remind you, so you will have to try extra hard to remember to brush your teeth the first thing in the morning and last thing at night."

"But you'll usually be with us at meals, so you can remind us about brushing them after meals," said Ruth.

"But I shan't be with you at meals all your lives, Ruth," said Mother, "so you had better form the habit right now of remembering for yourselves. I'll lay the package of tooth powder here and when I go over to the big house I think I can find two bottles. We'll divide the powder and you can each have a bottle.'

"What's the powder made of?" asked Paul.

"I had the druggist make it for me," replied Mother. "I asked him to mix two ounces of precipitated chalk with one-half ounce of powdered castile soap and one dram of powdered orris root, so I got all this powder for only fifteen cents, and it is just as good for your teeth as the most expensive tooth paste in a fancy tube."

As the plumber went out the door, in walked Father. "My, what a clean, white tub!" he exclaimed. "I hope you'll play fair with that tub."

"What do you mean?" asked Paul.

"Well," said Father, "I have known boys—of course, I never lived with one, but I have known them -who left the tub for someone else to clean. I used to forget and do it myself when I was a boy. And one night I had such a queer dream. I made up a verse about it."

"Say the verse to us," begged Ruth. So Father, with a twinkle in his eye, recited: "After my bath, I dreamed last night Something that gave me such a fright. I thought that through the bathroom door I heard the unwashed bathtub roar,

'Hi you! Come here!

What do you mean?
I helped you wash all nice and clean,
And now you coolly turn your back
And leave me here all streaked and black.
Whoever wants to use me next

Will, I am sure, be sorely vexed
At seeing this dark, dirty rim
That you have left behind for him.
Fair play, my son! Come, give a rub
To your old friend, the faithful Tub!'"

THINGS TO REMEMBER

The bathroom is another one of the most important rooms in the house. To use it well is one great step in health-getting. We can begin by taking proper care of the bathtub. After every bath we scrub the tub with a large brush which we keep for this purpose. This leaves the tub clean for the next bath. We also scrub the wash basin after every using.

Each person in the house has his own wash cloth and towels and keeps them on his own hook. Of course each person has a separate hook for his own toothbrush, which he uses night and morning and hangs up, well rinsed, after each using.

In the bathroom there will be plenty of good soap and tooth paste. Salt is a very good substitute for tooth paste. There will be a nailbrush and a nailfile, so that dirt which gets ground in under the finger-nails can be removed. People can do the dirtiest work and still have clean hands afterwards if they use both of these bathroom tools properly.

We will use the bathtub for warm, soapy all-over baths at least twice a week to get our bodies clean and to remove all odors. Besides the scrub-bath for cleanliness, a cold splash every morning is a good habit. It makes blood circulate through the body and helps train the skin to get used to cold. Never forget that clean bodies deserve clean underclothes. Civilized persons use bathrooms and laundries freely. Savage people do not. Which will you be?

TO THINK ABOUT

What is everyone's duty to the bathtub and washbasin?

How can we get our nails clean after working in garden or helping clean the automobile?

What care should one take of toothbrush, towel and wash cloth?

Where do you suppose the bad odors in some schoolrooms or crowded cars come from? How could they be avoided?

For what different reasons do we take hot and cold baths? Do you remember how to avoid "taking cold" after a hot bath?

How can people who do not have bathrooms keep themselves and their clothes clean?

66

CHAPTER X

THE MEDICINE CLOSET

'WELL,” said Ruth, as they gathered around the supper table that evening, "the bathroom is all finished. Even the towels and soap are there. I can scarcely wait to take a bath in the new tub."

"It isn't quite finished, Ruth, finished, Ruth," replied her Mother. "To-morrow I want to go down to Bradley's to get several things, and while I am there I am going to buy some supplies for your medicine closet."

"But we are scarcely ever sick," objected Paul, "and when we are, you hardly ever give us any medicine.”