444 



REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1890. 



microscopical investigations. He fouud that the hair of the head was 

 coarse, slightly curved, and of a pure black color. The hairs are not 

 so numerous over a given area of the head as on Japanese or Euro- 

 peans. On 1 square centimetre 214 hairs were counted. On a Japan- 

 ese with rather fine hair he fouud 286 ; on another with coarser hair, 

 252; on a fiue-haired German, 280; on another with coarser hair, 272.* 

 Nevertheless, the volume of hair on the Ainos is not small, since this 

 depends both upon the number and the size of the hairs. The Aino 

 hair is oval in section, and the greatest diameter is from 0.1 to 0.125 

 millimetres. The measurements were made by securing single hairs in 

 a cylinder of wood and by turning this about, measuring the diameters 

 with a microscope. The following measurements are given : 



Aino No. 1 

 Aino No. 2. 



Aino No. 3. 

 Aino No. 4. 



Aino No. 5. 



One large hair 



One hair 



...do 



...do 



...do 



...do 



...do 



...do 



...do 



0.078 



0.125 



0.090 



0.106 



0.085 



0.127 



0. 095 



0.127 



0.093 



0.138 



0.090 



0.140 



0.087 



0.106 



0.079 



0.111 



0.079 



0.111 



The flattening is in proportion of 2 to 3. According to the same au- 

 thority the hair of the upper body is principally about the middle of 

 the breast and on the line below. The breast hairs were 6 millimetres 

 in length, about twenty-four on a square centimetre. They measured 

 0.106 by 0.069 millimetres in diameter. 



In addition to these observations, Mr. John Aspiuwall has examined 

 several specimens of hair which I obtained — not without evident mis- 

 givings on the part of the people — from the Ainos at Piratori. Mr. 

 Aspin wall's measurements have been numerous, and his results are given 

 here in considerable detail. 



REPORT OF MR. JOHN ASPINWALL. 



Ill accordance -with your request, I have made a microscopical examination of the 

 five samples of Aino hair collected by you. Two objects were kept in mind in this 

 examination: First. I wished to obtain a true cross-section; second. To discover 

 the true relation of the plane of natural curvature of the hair to the figure of the 

 cross-section. 



To obtain the first, it seemed necessary that no more pressure should be given to 

 the hair than that exerted by the knife of the microtome in cutting. This was 

 accomplished by splitting a cork, placing the hair upon it with its plane of natural 

 curvature y>arallel to the cut, partially embedding it in a gelatine-glycerine mass, 

 and then laying the other half of the cork gently on the hairs without disturbing 

 them. The cork with the inclosed hairs was immersed in alcohol as soon as the im- 

 bedding mass had set. and there allowed to remain until the mass was hardened 



* It has been found by Dr. Wilson that the number of hairs per square inch upon 

 the bead of a fairly healthy person is 1,0(16, which gives for the entire head the 

 number 127,920. Some persons have as many as 150,000 hairs on the head. 



