312 
THE YOUNG SCIENTIST. 
most delicate operations in practical 
chemistry, and few beside the French 
have succeeded in produciDg a flrst-class 
article. A London manufacturer once 
learned to his cost, that more than mere 
technical skill was required to produce 
it. He had tried repeatedly to equal the 
French article, and failed just as often. 
In. despair he visited one of the most 
famous houses in Lyons, and offered the 
principal thirty thousand francs if he 
would show him their process. Tlie 
principal accepted, and conducted the 
Englishman through the establishment. 
What was the disappointment of the 
latter to fltid tlie methods in every way 
Identical with his own. He returned 
home, tried again, and failed. The prin- 
cipal of the Lyons house invited liim 
once more, and put the questions : Wliat 
was the state of the weather when you 
made the experiment? " Tiie weather!" 
replied the Englishman, " the weather! 
I dont remember. What has that to do 
with it ?" " Everything " replied the prin- 
cipal. " It is only on the fairest days in 
this favored climate we can make our 
carmine." 
"If that's your secret," said the visi- 
tor, " I had better have kept my thirty 
thousand francs, as it will do me little 
good in the London fogs." 
When the inventive genius has in so 
many ways prepared materials for 
whitening, and again for reddening the 
skin, there still remained the blue lines 
of the veins, which course beneath the 
skin, and unless something was found to 
include these in the " make up," the art 
was sadly at fault. 
It has been done. The elegant world 
can now provide itself with little jars of 
Venetian or French chalk, made into a 
paste with gum water, colored to the 
proi^er tint with Prussian blue, and ac- 
companied witli little leather pencils, all 
manufactured on purpose to portray the 
direction and hue of the veins; this 
should be done very delicately, and if 
possible by a cosmetic " artist." 
Pallor is associated with sickness and 
debility, which are not akin to personal 
beauty. It is just as easy for the skin | 
to be too white, as too red or too brown. 
Some are troubled with this paleness 
from childhood, in others it is the result 
of failing health; in both cases the blood 
is at fault. 
It demands more carbon to form pig- 
ment; more iron to build up the system, 
and color or enrich the blood. Strange 
as it may seem, it is these familiar and 
homely substances, charcoal and iron, 
which the magic wand of nature trans- 
forms into delicate dyes, and si)reads out 
on the skin a healthy glow. 
It is not enough to take just such 
things to introduce into the system these 
indispensable materials in the form best 
adapted to be readily taken up by the 
blood. This, indeed, is essential, but be- 
yond this, the surface of the body must 
be stimulate! by regular exercise and 
friction. To sum up in a few words the 
prescription for those who, without suf- 
fering from any disease, and have a color- 
less skin, i)ale lips, and a general want of 
red blood : A diet, or tonic, or both well 
supplied with carbon and iron, a luke- 
warm bath every morning, followed by 
friction with a rough towel, active exer- 
cise in sun and air, and the avoidance 
I of alkaline and astringent soaps and 
i washes. 
' Beside the friction mentioned as a 
stimulant to the skin, there is another re- 
source—electricity. Its value as a cos- 
imetic is veiy great. Any friction that 
[disturbs the electrical condition of the 
I skin, and produces a flush, is good. If 
the battery is used, brushes made for the 
purpose are passed rapidly over the sur- 
face, causing a not unpleasant tickling 
sensation, and bringing the blood to the 
minute vessels with marked force. That 
method which is called " general electri- 
zation," is especially applicable to such 
cases as described. 
Even those faces pitted by the dread 
disease small-pox, can always be im- 
proved, and some greatly so. For this 
purpose, strong stimulating lotions are 
employed several times a day, alternated 
with gentle and long-continued inunc- 
tion of oil or glycerine. In many 
cases, by steady perseverance in such ap- 
plications, very great improvement has 
resulted. m. w. 
