When the compartment is used there can be, besides the ordinary head bath, a needle bath. This may consist of from eight to twelve nozzles pointing in from the four corners of the compartment, or it may be a series of apertures in metal pipes hung around the inside of the compartment. When the separate compartment for the shower is not desired, you may find a substitute for the sheet in the arrangement seen in the Warburg bathroom--plate glass leaves. The glass sheets are practical and not cumbersome. Nevertheless, they involve more cleaning, and in the average home this must be considered to-day. MIXING THE WATER There are various propositions on the market to mix the water in the shower so that it can not scald the bather. One manufacturer offers a little toe pipe, with which to test the temperature of the water before starting the bath. These things are more or less desirable and dependable but are not at all necessary. It is best to have the valves at the entrance as you walk into the shower, so that your arm may not be under the flow when it begins. If the piping is well done and the valves work, the mixture of hot and cold water can be tempered sufficiently to be safe and comfortable. Here, as well as in every other department of purchasing, you are told a lot of things, and if inexperienced, you may be horribly taken in, and led to buy a lot of unnecessary things, which though good in themselves, are quite dispensable. The shower bath compartment must, of course, be large enough to permit the bather to stand inside without having to be all the time under the shower. This is an important point. Glass doors are not necessary either for a tiled or for a marble compartment. A light weight curtain is good, with the smallest possible entrance. This obviates the cleaning of the door. Tiled floors and floors of honed marble are better for shower receptors than are the porcelain ones. They fit into the building problem better, can be made in any size and are less slippery. Be very careful in selecting the plumber who puts in your shower, because unless the drain and curb are absolutely right you will be exposed to the danger of flooding the room and the partitions of the house. LAVATORIES AND TABLES The styles of these are legion. The sizes are so well standardized that unless one wants them made according to some bizarre pattern it is not necessary to give dimensions. The usual length is about 33″. This is ample and graceful. The 54″ takes more space than most bathrooms can give up to the lavatory, and makes quite unnecessary bulk. The 33″ lavatory--and any smaller size--can be made of vitrified china, which is handsomer and less absorbent than the solid porcelain lavatory. The vitrified china is fired, and therefore it is difficult to make in large pieces.