Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-05-18
BEARDED LADIES.


What Doctor says About Them.
''You would hardly credit it." said
doctor, 1.-The large number Of lady patients
] have whose only ailment is a surplUsage
OF hair upon the face. Of course, this hair
rem owing on my part is only an item Of
my professional duties, but for all that it
is pretty heavy one, and quite lucrative
one withal. Mypatients in this line natU-
rally belong to the better class-that
is 20 say, TO those who are most anxi-
Gus 20 preserve or improve their looks,
and who are able to afford the necessary
expense that such attendance from regu-
lar physician entails. In the case Of a
lady a visible growth Of hair is by no
means ornamental to an otherwise pretty
or attractive face, and she is willing
therefore TO test any experiment that
promises to rid her Of this unwelcome
growth.
MANY women devote hours in every
week TO pulling out these dishguring hairs
with the tweezers, the only result being a
very temporary Improvement in appear
ance and the necessity for a continual
repetition Of this painful operation. Hair
can never be eradicated by depilatiOn; in
fact, j. only strengthened by it, and after
each pulling springs up again with ever
Increasing cOarseness and darkening of
color. Almost every woman so troubled
has used some Of the depilatory powders
with which the market is flooded but in
every instance they have had reason to
regret their folly. All Of these nostrums
are injurious to the complexion. and
many Of them are utterly ruinOus to the
skin. To an attempt to hide the disfguring
effect or these depilatOries is due much of
the paint and powder that we see upon
the faces Of young women nowadays:
and the worst feature is that after they
have destroyed their compilations they
md that these depIlatOries have only
burned of the surface hair. leaving the
roots 10 spr0ut out afresh. Electrolysis,
on the other hand, although very little
more painful than the application Of
tweeZers, is Invariably successful in the
permanent removal of hair, and leaves no
blemish upon the skin. At the outside.
not more than 10 per cent. Of the roots
retain life after a first operation, if prop
erlT conducted, and a second applica-
ton destroys these stragglers without
Z all
Women Of nervous temperament are
probably trife more subject to hirsuties
than those Of a quieter disposition, but
this is not sufficiently marked for any rule
20 be laid down in this matter, either as TO
complexion, mental characteristics or
habits. To many women, TO most, in
their faces is so annoying that it is apt to
AFFECT their spirits, and finally their gen.
eral health. This fact l have repeatedly
noticed in the good effect produced upon
the mental and physical. condition of my
patients . re eradication or the obnOxi-
0usEaf-. In some cases they merely de-
~ 10 crafty fancy, as happened last
week for instance, when lady who had
a small mole upon her cheek. which she
H. Ill
Quested me to remove four Of seven hairs
that were growing from it, but not to
touch the other three. L suggested that l
could have the mole itself removed, if she
wished: but this idea seemed to hOrrify
her 50 that she actually looked as if she
would faint.
CAS- a rule, however, my bearded ladies
are anxious 10 make a clean sweep Of il,
and submit to the necessary pain Of the
prolonged operation without so much as
a whimper. In one case l destroyed as
many as 800 hairs at a sltting-lt was
matrimonial urgency case-but | rarely
care to go beyond 80, as the operation is
severe strain upon the eyes.
fsThere are a good many ladies who
shave regularly; quite a number Of them
employing BARRIERS, who call upon them
at their houses. l had one patient, quite
a pretty girl, and no more than twenty
wears Of age, whose beard was stronger
than a mans, and who was obliged TO
shave three times a week. l eradlcated
more than three thousand hair-rOots from
her face and neck, and to-day she has not
a trace Of beard.
The process Of removing these inclpi-
ent boards is very simple. l place my
patient in q chair with her back TO the
wall On the wall behind l have two
insulated wires, and to the end of one of
these | affiX an instrument-WhlchI need
I = Of NM n
other end l fasten in a gold needle as fine
as 4 thread Of babY's hair. Then place
the sponge instrument in my PATIENTS left
hand. take the needle instrument IN my
rIght hand and a large magnifying glass
IN my left. The head of my patient press
gently back until 1t rests firmly IN the
chair; the chin has to be held as high as
possible. l introduce the needle into the
ToIucle by the side of the hair; and as
every hair grows at a different angle
under the skin / feel about gently until
get the proper direction. and then push it
inward till il reaches the base of the fol-
Iicle, al which point the root OF the hair
ends. If this is at all skilfully done the
needle win not prick the skin nor give
the patient the least pain, although the
point penetrates the fOllicle for more than
aquaTter of an inch. The patient now
places her right hand upon the spOnge,
completing the circuit, and current OF
electricity passes through the point of the
needle. and so burns up the root of the
hair. The patient removes her hand from
he sponge and | draw out the needle
When l draw out the hair with the
Eweezers the patient does not feel it, for
the root has lost its hold and is nothing
but an empty sack. When, through over
haste, the electrOlytic action is checked
before its work is completed, dwarfed
h air may spring up in the place of its
more vigorous predecessor, but where
care has been taken, the fOllicle will
never give birth to another hair. The
needle carries the negative current, while
the positive is located in the sponge, and
the only absolutely necessary points re-
quired to insure the success of each pune
Gure are that the needle should be pushed
20 the very bottom Of the fOllicle, and
then be moved gently around to enforce
contact with every portion of the root,
while a steady, uninterrupted current OF
electricity is kept up. SO long as the pa
tent keeps her hand on the sponge she
feels a sharp, but not very painful, burn
ing sensation were the needle rests, but if
L were TO withdraw the latter while her
hand was still on the sponge, by break
ing the current at a negative pole, she
would receive an unpleasant shock"
kissing Patti.