82 



ANIMAL PHYSIOLOGY. 



[LESSON 26. 



FIG. 126. 



438. As regards the imbricated structure of the cuticular cover- 

 ing, human hair closely approximates to wool (Fig. 126) ; and a bold 

 attempt has been made in this country to prove that the hair of a 

 Negro and wool are identical, and that, therefore, the Negro is an in- 

 ferior animal, as compared with the white races of man- 

 kind. 



This statement is supported in the work in question* 

 by figures professing to be transverse sections of the hair 

 of a white man, African, and full-blooded Indian, and 

 the author makes them disagree remarkably. That of 

 the white man, doubtless obtained from some accredited 

 work on human physiology, is correct ; the hair of the 

 Indian is represented as round as a circle described by 

 compasses ; and that of the African as a long oval. 



They differ as much in size as in shape ; the Euro- 

 pean is shown as the smallest ; next in size, and inter- 

 mediate, is the Indian the African hair being double 

 the size of the latter. 



439. In the following pages figures are given of the European, 

 Indian, and Negro hair, all faithfully copied from existing prepara- 

 tions ; these preparations have been measured by a Micrometer, and 

 found to be of the same size, nearly. That the shape of hair (of the 



FIG. 127. FIG. 128. 



Wool 



Transverse section of hair, Negro. Transverse section of hair, Negro. 



head) is various in the same individual, will be seen from the two 

 figures of hair from the white man, and two figures subjoined from the 

 Negro (Figs. 127 and 128). Each presents a specimen with and with- 



*"Trichologia Mammalium," by Peter A. Brown, LL. D., Philadelphia. 



The author has published a description of his " cutting machine," the very worst form 

 ever used ! It is no larger round than an ordinary pencil case ; the hair to be cut is imbedded 

 in cork, and the instrument held in one hand, whilst a razor held in the other performs the 

 cutting. The cortical substance renders hair a very tough, resisting tissue, and if only sup- 

 ported by cork, the latter yields to the pressure of the razor, and a very obUque section is the 

 best result hence the long oval that he has given of the Negro hair. 



A cutting machine must be Jtoed, leaving both hands at liberty to use the razor, which 

 requires great pressure to make a thin section, and the hairs should be constantly moistened 

 vrith warm water to soften them, otherwise, with all possible care, the sections will be too 

 thick to transmit light, or show their true structure. 



