the body has been well lathered over with soap, and this has been thoroughly washed off, the cleansing process may be then considered as completed.  It is next recommended that two handsful of common salt should be added to the warm water, and the body steeped therein for a minute or two.  The particles of salt pass into the skin so firmly that they cannot be removed even by the most vigorous rubbing.  In this way the functions of the skin are stimulated to a considerable degree; the process of nutrition throughout the body greatly promoted; and the liver roused to action.  From this it is easy to understand why hot sea-water baths are so beneficial.

There is another effect of the warm bath which deserves to be well remembered, for it has an historical association.  It is related of the great Napoleon, that after a day’s fighting, instead of indulging in a night’s rest, he would take a warm bath.  It was so efficacious that he was enabled to begin his exertions almost immediately.  The explanation of this lies in the fact that when the mascles are tired out and the vigour of the body diminished, the hot bath rouses the circulation and renews the worn-out tissues.  In the same way, after a night’s dancing, twenty minutes or so in a warm bath, and a couple of hours’ sleep, will be almost as good as a whole night’s rest.  In addition to the foregoing, however, it must not be forgotten that the warm bath, or to speak more correctly the hot bath, is a true medicinal agent.  It is used in many cases of disease, especially those in which the skin is inactive.  A feverish cold is often nipped in the bud by a hot bath at bedtime; a free perspiration usually follows, and thus relief is obtained.  In some forms of rheumatism and gout, too, the hot bath is of signal benefit.  There are many cases of a spasmodic nature, also, in which it is of great value.  At the same time it must be borne in mind that the hot bath, when used to an excess, tends to induce a debilitated condition.

THE HAIR.

The loss of hair is so frequent in Australia, at least amongst the male population, that it requires a little consideration; and apart altogether from this, the whole subject is one of extreme interest, so that some reference to the actual structure of the hair and the hair-follicles is called for.  The roots of the hair are formed in the hair-follicles, which may be described as little pear-shaped bags, formed either in the true skin or in the cellular tissue beneath it.  Each hair-follicle, hair-sac, or hair-pit, as it is variously termed, bulges out at its deeper part, contracting to a long narrow neck as it passes to its skin.  Near the surface of the latter the follicle widens out again, and it is from this part that the hair emerges.  As it has been previously mentioned, a duct from one of the oil glands usually opens into each follicle.  At its very bottom, also, is the papillae or little mound-like elevation.  This protrudes into the follicle, and from it the hair is formed.