Huntsville gazette., 1883-02-10
Shampooing.

IL IS astonishing that anybody is alive.
Learned medical men and students of
sanitary science are constantly discover
ing that something which we have al
ways believed to be quite innocuous is
little less than deadly. The whole uni
verse seems,to be in league to poison
the human race, and we unconsciously
assist this conspiracy by our mistaken
efforts to promote our own well-being.
The latest alarm that the doctors have
sounded is in regard to ssshampooing,
practice which is now declared to be
extremely injurious to the health, and
especially apt to produce diseases of the
brain and other parts of the head.
The verb ''to shampoo" is of uncer-
tain origin. One of our big dictionaries
says that it is. the same as the Hindu
verb tschantpna, the first meanings Of
which are ''to squeeze" and ''to press"
Are we, then, to suppose that the Hindu
lover 'shampoos' the hand of his
adored object, and that the Hindu hus-
band "shampoosn his wife. This is
quite unthinkable Another derivation
is given in Whitworth's Dictionary
which is at least as ingenious and de-
cidedly more probable. Whitworth
thinks that the earliest form of the word
was "shampoon, instead of "sham-
poo," and in point of fact ssshampoon"
is still in use among rural BARRIERS.
"Shampoon" the learned photographer
further supposes to be closely related
to "lampoon," and to have the original
meaning of an attack on the head of the
ba
lations, in spite of their interesting
character, are at best only speculations,
and we can not feel any certainty as TO
the real origin of the verb s' to sham
poo"
The process has always been regarded
as particularly wholesome one. 1t
was supposed that it strengthened the
scalp, induced hair to grow in waste
places, and removed and prevented
headaches, besides increasing the self
respect of the person by enabling him
to feel that his head was abnormally
clean. We are now informed that, with
the exception of the last mentioned re-
suit, shampooing does nothing but in
jury. 1t stops the growth of hair and
produces premature badness. 1t weak
ems the scalp so that it loses its vitality,
and, becoming as impervious to moist
ure as india rubber, induces diseases of
the bones of the skull, Furthermore,
ssshampooing" causes deafness, and in
many cases leads to Inflammation of the
eyes. Its worst effect, however, is in
sanity. The percentage of men who
become insane after course of repeated
and regular "shampooing" is enor-
mousse large, in fact, that the exact
percentage is not mentioned out of re-
gard to the feelings Of the public. The
average life of the man who is sham
pooed once week is only three years,
and the last two years of his life are
usually spent in a maniac's cell, where
his blindness and deafness are rather an
advantage to him, since they save him
from the unpleasant sights and sounds
common to all lunatic asylums. tgr
This is formidable indictment of
''shampooing )" and fortified as it is by
statistics manufactured expressly for
of it which processes to show the direful
results. of "shampooing. Doubtless
people who are frequently s'sham-
pooed" are afflicted with deafness,
blindness, badness, diseases of the
scalp and skull, insanity and death. 1t
does not, however, necessarily follow
that these calamities are all of them the
direct result Of the application of soap,
water and BARRIERS fingers to the heads
of the sufferers.
We may admit that the frequency
with which the barber rubs soap into
the ewes of the victim whom he is
s'shampooing''- may impair the victims
sight, and that the application of soap,
of hot water and of cold water to the
scalp may have an injurious effect upon
the growth of the hair. 1t is, neverthe
less, incredible that the scalp, the skull,
the sense of hearing and the brain
should be injured by soap and water. If
soap and water can injure the scalp and
the underlying bones, why do they not
iniure the rest of the surface of the body
when applied to it, and If they do not
liniure the scalp how can we believe that
thew injure the BRAIN? In spite of the
learning and experience of the physi-
clan who has discovered the dangers of
"shampooing,n men will be slow to be-
lleVo tndU u6dlllooo au,t iio1hicy ~AO
among its consequences, especially since
there is another cause amply sufficient
to produce these results. asz
"Shampooing'' is a long and tedious
process. 1t gives the barber ample time to
converse with his victim. While he rubs
the helpless head the barber can pour
into the unresisting ear his usual mono
logue on the state of the weather, the
political world, and the theaters, and
can recite the praises of tonic. Can we
wonder that deafness should be the first
consequence of the barber's prolonged
conversation, and that insanity should
sneedily follow? This is beyond any
question the true explanation OF the
statistics which show that ''shampoolng
is followed by deafness aud madness.
We could expect nothing less, and the
man who voluntarily places his head IN
the "shampooer's'' hand invites the
most terrible of all calamities.
We thus see that the learned writer
on the evils of sshampooing" is right as
to his facts but wrong in his explanation
OF them. Let him, if possible, find
dumb barber, and then note what fol-
lous the operation of "shanlpoolng"