The Arizona sentinel., 1886-10-09
HOW HAIR GROWS.
Its Color Depending on the Amount c
 Air Contained in the Hair-Shaft.

Air Contained in the Hair-Shaft.
 At birth, almost the entire surface ol the body is cover with fine, soft hairs. These fall off and are replaced by others smaller and weaker than the first ones, except over the scalp, the eyebrows and the eyelashes: Later on in life ir1 some situations the hairs become greatly de; veloped, especially those of the beard oi man, and about the entrances of the nose and ears in advanced life. The hairs, like the nails, are simply special notifications of the skin; made up of the same materials and, like it, subject to many diseases. The skin is made up of cells which are at first deeply situated, soft and spongy in structure, but as they are pushed up toward the surface by the continued formation of new ones; become hard and horny. In most situa- tions the cells of the skin proper be- come loosened, and after they have served proper time as protective to the underlying parts, they fall off and are lost. Those which compose the hair, on the contrary, become closely attached to the next one above them, and push the old ones before them in the shape of continuous, ibrous col- umn. The lower cells overlap five or six of those in advance, and, as they harden, become practically fused with them.
 The essential parts of hair are the root and shaft. The root is imbedded deep below the general surface of the skin in little sack or pocket, into which opens small gland that furn;shcs it with natural chair oil'' that keeps it from becoming brittle. At the bottom of the sack (follicle) is a collection of living cells. freely supplied with blood vessels and nerves. The outer of these cells are pushed up by the growth of new ones, and thus the hair is started on its way toward the surface. The layer of skin in which the root is bedded is that which contains the coloring mat ter that gives the tint to the complexion of the different races of men and to in- dividuals in each race. Hence the means of coloring the hair are supplied with the materials which make up it's primary structure. The shaft of each hair is hard and horny externally, but contains within core of softer, more spongy material, through which nu- tritive fluids from the root are able to find their way, at least during youth and the younger periods of adult life.
 The color of the hair depends on the proper color of the hair-cells, the hair pigment (which is the same coloring material as tints the complexion) and the amount of air contained in the shaft. The proper color of the hair cells, according to its intensity, produces a pale, blonde or deep-red color. The brownish black coloring matter gives all shades of brunette coloration, from pale brown to ebony black. Combinations of these two give all shades between that exhibited by the fairest Saxon and the blackest Ethiopian. Want of these col bring materials makes the hair gray and transparent, and if there be much air contained in the outer parts of the shaft, combined with deficiency in coloring matters, then the opaque whiteness of old age is produced. Black is the al- most universal color, blondes being found only among the Germans, Celts, Slavs and Films, and occasionally among the Armenians and Semites. Red hair is found in individuals of all races.
 The shape of the hair varies; in some it is round-in these it remaIns straight. Those which are oval or fiat curl in many directions and degrees. The na- tives of America, the Polynesians and Malays have the straightest, while the curliest is found among the Bushmen and negroes of Africa. The Indo-Eu- ropean race, or Aryans, have hair talk ing a middle ground between these eX- tremes. The direction of the hair de- pends upon that of its root. When it is permitted to grow long the direction may, of course, be changed to some ex- tent.-St. Louis Globe Democrat.