Ashtabula weekly telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1880-1886, 1880-05-07
Girls as Barometers.


A GREAT discovery in the field Of
weather prophecy has recently been
made by Prof Macgregor, of the Royal
Society. The published record of his
/ experiments is extremely interesting,
and they certainly give us good
reason TO believe that a satisfactory
substitute for the barometer has at last
been found.
Prof. Macgregor tells us that his at
tention was attracted TO the use Of girls
for scientific purposes by Oyerhearing
a young lady remark that her "bang
would not keep crimped in damp
weather" Upon this hint he imme-
diately began a series of experiments,
stretching over a period of eleven
months and involving the use of 307
girls. He began by taking a red-haired
girl with a luxuriant bang, which he
, caused 10 be crimped with great care
on an evening when the atmosphere
was particularly dry. The next morn
ing the bang presented a beautifully
"frizzed appearance, but as toward
the afternoon the air grew perceptibly
| foggy, the Professor expected that the
bang would lose It's crimpidity-to use
a scientific term. 1t did nothing of the
kind, and, so far as he could see, the
state Of the atmosphere had no effect
upon it.
Instead of being discouraged by this
failure, Prof. Macgregor persevered. 1t
! occurred TO him that the color Of the hair
might be an important factor, and that
red hair might retain its crimpidity in
I circumstances where other hair would
lose that quality. He therefore ordered
trOm a charity school three dozen
orphaned girls Of from twelve to sixteen
! years Of age, and Of assorted Colors in
| point of hair. Twelve of these were
I black. haired, twelve were 0rown-haired,
and twelve were red-haired. All Of
/ these girls wore bangs, and were in ev-
ery way well adapted f5r scientific in
vestigatiOns. By long series of care
full experiments, he proved that on the
approach of wet weather the bangs of
the brown-haired girls, without eXcep-
ton, became limp and straight; that
like effect was produced upon the bangs
of ten Of the twelve black haired girls,
while the red-haired girls were not a
particle Influenced either by the humid
ity or the dryness of the atmosphere.
Further experiments upon ladies of eva
cry age, from sixteen to forty-five, gave
like results, and the conclusion that the
q bang of q brown-hsired girl is an in
fallible indicator of the approach of wet
or dry weather may be unhesitatingly
accepted. The Professor also discOV-
cred that red-haired girls show a pc
culiar susceptibility to electricity. When
a thunderstorm is brewing their bangs
become stiff and bristling, and in three
instances, when the Professor tried to
smooth down a bristling bang, he re-
ceived a violent shock in the region of
the ear. He is not as yet prepared to
say that the presence of an unusual
amount of electricity in the air can al
ways be detected by the use of red-haired
girls, but he is strongly inclined to think
that further investigation will prove that
such is the fact.
In view of this important discovery,
Prof. Macgregor recommends that
brown-haired girls shall be substituted
on board all vessels, whether naval or
mercantile, for the present untrustwor-
thy barometer. He points out that, in
the merchant service, where stewards
ess is at present carried, she should be
required to be a brOWn-haired woman,
with bang, and that any neglect on
her part to crimp her bang every night
while at sea should be punished as a
misdemeanor. In the navy peculiarly
sensitive brown-haired girls should be
employed, and the Professor suggests
that they should be kept in glass cases,
open, of course, at the top, so that they
would run no risk of being injured. The
first cost Of a girl is, of course, rather
Al. \ -
expensive to keep her in order, but this
is of no consequence compared with her
value as a weather indicator. We can
now understand why nature created girls
with bangs, and it is to be hoped that
there will be an end Of the foolish oppo
sition which so many thoughtless mer
have made to the present style o.
banged girl,-Neto York Tines.