a little
adroitness, may be plunged to the bottom of the basin without becoming
wet.

Excessive moisture or perspiration of the hands without obvious cause
is generally indicative of debility, or disordered stomach, and
requires corresponding treatment. Frequently washing the hands in
moderately cold water often proves a local remedy for the
inconvenience. The addition of a few grains of alum, sal ammoniac, or
sulphate of zinc, or of a teaspoonful of vinegar, to the water greatly
increases its efficacy. Extremely delicate and susceptible persons
cannot always bear the excessive perspiration of their hands to be
thus suddenly lessened, and therefore some discretion should be
exercised by them in their attempts to check it.

=The Finger Nails= require special attention if we desire to preserve
them in their highest condition of beauty and usefulness. To keep them
clean, the nailbrush and soap and water should be used once or oftener
daily, as circumstances demand. Once a day at least, on wiping the
hands after washing them, and whilst they are still soft from the
action of the water, the free edge of the scarfskin, which, if not
attended to, is apt to grow upward over the nails, should be gently
loosened and pressed back in a neatly rounded form, by which the
occurrence of cracks and sores about their roots (agnails, nail
springs, etc.) will be prevented, and a graceful, oval form, ending in
a crescentlike space of white, will be ensured. The skin, as a rule,
should never be cut, pared, picked or torn off, as is commonly done,
and the less it is meddled with, otherwise than in the way just
mentioned, the better. The ends or points of the nails should be pared
once every week or ten days, according to the rapidity of their
growth, which somewhat varies with the season of the year and the
habit of the individual. This is best done with a sharp penknife or
nail-knife. Scissors are less convenient for the purpose, and have the
disadvantage of straining and distorting the nails during the process.

The length and shape of the nails, both for beauty and use, should
exactly correspond with the tips of the fingers. Nails extending
beyond the ends of the fingers are vulgar, clawlike, and inconvenient;
whilst if shorter, particularly much shorter than the fingers, they
are unsightly and of little use, and cause the tips of the fingers to
become thick and clumsy. Biting the nails should be avoided as a dirty
and disagreeable hab