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11. SOBRE AS MÃOS E OS BRAÇOS

            MY DEAR LAURA, – Of course you understand that all I said in a former letter with regard to the injurious effect of hard water on the complexion, and the superiority of rain or distilled water, applies equally to the toilette of the hands and arms, and, indeed, to the skin of the whole body.

            To have pretty hands, great attention must be paid to the nails. I have already said that the nails, like the hair, are modifications of the epidermis. The part of the finger-tip which lies beneath the body and root of the nail is called the nail-matrix, because from it the nail is developed. The pink colour under the body of the healthy nail is due to the large vascular papillae covering the matrix at this point. Near the root of the nail these papillae are smaller, and less vascular, so that the transparent horn of the nail above appears here of a paler hue. The nails themselves are composed of cells, having a structure and arrangement similar to those of the epidermis. New cells are continually forming at the root and under surface of the nails, and as they grow upwards the old cells are pushed forward, and become denser and more closely compacted together. Weak nails are frequently speckled with white opaque dots and bars; these marks are commoner in childhood than in adult age, and frequently disappear as years advance,

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and as the tone of the general health improves. They are said by certain extremely unscientific people to indicate peculiar mental aptitude and talent, and hence are commonly called “gifts.” In order that the nails should be comely in appearance, they must be regularly and carefully cut with nail-scissors – never with a pen-knife – about once a fortnight.

            Some people’s nails grow very rapidly, and need still more frequent trimming. The shape of the fingers must regulate that of the nails, which should be cut so as to correspond with the curve of the finger-tips. As a rule this will be oval, and the nail must therefore correspond to that shape. The skin which naturally grows over the root and sides of the nail must be kept in its place by means of an ivory nail-trimmer, used after washing the hands in hot water, and while the skin is still warm and soft. With this little instrument the cuticle which tends to encroach on the lower margins of the nail must be forcibly pushed down and tucked under itself, so as to preserve to the nail a filbert shape. A slice of lemon should, if obtainable, be rubbed over the nails after this operation. Never use any kind of sharp or pointed instrument to clean the nails. A soft brush employed with care will suffice to remove all ordinary dirt; stains of ink can be effaced by means of chemical pencils invented for the purpose, and sold at all pharmacies. Some ladies, with the view of whitening their hands, sleep in kid gloves, and even line these gloves with poultices or pastes of grease, wax, bread, and other preparations. Such a practice appears to me not only uncleanly, but unhealthful, since it must certainly tend to hinder the free and natural transpiration or breathing process of the skin, a process which, especially on the palms of the hands, should be abundant and unrestrained

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strained. For the same reason I think it always wholesomer to wear silk than kid gloves, especially in the evening, and at balls, when the skin is particularly apt to become hot, and to transpire freely. Long silk gloves are now largely worn, both indoors and out, and I rejoice at the fashion, for it is eminently sensible and hygienic. I have not myself worn kid gloves for several years, and intend never again to put them on so long as silkworms spin their glossy coils, and factories produce gloves of this lovely material.

            Hands which easily become rough and red are often benefited by being washed in oatmeal water. Take some good oatmeal, such as that used to make porridge, and boil it in water for an hour, strain, and use the liquid to wash with night and morning. This will soften the skin, and whiten it. The beautiful Countess of Jersey, who retained her charms to a very late period of life, always used oatmeal gruel as a lotion.

            This wash must be made freshly every day, for it soon becomes sour, and smells unpleasantly. If an equal part of starch be added to the oatmeal, the whitening effects of the lotion will be enhanced. For hands which are very red and coarse this wash will hardly suffice. In such cases a few grains of chloride of lime should be added to the warm soft water used for washing. Soap containing chloride of lime may be prepared thus: –

White powdered Castile soap ..........................  1 pound.

Dry chloride of lime ............................  1 ½ to 2 ounces.

Mix and beat up in a mortar to a stiff mass with: –

Rectified spirit ...............................................  quant. sat.

Divide the mass into tablets, and envelope each closely with oilskin. You can scent this soap by adding to the mass a couple of drachms of verbena oil or cassia. Before

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using chlorine soap or lotion, all rings and bracelets must be removed, else they will be tarnished. Cacao-cream, mentioned in one of my former letters on the hair, is frequently used for softening and whitening the hands. It is composed as follows: –

Cacao-butter ..............................................  Equal parts.

