OR, A TREATISE ON PILE. 51 



CHAPTER III. 



OF A PERFECT HAIR. Eble is of opinion that the most perfect hair is the whisker of 

 some of the lower animals, such as the seal, the lion, the rabbit, &c. ; but we (considering 

 these whiskers as organs of touch) place the hair of the scalp of the white man, as regards 

 perfection, at the head of the list of piles. 



OF THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PILE OF THE HUMAN HEAD. These are the shape or 

 form, the ductility, elasticity and tenacity, the direction, and the inclination, &c., &c. 



Of the Shape or Form of Pile of the Human Bead. The greatest number that have 

 come under our notice, are either cylindrical, oval or eccentrically elliptical ; we therefore 

 call these the general forms of these piles. 



Explanation of these Terms. A cylinder, (from Kulindreo,) is a body formed by the 

 rotation of a parallelogram about its own sides. If a cylinder be cut by a plane parallel 

 to its base, the section will be a circle, equal to the base. 



When a transverse section of a filament of pile presents this circle, we call the pile 

 " cylindrical." An oval, from ovum, an egg, is a curvilinear oblong figure. 



When a transverse section of a filament of pile presents a curvilinear oblong figure, the 

 greatest diameter of which is \ more than its smallest, we call the pile " oval " 



When a transverse section of a filament of pile presents a curvilinear oblong figure, the 

 greatest diameter of which is f more than its smallest, we call the pile " eccentrically 

 elliptical ." 



EXAMPLES OF THE THREE GENERAL FORMS. 



Fig. 57. C 



Of the Particular Forms. But there are other shapes, less frequently met with, viz: 

 the cylmdroidal, the lesser ovoidal, the greater ovoidal, and the eccentrically elliptoidal, 

 to which we give the name of " the particular forms of pile." 

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