Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1873-05-17

The hair over her forehead was brushed so as to
blend with that of her head, the latter being
dressed according 10 the custom of the country
a la Chinoise. The beard was pale in color
and soft and silky. Maphoon's manners were
good and modest, her voice soft and feminine,
and her expression was not unpleasing when
the first repulsiOn was conquered. 1t Is said
that her appearance rather suggested the idea
of an agreeable woman masquerading than Of
anything british. Her neck, bosom, and arms
were, too, covered with a fine pale down. The
lady, notwithstanding the peculiarly of her
aspect, had found favor in the eyes Of one man
at least, for she was a wife and the mother Of
two boys. The youngest of these, only fourteen
months old. was evidently taking after the
parent, and promised to continue in a third
generation the freak of nature carried out in
two previous generations Other instances OF q
similar nature are on record. A French ply
sIcian mentions the case OF a beautiful damsel,
with dazzling fair skin and deep black eyes,
who, Oh recovering from fever, found her per-
son oyeIspread with goose SKIN, ana, 10 ner
horror, at the end of a month she was covered
from head to foot with hair an inch long.
During the reign Of Maria Theresa OF Austria,
a woman served in the army for many years,
attaining the rank of captain, and she was noted
for the luxurance and beauty of her moustache.
Such cases might be multiplied to any length.
They are far from common in England, and
some of our readers may rec0llect having seen
or heard OF bearded woman who was ex-
hibited at shows some years ago, under the
illustration of this kind of phenomenon and
the hair on her chin was quite equal to that
owned by some men,
Chemical analysis shows the hair to be CON-
posed of basis of animal matter, of a certain
proportion of oily substances, of the salts of
lime, which enter into the composition of horn,
or sulphur, and of two metals-manganese and
iron. The constituents of hair of different color
differ somewhat; red hair contains a reddish
colored Oil, a large proportion of sulphur, and
a small quantity of iron; fair hair, a white oil
with phosphate of magnesia; and the white hair
of the aged, a considerable quantity of bone
earth, or phosphate of lime. According to the
latest analysis, fair hair contains the least car
bon and hydrogen, and most oxygen and sui
phur; black hair follows next, whilst brown
hair gives the largest proportion OF carbon and
the smallest OF oxygen and sulphur. The white
ness OF tne halr appears to be derives from
colOring pigment ceases to be produced, the
hair becomes gray or white.
When the power of the nervous system is re-
duced, the formation of pigment is the first
function that suffers. When grayness shows
itself in the HAIR, II indicates a want of tone in
its producing organs, and If this tone could be
restored, the hair would cease to change. DIR.
COPELAND says, in his Dictionary of Medicine
that in some cases with which he was ac-
quaibted, the hair grew white in winter, and
that IL gradually darkened in summer, when,
moreover, it sprang up from the roots in its
original color Mr.. Erasmus Wilson found on
occasions premature gyayness amenable to
treatment, when caused by illness-especially
in neuralgia or nervous complaints-and in
certain instances he was enabled to restore the
hair to its pristine hue by internal remedies.
bility of sudden blanching of the hair, a fact
which is admitted by some Psychologists, and
denied by others. The believers appeal to evil
dent facts, whilst the unbelievers say that
emotions of the mind can have no direct effect
on the hair, that they can only influence it
through the general health, and that when
be attributed to a cessation from the use of hair
dyes. When doctors disagree, a layman must
not venture an opinion. We can only say that
Mr.. Erasmus Wilson, formerly a scoffer
became cnnVarfa6 m ets fbaf
CURED with his own knowledge, and he relates
some cases in point. A lady, who was expecting
her intended husband to arrive by sea from
the north of England, on hearing of the
laundering of the ship which carried him,
swoOned, and on the following evening her hair,
which had been deep brown, became as white
as snow. subsequently, the whole of the white
hair fell OFF, and another crop appeared, which
was gray, and lasted for many years. Her whole
system underwent revulson; the fountain of
life seemed to dry up, and the very color of her
blood exhausted. The instances of Mary Queen
of Scots and Marie Antoinette, both of whom
became gray with grief in a short time, are
hearing that the Edict OF Nemours was conce-
ded, was so incensed and grieved that in the
course of few hours part of one of his
mOustaches whitened.
1t Is also narrated that a young Spaniard of
noble family, had prevailed upon young lady
of high lineage to grant him an interview under
the bough OF a tree within the garden of
trayed by the barking of dog, the gentleman
was seized and imprisoned by the Kings guard.
he he knew ne had committed capital offence,
ishment, and he took to heart his impending
fate so much, that on the same night he turned
gray as one stricken with years. The jailer
being moved at the sight, stated the accident as
a prodigy to King Ferdinand, who thereupon
pardoned the venturesOme woOer, saying he had
already been sufficiently punished for his fault
We are also told that a banker, during the
panic of 1873, became gray IN three days from
intense anxiety, which is not very surprising.
But what is astonishing Is that gentlemen 40
years old, who was married, in the possession OF
dark head OF hair, on his return from his
honeymoon, had become so completely snow
white, even to his eyebrows, that his friends no
longer recognized him, and even doubted his
identity. The happiness Of matrimony seemed
to have very unusual effect upon him. and the
wonder of the bride may be better imagined
than described. MIR. Erasmus Wilson does not
attempt to explain the modus operandi of these
changes, which may be attributed either to
electrical action or chemical alteration in the
blood itself.
Some men, in their old age, have return of
this dark hair, just as some individuals have
been known in vely advanced life to shed their
teeth 1t Is recorded that a man named John
Weeks, who died at the ripe age of ia, had re-
covered the original hue of his hair some years
before his death; and that Susan Edmonds, in
blackness of hers, as in her youth, though it be-
came gray again previous to her death, which
occurred when she had numbered los years.
to The Of leads
tice Of artifcially changing the color Of the
hair has descended to us from remote antiquity.
That it is common with us may be inferred
from the innumerable nostrums continually
advertised, rs well as from the appearance of
the heads and boards of some of our acquaint
ances. We may roughly divide the methods
employed In dyeing the hair into two. The one,
which Is founded on the rational means of res
toring the color of the hair, consists in supply
ing the materials employed by Nature for the
pigment. Sulphur and iron. and perhaps mag
nesia, appear to constitute the pigment in ques-
ton, iron being found principally in the darker
hair. Awaiting ourselves of this knowledge, we
may darken hair by conveying to its bulbs by
means of the absorbent power of the skin one or
more Of these materials, as may be required.
They must be applied in diluted solution to
the hair glands, on the same principle that we
are able to stain the bones of Young animals by
the administration of madden with their food.
When iron is administered alone, it has the de-
sired effect by mipgling with the sulphur of the
hair. When the hair is so far banched as no
longer to possess this last substance, it must be
supplied artincially in a separate form. Iron
has this advantage, that ii Is beneficial to the
system, and that its use can scarcely ever be
hurtful. Bismuth, lead, and copper are fire.
quently substituted for iron by fashionable
hairdressers. Most of the hair restorers sold in
shops owe their colOring power to lead, which,
combing with the sulphur of the hair, under the