Oil of sweet almonds .................................  Equal parts.

Refined white wax .....................................  Equal parts.

Melt them together, and stir until cool. This mixture is sometimes called “cocoa-nut cerate.”

            A good emollient for a harsh skin, especially in winter-time, is thus prepared: –

Myrrh ..............................................................  ½ ounce.

Refined honey ...............................................  2 ounces.

Refined white wax ...........................................  1 ounce.

Rose-water ................................................  1 ½ ounces.

Almond oil ..................................................  1 ½ ounces.

Put the wax, rose-water, oil and honey together in a jar, place this jar in a bain-marie, and melt the contents of the inner vessel thus, over a stove or spirit-lamp. When the ingredients are well melted, add the myrrh, mix the whole well, and let it cool.

            In a former letter on the complexion, I have already given a recipe for cold-cream; but, as you may like another formula, I subjoin that of M. Piesse: –

Oil of sweet almonds .............................  500 grammes.

Glycerine (or rose-water) ......................  500 grammes.

White refined wax ....................................  28 grammes.

Spermaceti ..............................................  28 grammes.

Essence of rose ...................................  0. 88 grammes.

Put the wax and spermaceti into an enamelled or china pot, as deep as possible; then place this pot in a bain-marie of boiling water. When the wax and spermaceti are melted, add the oil, and melt the whole again thoroughly. Then pour in the glycerine slowly, stirring

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all the time with an ivory spoon or spatula. When the cream is cool, add the perfume.

            Young people, especially those of a highly nervous temperament, or of a weakly constitution, are frequently troubled with excessive perspiration of the palms of the hands. There are many degrees of this complaint, and it is usually worse in hot than in cold weather. Moderate forms of this inconvenience may be sufficiently treated by ablutions with very hot soft water, and the application, after careful drying, of pulverised lycopodium, oxide of zinc, fullers’ earth, or a medicated powder thus prepared: –

Salicylic acid ....................................  3 parts powdered.

Talc ...................................................  7 parts powdered.

Starch .............................................  90 parts powdered.

            Lemon in slices is also a good cosmetic in such cases, but it must not be used in conjunction with soap. Should the disorder be very obstinate, astringent and alcoholic lotions will be necessary. The following wash, for the formula of which I am indebted to a medical confrère, will prove serviceable in many instances: –

Liq. plumbi subacetatis ............................................  3 iij.

Spt. vini methylati .....................................................  3 i.

Aquae rosae ad .......................................................  3 x.

Fiat lotio.

            This wash should be allowed to dry on, and the hands should be subsequently dusted with one of the powders already named. Sulphate of zinc, one or two drachms to the pint of water; tannic acid, two or three drachma to the pint, and alum in like quantities, are recommended by many practitioners. The most valuable remedy for extreme cases which do not yield to any of the methods of treatment just described is found in the use of belladonna.

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Besides causing paralysis of the vasomotor system which controls the small blood vessels, belladonna contracts the unstriped muscular fibres which surround the arterioles supplying the sweat-glands; but the employment of this drug needs great care, on account of the poisonous effects it is capable of causing if used without due caution. If it is found necessary to resort to its agency, the best means of applying it is that recommended by Dr. Sydney Ringer. Rub lightly on the palms of the hands equal parts of extract of belladonna and glycerine, mixed together thoroughly. Or, wash the hands three times daily with carbolic acid soap and soft water, in which half a drachm of extract of belladonna has been previously dissolved. Carbolic acid exercises a benumbing effect on the nervous filaments which go to the secreting glands and the papilla of the skin; so that its action is likely to materially assist that of the belladonna. It is advisable to associate the local treatment with a careful regimen, the administration of tonics, and avoidance of fermented liquors, pickles, tea, coffee, and highly spiced dishes, shunning, if possible, gas-lighted and heated apartments, particularly in summer weather.

            Sometimes, when the skin of the hands or arms is much “chapped” or abraded by cold weather, it is useful to employ as dressing at night, a little emollient paste. This paste should be rubbed well over the cuticle, and then either lightly wiped off with a soft cloth after having remained on for about twenty minutes, or covered with an old cambric handkerchief torn into strips, and wrapped like a bandage over the hand or arm, thus obviating the unhygienic use of kid gloves at night. Almond paste or wax for the hands is made as follows: – One ounce of white refined wax; two ounces of oil of

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sweet almonds, and a few drops of otto [oil, essence] of roses. Another almond paste for the same purpose is made thus: – Take equal portions of pounded almonds and honey mixed with an equal quantity of pure oil, and the yolk of three eggs to every quarter of a pound of the almonds and honey. Mix the eggs and honey together, then the oil, then the almonds, then perfume as you like. As eggs do not keep, only a little of this paste should be made at a time. If you want it to keep long, you must leave out the eggs, and use three ounces of spirits of wine instead.

