What a good thing it is that we have nice, hard nails to keep the tips
of our fingers from being hurt! How sore they would get if it were not
for those bright, horny nails, and how well they protect the
finger-tips, which have to touch so many things!
Most of the nail is fast to the finger, but at the outer edge there is a
little space =between= the nail and the finger, and if we are not
careful this little space gets filled with dirt, and then the nail has a
black band across the top, which looks very ugly. When the nails are
long, the band is wider, and, although the dirt is =under= the nail, it
shows on the outside, because the nail is transparent, that is, it can
be seen through.
Do you like to have your hands clean? Then there must be no black bands
to disfigure the pretty, shining nails; our hands cannot be called clean
if there is a little arch of dirt at the tip of each finger. Ask mother
to cut the nails when they get too long, then you can keep them clean
more easily.
Men who do work that soils their hands very much like the chimney-sweep
(Story Lesson 62) cannot possibly keep their nails clean, but children
can.
There was once a little boy who had the funniest finger-tips I ever saw.
The nails were so short that there was not the tiniest space between the
outer edge and the fleshy part, and so the tip of each finger had grown
out like a little round cushion, not at all pretty to look at. If the
little boy saw any one noticing his hands, he would hide them away, lest
he should be asked what it was that caused the finger-tips to look so
funny. I wonder if =you= can guess the reason? It was because the boy
bit his nails. What a horrid thing to do! Was it not? And how do you
think his mother cured him? She dipped the tips of his fingers in
tincture of bitter aloes, so that when he put them in his mouth he might
get the bitter taste, and leave off biting them.
I once heard a gentleman say that =he= thought it was very rude to put a
pencil or anything near the mouth, so what would he think of a child who
put his =fingers= in his mouth, and bit his nails? Baby may suck her
little thumb sometimes, perhaps, because she does not know better, but
sensible children will remember that it is rude to put fingers in mouth.
(Blackboard.)
Keep your Nails Clean.
Do not put Fingers in Mouth.
Can you think of anything else that should be kept clean besides the
nails? In your mouth are two rows of beautiful little, white teeth. At
least they =ought= to be white, but if we do not keep them clean, they
often get discoloured and begin to decay and give us pain.
We should each have a tooth-brush, and use it every day to cleanse the
teeth, dipping it first in nice, clean water, and when the brushing is
done, the mouth should be rinsed several times. The teeth should be
brushed up and down from the gums (not from left to right), so that we
may get all the particles of food from the tiny spaces between the
teeth. If we do this regularly we shall not be likely to suffer much
from toothache.
Two white rows of pearly teeth,
What can prettier be?
If you =keep= them clean and white,
They are fair to see.
(Blackboard.)
Why we brush teeth:--
1. To keep clean and prevent toothache.
2. To make them look nice.