Hair follicle

“ Perhaps every one has noticed the club-shaped, whitish mass at the proximal end of a freshly pulled human hair. This root of the hair, together with the attached connective tissue and adipose material, is often absent, from the fact that the hair frequently breaks off near the opening of the follicle, instead of coming out entire from the interior of the latter. ”

“ On the scalp, however, the hair at birth is otten more deeply pigmented than that which succeeds it The sebaceous and sweat glands, like the hair follicles, are ingrowths of the stratum mucosum of the epidermis into the corium. ”

“ I never saw a more deliciously hairy woman, and she was all that such excessive growth of hair denoted — passionate and lecherous to a degree, when once she had confidence in her companion, to let her feelings have vent. ”

“ Partial baldness among the female sex is not uncommon, but this defect can well be concealed by coverings specially made for the purpose. These pieces of ingenious workmanship, be they frontlets, scalpettes, fringes, partings, twists, chignons, curls, plaits, or what not, are easily and securely attached to the natural hair-growth, while a ribbon-bow, feather, flower, lace, cap, or other decoration lends a charm, and completes the coiffure. ”

“ You know, and I know, and every other woman knows, that women treat their hair as they treat their watches—to unpardonable abuse. Of course, one's hair isn't dropped on the sidewalk or prodded with stickpins until the mainspring breaks, but it is subjected to even deeper and more trying insults. One night, when the little woman is in a real good, amiable mood, the tresses are carefully taken down, brushed, doctored with a nice "smelly" tonic, patted caressingly and gently plaited in nice little braids. The next night it is crimped until each individual hair has acute curvature of the spine ”

“ Every child comes into the world with a coat of rudimentary hair which is shed at once. Aside from the growth of hair on the head, including the brows and the lashes, the skin is quite free from any noticeable growth of hair for months or even years. Beginning at the age of [29] puberty, however, the growth of hair is very much accelerated over the whole pilous surface of the body, particularly upon the face, in the axilla and over the pubic region. It is a generally recognized law of biology, that, at the period of sexual development, the hairy mammalian character becomes accentuated. ”

“ The degree of this discoloration varies with the complexion of the individual, as blonds may be tinted but slightly more than usual, while the discolored areas on a brunette may become almost black. As the skin glands become more active, there is also an increase in perspiration and sometimes the hair becomes much more luxuriant during pregnancy. ”

“ It is enough for women to protect [710] their locks, and bind up their hair simply along the neck with a plain hair-pin, nourishing chaste locks with simple care to true beauty. For meretricious plaiting of the hair, and putting it up in tresses, contribute to make them look ugly, cutting the hair and plucking off it those treacherous braidings; on account of which they do not touch their head, being afraid of disordering their hair. Sleep, too, comes on, not without fear lest they pull down without knowing the shape of the braid. ”

“ There are, however, various styles of dressing the hair of girls, by which you can form a pretty accurate estimate of any girl's age up to her marriage, when the coiffure undergoes a definite change. The boys all look top-heavy and their heads of an abnormal size, partly from a hideous practice of shaving the head altogether for the first three years. After this the hair is allowed to grow in three tufts, one over each ear, and the other at the back of the neck; as often, however, a tuft is grown at the top of the back of the head. ”

“ Hence, while the unborn of these animals still cling to the structural traditions of their ancestors and are covered with hair, the adults are almost hairless. The sartorial habits of human beings and the selective influences of the sexes have had a similar effect on the hairy covering of the human body. Hair exists all over the human body surface, excepting on the soles of the hands and feet, but in a greatly dwarfed condition. It is only on the scalp and on the faces of males, where it is scientifically assisted for purposes of display, that it grows luxuriantly. ”

“ Until puberty this children's hair remains the same, although at times, particularly after dentition, and after infectious diseases which undoubtedly alter the relations of the internal secretions, changes of color and texture occur. Then, with sexual ripening, there appear in males the so-called terminal hairs, over the cheeks and lips and chin, and, in both sexes, in the folds under the shoulders and over the lower abdomen, the hair which might be distinguished as the sex hair in contradistinction to the juvenile hair of the head, the extremities and the back. ”

“ At the age of eighteen, the growth of hair on my body and limbs became more luxuriant than on the average male, but after the first shaving off of all this hair in my early fairie days, I continued to be far less hairy than the average man even after I ceased the practice of body-shaving. ”

“ As such for a man may be mentioned the hair, the hand, the foot of a woman, the expression of her eyes. Certain ones of these gain a remarkable significance in the pathology of fetichism. These facts clearly play a rôle in the feminine mind, either consciously or unconsciously.
One of the greatest cares of women is the cultivation of the hair, to which often an unreasonable amount of time and money is devoted. How a mother cares for her little daughter’s hair! What a part the hair-dresser plays! Falling of the hair would cause despair in a young lady. ”

“ As a matter of fact the nerves of the scalp are irritated by the hair being drawn tightly back and put on the strain, not as a whole, in which case the strain would be spread over a large area of the surface, but by small bundles of hair which are pulled back and held in place by hair-pins. ”

“ Psychologically, hair-fetichism presents no special problem, but the wide attraction of hair—it is sexually the most generally noted part of the feminine body after the eyes—and the peculiar facility with which when plaited it may be removed, render hair-fetichism a sexual perversion of specially great medico-legal interest. ”

“ On the other hand, it is common in insane females and in normal women after the menopause. Degenerates of both sexes frequently manifest characteristics of the opposite sex in the distribution of hair on the body. A tuft of hair in the sacro-lumbar region, suggestive of the tail of the mythological faun, is frequently found in epileptics and idiots, and in some cases the back and breast are covered with thick down which makes them resemble animals. ”

