Scalplock

“ If a warrior be hurried, as is mostly the case when scalping a fallen man in the heat of battle, he contents himself with the scalp alone. But, if he should have leisure, he removes the whole of the hair-bearing portion of the skin, and treats it as follows. He first cuts out a small circular piece containing the crown of the head, this being the actual scalp. The remainder of the hair he divides into little locks, and with them he fringes the seams of his leggings, the arms and edges of his coat, the shaft of his spear, the handle of his club, etc., etc. ”

“ When an American Indian slays an enemy, he removes the scalp as a proof of his victory. The scalp is a piece of skin, with the hair attached to it, taken from the very crown of the head, so as to exhibit that portion of the skin where the hair radiates from a centre. ”

“ The scalp you are to make is without a patent 168parting, but with a crown either of silk or skin. If any parting is to be made on this scalp, it should not be clearly defined, but whether it be formed with weft or “knotted,” the hair ought to be set closer than it is elsewhere. This, however, will be alluded to later on. Should a rather narrow scalp be all that is required, and the wearer’s hair thick enough, a parting could well be made upon the head, some of the natural hair being trained to comb over and allowed to mingle with the hair of the scalp. ”

“ However, most men do object to baldness, which can be prevented in nearly every case. To produce hair on a polished pate is a different proposition. It is indeed difficult. If you will look at a picture of the circulation of the blood in the scalp, you will notice that the arteries supplying it come from above the eye sockets in front, from before and behind the ears on the sides, and from the nape of the neck in the rear. They spread out and become smaller and smaller as they travel toward the top of the head, and especially toward the back. ”

“ After the successful warrior's return the scalp or scalps captured were dried, mounted and consecrated by a solemn dance. Some tribes hung the scalps to their bridles, others to their shields, while sonae ornamented with them the outer seams of their leggings. Scalping was sometimes adopted by the whites in their wars with the Redskins, and bounties have been offered for scalps several times in American history. ”

“ Brandishing the scalp in one hand and the knife in the other, the exultant conqueror utters the terrible “scalping yell,” which even when given in a mock battle seems as if it were uttered by a demon rather than a man.
The scalped man is always supposed to be dead or dying, and, as the scalp is always accepted as a proof of death, the native warrior would never scalp a man whom he thought likely to recover. ”

“ I therefore consider it to signify an artificial covering for concealing a deficiency of hair, or to cover a bald place upon the female head—but not a wig. Just the 98same as a “scalp” is an artificial covering for the bald head of a man—but it is not a wig. Assuming, then, that my definition is correct, those of my readers who have much to do with board-work will readily perceive the variable nature of the invention. A scalpette can be made to cover a small space, or the entire top of the head; it can be formed with or without a “fringe;” with or without a parting or partings. ”

“ The scalp, then, is a patch of the skin taken from the head of an enemy killed in battle, and preserved and highly appreciated as the record of a death produced by the hand of the individual who possesses it; and may oftentimes during his life, be of great service to a man living in a community where there is no historian to enrol the names of the famous—to record the heroic deeds of the brave, who have gained their laurels in mortal combat with their enemies ”

“ When the Indian sees his enemy fall he draws his scalp-knife—the modern is of iron, formerly it was of flint, obsidian, or other hard stone—and twisting the scalp-lock, which is left long for that purpose, and boastfully braided or decorated with some gaudy ribbon or with the war-eagle’s plume, round his left hand, makes with the right two semicircular incisions, with and against the sun, about the part to be removed. The skin is next loosened with the knife-point, if there be time to spare and if there be much scalp to be taken. ”

“ The scalp dance is generally danced by torch light, at a late hour in the night; and, in all tribes, the women take a conspicuous part in it, by dancing in the circle with the men, holding up the scalps just brought from battle, attached to the top of a pole, or the handle of a lance.
A scalp, to be a genuine one, must have been taken from the head of an enemy, and that enemy dead. ”

“ The scalps, called, by the Canadians, les chevelures, are often preserved for a long time stretched upon small hoops, and the hair is afterwards used as an ornament to the dress of the men. The skin of the scalp is generally painted red. The Mandans, Manitaries, and Crows, never torture their prisoners like the Pawnees and the eastern nations. When a prisoner has arrived at the village, and eaten maize, he is considered as one of their own nation, and no person ever thinks of molesting him. ”

“ Scalping is an art, and the manner in which it is done, depends wholly upon the circumstances of the occasion. A complete and perfect scalp embraces the whole hair of the head, with a margin of skin all round it about two and a half inches in width, including both ears with all their ornaments. ”

