Beauty Culture (Woodbury)/Chapter 9

It would seem that the possession of healthy, beautiful and abundant hair should be so universal as to be unnoticeable, instead of the reverse as we actually find It, for the exercise of intelligent care is all that is necessary to bring this about, and the average woman requires no chiding for indisposition to take pains to look her best. The trouble springs from the fact that so little is generally known of the scalp and its covering, and so many conflicting things have been advised for their care, that feminine minds have been confused with disastrous results ensuing to the very object designed to be conserved and cultivated.

It is, therefore, necessary to give the woman who intends to devote earnest efforts to the beautifying of the hair and to the proper corrective treatment of scalp disorders a concise, comprehensive idea of the physiology of the hair and of the skin in its special relation to the hair, and to advise her how she may conduct her treatment in accord with the processes of nature.

Anatomy of Hair and Scalp.—The hair of a human ​being is similar in structure to the nails of the fingers and of the toes. In other words, it is made up of the cuticle or scarf skin.

Fig. 46.DIAGRAM OF SKIN AND HAIR

It is vulgarly believed that the hair is a hollow tube closed at its upper end. This is not true. The shaft of the hair, or that part of the hair appearing beyond the skin, is a solid rod, varying in color, texture, length and curl with every individual. Let a hair slip between your thumb and finger from its root to its tip, then from tip to root. If your sense of touch is keen, you will notice ​a difference; it does not slip along so smoothly toward the scalp as from it. This, as the microscope shows, is because the surface of each hair is laminated. Tiny scales run under each other from the root to the tip. In other words, each hair is notched like a tapering saw.

The hair springs from a tubular depression in the scalp called a follicle. Its root or bulb, somewhat larger and softer than the hair proper, rests upon a little projection or tip of tissue called the papilla. (See Fig. 46.)

It derives its nourishment from this papilla, which nourishment is carried to it by the little blood-vessel, as shown in the illustration.

One or two little glands or sacs will he found to lie along the course of the follicle which are called sebaccous glands.

Their function is to deliver a natural oil called sebum into the follicle, which keeps the hair itself soft and lustrous and prevents it from breaking or cracking.

In the illustration (Fig. 46) is shown another gland called the sweat gland, from the opening or pore of which effete products of the skin contained in the secretion, commonly called sweat or perspiration, are thrown off. Often there is a fault or failure of normal behavior in either of these glands and a scalp trouble develops.

Small muscles are found attached to the side of the hair follicles, called the erector muscles. The latter, when acting under a nervous shock, cause the hair to

The Colors of Hair. The color of the hair is due to a pigment given off at the very tip of the papilla. Its color varies in each person and depends on certain chemical combinations.

​Light or blond hair contains more oxygen and sulphur than any of the other shades, but less hydrogen and carbon. It is finer than dark hair and so there is more of it to the square inch.

Red hair contains considerable sulphur, iron and a red oil.

Brown hair contains more carbon than the other shades, but less hydrogen, oxygen and sulphur.

Black hair has a larger proportion of oxygen and sulphur than carbon and hydrogen.

White hair contains magnesia, sulphate of ammonia and a white oil. In the hair of old persons there is present more or less phosphate of lime.

The color of the skin of parents is blended in their offspring, but this does not appear to be the case in the color of the hair. One child may follow the father in this respect, another the mother, and a third may present a blending of the two. Also the children may have hair markedly different from that of either parent.

Racial Differences. Not only does the hair of different races present marked difference in structure, but among different nations of the same race one finds a marked differentiation in color as a rule.

Broadly speaking, dark hair prevails in tropical, semitropical and southern lands. To this rule are some striking exceptions, explanations of which have been found by ethnologists in the forced migrations and intermarryings of peoples far back in history.

Among the Spanish, hair so dark as to be classed "black" predominates; yet, in southern Spain one meets many light-haired Spaniards. In Italy, perhaps, a greater variety of shades can be found than in any other country, making Italians hard to classify as a nation in this re​spect. In France, dark brown hair prevails. In Germany, light brown, sandy, yellow, chestnut and flaxen hair. Among the pure Russians we find light hair, but in Poland and Hungary, dark, as also among the Finns, although the other inhabitants of Northern Europe as a rule are fair-haired. Among the English, a very mixed people, and among ourselves, that is to say, Americans of many generations who have developed a new type, brown hair predominates with a possible inclination toward lighter shades.

