338 PRINCIPAL SIR WILLIAM TURNER ON THE ABORIGINES OF TASMANIA. 



broader ranged from '085 to "0625 with a mean '0725 mm., whilst the narrower 

 was from '0525 to '0475 with a mean '050 mm. The hair index was 61. The 

 cut ends ranged in breadth from '08 to "035. In a few hairs the shaft began with the 

 hair bulb, the largest example of which was "130 in transverse diameter : in another 

 specimen the tip of the hair was '0225 in breadth. 



When examined by transmitted light the hairs showed various shades of brown, 

 but were not black. The cortex was characteristically marked with brown spots 

 and lines, and had a cuticular covering. The medulla was not recognisable as a 

 black band, though in some hairs an axial stripe could be seen not deeper in tint than 

 the cortex itself. 



Semang. — The specimen consisted of a single short lock curled so as to form a 

 spiral. The shafts of the individual hairs were twisted and showed variations in 

 breadth in adjoining parts of the length ; the broader diameters ranged from '075 to 

 '0575, with a mean '0630 mm., the narrower '0375 to '0350 with a mean "0362 mm. ; 

 the hair index computed was about 50. The diameter of the cut ends ranged from 

 '07 to '0350. The hairs as a rule were black, but with transmitted light a few brown 

 hairs were seen interspersed in the lock. The opacity of the black hairs interfered 

 with the determination of structure. In the brown hairs the cortex was characteristic 

 and an occasional hair was split in the direction of the fibres. In some brown hairs an 

 interrupted axial medulla was present in which dark-brown cells were recognised. 



Australians. — Transverse sections through the hairy scalp of the South Australian 

 enabled the form of the hair in the follicles to be seen. Some were cylindriform, the 

 majority had in section two unequal diameters with an ovoid outline. The longer 

 diameter ranged from '0925 to '0675 mm. in breadth, the shorter from '06 to '0475 mm. 

 in depth. One of the largest hair bulbs across the papilla was '112 mm. and the 

 broad diameter of one of the smaller follicular hairs was only '0350 mm. Hairs 

 measured at their cut ends and in the shaft showed variations in breadth and ranged 

 from '107 to '0475, the mean of the longer diameter was '0860, that of the shorter 

 '0595, and the computed index of the shaft was 72. The narrow end of a hair near 

 the tip was '0425. 



The shaft of an individual hair was smooth and almost uniform in transverse 

 diameter (fig. 33, A) until it began to taper towards the tip. As a rule the hairs were 

 black and opaque, though a few were deep brown and permitted a transmission of light. 

 The cortex and its cuticular covering were usually the sole constituents of the brown 

 hairs ; but, in a small proportion, a medulla, darker in colour than the cortex, occupied 

 the axis, and could be traced as a continuous band for some distance, though in places 

 it broke into shorter fragments. 



Maori. — The hair of the New Zealand aborigines was smooth, not twisted, and was 

 almost uniform in breadth in the greater part of the shaft, amounting frequently to 

 *l mm. or a little less (fig. 33, M) ; the mean of the cut ends through the shaft was '08, 

 and the lowest transverse diameter was '065 mm. ; the hair index was computed as 85. 



