Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1873-06-12
Something About the Hair.

tributing to its defence, like the scsrfskin.
of which latter, indeed, they NAV be re-
garded as notifications suited TO a special
use. The hairs cross the skin like the per
spiratory and oil tubes, and resemble both
in the extent TO which they are prolonged
into it, the downy hairs, like the latter.
being limited TO the superficial strata; the
long hairs, like the former, extending more
deeply, and even piercing it altogether, so
as to reach the subcutaneous fat Within
the skin, each hair is enclosed in sheath
or tube, closed at its extremity, where it
supports the roots of the hair, and con
structed, like the perspiratory and oil
tubes, of three layers derived from the
skin These are lining of scartskin, a
middle, vascular layer, and protective
tubes, as they resemble the perspiratorv
and oil tubes, so also do they initiate them
in function.
Each portion Of the skin is organized
for the production of hairs, with the ex-
ception of the palm of the hand and sole
of the foot. On the greater part Of the
body the hairs are short and fine and in
some instances they scarcely rise to above
the level Of the skin. In others, as in the
scalp, the eyebrows and in man the whis-
kers and beard, they grow to considera-
bic length. The length and thickness of
the hair are regulated by a law of Nature.
the hair of the head being always longer
and finer than that of the beard, and the
latter longer than the whiskers and eve
broWs When hairs are left to their natu-
raj growth, they attain a certain length,
and are then thrown off by a process anal
ogous to the change of coat in animals,
their place being supplied by young hairs,
which grow from the same tubes. This
temporary decay of the hair happens also
when it is kept cut.
The length of the hair of the head in
women ranges between twenty inches and
yard, and its weight to between six and
eight ounces. 1t many instances the
length far exceeds the above, and the case
is known of lady in whom it measures
two yards, and trails on the ground when
she stands erect When the hair is fre-
quently shaved it becomes more persist
ent, and increases in strength and bulk.
1t has been calculated that the hair of the
beard grows at the rate of one line and
half week This will give length of
six and half inches for year, SO that an
old man of eighty would have shaved
from his chin twenty-seven feet of beard
This is by no means surprising, when Mr..
Erasmus Wilson tells us in his treatise on
Healthy Skin" that according to Eble,
there is in the Princes Palace at Eidam
painting of a carpenter whose beard was
nine feet long, so that when engaged at
work he was obliged to carry it in a bag,
as a lawyer carries his briefs. Moreover,
we are told by the same authority, that
the BurgOmeister, Hans Stieningen, hav-
ing on one occasion forgotten to fold up
his majestic beard, trod upon it as he was
ascending the staircase leading to the
Council Chamber of Brunn, and was
thereby thrown down and killed
The shape of individual hairs is cylin
drical for the smaller kinds and oval for
those that are longer. With the view of
ascertaining the thickness Of hair, Mr.
Erasmus Wilson made a series of curious
experiments. He measured the diameter
of 1900 hairs taken from 3S persons, and
found them to range between 1-1500 and
l-400 of an inch, the mean being 1850 to
1-400 of an inch. He then measured 155
hairs taken from the heads of three
South American chiefs and one New Zea-
lander, and he ascertains the thickness of
the hairs of the South Americans to be
about the same as those from English
heads, whilst the hairs belonging to the
gentleman from New Zealand were some
what thicker, averaging about 1850 Of an
inch.
To our surprise, we learn that the hair
of the fair sex, who are as much superior
to us. in point of delicacy and sensibiity
OF feeling, is as rule coarser than that Of
the dark sex. In children it is naturally
finer than in adults. Great diversity is
discovered in hairs from the same head
and even in the diameter of the same hair
and one tested by Mr.. Erasmus Wilson
was perceived to range between 1900 and
1890 of an inch. Flaxen hair is the finest
and black the coarsest the mean tn ickness
of the black being 1-40O to $50 of an inch,
gradually decreasing to 1850 to 1-400 in
the flaxen. The beard produces the
coarsest hair, each tube in dark man av-
eraging 1900 Of an inch.
Few of US have any idea of the number
of hairs we possess on our heads Mr.
Erasmus Wilson can tell US to nicely
he observed, on inspection, in a square
inch on the scalp of a brown haired man,
744 pores, each pore being supposed to
give passage to one hair. The surface of
the scalp presents 1910 square inches, which
would yield 89,2S0 hairs The calculation
refers to thin heads, for in others many, if
not all, pores give passage to two hairs.
Reckoning that only half the pores in
Achd SlOhiN Si'S passage W tNO udIS VIC
should find JIG hairs per square inch, or
1873 ,920 hairs on a medium head: whilst, if
we calculate two hairs on each pore, we
shall arrive at the conclusion that those
who own luxuriant heads, carry on them
as many as 1860 individual hairs.
The shades of color of human hair ap- |
pear to be referable to type and to climate |
If we proceed toward the north, the hair |
becomes lighter, while if we proceed to !
the south ii deepens in its hues, these diff |
ferences being connected with the amount |
of pigment in the scarf-skin. The Cauca- |
sian variety of mankind, as we behold in |
the inhabitants of Europe, has hair of !
''nut-brOwn, running on the one hand into |
yellow, and on the other into black, long, |
soft and undulating," whilst the hair Of |
:he Mongolian variety is black, stiff, |
straight and sparing, as we observe in the |
natives of the East Indies, China and the |
Laplanders and Esquimaux The hair in |
the Ethiopian variety is black and crisp, |
and accompanied by black skin as in !
the negro. The American Indians, who |
possess copper-colored skin, have black,
stiff, straight and spare hair like the Mon |
golian race; and the Malay variety, which |
includes the inhabitants of Malacca, the |
East Indies, and the Pacific Islands, is |
by tawny skin, and black, |
soft, curly, thick and abundant hair
Dublin University lNagazane.