The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1871-06-02

middle ages did the same, and gave fair
nair to their favorite beauties, varying
its shade from the palest golden to the
full auburn or red. Now, fair hair is
not common in Italy, but in their days
it was the fashion to produce it arti-
ficially. and to be blonde became an
art. The ladies of Venice especially
were famed for their skill in changing
the color of their hair, and took incred-
ible pains 10 effect the desired transmit
tation.
An Italian writer, Cesare Vecellio,
who was in Venice in 1889, gives a
singular account of the process by
which il was effected He saps: 1.-THE
houses of Venice are commonly crown
ed with little constructions in wood, re-
sembling a turret without roof. On
the ground these lodges or boxes are
formed of masonry and covered with a
cement of sand and lime to protect
them from the rain. 1t is in these that
the Venetian women may be seen Of
tener than in their chambers ii is there
that, with their heads exposed to the
full ardor of the sun during whole days,
they strain every nerve 70 augment
their charms. y Seated there
they keep on wetting their hair with
sponge dipped in some elixir of youth
prepared with their own hands or pur-
chased. They moisten their hair afresh
as fast as it is dried by the sun. and it is
by the unceasing renewal OF this opera
ton that they become tlonds. When
engaged in it, they throw over their or.
ii Il ba,
their heads straw hat without
croGn, so that the hair drawn through
the opening. may be spread upon the
borders. The hat thus answers the
purpose of a drawing line for the hair,
and of parasol for the face and neck.
In winter, or when there is no sun, they
dry their hair before a fire." Necellio
does not tell us how many died Of sun
stroke or brain fever during the pro.
cess; but all the great ladies of Italy
adopted ii at that time: they were al
most uniformly blondes. and they wore
their hair interviewer with pearls and
jewels. In England, in the time of Ed
ward the Fourth, the favorite color for
the hair was red and the women took
great pains TO impart it TO their tresses,
LOT III lHose hdNS llesSeS were the
fashion. Ringlets came in at later
era, under Henrietta Maria, the wife of
Charles l. But during the age of the
Plantagenets. luXuriant tresses, bound
with fillets of gold and pearls. or rib
bons, were in vogue. The Tudor prin-
cess and ladies Appropriated to the
modern fashion of trusting up the hair
into pile on the top of the head The
later Stuarts and the first Georges re-
sorted to wigs, which could be made Of
any color or shape. and these were
sometimes worn by the ladies of Eng.
land though, even in that, as in the
mode of dressing their natural hair.
they were then-as now-slaves to the
prevailing French fashion. Queen
Elizabeth's plan of shaving the hair of
and wearing an artificial head-dress
doubtless saved her a great deal of time.
She wore false hair and that red
says Paul Hentzner. Mary. Queen of
Scots, had a complete collection Of wigs
and wore one at her execution. But
the most economical of these royal la
dies was Marguerite, wife of Henry the
Fourth of France. who employed fair
haired pages, and had their heads
shaved 10 supply materials for her
WIGS