The Jeffersonian. [volume] (Stroudsburg, Pa.) 1853-1911, 1867-04-25
NO. s..
Death in the Harbour Women in dan-
ger Of being Eaten Alive.

Death in the Harbour Women in dan
ger Of being Eaten Alive.
4 person signing himself "Investiga-
tor, in a letter to the London Daily Tex
j graph, confirms what was recently stated
III the London Lancet. in reference to the
danger of wearing artificial chigons. He
says: Being desirous to verify by nay
own observation the correctness of what
had long suspected, purchased at
fashionable hair dresser's a chirnoD of
very elaborate appearance and submitted
I part OF 1t to rery careful examination,
under one OF Smith c; Beck's most power
fui microscopes and if you will kindly
give the results to the world, they may
prove warning to many of your ladys->
readers. From the mass Of hair cnmpos-
ing the chignon, | selected for experiment
about one hundred and fifty hairs. and
began by carefully cleansing them from
grease aud other Impurities in tepid
solution of potash, and drying thcr in
current of heated air. Upon submitting
them to examination by moderate pow
er, found the hair, which was of dark.
brown color and fine texture. perfectly
clean and free from any rarasitical ap-
pendages, until within half an inch 0s
what was evidently the natural end of the
hair, when multitude Of snail dark
knots or protuberapces on the outer corti-
cal were visible. Upon carefully detach
ing some OF these-an operation Of great
difficulty and delcacy-snd placing them
on an object glass. under Il much higher
power, it was Immediately evident that
/ they were iUnumerable specimens Of the
SO called 'greglrines.' As nearly as
could estimate. half an inch of a single
hair would yield over thousand of these
disgusting epizoa in their embryo cOndi~
ton, and enveloped in a glutinous sub
stance. Having thus satisfied myself of
their existence, next proceeded to aseer-
tain if they were possessed of vitality,
and if so, how it might be called into ac-
ton, and by what means, chemical or
otherwise, destroyed. Now it is we'll
known that gentle and continued heat as-
fords the most favorable conditions for
this class of insect life. | therefore placed
about dozen euds OF the hair betwecn
two pieces of felt slightly oiled, and sub
mitJed it to mois. heat of l26 degrees
for six hours and also bound upon the
neck Of a common hcn-a convenient
place having been carefully shaved for
the purpOse-a number of hairsends, and
placed the bird in front of a stove for
about the same time At the end of this
period, the 'gregarines' which had been.
placed in felt were carefully examined
They had undergone great Development,
and more than score showed unmistak-
able signs of life. But, on removing the
hairs from the neck of the hen, and plac-
ing them under the microscope, a most
extraordinary change IN the ova appeared
to have taken place. The hairs were,
swarming with the released epizoa near
ly all, indeed, were more or less detached
from the envelope, and presented many
of the unmistakable peculiarities OF the
'pediculus humani copitis.' In many,
the mouth was furnished with proboscis,
the -atennae as long as the thoraz, and
the depressed segment of the abdomen.
we're clearly visible, 1t was ahundantly
evident that 20 process to which the l,ei +
had as get been submitted Aad even inl-
paired, much less destroyed, the vitality
of the 'gregarines' / cannot venture to,
traspass upon your space BY giving de-
tailed account of the experiments made
to ascertain bow this vitality could be
destroyed ; suffice it to say, that sleeping
in boiling water, and exposure to dry
heat of 500 degrees Fahrenheit, Totally
failed to do so. The compound ethers,
benzole, and the bischloride of mercury
destroyed them completely. as also some
nf ho l., l,,A = IL
would of course render the hair worthless,
to the chignon maker, the beauty of it.
appearance being entirely destroyed.
regard these experiments as fully de-
monstrating the fact, that many ladies are
wearing, perhaps unsuspected, upon their
heads the germs of an insect life which
may at any moment spring into vitality
that would prove distressing beyond
measure, and would be by no means easy
to eradicate these horrible insects multi
plying with almost inconceivable rapidi-
ty, and their generation being governed
b. no well ascertained law. Moreover, it
is a question for the medical faculties.
and it is well worth considering, whether
the rumored temperance of the most
horrible disease, phthiriasis-common a
mong the ancients, and of which Hcrod
Antiochus, Calisthenes, aud Sylla per-
ished-is not owing to the wholesale
wearing of the hair of the filthy Burlakes,
of which so much issdaily imported the
phthirus, though Of different genus from
the pediculus capitis, yet much resem-
bling it in many radical points.