The nurses, too, in their use of hospital linen, are responsible in no small measure for its appearance. Blood-stains and various other stains can be readily washed out when the stain is fresh. Every nurse should be taught that it is her duty to remove such stains as far as possible by a preliminary soaking and washing before being sent to mingle with other clothing in the laundry. A little salt in the water will hasten the process. If such matters were thoroughly impressed on each nurse, as a part of her duty in her hospital training, there would be fewer complaints of nurses in private practice needing an extra maid to wait on them. Stains from certain oily dressings are exceedingly difficult to remove. In fact, in the general washing it is practically impossible to thoroughly efface such stains. A little care in managing, and, as far as possible, keeping one set of sheets for cases requiring such dressing, will prevent the whole ward supply from being stained. The oldest linen should be specially set apart for such cases. [Sidenote: New Linen] Where a regular maid is in charge of the linen room, she can usually, in addition to the general care of the linen, make up new material. The cutting of new goods is a matter for the housekeeper’s personal supervision. Each new lot of linen that is laid on the shelves for general use should be added to her inventory. Under the heading of “Discarded Linen” in her linen account book, she can mark each piece she lays aside as old linen, and by reckoning up each month the new linen that is added, and the discarded linen, can readily keep account of the amount in general use. In buying linen for a hospital it is questionable economy ever to buy cheap material. Towels and spreads should always be without fringe. [Sidenote: Shelf Management] In placing linen on the shelves of a general linen room some method will be found advantageous. If the rule is to lay towels and pillow covers on the shelves in piles of twenty, sheets and spreads and gowns in piles of a dozen, it is but the work of a few minutes to take an inventory of the contents of the linen room. If, in buying linen, the housekeeper has taken pains to secure glass towels with some distinctive pattern or coloring, it will be easy to keep the kitchen, diet kitchen and ward glass towels in separate piles. Red and white check toweling for the kitchen, blue and white check for the diet kitchen, and plain white toweling with a single stripe on the edge, for the ward glass towels, is a distinction easy to secure in any place. Face towels for patients can be secured with red border and for nurses and officers with blue. [Sidenote: Laundry Bags]