422 



THE CENTURY BOOK OF FACTS. 



that loss of hair is the result either of impaired 

 health or of much study. The strongest men 

 are often bareheaded, and German professors, 

 who are nothing if not studious, are distin- 

 guished above all men by the profusion of 

 their locks. On the other hand, soldiers and 

 postilions, who wear heavy helmets and leather 

 caps, and wear them a good deal, are fre- 

 quently as bald as billiard balls. From these 

 facts Herr Reclam draws the conclusion that 

 baldness is chiefly due to the artificial deter- 

 mination of blood to the head, and to the heat 

 and perspiration thence arising. The result is 

 a relaxed condition of the scalp and loss of 

 hair. If the skin of the head be kept in a 

 healthy state, contends the professor, the hair 

 will.not fall off. To keep it healthy, the head- 

 covering should be light, and porous, the head 

 kept clean by washings with water, and the 

 hair cut short. The nostrums vended as hair 

 restorers, and on which a fabulous amount of 

 money is wasted by the ignorant for the bene- 

 fit of quacks, he denounced as worse than 

 useless. In ninety-nine cases out of a hundred 

 they are worse than useless. Cleanliness and 

 cold water are the sole trustworthy specifics ; 

 but when once the hair roots are destroyed, 

 not all the oil of Macassar, the bear's grease 

 of Siberia, nor the cantharides of Spain will 

 woo back the vanished locks. 



TREATMENT OF THE HAIR. 



How to preserve the hair is a subject which 

 seems to interest almost everybody, if we may 

 judge from the frequent inquiries from every 

 direction which come to our attention. One 

 wishes to know what will prevent baldness, 

 another how to preserve his hair from turn- 

 ing gray, another how to eradicate dandruff, 

 etc. Now it is a delicate matter to recommend 

 any special treatment, but Professor Wilson, 

 of England, who is deemed high authority on 

 the hair, condemns washing it, and advises, 

 instead, thorough brushing. This promotes 

 circulation, removes scurf, and is in all respects, 

 he says, better than water. 



Cutting the hair does not, as commonly 

 thought, promote its growth. Most- of the 

 specifics recommended for baldness, not ex- 

 cepting petroleum, are mere stimulants, and 

 are seldom or never permanently successful. 

 Some of them give rise to congestion of the 

 scalp. When a stimulant is desirable, ammo- 

 nia is the best. It is safe. 



For falling out of the hair, Dr. Wilson pre- 

 scribes a lotion composed of water of ammonia, 

 almond oil, and chloroform, one part each, 

 diluted with five parts alcohol, or spirits of 

 rosemary, the whole made fragrant with a 

 drachm of oil of lemon. Dab it on the skin, 



after thorough friction with the hair brush. 

 It may be used sparingly or abundantly, daily 

 or otherwise. 



For a cooling lotion, one made of two 

 drachms of borax and glycerine to eight ounces 

 of distilled water is effective, allaying dryness, 

 subduing irritability, and removing dandruft. 



Both baldness and grayness depend on de- 

 fective powers of the scalp skin, and are to be 

 treated alike. What is needed is moderate 

 stimulation, without any irritation. The fol- 

 lowing is good : Rub into the bare places 

 daily, or even twice a day, a liniment of cam- 

 phor, ammonia, chloroform, and aconite, equal 

 parts each. . The friction should be very gentle. 



SPECTACLES (Hints on the use of). 



From a valuable little book, ' ' Practical Re - 

 marks on Impaired Vision," by Mr. Cooper, 

 the well-known London optician, we extract 

 the following: "It cannot be too strongly 

 urged upon anyone about to use spectacles for 

 the first time that that power which will enable 

 him to read without much exertion by candle- 

 light is the only power suitable for him. It is 

 by candlelight only that he should use glasses 

 at first, and as soon as he finds that he stands 

 in need of glasses by day as well as by candle- 

 light, and that the glasses he uses no longer 

 afford him sufficient assistance by candlelight, 

 it will be proper to use the next power for the 

 evening, but for the evening only, and to al- 

 low himself the use of the others and their 

 use only during the day. 



" The greatest caution as to increasing the 

 power of glasses should be observed ; for per- 

 sons who change their glasses, unnecessarily 

 increasing their power each time, are exhausting 

 the resources of art, instead of economizing 

 them as much as possible. Optical aid can 

 only be extended to a certain point, and the 

 steps to that point should be as slow and 

 as numerous as possible. By exercising prudent 

 precautions, persons may often attain great age, 

 and yet never require the aid of glasses boyond 

 a very moderate power ; others, on the' contrary, 

 who from ignorance frequently increase the 

 power of their glasses, may run through the 

 whole assortment, and leave themselves only 

 the most inconvenient resources to fall back 

 upon viz., the very highest powers." 



Common, cheap spectacles sometimes appear 

 to answer as w r ell as those which cost three or 

 four times as much ; but cheap glasses are not 

 to be depended upon ; they are sometimes 

 ground irregularly and imperfectly, and then 

 they injure the eyes. It is better, therefore, to 

 have spectacles from a respectable optician, 

 who has a character to maintain. Spectacles 

 having lenses called pebbles, which is rock 



