The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1872-10-31
A Question Answered.

"Can you give me remedy for the
falling; out OF the hairY l am only thir.
teen. years of age and my hair is falling
out III spots. My head is free from erup.
tions, and my eyebrows are getting quite
thin L have been told that it is para.
site. Inform me what parasite is I"
Ans. A parasite, in the sense alluded
to- is defined to be can animal that lives
during the whole or part of its exist
ence on the body of some other animal
The flea, for instance, is a common para.
site of the dog. As regards the human
hair, it is often destroyed by little
creature called the Steatoz0on f0tliculorttm
a nuisance which makes its appearance
on the scalp, where the sebaceous folli-
cles often coincide with the hair follicles
and in many other cases empty their con-
tents into the latter. In palmer Ian
guage, the oily substance secreted by the
skin, on the head, oozes through The mi
mute orifces in which grow the hairs. In
these orifces tiny werms, named as
above, make their home. They are, ex-
cept in size, very like caterpillars, and
have ga distinct head with feelers, a
chest with four pairs of legs, and long
tail" The small black spots seen on the
faces of some people, and which are so
often squeezed out" are closely related
in nature to this parasite of the scalp.
The latter feeds and thrives on the oily
matter that exudes through these open
| ings or follicles on the skin of the head,
and then gnaws off the hair, probably for
additional exercise.
One writer on this subject, DR.. B. G.
Perry, says: 81 have often found mas
ter steatozoon glued to hairshaft, lust
above the surface of the scalp-to which
point he may have been conveyed from
within the follicle by the natural growth
of the hair-and have observed with ad-
miration the affectionate tenacity of his
hold, which usually withstands not only
stiff brushes, but the finest comb, and
seems eternal. Nothing but the absolute
destruction of the hair, root, and shaft
seems to satisfy this ardent creature,
which clings closer and closer, and at
length arrives at such pitch of fervor
that the hair, must presume, is fairly
squeezed to death in its embrace" The
same authority adds; whenever it
appears, the hair becomes dry and brit
tie, and, if naturally dark, assumes yell
lowish hue or variegated mixture of the
old and the new shades, and presently
begins to fail. A popularity of this de-
structlve action is, that the hair is never
afterwards reproduced. 1t may be that,
having eaten its way into the hollow in
terror of the shaft, it pours in some pois-
onous substance which finds its way to
the roots and destroys the apparatus EN-
ployed in evolving the hair, or paralyses
tha nerva of tho papula that x,;toliooo fb IN
atoms which enter into its riginal for
nation. The little pest which is able to
achieve this deplorable result, is of rath-
er blush tinge, and resembles nit in
size, but not in color or shape. Though
he triumphs signally over such means of
a mechanical nature as are employ ed to
remove him, he quickly succumbs to a
solution of Hyd. Bichlur., few applica-
tions sufficing both to destroy him and
coupteract the effects of his poison"