Structure, and Life of the Human Hair. 173 



hair-tufts had of themselves fallen off, without leaving hare 

 places on the skin of the head ; nay, this falling off is consi- 

 dered b}' the people of the district as a fortunate, though a 

 rare symptom. When my attention had once been directed to 

 this, it was not difficult to observe in a couple of patients this 

 process of separation in its commencement and progress. 

 While, for the most part, no particularly distinct and fixed boun- 

 dary could be ascertained between the sound and the matted 

 hair, and both gradually passed into one another, there pre- 

 sented itself on two occasions, in place of this passage, a round 

 deep groove running round the tuft of hair, as if it had been 

 produced by a thread laced in all round. It formed a very dis- 

 tinct boundary between the sound and diseased portion of the 

 hair, which appeared at this place as if cracked. The lacing- 

 in and contraction of the hair-tuft at this place proceeded so 

 far in many of the bunches, that a portion of the hair-cylinder 

 was separated, and the whole tuft was hanging to only a resi- 

 due of the hair which was originally united with it ; by a con- 

 tinuation of the process, the whole tuft must eventually fall 

 off. This circumstance has a remarkable resemblance to the 

 phenomena which accompany the separation of diseased por- 

 tions in the soft parts, for example, in the case of scalds. 

 When, in such cases, boundaries are established, a red ring is 

 formed between the sound and the diseased parts ; a lacing-in 

 is produced, by the deeper penetration of which the diseased 

 portion is at last separated and removed. The whole pheno- 

 mena can only be derived from an action inherent in the hair 

 itself. I sincerely trust that this subject, which still presents 

 so many blanks to fill up, may very soon attract the attention 

 of others whose external circumstances are favourable to such 

 an investigation. I cannot myself soon hope to enjoy an op- 

 portunity of following up my observations.* 



* From Miiller^s Archiv/Ur Amtomie, &c. 184a 



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