            While I am talking of “chaps” and abrasions, I must not forget to give you the formula for camphor-balls, popularly regarded as a specific in such affections. Here it is: –

Spermaceti ....................................................  2 ounces.

Refined white wax .........................................  2 ounces.

Almond oil (sweet) ..............................................  ¼ pint.

Melt by a gentle heat, and add: –

Camphor (in shavings) ....................................  1 ounce.

Stir until all are dissolved thoroughly, and beginning to cool; then pour the mixture into slightly-warmed moulds or egg-cups. A drachm of balsam of Peru may be added while it is dissolving.

            All the washes, creams, and lotions recommended for the hands are, of course, equally beneficial for the arms, shoulders, and neck. But, as a few special words of advice may be necessary in regard to the toilette of the arms, I must not omit to make particular reference to them.

            Ladies whose arms are not well-turned and white should always wear long gloves at balls and dinners. If desired, these gloves can meet the short sleeves of the dress, or they may extend only to the elbow. The use

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of mittens of similar length obviates the necessity of baring the arms at dinner or supper. If, however, arms which are otherwise comely are temporarily disfigured by undue redness, they may be blanched by the use of the following lotion, considerably diluted with soft tepid water: –

Chloride of lime (fresh) ..................................  ½ ounce.

Soft water ...........................................................  ¾ pint.

Mix by shaking in a bottle occasionally for two or three hours, then, after repose, filter the clear portion into a stoppered vessel, and add: –

Carbonate of soda (crystallized) .............  3 ½ drachms.

previously dissolved in: –

Soft water ...........................................................  ¼ pint.

Shake well for fifteen minutes, and again filter the whole through moistened coarse calico.

            Another good, but less energetic, lotion for whitening the arms and neck is the following: –

Powdered borax ..........................................  3 drachms.

Glycerine ........................................................  ¾ ounce.

Elder-flower water .......................................  12 ounces.

            This lotion, however, has a decided advantage over the former as an emollient. It is also fragrant, which is not the case with the chloride of lime wash.

            Some persons are much troubled with profuse and odorous perspiration under the arms, in the axillae. The chloride of lime lotion, which is a deodorant, will be serviceable in such cases; so also will be the application of lycopodium (dub moss) powder, powder of oleate of zinc, perfumed by the addition of thymol and attenuated with starch or kaolin. All the powders and lotions which I have already named as suitable for the treatment of perspiring hands can be used with like effect for the axillae, and, indeed, for any other part of the body

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similarly affected. Excessive moisture of the hands is usually associated with the same condition elsewhere, although the secretion seldom smells unpleasantly on the palms, but is often extremely disagreeable in the axillae and on the under surface of the feet. This odour, as well as the tendency to excessive secretion, may be checked by the use of ablutions of boracic acid, one part of the acid to twenty parts of hot water. In a pulverised form, boracic acid, mixed with starch, forms a useful dusting powder for arresting fetid perspiration either under the arms or on the soles of the feet. It is mild and perfectly innocuous; even mechanically, the crystals of boracic acid do not irritate abraded surfaces of the skin or mucous membranes, and it is therefore far preferable for toilet use to any preparation containing belladonna, which can only be safely applied to perfectly uncracked and healthy surfaces, and never to any other part of the body than the cuticle. In hospitals boracic acid is now largely used as an antiseptic, chiefly under the name of “Aseptin.”

            As for superfluous down or hairs on the arms, you will find the question treated in regard to the face, in my seventh letter. All that I say on the subject there is applicable to the arms, with the single difference that depilatories are more suitable for use upon the arms than on the face. The removal of “lanugo” from the arms by means of the galvanic needle would be very tedious and unnecessary.

            Warts on the hands may be treated similarly to moles on the face or elsewhere, by excision with surgical scissors, cautery, caustic or electrolysis. These little deformities are commoner in childhood and early youth than in later years, and rarely appear save on weakly and strumous subjects.

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