The sunsets at Nairn, N.B., are often beautiful in the extreme. Last night, however, was probably an exception, for the sun gave just one yellow uncertain glare across the wind-chafed waves, then sank behind a bank of sulphureous-looking clouds. Darkness came on a whole hour before its time, and though an almost full moon was in the sky, the rolling cumulus eclipsed it. And such awful cumulus I have never seen before; so black, so beast-like in shape. To gaze up into the heavens was like catching a glimpse of some scenes in Dante's Inferno.

Then high and higher rose the wind, howling and "howthering" from off the stormy Nor' lan' sea. Although my caravan is well anchored down in the wide green meadow in which I lie, she pulled and dragged at her hawsers, and swung and rolled like a ship in the chops of the Channel. But a wild wind and a van that rocks, bring sweetest slumbers to the brain of the poor wandering gipsy, and it was well-nigh six this morning before I opened my lazy eyes.

The sea out yonder is an ocean of blue ink flecked with snow-white foam; for the storm still blows, though less fiercely. Beyond the Moray Frith sunshine and shadow are playing at hide-and-seek, and so bright are the colours of woodland and fields, their deep dark greens, their yellows and the touches of crimson on the beetling cliffs, that they bring vividly to my recollection the awful pictures I used to paint when a boy of eight or nine.

It is already well on in the fa' o' the year, and I am still 700 miles from my English home. But there is a sting in the air now, both morn and even, which sharply touches up one's kilted knees. Wonderfully bracing, however; there is health in every breeze, and I believe my girl-readers, who happen to possess anything having the slightest resemblance to a constitution, should go out for exercise in all weathers.

And now let me give a few hints in paragraphs, which I feel certain will appeal to many of my readers.

Unnatural Deformities.

By this I mean those which are not congenital, such as club-foot, for instance; deformities, in fact, that girls bring on themselves. I will go down as low as the feet first. Well, it is, of course, greatly to be deplored that Providence did not give you feet to fit your shoes; but really, to compress the feet means perpetual discomfort and danger. Cases of headaches and extreme nervousness may often be traced to the wearing of tightly-fitting boots or shoes. Pimples or acne, red nose, dyspepsia and varicose veins may also be produced through the same cause. Nearly all deformities of the feet can now be removed by surgical appliances. Flat foot, or want of arch, is one of these. It is not only remediable, but it should be remedied.

The toes ought to have play in a shoe, else girls can never walk, or dance, or play tennis, or golf gracefully. God never meant your foot to be all one solid lump squeezed into a shoe three sizes too small for you, or depend upon it He never would have given you toes.

Corns will not form—whether hard or soft—on the foot that wears a nice smooth stocking and an easy-fitting boot. The nails should be attended to every morning or evening after the bath, and ought to be cut square off, and not down the sides, else the consequence may be an in-growing nail and painful ulceration.

Never sit long with your legs crossed one over the other. It interferes greatly with the circulation, and may cause varicose veins.

Bent spine.—This is preventible in many ways. When writing, reading or typing do not lean forward; sit erect, and keep even the neck straight. Throw the shoulders well back, and thus will you expand chest and lungs. The same rule holds good if cycling. All kinds of exercises should be taken that tend to develop the muscles of the chest and give plenty of room for heart and lungs. Tight-lacing causes shocking and dangerous deformity, displacing all the internal organs and interfering with their work, so that your tight-laced girls are at best but hanging to life by the eyelashes, and the man who marries such a one is no better than a fool.

Pure Blood.

Blood purifiers sold in shops are one of the swindles of the age, and the time is not far distant, I hope, when quackery will be banished entirely from the British Isles. Meanwhile beware of everything you see on a chemist's counter that bears a government three-halfpenny stamp.

You cannot be happy, it is true, if the blood be impure, and moreover, while it is so you are far more liable to catch colds and coughs and any ailment that may be epidemic, such as influenza.

Rules for Keeping the Blood Pure.

1. Never eat to repletion. If you eat slowly you will not do so.

2. Avoid too much sugar and pastry, especially if you have a slight leaning towards embonpoint. The lean may use sugar, but not the round-faced and obese.

