Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1886-10-24
WIGS, FALSE TEETH.
THE SWEET BY AND BY AS SEEN BY MEN OF
SCIENCE.
Predicting a Time When Hair Brushes and Comb:
be UsslsSS-Al2rming Prevalence Of Bald
Heads IN Boston.
Yfrol g. Eaton in P0plaqr Science Monthly.

other places Of public resort, and, securing
a seat in the gallery or in the rear part of
the room, look at the heads of theaudience,
for no other purpose than to ascertain by
actual count how many show signs of bald
ness. Unless the eXperimenter has been in
the habit of counting for this object, he
will be surprised to learn that, in most OF
the eastern cities, fully thirty per cent. OF
the men over thirty years of age show I'M
mistakable signs of badness, while nearly
twenty per cent. have spots on their heads
thar are not only bald but actually polished
with the gloss that is supposed to belong
to extreme old age alone. l have been in
the majority of the churches and theatres
in all the Eastern cities, as well as IN b
cago, st. Louis and other pleacs Of the
West, and have verified my assertion by
actual count. From my observation lind
that bald-headed men are most plentiful
in New York and Boston. After these come
Philadelphia, Washington and the Western
towns. 81 say mem for two reasons: l..
Because women usually wear their hats or
bonnets on such occasions, thus covering
their rowns 9. In case their hats are
removed, the hair is combed up so as to
cover any possible bald spot, or else there
is an artificial switch to hide the defects
of nature. So, witout indulging in any
speculatiOns regarding what may be, will
cOnfine myself to what is to be seen.
Here are a few observations taken in BOs-
ton: Trinity Church; 243 men; II actually
bald. As indications of badness. Kings
Chapel; SO men; 3S actually bald, IA indi-
cations of badness. Hollis Street Theatre,
orchestra at performance of the "Mikado;;'
63 men; 81 actually bald, 10 indications.
Boston Theatre-"Judic;" 126 men; 81
actually bald, 43 indications.
These observations were taken from the
more cultivated classes of society, and do
not give 4 fair representation OF the Boston
head, as repeated calls ut the dime mu-
seums and cheaper variety performances
demonstrated. For instance, of the thirty
men seen in the seats of the Worlds Mu-
scum in Washington street, but eight We're
bald, while only five Others had thin hair,
showing that badness was simply a
question OF a very few years. Again, OF
forty men ut Austin & Stones Museum,
twenty-five had their heads well covered,
and at the Windsor Theatre Variety |
found less than % per cent, who had thin
hair.
On the other hand, at shows and enter
tainments of more refinement, the bald
headed element WIS considerably larger.
Of two nights when Patti sang at the Bos-
ton Theatre there were 46 per cent. OF bald
| l,.,l, -, .~,a n.,nSinn ap1 10 on the other
When De Lussan appeared i'll Fra Dlav-
Olo" | discovered 80 per cent. OF badness,
and ut one of Matthew ArnOld's lectures,
there were 46 per cent. In fact, out OF
hundreds of observations, extending over
several years, l have found that the higher
the price of admission, and presumably the
more refining nature of the performance,
the larger the per cent. of bald-heads. One
| night | counted the occupants of a few set
tees in my immediate vicinity at an eX-
hibition which John l.. Sullivan gave at
the Mechanics fair building, and was sur
priSed to find that less than II per cent. OF
the men were bald. As this was q show
where the spectators had the privilege of
retaining or discarding their hats ut
pleasure, / think it was not q fair test.
In large cities, where over one-halto OF the
population is under 80 years OF age, and
| where half of those who attend places OF
amusement can safely be placed at less
than 10 years, those facts are certainly in
teresting to every person who wishes to
know what kind OF Il looking person the
coming man is going to be. 1t is not I'M
common to see men under 30 years of age
whose crowns are totally denuded of hair.
In one store in New York City are twelve
shipping clerks, all under 40 years of age,
| and seven of them are bald, while two
more are vainly trying to prevent badness
by using hair-restorers. There are more
baldheaded men in Boston than there are
who have black or red hair. Next to the
| brown heads the bald heads have the largest
number of representatives. In order to
prove this, it is only necessary to go to any
party or place of amusement or assemblage
of any kind in New England. In my
capacity rs newspaper reporter | attended
a funeral in Beacon street, Boston, a few
years ago, where the clergyman, the under
taker, and every one of the mOurnerS were
bald headed! The only perfect head OF
hair | saw at the house was that of the fair
young girl who lay in the casket. In
! stances showing the proneneSs, not only OF
Boston land New England, but of the
whole country, 10 become bald, could be
given indefinitely, but think the foregoing
will suffice.
Now, in view of these facts, can any one
say that the coming man, of New England
at least, will not be baId2 / fnOt what is
the present generation doing. or what can
it do to hinder such a fate?
The old physiological law of stock-breed-
ing that like begets like" applies to men
as we'll rs to animals. If men at the age
when they marry and begin to raise chill
dren are bald-headed they can expect their
children to enjoy the traits of their sires.
A father and mother who become bald
when young can safely predict alike result
for their offspring. There is no reason why
bald heads should not yield to the laws OF
heTedity rs much as curly heads or red
heads. Anything else would seem unnat-
ural.
To hinder such a tendency it is only
needful to learn its cause, which seems TO
be no other than wearing tightly fitting
headcOvering, living indoors, and the
lately developed habit OF keeping the Halt
closely cropped. Among the savage races,
who live outdoors most of the time and go
bareheaded, badness is unknown. To
these hair is. a protection. 1t grows IN
rank p~rofusion without care. Something
is needed to protect the scalpfrom sun and
! wind and rain, and hair grows luXuriantly.
When hats and caps were invented they
took the place-Of the natural shield, and
the hair, having no longer any function to
perform, fell away. The days of its use
fulneSs in the economy of life are past, and,
like the tails of the monkeys and the
muscles of the ears, is has become rudlmen-
tary from disuSe, Ifit is to be restored to
its former glory, men must stop making
close crops" and must 60 bareheaded.
That there are fewer bald-headed women
than men is due to the fact that ladies do
not ''shingle" their hair after the manner
of the sterner sex. The recent fashion Of
banging and ''frizzing'' their hair,
adopted by ladies of fashion, is a death
blow to their sex having good hair much
longed. iii i continues, there will be as
MANY hald-headed women as men. Allow
- a. k;. 60 rrnpv lopg and exDOSinO the