Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1899-08-10
CLEAN nAKnER SHoPs.
Too Much Care Cannot be Exercised,
Especially In Hot Weather.


The New York Herald says: "There
are no less than II, 600 barber shops in
this city, and each employs from two
to 20 men. The average is five chairs,
all occupied during busy days. That
means that there are no less than 60, 600
men actively engaged in the 'profes-
SION in various 'tonsorial parlors' of
every degree of excellence and preten-
sion, from the barber shops of tho great
hotels like the Waldorf Astoria to the
palaces of Chatham square.
''At this time of year all sorts OF
fungi which flourish at the higher
temperatures are particularly trouble
some. That Of the miserable pest tech
ncally known in medical science as the
trichophyton, an irritant of vegetable
origin, giving rise to the highly dis
agreeable and often serious disease
called tinea barbae, or barber's itch,
is the commonest.
This fungus which is so actively
poisonous, gains access to the stratum
lucidum, Just beneath the outer cuti-
Gle, through slight cuts and abrasions
on tho face and neck, leading TO intlam-
nation Of the hair follicles and all the
suhcutaneous tissues. 1t is highly
contagious and If it is at once allowed
to become chronic in its effects, impli-
eating the roots of the hair, it spreads
with great rapidity and leads to moro
serious things blood poisoning, for
instance.
\ tour of inspection with scientific
mon through the crowded portions of
the city, with view to discovering
Just whore those miserable fungi colon
i2e in the larger numbers, proved that
the disease was more prevalent than is
commonly believed, and is spread
throughout the ranks Of BARRIERS Gus
toners by n lack of cleanliness that is
amazing.
''In fact, some of the foul little dens
with the high sounding titles of ton
serial palaces sorely need inspection
for more reasons than are 10 be found
in the complaints against the ravagos
of the miserable trichophyton. Half a
dozen brushes gathered from these
places at random showed, under mic
roscope of 1900 diameters, mass Of
these fungi clinging close to the
handles, and while people are often of
the idea that the disease is dissent
mated by means of the razor that is not
the case. 1t is the brush that is tho
offender, and the upper portion, where
the hair is fixed into the socket, is the
point of colonization.
THE fungus trichophyton is of
rapid growth under favorable condi-
tions, and, once fixed upon the face,
begins its ravages with small, scaly
patch the size of pInhead, charging
and penetrating into the follicies
deenly, loosening the hair, so that il
falls out, forming panules. with violent
inflammation, coalescing into tubercles
that give the skin nobular appear
ance, and is highly irritating unbeat-
able. indeed, during the summer months
for its tension and sensation of burn
ing. Ten per cent of all cases of skin
diseases are various forms of this tinea
barbae, or diseases that claim it as a
starting point for more serious things.
IAN eminent authority connected
with the Carnegie Laboratory and
Bellevue Hospital was very decided in
his insistence upon regulations whereby
barber shops should be placed under
the surveillance of the Board of Health.
"Cutaneous affections of various
kinds, as well as diseases which are
even more serious, are often transmitted
by means of the barber's utensils. 1t
should be compulsory to cleanse
thoroughly tho towels and brushes and
other instruments of barber's use, not
alone dampening and pressing the tow
els, hut boiling them and subiecting
the razors and cups, rs well as brushes,
to daily antiseptic bath.
Combs are sometimes the means OF
transmitting disease which occasions
the falling out of the hair, and IL
stands to reason with the lower class Of
BARRIERS give none too much heed tc
these sanitary matters. l do not think
that the BARRIERS would find the health
inspection an oppressive measure, but
the best of them would take pleasure
in satisfying the regulations of tbs
board. Baclli and fungi of dangerous
varieties are so prevalent everywhere
that no sanitary regulation can be SAID
to DO too strict which operates efFec
tually in the elimination Of contagious
diseases, which have such clear field
in great and overcrowded city. -