HATS AS A CAUSE OF BALDNESS. 97 



ing of the plants in this vicinity. He was aided by a large class in 

 botany, among the members of which existed a stimulating spirit of 

 rivalry in bringing the first blooms of any species to the class-room. 

 Over fifty observers, therefore, have been gatherers of the facts upon 

 which the present paper is founded. 







HATS AS A CAUSE OF BALDNESS. 



By W. C. GOUINLOCK. 



THE suggestive article in your October number, under the heading 

 "A Bald and Toothless Future," should arouse more than a tem- 

 porary interest. Of late, frequent reference to baldness has been made 

 in medical and other journals, but none of the articles I have read 

 have given the cause, it seems to me, nor suggested the proper means 

 of prevention. The reasons given are mainly : Wearing a close, warm 

 head-covering, thus rendering the natural one superfluous ; the custom 

 of cutting the hair close, living and working indoors, ill-ventilated 

 hats, uncleanliness, and heredity. So many explanations indicate an 

 uncertainty as to the real origin. Is it probable that such a uniform 

 result can be due to so many and diverse causes, some of which must 

 operate in one case and not at all in another ? 



The habit of wearing warm coverings on the head is not of recent 

 date ; the armies of Europe, for instance, no inconsiderable number of 

 men, with heads close cropped, have worn for a long period warmer 

 and heavier head-gear than the modern dwellers in cities, without the 

 same tendency to baldness. Nor are the heavy fur coverings of 

 northern races incompatible with luxuriant hair. It is also difficult to 

 understand what injury can result from close cutting, />er se. The 

 growth is in the hair-follicle, and in it alone ; there is no vital connec- 

 tion between the hair outside the scalp and within ; it is usually cut 

 closest at the back of the head and neck, where baldness never occurs. 

 Would not close cutting rather stimulate the growth by exposure of 

 the scalp ? Such at least is the popular belief. So, too, with indoor 

 life : women, who ought to show it most, whether in the home or in 

 the factory, are never bald as men are ; on the contrary, it is most 

 common with men in good circumstances, as Mr. Eaton's statistics 

 show, men who spend a larger proportion of their daytime in the open 

 air than the indoor worker. 



I believe the common form of baldness is due entirely to the kind 

 of hat that is worn, principally to the high hat and the hard felt hat, 

 but also to any other head-covering that constricts the blood-vessels 

 which notirish the hair-bulbs. To have a clearer understanding of 

 this, we must remember that the scalp is supplied with blood by ar- 

 teries at the back, sides, and front of, and lying close to, the skull, 



VOL. XXXI. 7 



