510. _The Blood is the Life--never be Bled!_--"He who loses a pint of blood, loses a pint of his life. Of what is the body composed? Is it not of blood, and blood only? What fills up the excavation of an ulcer or an abscess? What re-produces the bone of the leg or thigh, after it has been thrown off dead, in nearly all its length? what but the living BLOOD, under the vito-electrical influence of the brain and nerves! How does the slaughtered animal die? Of loss of blood solely. Is not the blood, then, in the impressive language of Scripture, 'the life of the flesh?' How remarkable, that while the value of the blood to the animal economy should be thus so distinctly and emphatically acknowledged, blood-letting is not even once alluded to, among the various modes of _cure_ mentioned in the sacred volume. We have 'balms,' 'balsams,' 'baths,' 'charms,' 'physics,'--'poultices,' even--but loss of blood, never! Had it been practised by the Jews, why this omission? Will the men who now so lavishly pour out the blood, dispute its importance in the animal economy? Will they deny that it forms the basis of the solids? that when the body has been wasted by long disease, it is by the blood only it can recover its healthy volume and appearance?"--_Dr. Dickson's Lectures._ THE TOILET. 511. Personal beauty is the gift of nature, but its preservation depends much on the care of its possessor. Beauty may also be cultivated and enhanced; even plainness may be improved, and the defects that sickness, accidents, and age impress on the human features and form, may be greatly remedied by simple means, and attention to a few important rules. The first requisite for the preservation and improvement of personal beauty is _good temper_. The teachings of the New Testament, if you follow its precepts, will insure you this grace. The second requirement is _good health_. The most important rules for its preservation and recovery are given in this chapter. The third requisite comprises attention to neatness, and that general care of the person which the rules and receipts we here subjoin, will aid in making complete. 512. _Of the Hair._--It is a great mistake to plait the hair of children under eleven or twelve years of age. The process of plaiting more or less strains the hairs in their roots by pulling them tight; tends to deprive them of their requisite supply of nutriment; and checks their growth. The hair of girls should be cut rather short, and allowed to curl freely. When they are about eleven or twelve, the hair should be twisted into a coil, not too tight, nor tied at the end with thin thread, but with a piece of riband. 513. _Do not Shave the Head._--Shaving the head is always injurious to the hair, the bulbs being frequently destroyed by the process; and washing frequently with an alkaline preparation, such as soap and water, is decidedly objectionable, for that, as well as sea-water, is very apt to change the color of the hair.