442 ON THE COMMERCE AND USES OF THE HUMAN HAIR. 



In the ' Book of Costumes by a Lady of Rank.' Ave find the fol- 

 lowing : — " The peruke, or at all events false hair, was much used by 

 the ancients. It is supposed that the perukes then worn were made of 

 painted hair glued together. An account is given of that worn by the 

 Emperor Commodus ; it is described as having been powdered with 

 gold, and previously oiled and perfumed, to cause the gold to adhere to 

 it. In the British Museum may be seen a peruke, found in the Temple 

 of Isis, at Thebes, the curling and arranging of which would puzzle 

 many a modern coiffeur. It is of a large size, and each ringlet is 

 arranged with the greatest nicety ; apparently the Theban perruquiers 

 possessed a secret unknown to modern artistes in ivigohgy — that of pre- 

 serving the curl in the hair. " 



In Planch6's work on British Costumes, it is stated that when Henry I. 

 was in Normandy in 1104, a prelate named Serlo preached so eloquently 

 against the fashion of wearing long hair that the whole congregation was 

 cropped. This was followed by a royal edict prohibiting the wearing 

 of long hair ; in the next reign, that of Stephen, the old fashion was 

 revived; until in 1139 it received a sudden check, and cropping was 

 again the order of the day. But this reformation was of short 

 duration, — scarcely had a year elapsed, before the people returned to 

 their former follies, and such especially as would be thought courtiers 

 permitted their hair to grow to such a length that they resembled women 

 rather than men. Those to whom Nature had denied abundance of 

 hair, supplied the deficiency by artificial means. Wigs, therefore, may 

 date in England from the time of Stephen. 



In Ellis's Letters, we read, among other items, of the wardrobe of 

 Queen Elizabeth, the following : — " One cawle of hair set with pearls 

 in number 43." 



In the reign of James I., the king set the fashion of a " love-lock," 

 which was a curl on the left side considerably longer than the rest. 

 Nothing in the annals of hair, of wigs or of periwigs caused such a con- 

 sternation among quiet, staid people as did this unfortunate " love- 

 lock." 



In the time of Charles I. and Oliver Cromwell, the Puritans wore 

 their hair so short as to scarcely cover the ears, and thus marked their 

 sense of the "loathsomeness of long hair." The Royalists pursuing the 

 contra extreme, left their hair as long as nature would permit ; and 

 those to whom flowing locks were denied, supplied their place by 

 wearing a wig, a fashion which after the Restoration flourished greatly. 

 In the reign of Charles II. the periwigs attained an enormous size, and 

 the " Heartbreaker," a long lock of hair worn by the ladies, cor- 

 responding with the " love-lock " worn by the gentleman, was intro- 

 duced. 



From Samuel Pepys' Memoirs we make the following extracts : — 

 " 1663, Oct. 30. Bought two periwigs, one whereof cost 60s., the other 

 40s. 1663, Nov. 3. Home, and by-and-bye comes Chapman, the 



