230 TRAVELS THROUGH LOWER CANADA: 
heads' is so much thicker than ours. The few 
hairs that are seen on the faces of old men are 
to be attributed to the carelessness of old people 
about their external appearance. 
To pluck out their hair, all such as have any 
connection with the traders make use of a pli¬ 
able worm, formed of flattened brass wire. 
This instrument is closely applied, in its open 
state, to the surface of the body where the hair 
grow s; it is then compressed by the finger and 
thumb; a great number of hairs are caught at 
once between the spiral evolutions of the wire, 
and by a sudden twitch they are all drawn out 
by the roots. An old squaw, with one of these 
instruments would deprive you of your beard 
in a very few minutes, and a slight application 
of the worm two or three times in the year 
would be sufficient to keep your chin smooth 
ever afterwards, A. very great number of the 
white people in the neighbourhood of Malden 
and Detroit, from having submitted to this ope¬ 
ra’ion, appear at first-sight as little indebted to 
nature for beards as the Indians. The operation 
is very painful, but it is soon over, and when 
on considers how much time and trouble is 
saved, and ease gained by it in the end, it is 
only surprising that more people do not sum¬ 
mon up resolution, and patiently submit to it. 
The long lock of hair on the top fthe head* 
with the skin’ on which it grows, constitutes the- 
