You should avoid blowing your nose at table, and must not arrange your dress, hair, or any part of your person, as these things can be done properly only in your own bed- rooms, or in places set apart for that purpose. Xever speak while in the act of eating, and never under any circum- stances over-fill your mouth. The above rules include all that you most need to know in regard to the proprieties of the table ; and I can add to them only the one broad rule, that you should never do any- thing which may offend the sense of the most refined person present, because, while there may be a certain latitude allowed in general society, the laws of the table are exact and unvarying. CHAPTER II. CARE OF THE PERSON. One of the fundamental conditions of civilized, not to say refined, society, is cleanliness. The house, trom the cel- lar to the garret, must be clean , the table, in all its appoint- ON HABITS AND MANNERS, 13 merits, scrupulously neat ; and, above all, the body should be guarded in every particular against even the suspicion of uncleanliness. The first step in this direction is the morning bath — a necessity and a luxury which should never, in winter or summer, be omitted. No matter how hurried you may he, or how unwilling to make what seems at the moment an exertion, you should never fail to bathe yourself thoroughly from head to foot in cool, fresh water, before you dress yourself for the day. The simplest and pleasantest way to do this is to have a large tub of tin or wood half filled with water, into which you can step, and with a large sponge or piece of coarse cloth, and plenty of soap, rub the akin upon every part of your body until all impurities are removed and the senses of sight and smell both assure you that you are beginning the day with a clean body. In case it is not convenient for you to procure or to use a tub, a large basin must take its place, though of course you cannot stand in this, but with the sponge or coarse cloth must be equally careful to rub every portion of your skin. Having by the use of the soap (which you must apply with your sponge or cloth) removed or neutralized all the secretions of the skin and all the foreign substances which may adhere to it, you should then rinse off the soap with pure water, and finally rub and dry yourself thoroughly with a clean towel, which is all the better for being coarse. 14 ON HABITS AND MANNERS. This, then, is the general outline of the morning bath with which every civilized man and woman should begin the day, and without which no one has any right to consider himself or herself clean. But there are some details which require your attention, and I shall take them in what might be called their natural order, beginning with the hair. The hair and the skin of the head must be washed as often as once or twice a week with clean water, without soap. The use of oils and pomatum is, as a general thing, a mistake, as they clog the pores of the skin, and are more likely to produce than to prevent diseases of the hair, in addi- tion to which, their odor is usually unpleasant. The use of pure water, and thorough brushing once or twice a day, with such combing as is necessary to keep the hair from matting, will, in most cases, ensure the cleanliness of both the hair and the skin of the head.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

You should avoid blowing your nose at table, and must not arrange your dress, hair, or any part of your person, as these things can be done properly only in your own bedrooms, or in places set apart for that purpose. Never speak while in the act of eating, and never under any circumstances over-fill your mouth. The above rules include all that you most need to know in regard to the proprieties of the table ; and I can add to them only the one broad rule, that you should never do anything which may offend the sense of the most refined person present, because, while there may be a certain latitude allowed in general society, the laws of the table are exact and unvarying. CHAPTER II. CARE OF THE PERSON. One of the fundamental conditions of civilized, not to say refined, society, is cleanliness. The house, trom the cellar to the garret, must be clean; the table, in all its appointments, scrupulously neat; and, above all, the body should be guarded in every particular against even the suspicion of uncleanliness. The first step in this direction is the morning bath — a necessity and a luxury which should never, in winter or summer, be omitted. No matter how hurried you may he, or how unwilling to make what seems at the moment an exertion, you should never fail to bathe yourself thoroughly from head to foot in cool, fresh water, before you dress yourself for the day. The simplest and pleasantest way to do this is to have a large tub of tin or wood half filled with water, into which you can step, and with a large sponge or piece of coarse cloth, and plenty of soap, rub the skin upon every part of your body until all impurities are removed and the senses of sight and smell both assure you that you are beginning the day with a clean body. In case it is not convenient for you to procure or to use a tub, a large basin must take its place, though of course you cannot stand in this, but with the sponge or coarse cloth must be equally careful to rub every portion of your skin. Having by the use of the soap (which you must apply with your sponge or cloth) removed or neutralized all the secretions of the skin and all the foreign substances which may adhere to it, you should then rinse off the soap with pure water, and finally rub and dry yourself thoroughly with a clean towel, which is all the better for being coarse. This, then, is the general outline of the morning bath with which every civilized man and woman should begin the day, and without which no one has any right to consider himself or herself clean. But there are some details which require your attention, and I shall take them in what might be called their natural order, beginning with the hair. The hair and the skin of the head must be washed as often as once or twice a week with clean water, without soap. The use of oils and pomatum is, as a general thing, a mistake, as they clog the pores of the skin, and are more likely to produce than to prevent diseases of the hair, in addition to which, their odor is usually unpleasant. The use of pure water, and thorough brushing once or twice a day, with such combing as is necessary to keep the hair from matting, will, in most cases, ensure the cleanliness of both the hair and the skin of the head.

On habits and manners