What Not To Lick.

Otago Witness, Issue 2896, 15 September 1909, Page 88

What Not To Lick.

Many people have a nasty and dangerous habit of licking the gummed side of a postage stamp with the tongue before sticking it on. They will not believe that this gum ie a hot-bed for microbes of almost any kind, quite a breeding-ground, in fact, and by licking stamps they Jay themselves open, to be infected 1 by consumption, or even woree. But a worse custom is that of licking the gummed parte of ordinary envelopes. The safest way is only to buy the best envelopes, and see before purchasing that the gricr is not too thick. That" upon Government envelopes with embossed stamps is far and away the best, and sticks more easily and safely. Some children get into the disagreeable habit of always wetting their lips. It is a custom almost as bad as nail-biting. "When the lips are dry, as during- a cold, use v\aseline or cxjld cream, but nevei let the tongue touch »>h« n, or they will always be

dry and 1 ugly. Hteep your children away {mm Ice-cream barrows where no spoons are allowed. Nothing te*ds more to the spread of contagious diseases than the licking of glasses that other children, perhaps with foul lips, have been slobbering over. Yet after euch creature* well-dressed boys and girls may be seen licking out of the terrible glasses.