Los Angeles daily herald., 1884-11-19
HUMAN HAIR.
Its Growtb After Death the Wild
est OF XaGarles.

est OF tnEariess
There was weird and curious interest,
says he Detroit Free Press. la the following
exposition Of a subject which has engaged 4
good deal Of attention since the morning
stars first sang together. Those that find
pleasure IN either the ghastly or the scien-
ic will thank the writer for his disserta-
tion:
IN very frequently asked and written to
~ parties in the city aud put Of the city con-
eerning the growth Of hair after death. As
/ am somewhat tired Of answering the ques-
tion probably you viii allow the use Of your
columns for a more public, and hope, a
more final answer. IL is ouly n few days
since received the inclosed clipping from
one Of our lawyers, several similar ones hay
ing been received from other parties
I'm the philosophical collections Of Mul.
ierus there Is an nccount OF woman buried
at Nuremburg, whose grave being opened
forty.three years after ner death, hair was
found issuing through the clefts Of the c0f.
fin when the cover was removed. the
whole shape Of the corpse was visible, but
was covered from the crbwn Of the head to
the sole Of the foot with thick-set hair long
and curled. The sexton was about to han
die the upper part of the head, when the
whole feli apart at once. and nothing re
manned but D handful Of hair. There was
neither skull nor any other bone left, yet
the hair was solid and strong. Mr. Arnold
relates the case Of man who was hanged
on the gsllows for petty theft, as was for
merly the case In England. whose body was
covered with growing hair before II was cut
down from the gallows."
In my work upon ''The Hair, Its Growth,
Care, Disease and Treatment" | tave con-
hidered the subject, and the conclusions
there given were reached after much exam
ination Of the authentic literature upon the
subject, and numerous experiments made
upon the cadnver
As to the phenomena observed at the open
grave OF the Nuremburg woman, II IL easily
explained The substance supposed to be
MT halr al I'm tlas.t tfNl.
terlacings OF tree or plant r0otlets about the
decaying fgure within the coffin. That
plants do envelop decaying animal sub
stances In this manner mas been demoI'
strated so many times that 1t Is not neces,
saryrto go into the particulars. The great
ma jority Of cases OF reported hairgrowth IN
the grave are to be explained upon this hy :
pothesiss H .F}.rHf .r-
ping. II is explained bythe fact that the IN n
was previously quite hairy, and then l. Q
arinking OF the tissues from his hairy co
ering, through the process of evaporation a
the juices OF the body through exposur, +,
produced an apparent growth l mysei
nave repeatedly witnessed this apparent
growth In anatomical specimens that / have
mad preserved, for the special consideration
Of this question
Hair il one OF the least destructible parts
of our body. In the grave II is the last OF all
the tissues to yield to decay. From the
ancient catacombs 1t Is taken In a state of
ing that once bedecked the citizens OF an
client Thebes have survived the molderlng
influences vi the tomb, unaided by embam-
Ing some 1000 years. Hair Is AZ lasting as
the karnack pyramids and the Sphinx it.
self. aye, more fasting, for these monuments
are now crumbling, through their weight of
years, while some of the wigs OF human
nair, exposed To the mold and moisture OF
their entombed apartments for these thou
sands of years, are even less attacked by the
tooth OF time than are the monuments them
selves Flesh and blood pass away before
the disintegration of hair commences.
Many suppose that hair derives elements of
growth from this decay all about 1t, but
such Is not the case.
Its growth after death is more IA horrd
fiction than anything else. 1t Is entirely at
variance with all scientific and physiolog
ical principles. am well aware that many
accredited instances of such post mortem
growth are quoted. Hut this is only be
lieved by those who are superstitious and
who delight in the marvellous. Hair growth
Is Just as much living physiological pro
cess as Is the beating of the heart. Both de-
pend upon circulating blood for their food,
and when this is denied them, both cease To
live, Even the heart receives no life from
the blood II propels throughout the system,
except It first force 1t into small arteries
that iced its muscular substance; II draws
no nourishment from the volume of blood
that surges through Its ventricles every
twenty four hours; IL would cease to beat
Instantly II left to this alone for life. So,
too, the hair; concentrate all the blood In
the system at Its roots, and II viii get no
nourishment unless the blood first trayerses
the minute clpillaries that go to feed its
papille, which furnish life aud substance
10 the cells ceaselessly at work therein,
building up the hair shaft, cell after cell.
admit an apparent growth OF the hair
after DEATH but there is IA vast difference
between this growth and genuine one.
The apparent growth is made from just the
opposite conditions that would favor an ac-
tual one, for the apparent" is seen only on
the shrinking of the skin tissues, squeezing
the blood and nourishment out of them
through contraction of the skin, more pro-
jected appearance of the hair-cylinder,
which, to an unpracticed eye would striking
ly simulate real elongation. | have had
anatomical specimens IN my possession for
months, and only this apparent growth
through shrinkugc of tissue about the eye
brows, hair or beard, could be detected,
have seen though, what took to be slight
whitening of the locks in an aged specimen,
due, probably to atmospheric Influences en-
tirely. But MS to the absolute growth of hair
after DEATH believe it to be the widest
yagary. &. HENRI LEONARD, Nj. ID.