Not only climate, but mode of life, influences the color of hair. It has been remarked that people of the same race who live in the country are not so dark-haired as dwellers in the city. It has even been asserted that a change in mode of life has wrought a transformation in a whole race as to the color of hair and eyes. For example, the Celtic race, in the British Isles, of which the modern representatives are the Irish, Welsh and Highlanders of Scotland, were described by ancient historians, and by many travellers up to hardly more than two centuries ago, as mostly blonds, and very decided blonds at that. Now they average as dark-haired as the English, and by some are considered darker.

Albinism. Among all races will be found individuals devoid of pigmentation, not only in the hair, but in the skin and eyes as well. This condition has been ascribed to a disturbance of the nervous system, and is endemic in some tropical countries. The name Albinos was given by early Portuguese discoverers to a number of negroes so affected whom they found on the West Coast of Africa. These "white negroes" were held in special veneration by their black brethren, in striking contrast to the European practice of that day, which was to shun as lepers persons in like condition.

​The faulty vision by day, the habitual melatation or winking of the lids, to shield the eye from light, and the fact that the sight of the Albino is better in twilight, were noted centuries ago, and the latter peculiarity led to giving these rarities the opprobrious nickname of "Cockroaches." It was also long supposed that Albinos were deficient mentally. This error was doubtless caused by the very natural shyness, or timidity, of the Albino—his photophobia or shrinking self-defensively from bright light. It is not only untrue, but it should be a comfort to parents who have an Albino child to know that an Albino is quite likely to be the brightest intellectually of their brood.

Close interbreeding is believed to be a considerable factor in the production of albinism. Darwin notes a case of seven Albino children, born of marriages between cousins—two brothers and two sisters—although neither the parents nor any of their relations or known ancestors were Albinos.

The hair of an Albino negro is woolly, and they have all the other characteristics of the race. The hair of European and American Albinos is peculiarly fine, glossy and silky, often giving the impression of a sort of flax or corn-tassel silk, never the appearance of old age. Cases of partial albinism have been reported casually, where the hair was flaxen or was red, with all the rest of the marks of albinism present. But there is only one case on record of an Albino with red hair.

Number of Hairs. It has been estimated that there are from 75,000 to 150,000 hairs on the human head, varying with the peculiar physical condition of each person, brunettes having less than blonds and the flaxen-haired having a greater number than any type. In those of ​nervous temperament the hair is usually more plentiful and of finer texture than with people who take life easy. The number of hairs in the eyebrows is usually about 600; in the eyelashes 420, and the average life of the eyelashes is four months.

Strength and Resistance. A single strand of hair will under favorable circumstances exhibit remarkable tensile strength; that is, it will support a weight or strain of about four ounces, varying with the thickness of the shaft. Taking a collection of hair in strands, in such a way that weight could be applied, it would show a surprising supporting power.

For a thing that appears so delicate and perishable, hair possesses in reality an extraordinary power of resistance. It can he dissolved, but the water in which it is boiled has to attain a very high temperature to accomplish this. Hair has remained unchanged for thousands of years on Egyptian mummies; and there are well authenticated instances of hair growing very considerably, long after the death of the wearer.

The most remarkable of these is one mentioned by Wulferus, a German author. On opening the grave of a woman, who had been buried forty-three years, her body was found almost intact and covered from crown to feet with an envelope of beautiful hair, long and curly.

Growth of the Hair. Perfectly healthy hair grows from five to eight inches a year, varying with the general physical condition of the individual as well as with the environment, habit of hair dress, exposure to the air, sunshine and climate. Changing one's clime might check the growth or might stimulate it.

Hair grows less in winter than in summer, and less ​at night than in day-time. Mild, even climates are best for its growth and beauty. The hair of the head lives about four years. The average length of the hair in Europeans (both sexes) is 25 inches. The longest hair recorded was 10 feet. That was on the head of an Indian youth.

Shape of the Hair. The shape of the shaft of human hair, when cut across its length, varies peculiarly with the races, which accounts for the straight locks of one people, and the short, curly or kinky hair of another. But the hair of no race is ever perfectly cylindrical, as long was commonly believed. The microscope reveals it more or less flattened. Short, curly hairs are the most flattened, and the hair of a man's beard is flatter than the hair of his head.

The following table may be accepted for general purposes to distinguish the different kinds:

Oval shape, found in Aryan races.

Cylindrical shape, found in Chinese, East Indian and American Indians.

Flat or angular shape, found in Semitic races.

Elliptical shape, found in Negro races.

The more ovoid, that is, the more elliptical the shape, the more curly will the hair be.

Hair may he rendered curly artificially for a short time by the application of heat and pressure, or with moisture and pressure, or by the aid of continued tension in a rolled or curled position, and lastly, by the use of certain chemical mixtures. This result, however, can never he made permanent, and it is futile to attempt it beyond even a few hours with truly straight hair.