Nursery Decoration And Hygiene.

themselves , very much as Miss Havisham solemnly exhorted poor Pip to play , when he , looking about vainly for the ways and means thereto , conceived a vague idea of turning . sommersaults ! Over all , there is a tenement-house air that can hardly be realized by the visitor who has ascended , by slow degrees , through eveiy stage of a beautifully decorated home . This , not so common as of old , will be , in a short time , I hope , only the exception to the rule . There are sundry conditions leading to reform that cannot be too strongly enforced . It seems hardly necessary to suggest that the first essential is light—the pitiless foe to untidinessthe inspiration to cheerful thoughtshappy tempersand healthbodies .

, , , y A nursery should , if possible , have a southern exposure , and the windows be guarded without by an iron net-work , which may be painted green with gilded top , rising above the level of the child's shoulder , lest it should be seized with a fancy to stand up there and survey the world when nobody is near . Inside this net-work an ivy may be trained , and a few pots of hardy scarlet geranium , wall flower , and mignonette be placed , when spring comes in . To water these plants might be the reward for a day of good behaviour in the nursery .

All of us will appreciate the following suggestion as both realistic and practicable in the hi ghest degree : In this day of cheap and charming wall-papers , one has but to go the nearest shop to find a dozen suggestions , any one of which will lend the nursery a charm , requiring but few additions to transform any room into a cheerful home for the little folks . A dado of Indian matting , in red and white checks , is very popular , and goes far toward furnishing the room . In one nursery the mother has left a space , three or four feet high , above the

weather board , plain—for each child to contribute his own idea in decoration with pictures out out of books and illusti'ated weeklies , and collected by himself . Above , and not too high , should be hung pictures . Be liberal with these , and choice . Give your children Sir Joshua Reynold ' s dainty little darlings fer their companions , and engravings or plain photographs of any of the delightful little genre pictures of French , or English , or German art that come to us so freely now . A picture with a moral will accomplish far more in childhood than one of ^ 5 sop ' s fables . The first aspiration toward a career of true greatness may be struck into a boy ' s guileless nature as he stands gazing up at some scene which tells a tale of self-renouncing heroism .

So also most true are the aasthetical remarks and advice which follow : It has come to be regarded as indispensable to the new regime that all carpets covering the floor shall be banished in favour of " strips , and bits , and rugs . " May I enter a modest protest in behalf of a nursery carpet ? Not only do the children slip and trip continually upon scattered pieces of carpet , but baby , whom you have established with all his belongings upon an island of rugs , persists in abandoning it for the most distant and draughty corner of the stained wood floor . Where the furniture is li ght , a three-ply carpet , taken

away to be shaken every spring and autumn , under light , movable furniture , can easily be kept clean by a respectable nurse . The furniture should be solid , but not heavy . Each child should have a cot or crib to himself , with a free circulation of air about it . Where it is impossible to have another room for dressing purposes , three-fold screens can be used , made of stout muslin , stretched upon a frame , and covered by mother , nurse , and little ones with all that remains of the lovely Christmas picture-books , rescued and cut out before it is too late . These pictures , Walter Crane's especiallymay be pasted also in the panels of the doorand lines of blue and

, , gay gold and scarlet described around them . The paper-hangers have taken a great deal of this pleasant labour off our hands by introducing a wall-paper covered with the well-known scenes from "Baby ' s Opera" and "Baby's Bouquet . " Curtains should be limited in quantity , and light in texture . Any pretty cretonne , blooming all over with pink roses , and green leaves , and gay birds , will delight a child , and the day coverings to the nurse ' s bed may be made of the same . For the children ' s beds there is nothing like spotless whiteAnother form of curtainuseful because it can be

. , repeatedly washed throughout the season , is of plain white cotton stuff , bordered with figured Turkey red , and looped with bands of the same material . The only heading to these draperies should be a casing through which a light brass rod , fitted into sockets at each end , is run . In regard to colour , I should advocate leaving mediaeval blues and dull sage greens below stairs , in the library or boudoir given over to high art . Give the little ones the A B C ' s of decoration , with plenty of warm , honest red and

" blue Which will show your love is true . " And once more , let us . listen carefull y to the views of this nurserj reformer : In your mantel decoration don't forget a clock ! It is necessary to the nurse , and valuable in every way to the children . I know of one nursery , where , at every hour and