The Complexion : How to Preserve and Improve It. By
W. H. I. Brown, M.D., and A. Campbell, M.D. (H. Renshaw.)—It must not be supposed that these doctors of medicine wholly occupy themselves with "complexion," properly so called. What is good for the skin of the body in general is good for the skin of the faze ; and it is therefore with the larger subject, as well as with the smaller, that they chiefly deal. They begin with a description of the skin, and devote a special chapter to the face. Then they speak of common blemishes. It will be interesting to the fair sex to know that superfluous hair can be removed by electrolysis only. You, or somebody for you, inserts a fine needle into the hair-sac, and destroys its bulb by an electric current. The use of baths is discussed; and a variety of hints is given in to chapters on "Personal Hygiene," which end with observations that may be condensed into a literal application of the proverb, " Handsome is as handsome does." Finally, we have warnings about "cosmetics, powders, and paints." It is interesting to hear that in 1770 a Bill was introduced into Parliament providing that any marriage into which a man was betrayed by a woman's use of cosmetics or dress- improvers, in the widest sense of the word, should be considered void. It was not passed, we need hardly say. This chapter might, we think, have been made more useful by some hints for the benefit of people who are obliged, as actors and actresses are practically obliged, to use paint.
Messrs. L. Prang and Co., Boston, Massachusetts, send us an assortment of their Christmas Cards, including some fine illustra- tions of Mendelssohn's music. A line of music heads each picture, and then a scene which is supposed to be specially suggested by it, is painted beneath. The painting is very careful and clear.
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