Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1888-11-23

I =. @5EkA fkH yE&1l Is Jn&J women 90
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WIZ 1&GSVt Nhair the weekly
shampooing and nightly brushing It
needs. Still oftener they are too neg
igent or do not know that on strict
cleanliness of the scalp depends their
chances of having good hair at thirty
five. Housework should be done with
muslin cap or towel folded to cover
the hair to the roots. House dust,
which is mainly dead animal matter
thrown off by clothing and beds, is
deadly to lungs and hair. Housemaid's
consumption is generally due to breath
ing the dust and fue of ill.kept cham
bers, and the layer which collects at
the roots of the hair kills it and causes
the most of the falling out of which
matrons complain before forty. When
women comprehend the baleful infu-
ence of dust on the health, hair, and
complexion, they will Danish carpets,
upholstering, and unwashing draperies
at once and forever, as the great recep-,
tacles and absorbents of dust. When
curtains and carpets OF large mats are,
used the Dir constantly receives floating
dust at each movement; not much, it
is true, in carefully kept houses, but
quite enough as it gathers on the scalp,i
week after week, to form with it's nat
ural oil and sweat thin, malignant
slowly decays and drops. As the most
of women wash their heads not oftener
than once in six weeks, the effect is
best left indefinite Scalp irritations
are not unknown, causing months and,
years of trouble. But oftener the skin
Of the head, clogged and loaded down
with dead scales of matter, loses its
functions and the hair drops out.
Doctors talk of innervation of the
scalp and atrophy, but it is not consid-
cred their place to say that the cause
of innervation, eczema, and paralysis
Of the skin is want of needed cleanli-
ness. Think what state the face would
be in if it were washed only once in
six weeks or longer; and imagine the
condition OF the scalp with its thou
sands of oil glands and its hairy growth
to detain all the Astounding dust. The
wonder is not that people lose their
hair, but that they have any to lose.
The cause of much badness and thin
ming Of the hair is the choking of the
bulbs by neglect. The next potent
causes are dry, overheated air of rooms,
which destroys the vitality of every
thing in reach, withers bloom, draws
the skin into wrinkles, and dries the
hair by the roots--and also nervous
dyspepsia, which denies nutrition to
the entire system, including the hair.
Those causes, want of care and clean
illness, dry heat, and indigestion, lie at
the root of poor hair. Wearing hats
or bonnets frequently or long at time
is an unsupported cause of grayness
and falling locks. Custom should be
amended to allow woman to remove
bonnets wherever possible-on long
journeys, in heated concert-rooms
"library headache, /" familiar to women
who spend much time studying in pub
lie libraries in senseless habit with
their bonnets on, is speedily destruct.
i've to the hair as we'll as the nerves.
The unnecessary heat and pressure on
the brain while reading is most mis-
chievous. Women in class-rooms and
reading-rooms should lay aside their
head-gear, if only for half hour. The
harm done by going about hours and
days with bonnet on, shopping or Wis
iting, is the cause, doubtless, of much
falling Of the hair which the owner is
| at loss to account for.
But hair must be carefully cultivated
to grow even in length, supple, silken,
and graceful in color. Everything is
encouraging for the improvement OF
hair, if time can be given it. The same
treatment will not do for different
kinds ID of hair, by any means-strong,
stiff, naturally moist hair needs q
weekly shampooing and daily and
nightly brushing, with exposure to the
morning and evening sun, which is a
great stimulant to the hair. Thin, soft,
dry hair needs tender care, but with
either the first step toward improve
ment is through washing of the scalp
and hair, which collects dust it's entire
length. To cleanse it the various
alkalis, borax, ammonia, carbonate OF
potash, and washing soda are used,
and the strong hair will bear them, but
they burn the life out of thin, dry
hair. Most hair washes are used en-
tirely too strong. Soap bark is better
than anything 1 know, except the
shampoo powder of "the fatal sisters"
which leaves the hair luxuriously silky,
instead Of flying like thistledown. Pour
two quarts Of boiling water on tea.
spoonful of soap bark, let it cool till
pleasant, comb the hair smoothly from
the face, part it and scrub down the
parting with the shampoo brush like
an exaggerated oth-brush, wetting
the skin we'll with the decoction. II
fathers we'll, and the whole head should
be gone over, making twenty or more
partings, the hair rinsed in plenty OF
clear water, combed and wiped smooth
ly, not rubbing it ferociously and
tangling it, which breaks it. The
Venetian ladies drew their hair through
a crownless hat and let it stream over
the brim to dry, and you may follow
the example, sitting in the sun, if pos
sible, an hour. Light is great stimu-
liant and preservative to hair, and il is
well to open it when dry and let the
wind blow through. The sun will