3. Good ripe fruit before breakfast.

4. The morning bath to keep the skin pores open, and thus reduce the work of the internal excreting organs.

5. A large tumblerful of hot water with a squeeze of lemon in it, after the bath.

6. No tea in the morning, but coffee, cocoa, or hot milk.

7. Eat slowly, masticate well. Never get into an exciting argument at table.

8. Be regular in all your habits, and sleep with your windows open.

Thus shalt thy blood be pure.

The Eyes.

Now that the nights are getting long, and we have to read by lamp-light, by electric, or gas-light, a word about the eyes may be opportune. Don't therefore try or tire your eyes too much. Read in a good light. Remember that tiring the eyes means tiring the brain, for the nerves of sight issue therefrom. Students should frequently bathe brow and eyes in the coldest of water, and rest awhile on the sofa with a newspaper over the face.

Eyes and health go hand in hand, and if your liver or stomach be out of order, the eyesight will become more or less dim for a time. It is most important therefore that girls engaged in study, or who do office work, should make a point of keeping their health well up to the mark.

Cycling for Young Girls.

Cycling is revolutionising the kingdom, partly for good, partly, alas! for harm. But I want to warn parents against permitting children of too tender years to cycle. Remember I myself might be called a cyclomaniac. Many is the article and many the book I have written on this charming method of pedal progression, but I never have been a scorcher.

I say, and fear no contradiction, that no girl should be permitted to mount a bike, until she is eleven or twelve years of age, and even then she must ride in moderation. Else years and years of ill-health and trouble are in store for her in after-life. Children should be taken good care of when out cycling, and those with them should ride in moderation, else the child will kill herself in trying to keep up.

The same may be said about club-cycling for young men. Just as there is always a tiny wee "drochy" in a litter of pigs, so in a club out for a spin there is always one or more poor white-faced visions of lads that a Chinaman could whip, and it is pitiful to gaze on their weazened white bits of perspiring faces as they bend over their bars and try to keep up. Such brats often smoke too. Alas! alas! but there is one consolation, they soon sink into their morsels of graves, and the world wags better without them.

Poverty of Blood.

This is usually called "Anæmia." The words of a fellow-practitioner in a recently published medical journal are so good that I make no apology for transcribing them for your benefit.

"It is doubtful, in my mind, whether the average doctor realises the frequency of anæmia. I am sure that if the general practitioner gave due attention to the factor anæmia, we should have comparatively few cases of disease extending into the chronic stage. Too few physicians are accustomed to take into account all the elements of every case, including this, the most prevalent and essential of all. Any disease that depletes the system and draws largely on the vital forces will involve the condition we call anæmia. On all such occasions, it is of the first importance for the doctor to be constantly on the look-out for this condition. The best means of diagnosis is microscopic examination of the blood, to determine its quality from the number of red corpuscles and the proportion of hæmaglobin, and also as to its freedom from bacteria.

"As to the treatment of anæmia, blood, in my opinion, is undoubtedly the only agent that can absolutely restore the normal condition of blood. Iron has long been the favourite remedy with the profession for the treatment of anæmia. But a careful study of clinical cases, and careful perusal of the opinions of the most intelligent medical men, will elicit the fact that this remedy will not all the time produce the most satisfactory results. In fact, the majority of physicians will tell you that iron will act favourably up to a certain point only. Why is this? It is because iron preparations are not readily absorbed, and because they can only stimulate cell proliferation, but cannot help the deficient nutrition of the proliferating cells. It is for this reason that, as much clinical experience has proved to me and many others, patients put on iron and other so-called blood tonics seldom make any permanent improvement. The agent that brings results clinically is one that not only causes rapid cell proliferation, but supplies the new-born cells with direct nutrition, thereby causing them to proliferate in turn; thus finally restoring the blood to the normal standard."

Well, au revoir, girls, till we meet in bleak December. And just let me thank the G. O. P. lasses who visited my caravan this year in Scotland, and brought me smiles and pretty flowers.

Illustration from The Girl's Own Paper, Vol. XX, No. 985, November 12, 1898

THE NEW SOPRANO.