Star.
London, England, 1830-12-20 00:00:00

A FEW WORDS ON HAIR.

" Doth not even nature itself teach you, that if a man have long 11.11.
It in a shame to him. But If a woman have long hair, it is a glory t
he►."—ST. PAUL.

I. The Argives' after the loss of Thyrea, cut their hair short, an •
bound themselves by a solemn oath, not to allow it to grow long al
fore until they had recovered that place ftom the Lacedarmonians. sc,
Heaoszorus, Clio, 82.
11. XENOPHON' and also Pzirraacw, in his Life of Lysander—It..
forms us that the Lacethemonian custom of wearing the hair very long
was derived from the institution of Lycurgus, who said, that " long km
makes the hadsome more beautiful, and the ugly more terrible.'
111. The Abantes cut off their hair in order to prevent the enemy
from seizing them by their locks. For the same reason Alexander made
his troops cut off their hair.
IV. All ranks and classes of females in Bagdad stain their Lair a red
colour, for which purpose they use the Hannah plant. See &cn.s.
wass's Mesopotamia, 531.
V. The Siamese cultivate a lock of hair on the forehead, which lock
they preserve from birth to the age of 12, 14, or 16, untouched. A.
the expiration of this period, they institute a great feast : presents aro
made by all the relations ants friends of the family, and the oc..a.sion is
rendered one of great joy. The Brahman then, sprinkling a little water
on the head, and repeating certain prayers, cuts the lock.—Fuszarsos's
MMus to Sian, 160.

VI. " Moreover, by some sepulchres, there hung bushes of hair,
which women, or maidens, had placed In testimony of their grief for the
loss of their relations."—Bossagutues Travels, rs.
Vll.—Lsvater says, " You must take care to distinguish the length
of the hair, its quantity, quality, and color. It indicates a man', ow,.
tees qffseling ! and kis insisiol faculties ! Long hair indicates weak-
ness ; a noble head of hair is of a golden yellow, with a soft ON..
Lank black hair denotes poverty of intellect ; but when thick and
strong, assiduity and the love of order. Hair black and thin, on a hei
bald head, a sound clear judgment; but excluding invention and the
sallies of wit." He gon on thus to address Algernon Sydney : With
no other inducement than thy hair, I should salute thee as an honm
man, a zealous patriot, though, perhaps, over violent." It would he
curious to know what judgment Layette would have formed of the pro.
ple mentioned in the following passage from DANOILAII'S Memoirs:
" A ship is arrived at Ls Rochelle, from Canada, with accounts that
our [French] colonies are in want of speedy succours. The Bishop of
Quebec has sent missionaries into parts which have been, hitherto, cos.
sidered as imaginary. He reports, that he has discovered a people,
whose hair, both of the head and body, is like the plitmapr of parrots ;
and another, of which all the men are hump-backed, and all the women
lame 1"

Vlll.—There are some learned men who consider the human hair.—
t tie,,iteable, and assert that it may be transplanted ! See 0/lORAT VI
FARES, lib. 3, De Plantis, and Par ars BonaLLua, Hist. et 06s.
Merl. Cent. 5. Oln. 10.

174-13. r. AUGUSTINE speaks of some who have the faculty of
bringing their hair forward that lies behind, and Wee versa—without
moving the head
X. Saunas, in his liistory of Francs, says, that Queen Clotilda
preferred having the heads of her young sons cut of, rather than that
their hair should be cropped I which is strange, for the hair grows again.
but the head never will.

XI. Formerly it was a mark of great politeness to pluck a hair out
of your friend's head. St. Germier had his pole thinned thus ; for
Clovis having plucked one of the saint's, the courtiers (who always du
as their king does) each plucked • hair ; and the Saint-Bishop wa.
quite enchanted at it, though at the expense of a bead of hair. Cali.
hula, not so polite, caused all to be shaved on the hinder part of their
who were handsome, and had a thick head of hair : he loved to
disfigure them.
XII. Josent us says, that Solomon's life-guards had their hair very
long and Boating down their shouldere, and that they every day pow.
dered their hair with gold spangles, which glittered exceedin,2ly in
the sun. We are told, also, in GODWIN'S Moses and Aaron that Ab-
salom's hair weighed 41b. 2 os. and that he polled it every year. In
these days, such an annual crop would be more valuable than that of an
acre of land, the finest hair now selling at five guineas an ounce. Not
only Absalom, but some of the Roman emperors, powdered their hair
with gold dust, as Gallienus, Commodus, Nero, &c.
XIII. Towards the end of the 11th century the Archbishop et
Rouen declared war against long hair. Several bishops joined in this
clerical seal; and it was enacted, in a council, that those who woes
long hair should be excluded from the church during their lives, and
should not be prayed for after death ! Sec ch. Bof Postaaasa's "
Loire des Arch6e4ques de Rouen."
XIV. Upwards of three millions of Frenchmen perished, because
an Archbishop (Peter (Lombard) was offended with long hair, because
a King (Lewis VII. had cut and shaved his beard, and because bit
wife (Leonora of Aquitaine) looked upon short hair sand a shaven chin
as ridiculous !—See the particulars in Cowar.rs and Mesza.r.
XV. Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury, ventured so far as to pro.
aounce the then terrible sentence of excommunication against all who
wore long hair. Selo, a Norman Bishop, preached a sermon before
Henry I. in 1100 against long hair, with which the King and (ot
course) his eouniers were so much affected, that they consented to resign
their lowing ringlets, of which they had been so vain. The prudent
prelate gave them no time to change their minds; fur, distrusting We
their sudden compunction, he instantly pulled a air f shears out of hie
pocket, and performed the operation with his own hand.
XVI Among the Romans, those who were bald, and would not wear
a wig, had recourse to a very extraordinary expedient; they caused
hair to be painted on their bate skull, with perfumes and essences corn.
1, posed expressly for the purpose. Martial, In an epigram on Phabo.
says, " 1 oar have no occasion for a barber for your head, Pluebus ; ye
I may shave yourself much better with a sponge !"
XVII. The powdering of the hair took its rise from some of the
ballad singers, at the fair of St. Germaine, whitening their heads to
make themselves appear ridiculous ; this was in the year 1614. It was
first taxed in England, 1793.
XVIII. The plucking off the hair was anciently a great disgrace
among the Jews. See Nehemiah, aid. W. Baldness was also con-
sidered as a disgrace. 2 Sam. ale. 28. 2 Kings ii. 23 Isaiah iii.
24. On festive occasions, the more opulent perfumed thtir hair with
Pageant unguents. PsaL xxiii. b. 6ecl. Ix. 8. Matt. vi 17. earl. 7.
Black hair was esteemed by them the most beautiful. Cant. v.. 1 I.

J.J.W.