On on unknown day very early in tbo world's bistoryit must have occurred to some prehistoric Narcissus, as he contemplated his not too attractive physiognomy In the clear water of a pellucid brook or well—the most ancient of mirrors—that the tangled masses of hair which covered hia head* and fell thickly upon bis shoulders* v/dre susceptible of some improvement in the way of orderly arrarigement. The reflection would, suggest action j and di.tr prehistoric fclcfld would doubtless discover; instinctively, that the passage of the fingers through his matted locks—difficult and painful as the operation may have been—was the initial step towards tbo attainment of a more orderly chcvclure. This \yas tho first'stage in the history of the coinb; for, es fidgety Wets rhnejo forks, bo the same nseiul members just as surely preceded combs. The next step was easy. It must soon have occurred to the least intellectual of our earliest ancestors that an artificial implement, however rndo in construction, might easily be made which would do the work of disentanglement more effectually than thick or clumsy fingers. And so, at some unknown but very early date in the history of tbo world, the first comb made its appearance* carrying with and within it tbo promise and potency'' of a world of toilet appliances; of which, assUreclTy, this linfeutbred j&Kvage. who first learned to comb bis objectionable looks never dreamed. '

Combs aro found among the relics of the earliest forms of civilisation. In the British Museum, for instance, may bo seen combs, with hair-pins, mirrors; and other toilet articles, which wore used in world-old Egypt thousands of years ago ; and earlier than the wonderful civilisation of the land of the ’Kile it is bhrdly passible to go—at least with any attempt at historical pre cision, Leaving these twilight regions of extreme antiquity, however, and coming to more distinctly historic times, combs are found to have been nsod by most European nations, whether civilised or the reverse. Ancient Doman combs r werq raado of box wood; Or of ivory* oi* of stiU.mofe precious materials; and Similar articles bate been fflslotoifcd Horn the Houses of long-buried /orapdl, .. The more barbarous races or norcheril

Europe were equally familiar with these aids to tho toilet. The old chronicle history of Ely tells ua that our Banish invaders, following the custom of their country,. 