| The
Hair
IT is well for every one interested in this subject
to know that the root of the human hair, unlike that
of a plant or tree, will, even though plucked out
completely, reproduce itself. Every hair growing on a
human being is really a modification of the cuticle.
Each tiny hair consists of a root, which is planted in
the skin in an elongative shaft, which projects from
the root and the terminal point. There is a little
bulbous enlargement at the extreme point of the hair
root.
This bulb is found in a little sacklike involution
of the cuticle, which is called the follicle. Some
hairs are much more deeply implanted than others, and
are consequently capable of far greater resistance.
Until the folli cle itself is destroyed, the hair will
reproduce itself. The orifice of the sebaceous glands
opens into the follicle, and in these glands nature
prepares the oily substance which gives the hair a
gloss and smoothness. When the follicle is dead, the
place becomes, of course, what we term bald, and the
peculiar smooth, shiny look apparent on many a bald
head is a sure proof of the death of the hair
follicle, but so long as there is life, the fact that
the hair is falling out should be by no means
disheartening.
The quantity, quality, and texture of the hair are
governed by heredity, temperament, and the general
health of the patient, and depend much, of course,
upon the care received. Nervous people have usually
less hair than those of a more phlegmatic temperament.
So long as the blood circulates with healthy vigor
through the scalp, the hair will be in a greater or
less degree luxuriant and strong. There is always
something wrong with the circulation in the scalp when
the hair begins to fall, and, as we say, to grow thin.
Excepting sickness and hereditary or constitutional
causes, the chief reason for falling hair, and indeed
for almost all hair ailments, is the lack of care from
which the hair almost universally suffers.
The essential needs of the hair are scrupulous
cleanliness, ventilation and friction. For some
inscrutable reason, few people are willing to concede
that the scalp requires to be washed often enough to
keep it decently clean. I do not hesitate to say that
in all ordinary cases the hair should be washed
thoroughly at least once a week, and oftener if
exposed to much dust or dirt, or if there is an
inclination to dandruff.
CAUSES OF UNHEALTHY HAIR
When the hair persistently suffers from loss of
vitality, it is usually from one or more of the
following causes: uncleanliness, mismanagement,
anxiety, disease (particularly dyspepsia), want of
exercise, overwork, mental strain, and the use of
harmful so-called restorers and tonics. These same
causes frequently produce and increase the gray hairs
that appear on a woman's head, one or two at a time,
at about five and thirty, and a little later usually
on the heads of the other sex.
For falling of the hair, massage of the scalp (see
detailed description, page 121) is often wonderful in
its beneficial results. It will frequently arrest the
loss at once, or within twenty-four hours, plainly
showing that the circulation was impaired and required
stimulating.
The electric brush--by which I mean a brush
attached to a battery, as there is no such thing as an
electric brush in reality, except one through which a
current of electricity is passed--will be of great
assistance in stimulating the circulation of the
scalp. In addition to this a good tonic should be used
locally, but none of these remedies will be more than
temporarily effective if the general health is
impaired, particularly if there is a derangement of
the digestive organs. In such cases, the subject
should at once seek a remedy for the producing cause.
The coloring matter of the hair has been
scientifically shown to consist of the mineral
ingredients in the pigment of the cells. These
minerals change with age and health, and vary in
individuals. Very blond hair contains a large
proportion of magnesia; iron predominates in black
hair; chestnut and browns contain a large amount of
sulphur. When the iron or sulphur pigment fails, the
hair becomes gray, and as iron appears to fail earlier
than sulphur, black hair is oftener found turning gray
in youth than any other color. Sulphur comes next, and
the magnesia resists longer than any of the others,
for which reason blond hair often retains its youthful
beauty and luster far beyond middle age.
The reason the golden hair of little children
darkens as they grow older is because the hair pigment
changes, the sulphur or iron increasing and becoming
more powerful than the magnesia. Because of the
demonstration of these chemicals in the hair pigment,
a theory has been expounded and has attracted many
otherwise sensible people to the effect that the
lacking minerals of the hair pigment can be replaced
and the hair thus restored to its natural color by
rubbing the scalp with pomatums or lotions highly
impregnated with sulphur or iron. I have been told
many times in most profound seriousness that the hair
bulbs readily absorbed the minerals, with a consequent
restoration of the original pigment--but I have never
seen the miracle effected.
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to The Hair (Part II)
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