At the request of a correspondent we publish this sensible extract from an exchange, in the hope that our young people will follow its excellent advice:
THE FACE.
It is a mistake to believe that a good complexion depends upon the use of such and such cosmetics. It really depends upon digestion, which itself depends upon our mode of life. Persons who rise early and go to bed regularly at ten, who take plenty of air and exercise, eat with moderation at regular hours, having their meals at intervals long enough for the digestion of one to be thoroughly accomplished before they begin the next—these persons are sure to digest well, and in consequence have clear, healthy complexions, which will require no other cosmetics but plenty of soft water and good toilet soap. The hygiene of the eyes is very simple. For them, as well as for the complexion, good digestion is equally necessary; more so, for no cosmetic could remove the yellow tinge which biliousness imparts to them, and if some mysterious pencils can supply the insufficient shadow of rare eyelashes, good health alone can give them that brightness which is their principal beauty. Never read in bed or in a reclining attitude; it provokes a tension of the optic nerve very fatiguing to the eyesight. Bathe your eyes daily in salt water; not salt enough, though, to cause a smarting sensation. Nothing is more strengthening; and we have known several persons who, after using this simple tonic for a few weeks, had put aside the spectacles they had used for years, and did not resume them, continuing, of course, the oft-repeated daily use of salt water. Never force your eyesight to read or work in insufficient or too glaring light. Reading with the sun upon one's book is mortally injurious to the eyes.
E. L. Douglas, Whitby, Ontario, Canada, wishes the address of the person who sent him a box containing coral, and marked K. M. S.
J. H. C.—By Chinese stamps are meant Hong-Kong stamps issued by the British government.
C. E. C. Diffenderfer withdraws from the exchange list.