Page:Personal beauty how to cultivate and preserve it in accordance with the laws of health (1870).djvu/98

 mind associates the "red eye" so closely with intemperance that it has become a slang term for bad whiskey. Now, it is evident, discolorations from all these causes are in part or wholly under our own command, and that we can escape them if we will.

The pupil of the eye should suit in hue the hair and complexion. A blue eye and black hair are even more in discord than a dark eye and light hair. The latter is, indeed, esteemed by some a charm. But the color of the pupil cannot be changed by any process known to art. In elderly persons, and in those suffering from heart disease, it loses its natural tinge and changes to a dull brown.

We shall not give any tedious directions about preserving the eyes in health. It is not necessary. All there is to do is to wash them morning and evening in cool, pure water, and dry them gently with a soft towel, wiping them toward the nose, for in the corner nearest the nose is the outlet of the various humors secreted by the eye.

Then there is a word to be said about crying. The tears are constantly being secreted by the eye, and it is only when they are so abundant that they cannot all pass through the outlet we have just spoken of that they overflow on the cheeks. We are, in fact, ever weeping salt tears, even in our most joyous moments. Apart from the contortion of the features which usually