Kitten should use a drying wash for her hair. The best is composed of a quart of hot water, in which a piece of carbonate of soda is dissolved and a piece of lump ammonia, each the size of a large walnut. Use the water warm, and dry the hair well.
Iolanthe.—The possession of a Queen Anne farthing is, alas! not equivalent to that of Miss Miggs’s annual gold mine, nor will Iolanthe be “found in tea and sugar” by securing a purchaser for it! Perhaps some friend might be induced to give a halfpenny for it in exchange.
Annie Laurie.—1. If the books be much stained they should be taken to pieces and placed in a decoction of alum and hot water. This may remove the discolourment; but the book should be passed again through a thin solution of size after such a bath to give body and firmness to the paper. Although telling you what should be done, we by no means advise you to attempt so delicate a process yourself, and recommend you to place the volume in the hands of an experienced binder. 2. The origin of women adopting their husbands’ names is to be found amongst the ancient Romans. They were distinguished as “Julia of Pompey,” and so forth. We omit the “of.”
Gertrude Temperly.—Your little suggestion for awakening a greater feeling of sympathy between our rough, uneducated, and even depraved fellow-creatures and the respectable classes, who would endeavour to raise their moral condition, is certainly well meaning; but, in reference to a young girl of those respectable classes, mothers would be very wrong to allow their young daughters to visit the fallen and depraved, and to elevate them by shaking hands with them, by the (magnetic?) influence of “the touch of their hands.”
Mary B.—We could not take the responsibility of recommending a winter residence if there is any complication of disease; but we advise you to procure the Leisure Hour for October, 1886, and read the advice given at page 714, in the article entitled “Winter Migration.”
Pickwick Club.—You should tell us from what cause your headaches arise, and then we might suggest a palliative, if not a means of cure. Our correspondents forget that we are perfectly unacquainted with their respective constitutions, occupations, manner of living, description of residence, remedies already tried, and complications of complaints. Could we possibly do more than speak in very general terms in reply?
Autumn.—The style of address employed to old or young ladies depends on the position in life of the person who addresses them. A shop attendant should say “madam,” a domestic servant or poor person should say “ma’am.” Equals in position amongst the gentry of the upper classes never employ either word to each other. The Emperor Napoleon III. and his son, the young Prince Imperial, were buried at Chislehurst.
A Bootle Girl.—We recommend you to apply to the Colonial Emigration Society, the Manchester branch of which is under the direction of Miss Emily Faithfull. The office is at 9, Albert-square Manchester. The office is open from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturdays excepted; also on Monday evenings from 7 till 8. Both free and assisted passages are given under certain circumstances, and the best advice given also.
Snowdrop and Ivyleaf should first consult a doctor and next a dentist. 2. Old stamps are of no value whatever to anyone. 3. We think Handel or Haydn was the writer.
Polly Perkins.—1. Cold green tea is the best thing to use for the eyelids in case of styes; but you would do well to consult a doctor. 2. You must advertise for such a situation.