxwood shavings, six ounces; proof spirit, twelve ounces; spirits of rosemary, two ounces; spirits of nutmeg, one half ounce. Mix.

=Wash for Scald Heads.=-Take one half ounce of sulphate of pota.s.sa, one pint of lime water, one ounce of soap liniment. Mix, and apply to the head two or three times a day.

POWDERS AND THEIR USES.

The powders usually sold by druggists are injurious to the complexion, owing to harmful ingredients. If a powder is perfectly pure, a moderate use of it will not harm the complexion, but if it is impure it soon causes the face to turn sallow and yellow. The following is perfectly pure, and is a splendid article, giving a lovely, refined complexion:-

=Boston Burnet Powder for the Face.=-Five cents' worth of bay rum, five cents' worth of magnesia snowflake, five cents' worth of bergamot, five cents' worth oil of lemon; mix in a pint bottle and fill up with rain water. Perfectly harmless, and splendid.

=Queen Bess Complexion Wash.=-Put in a vial one dram of benzoin gum in powder, one dram nutmeg oil, six drops of orange-blossom tea or apple blossoms; put in half a pint of rain water, and boiled down to a spoonful, and strained; one-pint of sherry wine. Bathe the face morning and night; it will remove all flesh-worms and freckles, and give a beautiful complexion. Or, put one ounce of powdered gum benzoin in a pint of whisky. To use: Put in water in washbowl till it is milky.

FLESH-WORMS-TO CURE.

Black specks on the nose disfigure the face. Remove by washing thoroughly in tepid water, rubbing with a towel, and applying with a soft flannel a lotion made of three ounces of cologne and half an ounce of liquor of potash.

TO WHITEN THE SKIN AND REMOVE FRECKLES AND TAN.

Bathe three times a day in a preparation of three quarts water, one quart alcohol, two ounces of cologne and one of borax, in proportion of two teaspoons mixture to two tablespoons soft water.

CHAPTER II.

TREATING OF MISCELLANEOUS MATTERS.

=The Human Temperaments.=-By these are meant certain types, forms or conformations of the human body, each known and distinguished from the other by certain characteristics, which enable those who are familiar with these peculiarities to readily distinguish one temperament from the others. The existence of the temperaments is believed to depend upon the development of certain parts or systems in the body, and each is accompanied by different degrees of activity of the brain, and corresponding difference in the talents and manifestations of the individual. They are four in number, viz.: Nervous, Sanguine, Bilious, and Lymphatic. When the brain and nerves are predominant, it is termed the _nervous_ temperament; if the lungs and blood vessels const.i.tutionally predominate, the _sanguine_; if the muscular and fibrous systems are in the ascendency, the _bilious_; and when the glands and a.s.similating organs are in the ascendency, it is termed the _lymphatic_ or _phlegmatic_.

First: The nervous is indicated by fine, thin hair, small muscles, thin skin, pale countenance, brilliant eyes, with great quickness and sensitiveness to impressions, and is really the mental or intellectual temperament.

Second: The sanguine is known by a stout, well-defined form, a full face, florid complexion, moderate plumpness, firm flesh, chestnut or sandy hair, and blue eyes. This is the tough, hardy, working temperament, excessively fond of exercise and activity, and a great aversion to muscular quiescence and inactivity, and consequently averse to books and close literary pursuits.

Third: The bilious is indicated by a thin, spare face, dark skin, black hair, firm flesh, moderate stoutness, with rough, harsh, and strongly marked features. This temperament gives great will, elasticity, and powers of endurance, and, when combined with the nervous, is the great, efficient, moving temperament in the great events of the world.

Fourth: The lymphatic is indicated by paleness, roundness of the form, softness of muscle, fair hair, sleepy, half-closed eyes, and a dull, sluggish, inexpressive face. In this temperament the brain and all other parts of the body appear to be slow, dull, and languid, and the whole body little else than one great manufactory of fat. These temperaments, however, are rarely found pure, but mixed or blended in an almost endless variety of ways, producing the ever-varying peculiarities of human character and intellect.

THE FORTUNATE AND UNFORTUNATE DAYS OF EACH MONTH.

FORTUNATE.

In January, six days-the 1st, 2nd, 15th, 26th, 27th, and 28th.

In February, four days-the 11th, 21st, 25th, and 26th.

In March, two days-the 10th and 24th.

In April, five days-the 6th, 15th, 16th, 20th, and 28th.

In May, three days-the 3rd, 18th, and 31st.

In June, five days-the 10th, 11th, 15th, 22nd, and 25th.

In July, three days-the 9th, 15th, and 28th.

In August, six days-the 6th, 7th, 10th, 11th, 19th, and 25th.

In September, five days-the 4th, 8th, 17th, 18th, and 23rd.

In October, five days-the 3rd, 7th, 16th, 21st, and 22nd.

In November, three days-the 5th, 14th, and 20th.

In December, six days-the 15th, 19th, 20th, 22nd, 23rd, and 25th.

UNFORTUNATE.

In January, seven days-the 3rd, 4th, 6th, 13th, 14th, 20th, and 21st.

In February, seven days-the 3rd, 7th, 9th, 12th, 16th, 17th, and 23rd.

In March, eight days-the 1st, 2nd, 5th, 8th, 12th, 16th, 28th, and 29th.

In April, two days-the 24th and 25th.

In May, five days-the 17th, 20th, 27th, 29th, and 30th.