The very best material for the first small diapers is old, soft table damask. The better the quality, the softer it will be; be sure they are exactly square. Nothing is more trying, in a small way, than to get a diaper that cannot be folded true. These should be made double and the edges turned in and sewed around. By the time the baby has outgrown them they will be fit only for the rag- bag, and may be thrown aside. The second size diaper, also the third should be many times washed to make them soft enough for use. These may be used at first folded eight times and put under the baby next the damask diaper, between that and the pinning blanket, and will often save the nurse the trouble of changing the baby's clothing, because it is wet through. In this way they will get more washings and be softer when you have to use them next the baby's skin. Cotton flannel, with a good nap and not a very close web, is very good also and can be used instead of the damask where that cannot be procured. Put it on with the nap next the skin. It is an excellent absorbent. The baby should have at least one little (rather flat) hair pillow, covered on one side with blue or pink silk, on the other with plain white over the ticking. The prettiest pillow cases I ever saw were made of broad hemmed pocket handkerchiefs. Two sewed neatly together round three edges, and on the fourth button holes for mother-of-pearl studs. The handkerchiefs may be fine or not, embroidered or plain, and may have lace sewed on the edge, but they can't help being pretty, and the embroidery will never be in the middle. I shall never forget my pity for one poor little mite I saw once, who, on waking from his sleep, was discovered to have the print of an embroidered S on his cheek. It had been worked in the centre of the little pillow case by some loving but ignorant hands. When the baby uses the pillow, let him sleep on the white side; at other times turn up the colored side and the pink or blue will show very prettily through the linen. If you let the child sleep on the colored side he may, most likely will, vomit some sour milk on it, sooner or later, and the beauty of your pillow will be gone. If the regular little crib blankets are thought too expensive, a very good substitute may be made from white eiderdown cloth, which is warm, soft, and not at all costly. The gold safety pins are intended for the final pinning of the dress in the front and in the back. Of course any little ornamental baby pin answers the purpose just as well, and, indeed, an ordinary safety pin will do should no other be at hand.