WAIFS AND STRAYS.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume II, Issue 106, 8 May 1875, Page 9

WAIFS AND STRAYS.

What Every Wot Ought to Enow.— Every action ana emotion depletes the physical system. Milk, the first food absorbed by men and animals, is the only natural mixture, containing all the elements of blood save the colouring. Water constitutes three-fourths of the body. To work well, physically or mentally, we must be fed judiciously and thoroughly. The worker must eat mixed food. Food properly administered stimulates the system as wine does, only more naturally. The long night hours empty the stomach, deplete the system, and chill the body. On arising the physical condition is low, and should be recruited. If we lose time at early morning in bringing the body up to its natural heat and strength, we cannot regain it during the day. A healthy man requires about one pound of nutriment per day to keep him in good condition. While a working man would need daily five pounds of solid mixed food, two and a half would be enough for persons who lounge and sleep much. Life said the lecturer, can be sustained two or three weeks on two ounces a day. A change of diet should follow a change of seasous— in winter, fats and sweets ; in summer fruits, fish, and lighter meats. Milk and eggs, ablood food ; steak, a flesh food ; potatoes and wheat, which, being heating material are fuel; and coffee, a stimulant.— From a Lecture by Monsieur Pallis. Irish Lace.— lt is in beautiful, delicate needle-work, and in the making of lace of different kind that the Irish Sisters excel There are several houses in the South, each of which is famous for some special kind of manufacture. Persons who are learned in such matters can tell instantly, on looking at a piece of work at what convent it was done. The crochet made under the sperintendence of the Youghalnuns is exquisite, and so fine that it has, m many cases, been mistaken for other kinds of lace. I have heard of a lady" who purchased a quantity of what she believed to be old Roman point, in Italy, at a great expense. On bringing it home she took it to her dressmaker in Dublin, and gave it to her as trimming for a dress, with many cautious against waste, and with repeated orders not to cut it unnecessarily. The woman smiled when she heard the discoloured work called antique point. She got a magnifying glass, and showed her customer that she had, in reality, bought Irish crochet lace, which had been dipped in some yellowing fluid, in order to give it an appearance of great age. This clever Bxpert was, moreover, able to tell them in what part of the country it had originally been procured. Some ladies are very fond of purchasing sleeves and collars of this beautiful work, to wear at the table d'hote when travelling on the Continent, as it does not require what is technically termed doing up j when soiled, simply washing and drying will restore it to its pristine daintiness. Besides this, it is quite uninjured by any amount of pressing or crumpling-. ° Arrangement ot Booms. — Concerning the arrangements of rooms the Art Review gives the following advice :—": — " Give your appartments expression— character. Booms which mean nothing are cheerless indeed. Study light and shade, and the combination and arrangement of drapery, furniture, and pictures j allow nothinoto look isolated, but let everything present an air of sociability^ Observe a room immediately after a number have left it, and then as you arrange the furniture, disturb as little as possible the relative position of chairs, ottomans, and sofas. Place two or three chairs in a conversational attitude in some cheery corner, an ottoman within easy distance of a sofa, a chair near your stand of steroscopic views or engravings, and one where a good light will fall on the books which you may reach from the table near. Make little studies of effect which shall repay the more than casual observer, and do not leave it possible for one to make the criticism which applies to so many homes, even of wealth and elegance — fine carpets, handsome furniture, a few pictures and elegant nothings— but how dreary ? The chilling atmosphere is felt at once, and we cannot divest ourselves of the idea that we must maintain a stiff and severe demeanonr, to accord with the spirit of the place. Make your homes, then, so cheerful that if we visit you we may be joyous and unconstrained, and not feel ourselves out of harmony with, your surroundings." How to Treat a Watch.— A scientific watchmaker, Mr. Nelthropp, thus advises "with reference to our vest-pocket companion: " A watch is much like a child, requiring uniform treatment, that is to say plainly, not over indulged to-day, neglected to morrow Winding-up should be performed regularly, with a steady and uniform motion, not moving both hands, and nearly as possible at the same hour daily. A watch should always be kept at the same temperature, as nearly as possible. Left over night on a stone mantlepeiece, it is sure to gain, or if the oil gets thickened, it may stop, to be started again by the warmth of the pocket. The regulator' is too often viewed as an appendage more to be looke<f at with wonder than to be used, while the persons who can explain the theory of its action are few in the extreme. Yet the task of learning enough about a watch to become capable of talking intelligently about it, and exercising the control over a 'jobber* which that knowledge is certain to givo, is but slight, and it ought to ;be reckoned ,as blameworthy to be ignorant about one's watch as to know nothing of the merits of one's boots or clothing. Mr Nelthropp gives to the uninitiated a few hints as to the purchase of a watch, which are worth reproducing. The case, be it <*cA<& or silver, should be correctly made and of fair thickness ; the lunges close and smooth ; the glass well fitted ,• the dial of clear bright enamel; the seconds sunk, and the whole of good weight when lield in the hand. When the dome is opened— for it is better that a watch-case should be so made, though more expensive the brass work should look well finished, the edges smoothed off, the steel of a diamond-like polish, the jewels pale in color, hut of a fine, clear lustre ; the action of the spiral spring should be even when «ia watch is set going."