HAIR 



HA1K-DVKS 



507 



the American Indian is circular in transverse 

 section, that the wavy European hair is oval, ami 

 thai tin- cri-p woolly wgro hair is flattened ami 

 tape-like in cross-section. Tin-re now appear- to 

 l>e reason to doubt this (see Waldeycr's Atins). 



The chief use of the hair, and particularly of 

 tin- fur of various mammals which is especially 

 developed in the winter, is to protect the Ixxly from 

 external cold. Except on the scalp and on the 

 throat, this cannot lie considered as applying to 

 man. What, then, are the tinea of the hair on the 

 face, and especially on the upper lip? We shall 

 answer this question with an extract from an 

 article 'On the Use of the Hair' in the Lancet for 

 Novemtar 3, 1860: 'Mr Chadwick, who has done 

 so much for sanitary reform, tells us that he was 

 once very much struck by seeing some blacksmiths 

 who wore beards, with their moustaches discoloured 

 by a quantity of iron dust which had accumulated 

 amongst the hairs. Turning it over in his mind, 

 it struck him that had not the dust been so arrested 

 by a natural respirator, it must have found its way 

 into the lungs, where it could not have been other- 

 wise than productive of evil consequences. He 

 hence rightly advised that the razor should be 

 discarded by labourers in all dusty trades such as 

 millers, bakers, masons, &c. ; by workmen employed 

 in grinding iron or steel ; and by travellers on 

 dusty roads. In hot, sandy countries the use of 

 the beard is soon discovered ; and travellers in 

 Syria and Egypt find it necessary to defend their 

 mouths against the entrance of the hot air of the 

 desert. But not against dust alone is the facial 

 hair a protection ; it is the best barrier against cold 

 air, biting winds, and wheezy fogs that a Northman 

 can obtain. . . . According to Mr Chadwick, the 

 sappers and miners of the French army, who 

 are remarkable for the size and beauty of their 

 beards, enjoy a special immunity against bronchial 

 affections. In corroboration of the last-named 

 fact we may mention another of a still more 

 striking character. During the long-continued 

 search for Franklin's expedition, a transport vessel, 

 the North Star, was frozen up during one of the 

 severest arctic winters. on record, in Wolstenholme 

 Sound. The crew maintained their health perfectly 

 during all the trials to which they were exposed. 

 On their return to England in the early summer 

 they shaved off the hair that had been growing 

 around the mouth and throat for the last eight or 

 nine months, and within a week every man was on 

 the sick list with some form of bronchial or 

 pulmonary disorder. 



The short hairs scattered over the body may be 

 regarded as being rudimentary. In other words, 

 they are vestiges of a hairy covering which at one 

 time did fulfil a protective and sheltering function. 

 In the Ainos of Japan and the Todas of the 

 Neilgherry Hills (q.v.) these hairs are still retained 

 in a nigh degree of development. 



Cases occasionally occur where there is an 

 abnormal abundance of hair of considerable length 

 in women on parts where the hair is usually little 

 more than down. A hairy woman, named Julia 

 Pastrana, supposed to be a Mexican, was ex- 

 hibited in London ; her embalmed hotly was ex- 

 hibited also in that city in 1862, and we extract 

 the following remarks from a memoir on her in 

 The Lancet for May 3 of that year : ' The ears, 

 and all parts of the face except the eyes, were 

 covered with hair of different lengths. The beard 

 was tolerably thick, the hairs composing it being 

 straight, black, and bristly, the part of it which 

 grew on the sides of the chin hanging down like 

 two plaits. . . . The upper portion of the back of 

 the neck and the hinder surface of the ears were 

 covered with hairs. On the shoulders and legs the 

 hairs were as abundant as they are occasionally 



on very powerful men.' Dr Chowne detwriU-d 

 similar but less marked cases of hairy women 

 in the I.nnrr.t for 1H43; and in 1886 members 

 of a Burmese, family, whose bodies were almost 

 entirely covered with hair, were first exhibited in 

 London. Sec BKAIM>, \Vi<;, BAI.HNKS.S, I'I.ICA 

 POLONICA, KlNtiWOKM, S<:AU)HKAl>, PARASITES, 



&c. ; also Sir Erasmus Wilson, Healthy Skin and 

 Hair (1845 ; new ed. 1886). 



Hair-balls. See CONCRETION. 



Hair-dressing. As a matter of convenience, 

 as well as of taste and fashion, the dressing of the 

 hair has received much attention in all civilised 

 nations, ancient and modern. The Beard is the 

 subject of a separate article. Amongst savages 

 the most extraordinary diversity as to the dressing 

 of their hair obtains ; some friz/ing it to the utmost 

 extent ; some fixing it in all sorts of perverse 

 arrangements by means of frames, and some 

 partially shaving the head. The Chinese pigtail, 

 the American Indian scalp-lock, and the Moslem 

 shaven head, with a small tuft left by which to l>e 

 ultimately lifted into Paradise, are all well known. 

 According to Rev. J. G. Paton, missionary (see 

 his Life, 1889), some of the New Hebrides people 

 have hair crisp and woolly, stuck full of feathers 

 and shells ; others have hair long and wavy, twisted 

 into as many as 700 separate whip-cords on a single 

 head, requiring the lalwur of five years to com- 

 plete. Amongst modern civilised Europeans the 

 courtiers and cavaliers of the 17th century adopted 

 the practice of wearing those ' love-locks ' which 

 excited the ire of the Puritans. It was, how- 

 ever, in the management of ladies' hair that the art 

 of the professional hair-dresser was in those times 

 mainly exercised. In the 18th century, through 

 the influence of French fashions, the dressing of 

 hair, male and female, rose to a great pitch of 

 extravagance and folly ( see WIG ). The hair of a 

 lady of fashion was frizzed up in convolutions 

 and curls, decorated with ribbons, jewels, and 

 feathers, and filled with pomatum and powder to 

 a degree perfectly monstrous. As women of less 

 exalted rank slavishly attempted to follow these 

 absurdities, the business of dressing hair was 

 extensively followed. The cost of a full dressing 

 being, however, too high to be lightly incurred, 

 often one dressing was made to suffice for a week 

 or fortnight, during which period such care was 

 taken to preserve the greasy fabric undisturbed, 

 that it became the frequent resort of trouble- 

 some insects. From pressure of business it fre- 

 quently happened that previous to balls ladies' hair 

 had to be dressed one or two days in advance ; 

 and to keep the head-dress uninjured the lady 

 sat in a cnair perhaps two nights instead of 

 going to bed. A tax on Hair-powder (q.v.), 

 along with the simplification of fashions conse- 

 quent on the French Revolution, not only expelled 

 hair-powder and perruques, but brought the pro- 

 fession of hair-dresser within reasonable bounds. 

 As regards ladies' hair, fashion is constantly alter- 

 ing. With respect to men's hair, short cutting 

 is now universal. Pursued as an ordinary busi- 

 ness in England and continental countries, hair- 

 dressing in the United States is to a large extent 

 resigned to men of colour, and in connection with 

 many of the hotels they are provided with work- 

 rooms. Of the innumerable oils, essences, and 

 pomade which are vended for the hair, on the 

 doubtful assumption that they improve and nourish 

 it, some are distinctly injurious. 



Hair-dyes* Various means have been adopted 

 for changing the natural colour of the hair to a 

 more favoured one, and for hiding the approaches* 

 of age. a^ indicated by the presence of gray hairs. 

 usually consist in washing the hair with a 



