Another mode is to cover the hair with a paste of powdered sulphur and water, and sit in the sun with it for several hours. The Venetian ladies used to steep their tresses in caustic solutions, and sit in their balconies in the sun all day, bleaching it; and yet another day, that the same rays might turn it yellow. Perhaps they gained by their folly in one way what they lost in another, for such an airing and sunning would benefit the health of any woman. A paste of bisulphate of magnesia and lime is very effectual for bleaching the hair; but it must be used with great caution not to burn hair, skin, and brains together. The moment it begins seriously to attack the skin it should be washed off in three waters, with lemon juice or vinegar in the last one to neutralize the alkali. These pastes are recommended to turn ash-colored hair light. To bleach dark hair is a long and tedious process, and such an utter piece of foolery that I do not care to recount the directions for it. The desire to change the color of the hair can only be justified when it is of a dull and sickly appearance, and this is best mended by improving the general health. Hair can not be glossy, rich-colored, and thick unless the bodily vigor is what it should be. Indeed, hair is one of the surest indexes to the state of health. Scorched and foxy locks are a sign of neglect and of bad secretions. Brushing remedies the first condition, hygiene the next. But among the varieties of treatment specially appropriate to restoration of the hair, sulphur vapor-baths must once more be mentioned. Doses of sulphur, taken in Dotheboys’ fashion weekly, with molasses, will be of service in keeping the blood pure, and in time will affect the hair; but this powerful agent should not be used without advice of a physician, and the dose should be always followed by simple purgatives, like mustard-seed, figs, or prunes, eaten freely. Chlorines and chlorides are specifics for bleaching hair, but they turn it gray or white, and the yellow tinge is dyed afterward. Sulphurous applications are the safest, if common caution is used not to take cold afterward or to breathe any fumes from them. Switches that have lost freshness may be very much improved by dipping them into common ammonia without dilution. Half a pint is enough for the purpose. The life and color of the hair is revived as if it were just cut from the head. This dipping should be repeated once in three months, to free the switch from dust, as well as to insure safety from parasitic formations. The subject of coloring the hair will be spoken of in another chapter. CHAPTER XXVI. Hair and Complexion.--Black Dyes.--Persian Blue-Black.--Peroxide of Hydrogen.--Chloride of Gold.--Transient Dyes.