The weekly north Iowa times. [volume] (McGregor, Iowa) 1857-1867, 1865-11-15
Waterfalls and Ringlets.

| AS every lauy wears false nalr now, either III
a " w,trrall nr in ringIets, it may interest then
to know something about the origin of 50 mucl
superhupas head ornament. Where does it a
come trom7 spectator naturally asks, as he
surveys the harvest OF looks hanging in the
windows of the fashionable hairdressers, ou
disposed in every conceivable form on the heads
OF waxcn dummies And little does the
spectator think Of the Bluebeard's cupboard
he is asking admittance to in putting this
query:
One Of the largest dealers in the trade in.
formed us that he could tell in the dark the
nationality OF any piece Of hair. This il done
either by the sense Of touch or smell Some
nations have much coarser hair than others
indeed, there is constant difference both with
respect to length and weight. The average
weight Of French head OF h,ir 10y which is
meant the piece of long hair which forms the
knot at the back Of the head) is FIVE ounces; OF
italian, six ounces; OF German, ten. This
difference has much to do with its color. To
see hair merchant take up n lon. tress, sniff
long sniff, and say at once where it came from
il as refreshing as to see winchester decid ing
n particular vintage OF wine by its bouquet
It is possible the chemical con -tituents of tho
material in some measure lead him to a conclu.
sion, IA there is always found to he an excess
OF sulphur and oxygen in fair hair, and an ex.
cess Of carbon in black hair. Local odors.
again, are great tell,tales Of the parts from
which hair comes Thus, Irish hair is dis'in.
guishable from others by the smell of peat
smoke always to be found in it. Pos: IDLY
/ ScUtch hair, Of the peasant class, of course,
may be distinguished from that OF her sister
across the channal by the delic te difference Of
this peat odor, just as we distinguish Irish from
Scotch whisky.
The chioniers who 20 about in Paris, morn.
ing and evening, picking out prizes from the
gutter, have not overlooked human h,ir. By
their agency the combinSs OF the fai Parisienne
are returned once more to the human head /;
aud no doubt there is dust heap olor the hair
merchant knows well But there is still anoth
er kini Of hair about which there is u deep
mystery A grim smile passes over the feu.
lures Of the hair merchant as he tells you that
the long 'leech" of hair (for that is the trade
name tor the small parcels in which they are
done up for sale. after being prepared and
cleansed) is known rs church yard hair! AS
he draws attention, with a certain sub,!ued
manner, to the squared end Of the "leech," you
perceive that they have not been cut, but pulled
out of the head with the bulb adherent. Some.
times this class of hair comes to market with
pieces OF the scalp-skin at the end How this
hair is obtained is mystery which the trade
does not care to fathom When We 80 often
the shovelling away of the old bones and
decayed cotfins, We may perhaps make shrewd
guess at the source from which this hair
c mes
The English woman very rarely sells her
hair--she must be reduced to the last condition
OF poverty before she would consent to this
sacrifice. But there is a class who are compcll-
ed to do so. There can be little doubt that
the m"jority Of the long English rresscs come
from the heads of criminals 1t is a cruel and
"a brutal thing to dO-the ostensible reason is
cleanliness-buta an enforced cleanliness ,bouyht
At the expense of the last remnant of self
respect lett to the woman, and cleanliness
the more vigorously looked to because its re-
suits form the p, rquisite of the warders. Ii it
is necessary that the charming locks of our
fair should be supplemented from this source,
they should ut least be inform d that they are
never obt lined without oaths, prayers, and BIAS
phemOus imprecatiOns upon the deapOileES,
VIII oh the drawing room bellies little dream Of,
rs those purchased tresses dance pendulous
upon their cheexs in the heated saloon. Fever,
also, places his contributions in the hands of
the hair merchant, and there Is a sad suspicion
that the mysterious won n that hovers about
the houseoi the dead to perform the last offices
does not, when an opportunity offers. allow it
to escape.
There are still other sources from which
human hair is obtained Of yet more repulsive
character, but we have said enough t. show
that when a lady buys false locks she little
knows the curious anu mysterious tale each in !
dvidual hair could possibly tell her. Some
years ago we now and then heard mysterious
accounts of a Spring .heeled ia. k who used to
lie in wait for young girls with beautiful hair,
for the purpose Of forcbly despoiling them
Considering the immense rise that is year by
year taking place in the value of thi1 material,
We feel no SUPP ise at such tales; indeed, when
we say that such is the demand for grey hair
that We are obliged to rob goats and mohar
sheeptO exc out Our own scanty stores, We need
not be surprised at anything