A trouble scarcely to be named among refined persons is profuse perspiration, which ruins clothing and comfort alike. For this it is recommended to bathe the feet, hands, and parts of the body where the secretion is greatest with cold infusion of rosemary, sage, or thyme, and afterward dust the stockings and under-garments with a mixture of two and a half drachms of camphor, four ounces of orris-root, and sixteen ounces of starch, the whole reduced to impalpable powder. Tie it in a coarse muslin bag, and shake it over the clothes. This makes a very fine bathing-powder. CHAPTER IX. Hope for Homely People.--Two Vital Charms.--The Way to Live.--Sunrise and Open Air.--Bleached by the Dawn.--Live at Sunny Windows.--In Balconies and Parks.--Christiana’s Breakfast.--Brown Steak and Good-humor.--True Bread.--Device for Stiff Shoulders.--Corsets and Girdles.--The Latter more Needed.--How to be Pleased with One’s Self. Is there such a being as a hopelessly homely woman? In the light of modern appliances, study the faces and figures one meets on a journey from the sea-board to the interior, and confess that there are few fatally ugly women. On the railway I often amuse myself, in default of better things, by considering how hygiene, cosmetics, and good taste in dress would transform the common-looking women about one into charming and even striking personages. In most of them, all that is wanting is strength of expression and a clear complexion, two things with which no woman can be wholly unattractive. The one is the sign of mental, the other of physical health. No wonder nature makes them so winning. To show what I mean, let us mention some common faults, and their antidotes. Nothing is more delightful than pulling our neighbors to pieces, with a good motive for it.