“ So, every time, the girl plucked out any hairs that she could find turning white, while the old lady did the same to the black hairs, until young and old together at last pulled out all the hair he had and left him bald. ”

“ Baldness is not by any means confined to the male sex, for females, through illness, accouchements, neuralgic pains in the head, constitutional weakness, frequent head-aches, tying the hair improperly, overmuch crimping, and other causes—frequently experience a loss of hair. True, this can easily be concealed by means of headdresses, bows, ribbons, flowers, lace, and so forth, but young and middle-aged ladies do not find it convenient to have recourse to such artifices at all times. ”

“ A dozen or two strong strokes each night will remove the day's dust and dirt, will promote circulation and sweep out flaky matter. The brushing must be done firmly but gently, and not with the violent methods of a carpet sweeping machine. Really, it is simply appalling the way some women dress their hair. A few tugs and yanks with a comb of uneven, unsmooth teeth, a scattering brushing back of scolding locks, some singes here and there with a red-hot curling iron, a twist, a roll, a pat and the application of a dozen hairpins, and the hairdressing for the day is done. ”

“ Moll (op. cit. p. 131) reports: “A man, X., becomes intensely excited sexually whenever he sees a woman with the hair in a braid; loose hair, no matter how beautiful, cannot produce this effect.”
Of course, it is not justifiable to consider all hair-despoilers fetichists, for in a few cases such acts are done for the purpose of gain,—i.e., the stolen hair is not a fetich. ”

“ During the second period of childhood, this peculiarity becomes more marked; the pelvis and the hips widen, the thighs and the buttocks become more and more rounded; the enduring feminine characteristics in these respects are acquired. More gradually, the feminine development of the upper half of the body succeeds that of the lower; the transition from the lower jaw to the neck become less abrupt, and the face becomes fuller. The sexual difference in the growth of the hair also manifests itself in childhood. Whether cut or uncut, the girl's hair tends to grow longer than the boy's. ”

“ In any case, it is clear that the goddess accepted the sacrifice of chastity as a substitute for the sacrifice of hair.​ [125] Why? By many people, as we shall afterwards see, the hair is regarded as in a special sense the seat of strength; and at puberty it might well be thought to contain a double portion of vital energy, since at that season it is the outward sign and manifestation of the newly-acquired power of reproducing the species. For that reason, we may suppose, the beard rather than the hair of the head is offered by males on this occasion. ”

“ The patroness was a slim girl with a disproportionately plump bosom, a dumbly child-like, near-pretty face, and a great shock of blonde, bobbed hair. As Blanche heated the curling-irons, the other girl said: “It’s just the hardest thing to keep my hair wavy. It never does last more than two or three days. ”

“ And the lady saw it, for she gazed thoughtfully upon the girl awhile, and then lifting her hand, disengaged a portion of her tresses from the comb, and let them fall, turning into natural ringlets down her cheeks, saying—
“There, Catherine, when hair curls naturally and voluntarily, it is certain that the face it belongs to requires it so, and that it should be permitted to follow its nature, for nature does all things well. Why don’t you always wear your hair so? It is so much prettier.” ”

“ He brought her hand down from his hair—I may be stingy in my old age, but I've learned a few things, and one is that a man feels like a fool with his hair rumpled, and I can tell the degree of a woman's experience by the way she lets his top hair alone—and pretended to bite it, her hand, of course. ”

“ In this case the face is turned in profile, and its delicacy is enhanced rather than injured by the masses of hair which frame it. The hair, instead of being drawn tightly back from the forehead in the ordinary way, waves in graceful curves, which are quite beyond the art of any hairdresser. ”

“ She told us that there is a kind of hair growing on the heads of some women, thick, short, crisp, and shiny, which will maintain its curl unbroken and unruffled for days. She told us, also, that women blessed with such hair are always pachy-dermatous and strong-minded. ”

“ Many girls do this and fancy that there is something wrong with the hair and that they are going bald.
It is natural for the hair to comb out. The life of a hair is of very varying duration, but it only lives a certain time. At the expiration of this time it dies, and a new hair springs from the same root. If it were not for this, what do you think would be the state of the hair at fifty?
Now let us look at the causes of the hair falling out excessively and the resulting condition—baldness. ”

“ The Ladies, (who are the best judges of what pertains to beauty and adornment,) are getting to understand the value and importance of a fine Head of Hair. Thus, we see that more and more attention is paid to the Culture, Growth and Preservation of the Hair by both sexes. ”

“ It is a common belief that if a barren woman gets hold of a child’s first hair and wears it round her waist the fertility of the child’s mother will be transferred to her. The Sarwaria Brāhmans shave a child’s hair in its third year. ”

“ Anything but to have a head look like a head! anything but to have hair look like hair! See this lady of 1750, her hair drawn violently back from her forehead and piled up on a cushion nine inches high. She is plainly one of those lovely, warm-toned blondes whose hair is of that priceless red that makes all other tints look poor and sad; and so she defiles its exquisite texture with grease, and blanches out its wealth of color with flour. ”

“ Paint, whitening lotions, and dentrifices are used freely. But no women excel them in the care of the hair, that "glory" of woman, and its wonderful length, its silky, luxuriant softness, amply compensate them for their pains. ”

“ The young man thus encouraged will repeat his visits. If his suit makes progress, he may hope that the fair one will draw out with a pair of brass tweezers the hairs of his eyebrows and lashes, while he reclines on his back with his head in her lap. If these hairs are very few, the girl will remark that some one else has been pulling them out, an imputation which he repudiates. Or he complains of a headache, and she administers scalp-massage by winding tufts of hair about her knuckles and sharply tugging them. ”