The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1879-02-06
THE HAIR.
Some Curious Facts in Relation to Our
Hirsute AppendaEe- Badness.


Hirsute AppendaEe- Badness.
It has sometimes been wondered
where all the false hair comes from
with which the deficiencies OF the natu-
raj supply are eked out. Foreign coun.
tries furnish the bulk of the material
for the American market, as there are
few people here who, whether from in
clination or necessity, dispose of their
locks for money. Light hair comes
from Germany, while Brittany and the
south of France supply the black and
it is curious sight to see the young
peasant girls being sheared like sheep
by men as we'll as women. The univer-
sal custom of wearing caps which COM
pletely conceal their abundant locks,
doubtless accounts for the readiness Of
the French peasant girls to sell for a
song the fiuest ornament of their sex.
Now and then some story gets into
print about the dangers of wearing
false hair, and the accounts of insects
which have been said to inhabit it are
by no means attractive reading. But
these stories are, as rule, either inven-
tions or exaggerations, for in every re.
putable hair store there is a guarantee
of cleanliness which any eye can be sat
isfied Of. There are, no doubt, un-
pleasant associations connected with
what is known in the trade as "grave-
yard hair" that is, the hair which is
taken from persons head after death ;
but this kind being brittle and deficient
in the qualities necessary for daily use,
is probably only found in cheap quar-
connection between the emotions and
the hair, are those instances in which
terror or some great mental distui bance
has suddenly blanched it. Marie An
toinette's experience in having her head
become gray the night preceding her
execution is sufficiently familiar. An.
other example, referred to by DIR.
Wynter as coming under his own obser-
walton, was that of a soldier who feigned
rheumatism, and fingered in hospital
for three months, to escape military SER
vice. This anxiety to keep up the de.
ception caused his hair to turn gray, al
though he was quite a young man.
These emotional affections of the hair
are supposed to be caused by the action
of some fluid in the blood upon the pig.
ments. Patches of white hair are some
times, though rarely, found upon new
born babes, and it is the absence of pig
ment which produces the whiteness sc
familiar in the Albino.
As to the causes of badness, they are
to some extent connected with artificial
habits of life. The larger deposit ol
fat in the female scalp, which allows OF
free circulation in the capillaries o.
the skin, is held by medical authorities
to account for the general exemption o
women from badness, as compared will
men. The smoothness of scalp de
nuded Of its natural covering, shows 6
denseness of texture in the skin caused
by the destruction of the bulk of the
hair, and the closure of the follicles-ir
this condition, all remedies are use
less. The silk hat 30 constantly worl
by men is probably responsible fo
much of the prevailing badness, and
the fact that this ceases below the place
of contact with the head, indicates tn,
mode of operation, the exclusion of ali
and consequent excessive production o
heat. Goodness of the head is re
quisite for healthy growth of hair
which is apt to come out in fevers ant
other morbid states of the system. Moth
ing better can be devised for the benefi
of the hair than the daily use of coll
water, followed by vigorous rubbing
The use of animal fats is injurious b,
reason of their heating properties, and
light cleansing and gently stimulating
wash is the most which is needed b
way of artificial application to promot
the health and growth of the hair. Th
blood, says medical writer, is the onl
macassar of the hair, the only oil which
can with truth be said to insinuate it
balsamic properties into the pores of tn
head" The fine network of vessels O
which the bulbs of the hair rest is alon
capable OF maintaing its healthy exist
ence. The same writer adds "W
do not see why internal preparation
should not be tried, and we are not 6
all certain that gelatine soups and pill
made of the ashes of burnt hair, migl
not be effectual in badness, as those il
gradients would supply to the blood ii
materials necessary for the productio
Of hirsute growths." Barring the Gre
nation and restaurant suggestion
which are here unpleasantly connecte
with hair, it might be worth while fC
persons who have grown gray in rea'
ing the Times, or become bald by n
reading it, to test the soundness
these bits OF wisdom in relation to ii
subject. Boston Times.