957. _The Feet_--Should be washed in cold water every morning, and wiped very dry. Stockings, if too small, cripple the feet as surely as small shoes. Always be careful to give the foot room enough, and you will be rarely troubled with corns. When the toe-nails have a tendency to turn in, so as to be painful, the nail should always be kept scraped _very thin_, and as near the flesh as possible. As soon as the corner of the nail can be raised up out of the flesh, it should be kept from again entering, by putting a tuft of fine lint under it.
958. _For Sore Feet._--The thin white skin which comes from suet, is excellent to bind upon the feet, for chilblains. Rubbing with Castile soap, and afterwards with honey, is likewise highly recommended.
959. _A Vapor-Bath at home._--Place _strong_ sticks across a tub of water, at the boiling-point, and sit upon them, entirely enveloped in a blanket, feet and all. The steam from the water will be a vapor-bath. Some people put herbs into the water. Steam-baths are excellent for severe colds, and for some disorders in the bowels. They should not be taken without the advice of an experienced nurse or physician. Great care should be taken not to renew the cold after; it would be doubly dangerous.
960. _Of the Cookmaid._--When a young woman undertakes the situation of cookmaid in a family, where only one or two other servants are kept, she will have many duties to perform, besides preparing and dressing the provisions, although that is her principal business. What those duties are, will, of course, depend very much upon the habits of the family with whom she lives; and whether there is a man-servant or a boy kept; as, if not, the cleaning of knives, shoes, and various things that would be done by them, become the business of the cook-maid.
961. _General duties of the Cookmaid._--The part of the house in which her chief work lies is the kitchen; but she is also expected to clean the passage or hall, the stone door-steps, the bell-pull, name-plate, knocker, and all things outside the house which are kept cleaned; also, the kitchen stairs, pantry, servants' offices, and areas; and, in many families, the dining-room as well as the kitchen windows, and the light over or at the sides of the hall door. It is her place to scour the dresser, table, shelves, &c., in the kitchen and pantry, and to keep both places clean and in order; to wash the plates and dishes, to keep the saucepans and all other vessels used in cooking, or for keeping eatables in, perfectly clean, so that they may always be ready for use; to wash and keep the pudding-cloths sweet and clean; to sweep the carpet, and clean the grate, fender, fire-irons, and hearth, in the breakfast-parlor; to clean the kitchen candlesticks; to assist the housemaid in making the beds after they have been laid open to air; to answer the door to the trades-people; and, if there is no man-servant, nor boy kept, to brush the clothes and shoes of the gentlemen of the family.