, 1889-04-02
SAD EoE BLONDE HAIR.
The Effect of '.aturaI Gas on Golden
Tressss-' ,es 1t Cause DeafnessP

The Effect Of ',atural Gas on Golden
Tressss-' res 1t Cause Deafness?
Natural has made enemies among
ladies. 7 5ndg hlir has had much to do
with it. When burning gas i5 introduced
into tn aa.n apartment with blonde
hair NJ / above O.. remain there, the
peculiI action Of one upon the Other
will d, velop. Some ladies are not at
tached . their hair; this is unnatU raj.
Most of the fair sex glory in their hair;
that is natural. But, whether natural or
not, in either case, hair of golden hue
always suffers from association with
natural gas.
Notwithstanding this effect, there is an
affinity which draws the two together,
and blonde hair cannot escape the infu-
ence of its ardent plague when the two
come into intimate relations. The effect
is i~mperceptible at first, and it is only
after a certain period of close association
that the pernicious and utterly democrat
izing influence upon blonde hair is ap-
parent and the hitherto unknown char
acter of tho deceptive gas is discovered
The insidious influence seems to be ex-
ertive at first contact of gas with blonde
hair, although not Immediately notice
able upon the latter, and lays hold upon
every fiber of its nature, growing more
powerful and assertive until h victim
imperceptibly gives way and the work
of ruin has 80 far progressed that any
effort to free blonde hair is futile, and
the end is accomplished in the utterly
~blackened character of the beautiful
victim.
To be more specific, the vapor, imper-
ceptible to the naked eye, generated by
the gas, attacks the golden ~tresses,
whether wig or in a state of luxuriant
growth, and gradually darkens the hue
of blonde hair as long as the influence
continues. The vapor is ammonia, which
can be seen on the glass in a room where
it rises. 1t combines with the sulphur in
the hair chemically, which produces a
sulphuret of ammonia. Where the chemi-
cal action is strong enough, the hair
would become black. This is plausible.
A Penn avenue physician, in speaking
of someo of the effects of heat from natural
gas, yesterday said:
1.-THE use of natural gas has been a gen
eral topic of complaint with q large num-
Der of my patients. 1 am not prepared
to say that deafness is on the increase,
but natural gas, as it Is now used in
dwellings, has a decided tendency in
that direction. The great trouble is this:
The gas is turned on to such an extent
that a very high temperature is obtained
and maintained throughout the day and
night. This at all times is unhealthy.
The heat is entirely without moisture,
that will naturally dry up the delicate
membranes, produce a dry catarrhal dis
ease which very materially affects the
ear and throat, producing both hoarse-
ness and deafness.
with coal it is different. There is a
certain amount of moisture given out in
the combustion along with the various
degrees of neat obtained. OF course,
any heat is dry in the abstract, but when
combined with steam or any moist sub
stance the effects are very different. A
number of my patients declare that the
gas has made them deaf. That can only
be, n l have said, because the excessive
heat dries up the membranes in the
head."-Pittsburg Dispatch.