, 1875-01-30
Human Hair Supplies.

Human Hair Supplies.
. For some years the London human
halr trade has derived IT, chief and most
hi-hiy-"~icemed supplies from the open
cutters Of the smaller Italian towns
specially and those Of the rural districts
generally, and there ia scheme al pres
/ cnt under consideration in the Italian
Chambers for raising money 10 detray
the cost 1f extensive drainage works 10
hr carried TO the smaller towns after the
. larger cities have been drained in accord
auCe with our own most approved mod
F orn Sv~tcmS Here, then. we have al
once an answer 10 The inquiry where our
nur comes from, and the Indication of
an impending crisis by which the very
existence of the ItalianO-BrtiSh human
hair trade is threatened; for as soon aS
rural Italy is subjected 10 the control Of
local boards OF health there viii be an
cnito llfurthcr supplies from tina, quar-
ter
To make this Ineligible We viii briefly
explain the initiutory steps OF the process
by which Italian hair is converted into
English CapillamcntS' The Italian
women, like their sisters in other parts Of
The world, have the practice of twisting
into a coil all the hairs which become
detached from their heads in the opera
tIon Of cOmbing or brushing These coils,
IN The total absence OF houSe-drains, are
thrown with other refuse into the open
cutters, which seldom tail 10 supply an
Italian household with a near and
ready means Of disposing of the oficast-
ing> Of their habitatirns This is the
tIr~I step IN the proceeding. The next is
effected when The sCavcnger appears on
the scene with his springless cart, and
Ike another Neptune, trident III hand,
Nades through the gutter and hooks up
every floating tanElc Of hairs. These he
carefully consignS 10 separate rccep-
tac'c and keeps by him-fOr he well
knows their value-till the hair peddler.
Technically known in the trade as "the
cutter, makes his next round and gath
crS IN the seasons harvest, which is
forthwith conveyed To Genoa and other
seaport towns, where the coils are Olsen
tangled and separated by children, who
are employed in the business, into
" heads and "tailS,' the former being
" composed Of short bat even lengths, ar
ranged according to color, and the latter
( of The longer lengths of hair Ii is said
that of late years many hundrcd-weights
OF these heads and tails, grimly charac-
terlZcd Is dead hair annually cross
the Alps, or round the Rock AT Gihral
ter. on their WAY 10 our more northern
CcntcrS of civilization, where existing
systems Of drainage present inSuperable
obstacles 10 The retention and util-
IIatI0n OF refuse hair. Ii j.
obvious, therefore, that when rural
Italy i drained London society will find
that one OF lis most conspicuous and az
parrntIy most highly-prized means Of
"aornmrnt has become scarce and costly
to an extent utterly incompatible with
the continuance of the present lavish use
"t RaIr. The fate OF the clpiIlaments"
i evidently trembling in the balance.
II may be said that there are other
sources OF hair supply than Italian gut
terS-and that is true-but these sources
are not certain OF profuSe in more than
one or TWO directions. German peasant
heads have, indeed, long yielded good sup
Plies OF yellow tiaNcns.' but the peas
ant women Of the Empire are beginning
z" discard their hereditary costume and
10 vie with the classes above them in
displaying redundant heads Of hair. and
81 they no longer part as readily as OF
IuTC with their t4Wnv locks. Great homes
were entertained that Japan would be
found willing 10 include hair in her cN
ports; but, even if she were, the tresSes
ut the daughters of the FiOwcry Land
have wIre-like Tigidiyy in their texture
which units them for juXtaposiJion with
English heads of hair Ii IS much the
same with other sources Of human hair
supply: when put 90 the test OF practical
applicability they are found wanting,
anu II science had not come 10 the aid Of
naturc-With signal success in the case
Of those apricothued golden reds and
ruddy yellOwS which have long been the
delight Of painters and poets OF the pre-
hapIae! OrGCT-we could scarcely pre-
dict anything short OF annihiIation for
the trade. These special shades ~ vel
luW-rcu hair are. however, manufactured
with perfection which shows what may
ne done ny 4 sEilliUl adaptation of ordi-
nary means IN producing very Charninn
results. ant We are indebted 70 the news
Haper reports of case heard before Sir
IL NallnS about five wears ago for clear
exposition Of the methods employed. II
came out on the trial referred 70 that the
plaintiffs, who were at the head Of q
Manchester frizettc and hair hrm. sued
lI'al manufacturer for infringing pat
tAt obtained by them in 1867 for convert .
Ing coarse Russian wool known =
tops, into soft, lus,ruus, golden hair
lAey declared that they had. under the .
advice Of eminent chemists. adopied =
successful method Of removing all oily .
matters from these tops bV sleeping them
In suiphate Of copper. and that at the
cost ~ much time, money and thought
iIeY had learned how to give 10 these
tops the requisite color bv means Of
caieclu, logwood. Sulphste OF iron and
"'leT mEredlenlS-CelAIine being used
10 lmpaTt S CuTlUd or Crisped appearance
10 Inc hair II was made apparent in
me course of the trisl that bv the plain
III process hair Of any length could b
n@ndisctlrro IN fact. any number Of q
-e-v t-Cdl-=s nigh. haze beer provided
~ fhF Manchester parertees virh the
re9I',lte pr0fCsiou OF hair. not 10 ne-.
i'a2 The wholesale manner n which thsv