Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1881-10-15
SOME COMFORT FOR THOSE GROWING
BALD.


"I observe you suffer from scirrhea and
consequent alopecia," said physician to
the writer.
mo, sir l am only growing bald
"Well, }" he said, its the same thing.
will gladly tell you the result of my
studies upon the subject, for fancy that l
am even with science on this topic. By
the time / was thirty 1 was threatened
with shiny pate. For some years l had
taken arsenic internally, had used stimulat-
ing washes and oily appliances, containing
in one case corrosive sublimate and in
the other quinine or tannin, but / dis
covered no appreciable effect either
upon the formation of scales or the falling
out of hair. Then / became excited over
the discovery made by French physician,
which was to the effect that a five per cent.
solution of chloral hydrate was sovereign
remedy. used the chloral wash assidu-
ously for about three months, but the diff
Guilty increased more than ever, and then I
became disgusted with the various thera-
peutic measures which had been so highly
Landed. Next in Hebra's classical treatise
on diseases of the skin I came
across an article by Kaposi on alo-
pecia. He recommended the use of an
agent which, while mildly stimulating, re-
moved the scales and thoroughly cleansed
the scalp. This agent is the Germen
Schmierseife or soft soap, or the French
savon vert, in an alcoholic solution. The
soap is best known as the German green
soap, and is now imported in large quanti-
ties. 1t is made of sixteen parts of olive
oil, six parts of caustic potash and water,
and it is made green by adding indigo.
The soap, which contains an excess of al
kali, saponities the fatty matter of the
sebaceous excretion, SO that it is easily re-
moved. The alcohol greatly assists this
action and seems also to have an Alternative
action-if such an indefinite term is ex-
cusable-upou the glands. Although the
formula is worth fortune to patent
medicine man, l will give it, and bald.
headed readers may get comfort out of it.
Any druggist can compound it, and he
ought not to charge over % cents for it.
This is the formula:
'R. saponis viridis Germ aleoholis, of each two
olnces; solve, ftra, ct aide oil lavandula git, Xxx
XXv."
"The soap has disagreeable fshy odor,
and the oil Of lavender is added to cover it
up. The preparation thus compounded
pleasant odor, to which the most fastldious
will hardly object. Now, don't mean to
say that this is going to grow hair on a
so long that the hair bulbs have become
atrophied, nothing will restore the hair on
these spots, but we can save what remains.
The preparation should be used as a
shampoo every morning or evening,
one or two tablespoonfuls at a
time. Upon the addition of water,
and smart friction with the fingers,
copious lather is produced. After the
shampooing process, which should last
about five minutes, the soap must be
washed out of the hair by free use of
warm or cold water, and the hair thor.
oughly dried by means of gentle friction
with soft towel. The immediate effect
experienced is disagreeable tension of the
scalp, as though it were stretched too
tightly over the skull. To obviate this
effect and keep the skin from getting too
dry, vaseline should be used to anoint the
scalp.
''After daily use of the preparation
for two or three weeks, the production of
scales and the falling off of the hair will
appear to have been markedly decreased.
At first the hair comes out in greater guam
titles than ever before, and this may alarm
the patient; but this is due to the fact
that large number of hairs are dead and
are only retained in their follicles by the
plugging of the sheath with the accumu-
lated sebaceous matter. 1t is not neces.
sary, although it is more convenient, to
cut the hair short during the treatment.
sfWill ANYTHING restore the hair 2"
81 never found anything that will, and
l have devoted years to the study of bald
heads. New York Sun.