The appearance of the hands is secondary only to that of the face, and many women pride themselves upon their beautiful white hands. But it is not everybody who can have white hands. Manual labour will always make the hands red and rough, and no amount of applications will whiten them. General servants and laundry women cannot expect their hands to remain white. It is interesting to see why house labour should injure the appearance of the hands in this way. In the first place the hands must get a good deal knocked about by the rough work necessary in a household. Laying fires, cleaning grates, blacking boots, etc., make the hands rough from inflicting numerous small injuries upon them. You all know that if you cut your finger the place remains hard and horny for some time afterwards, and so hands that are exposed to rough usage will also get horny and coarse. Then, again, rough red hands, being less delicate, are better fitted to do hard work, and so Nature, who cares more for usefulness than for idle beauty, will tend to make the hands of those who do manual labour hard and coarse. Another reason why servants so often have red hands is the constant use of soda and water, which is necessary for cleaning the house. Soda is very bad for the hands, and this, together with the impossibility of keeping the hands dry, is another cause of red hands.
With a little care, nearly everybody can have white hands. Even in those who have to work hard a little care will often do wonders to keep the hands from becoming very red—not from becoming red slightly, for nothing will prevent this. When you wash your hands, always dry them afterwards on a fairly rough towel. In winter you should be very careful about thoroughly drying your hands, as it takes very little to produce chaps.
If you are desirous of having white hands, always wear gloves when you go out. This, indeed, will do more than anything else to keep the hands white.
In the winter most persons suffer from chaps. These are a more pronounced and more acute form of "red hands." But they are often very painful, and if not properly treated are apt to be very persistent and unsightly.
Prevention is better than cure, and we can do a considerable amount to prevent our hands from becoming chapped. It is the cold wind that produces chaps, and so, if you would be freed from this evil, you should always wear thick gloves when you go out in a strong north-easter. I have already mentioned that you should dry your hands very carefully after washing. If you are very liable to chaps, you should not wash your hands in cold water, but only use warm water, not hot (for this is worse than cold water for producing chaps), but just slightly warm. You must also be careful about the soap you use, as coarse alkaline soaps are very bad, and make chapped hands smart.
If the chaps are not very bad, a little glycerine and rose-water may be applied after washing. This is very efficacious in a mild case, but it is insufficient in more severe grades of the affection. The following preparation I have found invaluable for severe chaps—sulphate of zinc, two grains; compound tincture of lavender, one dram; glycerine, three drams; rose-water to the ounce.
A very much worse affair than chaps is a chilblain. Indeed, a bad broken chilblain is a very serious and unpleasant matter. Chilblains may occur in anyone, but they are most common in persons in whom the circulation is feeble. I have seen a terribly bad chilblain in an anæmic girl. Moreover, when the circulation is below par, chilblains do not heal properly, and give great trouble often for months together.
Warm gloves, warm stockings, loose-fitting boots, and flannel next the skin all over the body, are the best safeguards against this complaint. As chilblains are a kind of minor frostbite, keeping warm will necessarily prevent them, but it is very difficult for a person with feeble circulation to keep warm.
If you have a chilblain coming do not scratch it, for this makes it far worse. Bathe the part gently in warm spirit and water, and wrap the finger or toe, whichever it is, in a thick layer of cotton wool. If you do this you will probably prevent the chilblains from bursting.