mes a rare and beautiful back, between the two rows
of teeth that once were, is nearly all that is left of the once perfect
comb. Many combs of ivory, however, carved all over with exquisite
miniatures, have been preserved, and the scenes upon them have been
incidents of the chase, classic love scenes, and sometimes reproductions
in picture form of well-known biblical scenes, not always of the most
delicately chosen subjects.

Not long ago a very remarkable gold comb of first-century workmanship
was found near the village of Znamenka, in Southern Russia, where
excavations in a burial mound had brought to light the tomb of a
Scythian king, whose head was adorned with this beautiful comb. The
upper portion represented a combat between three warriors, one mounted
on a charger. That comb, however, should be classed among "dress" combs
rather than dressing combs.

The ivory combs for combing the hair vary in size and in the strength of
their teeth. Sometimes a comb made of boxwood was inlaid with ivory, and
delicately pierced panels were inserted in the centre of the comb. In
some instances a small mirror is found instead of a carved panel;
especially is that the case with the smaller combs carried in a reticule
or bag.

Inscriptions were common, such, for instance, as those which breathed
the sentiment on a boxwood comb in the British Museum, which is
inscribed in French: "Accept with goodwill this little gift"; it is a
pretty piece of early work, dating probably from the middle of the
sixteenth century.

[Illustration: FIG. 65.--THREE OLD SCRATCHBACKS.]

[Illustration: FIG. 66.--SILVER CHATELAINE TOILET INSTRUMENTS.]

[Illustration: FIG. 67.--ANOTHER CHATELAINE SET.]

Patch Boxes.

The accessories of the toilet table--useful and ornamental--are many. It
has ever been so, and in the change going on many odds and ends are left
behind and become relics of former practices. Perhaps among the most
interesting of these curios are the little boxes of porcelain, enamelled
wares, and wood, which were once used as "patch" boxes, and as
receptacles for the pigments employed when gumming patches upon the
cheeks and forehead was the height of fashion, and when painting the
face was the rule rather than the exception.

It may be contended by some that these mysteries of the toilet are not
unknown in the present day, but as yet the modern accessories of the
toilet table do not come within the ken of the curio hunter. It was