THE HYGIENE OF THE HAIR. 551 



Corollary 5. — Warming by ordinary stoves cannot be considered desira- 

 ble except on the score of economy. The objections to their use are : 



(1) Difficulty of producing ventilation in connection with the warming. 



(2) Cast iron, the usual material for their manufacture, when red hot 

 allows the gases, carbonic acid and hydrogen to pass through into the 

 rooms. 



(3) The heat is irregularly distributed, causing great variations in tem- 

 perature in different parts of the rooms. 



7. It should be understood that ventilation by opening doors and win- 

 dows is nearly as bad as no ventilation. 



8. In large buildings much satisfaction, and what at the present time is 

 of the greatest importance, much valuable information could be obtained 

 by putting up in connection with such a system of ventilation by the 

 vacuum method, apjiaratus for determining and accurately registering the 

 results under varying conditions of outside and inside temperature. An 

 anemometer in the main shaft with electric recording apparatus in the 

 superintendent's office, would show at any instant exactly the condition of 

 the ventilation. In this way regularity of action will be assured, and at 

 the same time a collection of data of the greatest value in future building 

 operations can be made. — Van Nostrancis Engineering Magazine. 



THE HYGIENE OF THE HAIR. 



Professor Erasmus Wilson, who is probably the highest living author- 

 ity on the subject, has lately given a course of lectures on the hair before 

 the College of Surgeons in London. They are reported in full in some of 

 the English medical magazines, and an abstract of the more practical por- 

 tions will doubtless be of interest to many readers of the Journal. 



Cleanliness is, of course, insisted upon as of prime importance, but wash- 

 ing the hair is emphatically condemned. Brushing is to be preferred, as it 

 promotes circulation, removes scurf, and is in all respects a more effective 

 stimulant than water. Cutting does not encourage growth as much as is 

 commonly believed, but is advantageous in the case of short, slender hairs 

 generally called " young hairs." 



Of the countless applications recommended for the cure of baldness, 

 few are ever successful, and in the occasional instances in which they ap- 

 pear to be useful it is possible that sequence is mistaken for consequence, 

 the fost hoc for the inopter hoc. Most of the specifics are stimulants, not 

 excepting petroleum, which has lately been eulogized. Croton oil, though 

 excellent as a stimulus, is objectionable on account of the irritation it often 

 causes and which sometimes extends to the ej^elids and the face. Canthar- 

 ides, though milder and more manageable, is likewise liable to give rise to 

 inflammatory congestion and vesication, and sometimes to suppuration and 

 ulceration. The skin may be peculiarly sensitive, or the remedy may have 



