The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1890-08-07
CAN'T BE TOO CAREFUL.
Precautions Which should Be
Taken by Barbsra n
Contaslon and Disease 0ftsn DistrlbStsd
BY Barber shops -Hew CSnbs snd
Brushes Become 1nfsctsd-Ths
Use OF Disinfectaats.


brushes become 1nfsotsd-The
Use OF Dlsinfeotaats.
That dangers Of contagion and disease
lurk in all BARRIERS shops, as almost uni.
vcrsally managed, is fact beyond dis
pute, says the Boston Herald. Sycosis
has rightly been named "barber's itch"
being, as It is, ofton distributed by them.
The Lancet of London recently told Of
four cases, "all Of which owed their
origin to manipulation OF single knight
OF the razor" But this ia not the only
danger of contsgion in these places, nor
isit the greatest. Tho hair is notorious
germ-catcher, and II person is but Q
short time, even. In tho sick room Of .
person suffering from an infectious dis
case, such as scarlet fever or measles, he
Is very certain to carry away with him
tho germs, and be, for time, q menace
to those whom he encounters. The hair
brushes and combs in common use must
be good distributors Of disease. Per-
haps few diseases peculiar to adults
are conveyed by them, but many diseases
OF children are highly infectious, and It
Is reasonable to suppose that in.
stances are not rare in which these
toilet articles are the means Of trans
mission. The noed of practicing disin-
fection in all cases Of infectious diseases
is now generally recognized, but in
many instances 1t Is not done, or 1t Is at
best but imperfectly done. II mans
child is i'll with scarlet fever, and he lisa
conscientious person, he will never
enter the sick room in the same cloth
ing which he wears outside to his busi-
ness. But II he changes his clothes as
he ought, he is not at all likely to disin.
feet hts person, nor is there one chance
In thousand Of his thinking to disin-
feet his hair. II he does not, then, when
he goes to his barber he is pretty certain
to leave upon the comb and brush used
by him some Of tho germs Of the disease.
Tho "next" who follows him in the
barber's chair may be also father, and
one whose children are blessed with
good health.
The infected comb and brush are used
upon him in turn, and in his hair are
deposited the disease germs loft by the
person before him. These he carries to
his home, and week or two afterward
there occurs mysterious outbreak Of
scarlet fever among his children. There
is danger, says medical contemporary,
that turks in all barber shops, from the
poorest to the best, and in America, in
spite Of the boasted superiority Of its
''tonsorial palaces" as we'll as else
where. The fact that the barber shop
Is cosmopolitan also accounts for the
greater frequency Of sycosis and other
kindred diseases than in Great Britain,
In proportion to the population. The
middle and upper classes abroad do not
patronize BARRIERS except for the scalp,
every individual being familiar
with the razor. 30 for as the re-
moval Of his own facial hirsuto sp-
pendage is concerned; and it would be
better II Americans adopted this course.
The immunity of the latter from dis
eases, so far as 1t obtains, may be at
tributed more to 'good luck" than good
management; for though 1t is custom
ary In many instances to provide per-
sonal cups and brushes, the individuality
Of these is not religiously respected,
save in rare instances; and even then
they are not put away in perfectly
cleanly or eseptio condition. 1t is no.
torious that cleanliness, so far as uten-
sils are concerned, is an attribute sadly
lacking in oven the best barber shops;
and the patrons owe their fortunate
escape from contagion largely to the
accidental facts that hot water Is en-
ployed to make lather, and alum ap-
piled to tho skin to repress the oozing
and irritated condition that results from
too close application Of the steel. Not
only are razors lily cleansed, but they
are also sharpened upon filthy homes
with the aid Of soap suds taken from
the common stock cup, and the only at
tention they receive at any time is q
perfunctory wiping, frst with scrap of
newspaper and then with the palm Of
the hand.
1t would be very easy indeed to abso-
lutely remove from barber shops all
danger Of infection through their toilet
articles. Cups and shaving brushes
after they are used should be washed
with some disinfectant, and razors
should also be dipped in the same
solution before they are wiped and put
away. In most shops the shaving cups
are partially filed with hot water Be-
fore they are used. That would not
only wash away all trace Of the disin.
fectsnt previously put into them, but II
would, II boiling hot, itself act as dis.
infectant In this way the cups, SOAP
and razors could be made absolutely
harmless. As for the hair brush and
combs, when not in use they should lie
in pan Of disinfectant solution.
U.AnEln~ ANx>-