Grand River times. [volume] (Grand Haven, Mich.) 1851-18??, 1853-11-30

slowing care and honor on the beard, and others
more devoted to the whiskers, so there are ma
tions, as the Hungarian, in which the honor of
the moustache is particularly cherished. The
moustaches of General Haynau were about half
yard long A Hungarian dragoon who aspir-
ed to eminence in that way, and had nursed o
pair Of moustachios for two years, until they
were only second to Haynau's fell asleep one
day after dinner with a cigar in his mouth. He
awoke with one of his fine nose tails so terribly
burnt at the roots, that he was obliged after
wards to resort to an art used by many of his
companions, and to fortify the weak moustache
by twining into its substance artificial hair.
Such freaks and absurdties are, of course, in
consistent with the mature dignity of bearded
men. Let us have whisker, beard, and mustache
reverently worn, and trimmed discreetly and
with decency. | am not for the cabalistic whis-
ker, the Hungarian moustache, or q beard like
that worn by the Venitian magnate, of whom
Ssmondi relates, that if he did not lift it up, he
would trip over it in walking. Still worse was
the beard of the carpenter depicted in the Prin-
ces' Court at Eidam; who, because it was nine
feet long, was obliged, when at work, to sling it
about him in bag. A beard like either of those
is however, very much of phenomenon of ma
ture. The hair of mans head is finer, gener-
ally, than that on the head of woman, and if
left uncut, would grow to nearly the same
length. A womans back hair is an appurten-
ance entirely and naturally feminine. In the
same way, the development of the hair upon the
face of men, if left unchecked-although it
would differ much in different individuals, void
very rarely 60 on to an extravagant extent
Shaving compels the hair to grow at an undue
rate. 1t has been calculated that a man mows
off in the course of year, about six inches and
n half of beard, so that 4 man of eighty would
have chopped off in the course of his life twen-
ty-seven foot beard twenty feet more, perhaps
than would have sprouted, had he left nature
alone, and contented himself with so much oc-
casional trimming as would be required by the
just laws Of cleanliness and decency.
| 1t has been enormously asserted that growth
of beard would cover up the face hide the ex-
preston Of the features, and give decetful
mark of uniform sedateness to the entire popu-
lation. As for that last assertion, it is the di-
rect reverse of what is true. Sir Charles Bell,
In his essay on expression, properly observes
that no one who has been present at an assem-
bly, of bearded men can have failed to remark the
greater variety and force Of The expressions they
are able to convey What can be more portent-
ous for example, than to see the brow cloud
and the eyes flash and the nostrils dilate over
beard curling visibly with anger? How i'll does
a smooth chin support any time the character
assumed by the remainder of the face, except it
be a character Of sanctimonious oiliness that
does not belong honestly to man, or such prct-
ty chin rs makes the charm that should belong
only to n woman or child!
Therefore ask, why do we shave our boards (?
Why are we bare-chinned people! That the
hair upon the face of man was given to him for
sufficient reasons it will take but little time to
show. 1t has various uses, physiological and
mechanical. To take physiological use first,
we may point out the fact that the formation of
hair is one method of extruding carbon from the
system, and that the external hairs aid after their
own way in the work that has TO be done by
the internal lungs. Their use in this respect is
not lessened by shaving; on the contrary, the
elimination of carbon through the hairs of the
face is made to GO on with unnatural activity,
because the natural effort to cover the chin with
hair is increased in the vain struggle to remove
the state of artificial badness, as a hen goes on
laying if her eggs be taken from her, and the pro-
duction of hair on the chin is at least quadru-
pied by the use of the razor. The natural bal
ance is in this way destroyed. Whether the
harm so done is great cannot tell; do not
know that it is, but the strict balance which ma
ture keeps between the production of hair, and
the action Of the lungs, is too constant and rigid
to be altogether insignificant. We have all had
too much opportunity for noticing how in peo-
pie whose lungs are constitutionally weak as in
people with consumptive tendencies, the growth
of hair is excessive, even to the eyelashes. A
skin covered with downy hair is one of the marks
of scrofulous child and who has not been sad
dened by the charm of the long eyelashes over
the lustrous eye of the consumptive girl!
The very anomalies of growth show that the
hair must fulfill more than a trifling purpose in
the system. There has been an account pub
lished in the present century by Ruggier of a
woman twenty-seven years of age, who was cov-
cred from the shoulders to the knees with black
wooly hair, like that of poodle dog. Very re-.
Gently, French physician has related the case
of young lady over whose skin, after fever,
hair grew so rapidly that, at the end of month,
she was covered with hairy coat, an inch long,
over every part Of her body, except the face,
the palms Of the hands, and the soles of the
feet.
There are other less curious accounts of wo-
men who are obliged to shave regularly once
or twice week. and it may be asked why are
not all women compelled to shave! If boards
and whskers serve purpose, why are they de-
MED to women? This is n question certainly
not difficult to answer. For the same reason
that the rose is painted and the violet perfumed
there are assigned by nature to woman attri-
butes of grace heightened by physical weak
ness, and to the man attributes Of dignity and
strength. A thousand delicate emotions were
TO pav about the woman's month eyDressions