278 FISH BERG 



modern Jews, because of the fact that many of the contempo- 

 raneous non-Jewish Semites, are known by their frizzly and wooly 

 hair as much as by any other somatic characteristic. 



Pigmentation undergoes changes with the advance of the age 

 ol the individual. Grayness, or canities, may be premature or 

 senile. Up to the age of 35 or 40 years the hair retains its 

 normal color with most people. If grayness occurs before that 

 time, it is considered premature ; otherwise it is considered to 

 be normal or senile. We have noted grayness in 161 individ- 

 uals over 20 years of age, being 18.52 percent of the total '^(^J . 

 The youngest individual with gray hair was 22 years of age; 

 the oldest retaining the natural color of his hair was 46 years 

 of age. Weissenberg thinks that grayness appears quite early 

 in Jews, while Yakowenko shows that it appears rather late, or 

 about the age of 45 years. From our own observations we do 

 not think that the Jews show any marked differences in this re- 

 spect from other civilized peoples. Of the 161 gray-haired in- 

 dividuals examined, only 28 were younger than 35, a propor- 

 tion which can not be regarded as abnormal. 



Baldness, or alopecia, due to arrested development of the 

 pilary system, is another change in the hair which appears with 

 advanced age. It normally appears at about the age of 45 

 years, when other signs of decay become manifest, as grayness, 

 loosening or decay of the teeth, dimunition of the keenness of 

 sight, etc.; under these circumstances it is called alopecia seni- 

 lis. On the other hand, alopecia prematura takes place at an 

 earlier age, and is more frequent in brain workers and in those 

 leading sedentary occupations or exposed to prolonged mental 

 worry. Many writers have stated that this change takes place 

 earlier in Jews than in non-Jews. Weissenberg^ has found that 

 16 percent of Jews between the ages of 21 and 50 years pre- 

 sented more or less baldness, the youngest showing this change 

 being 23 years of age. Yakowenko^ on the other hand, shows 

 that baldness is exceptional in Jews younger than 46 years, and 

 when it occurs before this age it is usually due to favus. From 



' Loc. cit., p. 103. 

 2 Loc. cit., p. 32. 



