Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1858-10-07
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Few persons are probably aware of the extent
to which the traffic in human hair "a carried.
1t mas been ascertained that the London hair
merchants alone import annually no less a
quantity than Eve tons. But the market
would be very inadequately supplied if de-
pendence were solely placed on chance clip
pings. There must be a regular harvest,
which can be looked forward to at partieu-
! lar time and as there are different markets
for black tea and green tea, for pale brandy
and brown brandy, so is there light-haired
market distinct from the dark haired.
The light hair is exclusively German pro-
duct. 1t is collected by the agents of a Dutch
company, who visit England yearly for or
ders. Until about fifty years ago, light hair
was esteemed above all others. One peculiar
golden tint was so supremely priced, that
dealers only produced it to favorite custom
ers, to whom it was sold at eight shillings an
ounce, or nearly double the price OF silver.
The rich and silk like texture of this treasur-
ed article had its attractions for poets and ar
fists, as we'll os traders. "Shakspeare espe-
cially," says one of our authorities, 'sseems to
have delighted in golden hair" "Her SUM-
ny locks hung on her temples like the golden
fleece" so Bassanio describes Portia, in the
Merchant of Venice, Again, in the Two
Gentlemen of Verona. Julia says of Sylvia
and herself-"Her hair is auburn, mine is
perfect yellow" Black hair he only mem
tons twice throughout his entire plays, clear
ly showing that he imagined light hair to be
the peculiar attribute of soft and delicate wo-
men.
A similar partially for this color, touched
with the sun, runs, however, though the
great majority of the poets, old Homer him
self Tor one; and the best painters have seiz.
ed, with the same instinct, upon golden tress-
es. walk through any gallery of old mas
ters will instantly settle this point. There is
not single female in the national gallery,
beginning with those glorious studies of
heads, the highest ideal of female beauty, by
such an idealist as Correggio, and ending
with the full blown blondes of the prodigal
Rubens-there is not single black-haired
female head amongst them.
But all this has passed away the dark
brown HAIR of France now rules the MARKET
1t is the opinion of those who have the best
right to offer one on such a subject, that the
color of the hair of the English people has
deepened in tint with the last fifty years, and
that this change is owing to the more frequent
lntermarrlages since the Napoleonic wars,
with nations nearer to the sunny South.
Whether dark or light, however, the hair pur-
chased by the dealer is so closely scrutinized
that he can discriminate between German and
the French article by the smell alone; nay,
be even claims the power, when his nose is
in, of distinguishing accurately between the
English, the Welsh, the Irish, and the Scotch
commodities. The French dealers are said to
be able to detect the difference between the
hair g raised" in two districts of Central
France not many miles apart, by tokens so
slight as wonld battle the most learned Of our
naturnlists and psychologists.
Black hair is imported chiefly from Brittany
and the South of France, where it is annually
collected by the agents of few wholesale
Partisan houses The average crops--we
seorn the imputaton of q pun-hervested by
these firms amount yeaA"
hundred thousand pounds we g9Ss.ioaP IL Elbq .r,s
paid for each head of hair ranges from one to
i've francs, according to its weight and beau
| ty, the former rising above pound, and sell
dom falling below twelve ounces. The itin-
Grant dealers are always provided with an ex-
tensve assortment of ribbons, silks, laces,
haberdashery, and cheap jewelry Of various
kinds, with which they make their purchases
as frequently as with money. They attend
all the fairs and morry-makings within their
circuit, and the singularity and novelty of
their operations are wont TO strike travellers
more than anything else which meets their
notice. g In various parts of the motley
crowd, says ono who had stopped to stare
his fill at one of the Breton fans 'tthere were
three or four different purchasers Of this COM
modify, who travel the country for TIE pur-
pose of attending the fairs and buying the
tresses of the peasant girls" who seem, in
deed, to bring the article to market as regu-
larly as peas or cabbages. They have par
tieularly fine hair he continues, 'and fire.
quently in the greatest abundance. should
have thought that female vanity would
off oil
being carried to any extent. But there SEEM
ed to be no difficulty in finding possessors of
beautiful heads of hair perfectly willing to
sell. We saw several girls sheared, one after
the other, like sheep, and as many more
standing ready for the shears, with their caps
in their hands, and their long hair combed
out and hanging down to their waists Some
of the operators were men, and some women.
By the side of the dealer was placed a large
basket, into which every successive crop Of
hair, tea upinto wisp by itself was thrown"
AS far as personal beauty is concerned, the
girls do not lose much by losing their hair
for it is the fashion in Brittany to wear close
cap, which entirely prevents any part of the
chereI're from being seen, and of course as to-
tally conceals the want of it. The hair thus
obtained is transmitted to the wholesale
houses, by whom it is dressed, sorted, and
sold to the hair workers in the chief towns at
about ten francs per pound. The portion Of
the crop most suitable for perukes is purchas.
ed by particular class of persons, by whom
it is cleansed, curled, prepared to a certain
stage, and sold to the perukiers at greatly
advanced price-it may be forty, or it may be
eighty francs per pound. Choice heads of
hair, like choice old pictures, or choice old
China, have, however, no limit to the price
they may occasionally Command Chambers
(Edinburg) Journal.
HIGH LIFE.-Bayard Taylor while in the
Arctic region i'll winter, used to eat half
pound Of meat at meal to warm himself
He Thus speaks of the cold which he endured
in Lapland: w mE
81 should have frozen at home in tenn
peTature which found very comfortable in
Lapland, with my solid diet Of bread and but
ter, and my garment OF reindeer skin. The
following is correct scale Of the physical ef-
fects Of cold calculated for the latitude of SIS
to 70 degrees north 10 deg. above zero, un-
pleasantly warm; zero, mild and agreeable;
10 deg. below zero, pleasantly fresh and bra.
cling; 20 deg. below zero, sharp. but not Sc
verely cold-keep your fingers and toes in
motion. and rub YOUR noaa occaAionallv. IN