Passaic City record., 1893-03-25
WHITENED LOCKS.
Why the Hair Sometimes Turns
Suddenly White.
Some Curious Cases Observed by Men OF
Science Queer Facts Brought
Out by Microscopic Ex-
animation.

| that the halr may become WnlJe In the
course of few hours, and this is the
popular impression. Others assume
that such sudden changes never take
place, although it is certain that the
hair frequently turns gray in the course
of few weeks 1t is difficult to find
in the works of the older writer's we'll
authenticated cases of these sudden
changes, most of those quoted having
been taken on the loose authority of
making scientific observations. Such
instances unsupported by analogous
cases of reliable character must nee
essarily be rejected as not fulfilling
the rigid requirements demanded by
scientific inquiry, in which all possible
sources of error should be rigidly ex-
cluded, says the San Francisco Chron-
icle.
Regarding the subject, however, from
purely scientific point of view one
must acknowledge that there are few
cases of comparatively recent date in
which sudden blanching of the hair
has been observed and carefully investi-
gated by men trained to accurate scien-
tific methods.
One of these cases is reported in Vir-
chow's Archives for April, 1866, by DIR.
Landois as occurring under the obser-
vation of himself and DR.. Lohmer. In
this case the blanching of the hair oc-
Cured in hospital in a single night
while the patient was under the daily
observation of the visiting physicians.
The patient, a compositor, thirty
years of age, with light hair and blue
eyes, was admitted into the hospital
July 9, 1865, suffering from an acute
attack of delirium tremens. A marked
popularity in the disease was excessive
terror whenever anyone approached
the patient. He slept for twelve hours
on the night of the 11th of July after
having taken thirty drops of laudanum
Up to this time nothing unusual had
been observed regarding the hair.
On the morning of July IL it was evi-
dent to the medical attendants and to
all who saw the patient that the hair OF
the head and beard had become gray.
The patient himself remarked the
change with intense astonishment. The
hair remained gray as long as the
patient was under observation, to Sep
tember II. An interesting point con-
nected with this case is that the hair
was subjected to careful microscopic ex-
animation. The color of hair in gen.
eral is due to the presence of pigment
granules and of few air bubbles. In
the case of the compositor the white
hairs were foundsto contain a multitude
of bubbles of air in the medulla and
cortical substance of the shaft of the
hair, but the pigment granules were
everywhere preserved unaltered. The
hair filled with bubbles of air is white
for the same reason that granulated
sugar and the foam on the seashore
are white The individual granules of
the sugar and the individual bubbles
that form the foam are transparent.
The reflection of light from granule to
granule and from bubble to bubble
makes the mass of the sugar and of
the foam white. In similar way the
reflection of light from air bubble to
air bubble makes the hair seem white
DR. Landois quotes instances of
blanching of the hair in which there
were alternate rings of white and
brown. Another very curious case of
sudden blanching of the hair is report
ed by Erasmus Wilson in the proceed
ings of the Royal society, London. In
these cases also the white portion pre-
sented on microscopic examination
great bubbles of air, but no diminution
in the quantity of pigment matter
The possibility of sudden blanching
of the hair is further illustrated by the
curious observation made by the cele-
brated DIR. Brown-Sequard, of elixir of
life fame. He observed in his own per-
son four white hairs on one side of his
beard and seven on the other These
he pulled ont. Two days after he
found two hairs on one side and three
on the other that were white through
out their entire length. This observa-
ton he verified several times
The microscopic examinations made
leave no doubt as to the cause of the
white color of the hair in cases of sud-
den blanching All are agreed that
there is no dinlinution in the pigment,
but that the greater part of the medul-
la becomes filed with air bubbles
small globules of air being found in the
cortlcal substance The hair in these
cases presents a marked contrast to-
hair that has become gray gradually
from old age The change of color due
to age is caused by an actual diminu
ton in the quality of pigment
How the air finds its way into the
hair in sudden blanching it is difficult
to imagine. In all of the cases recorded
the blanching of the hair was apparent
ly dependent upon strong emotions,
generally terror. This is all that can
be said on the subject of its causation,
the mechanism of the change not being
understood.