“ It is usually met with upon the scalp, but it may occur upon any part of the integument. Occasionally the nails are invaded. It is seen at all ages, but is much more common in children.
Describe the symptoms of favus of the scalp.
The disease begins as a superficial inflammation or hyperæmic spot, more or less circumscribed, slightly scaly, and which is soon followed by the formation of yellowish points about the hair follicles, surrounding the hair shaft. ”

“ The ordinary scalpel had apparently a straight, sharp-pointed blade. The word which Galen, Aetius, and Paulus Aegineta use to denote scalpel is σμίλη. Latin authors use scalpellus, the diminutive of scalper. From the etymology of these terms we can learn nothing as to the shape of the blade; they are merely general terms denoting a cutting blade of any kind—chisel, graving tool, knife, &c. The word Hippocrates uses, μάχαιρα or μαχαίριον, has a more definite meaning. ”

“ The scalp is the region most frequently the seat of the disease, but other hairy parts, especially the face in the male, are often invaded, and even the whole surface may be involved. Occurring upon the scalp, one or several patches may be present, which are usually rounded and circumscribed. The hair may fall out suddenly without any previous signs of weakening, the individual awaking in the morning to discover an area of partial or complete baldness on the scalp ”

“ For I can't help feeling that a younger man—myself, for example, twenty years ago—would have been into it before you could say scalpel, snatching his joy as one of your own parr will take a Wickham on a clear pool before the half-pounder beside him has even decided to inspect it. And if I have not done this, if I have learned the better way, the art of lingering, the value of the "bouquet," [Pg 10] well, there's a rather forlorn piece of scalp in the opposite looking-glass to tell me the reason why. ”

“ Men go on war-path and hide near where Sioux get their water. Two women come to spring and as they run away one is seized, and scalp taken from side of her head. Men hurry back, and when they come to timber, leader takes fat from scalp and divides it into five pieces, which he places in four directions with one in center, first on his hand and then on the ground, to show that scalp is offered to gods. Scalp ceremony used when they get home. Fire-sticks are used to burn scalp. ”

“ Next to the fire Atsugewi planted a short pole on which the new scalps were displayed while mountain Maidu danced with the scalps secured to hand-carried sticks. It is worth noting that while some readers may consider this gloating over human scalps to be a primitive morbidity, it is true that often white men—the very pioneers we eulogize—took and coveted human scalps themselves. ”

“ Oh, how little a thing is a scalp so lightly won!"
"They'll take our real ones in a minute; you see if they don't," said Robert, trying to rub some of the red ochre off his face and hands on to his hair. ”

“ A short time after painting the hairs of the head black, a fashion now more common in France than at the period in which they powdered them, there is often experienced pains in the head and a swelling of the hairy scalp, though the skin has been in no way concerned, has not been pulled, and the hair only has been affected. ”

“ The men were painted in every conceivable way, with hideous daubs of color upon their limbs and faces, or tattooed so as to look more fearful still; their heads were closely shaved, leaving only a lock on the crown, called the scalp-lock, which was twisted up so as to hold tufts of brilliant feathers. ”

“ Keep the skin rolled up to prevent drying hard until mounting or sent to the tanner.{88}
An ideal deer scalp includes the neck skin entire to swell of shoulders and brisket. The incisions to be made for removing a deer scalp are shown in Fig. 32. A good sharp knife will be required for peeling the skin from the neck.
Fig. 32.
Cut very carefully up under rim of horn bases when removing skin from around them, using care not to haggle edge of skin. Use same care in skinning out the face, splitting lips and eyelids and skinning out the ears as in small mammal specimen. ”

“ Scalps with entire Human Hair Foundations cannot be excelled for lightness and a natural appearance. They are made of any size and pattern, with perfectly secured edges, so that no galloon or springs are necessary. They only require to be well and properly attached to the block by means of basting-stitches, and carefully—I might say artistically—knotted all over, the crown, or crown and parting, being done as the work progresses. ”

“ When of the ivory type and growing from the flat bones of the skull, but so situated that no marked deformity or pressure symptoms are likely to ensue, they may be left alone, but when definitely progressive and situated in accessible regions, they should be removed. Their exposure is carried out by the formation of a suitable scalp-flap—designed as far as possible so as to be subsequently hidden by the hairy scalp—and the exostosis removed by the application to its base of a Gigli saw. ”

“ Diagnosis.—When the instrument impinges on the head obliquely, after piercing the scalp it may pass for some distance under it before perforating the skull, so that on its withdrawal a valvular wound is left, and at first sight it appears that only the scalp is involved. Sometimes a foreign body left in the gap so fills it up that it is difficult to detect the fracture with a probe or even with the finger. In all doubtful cases the scalp wound should be sufficiently enlarged to exclude such errors. ”

“ 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. ”

“ These "soft spots" should not be depressed neither should they bulge. The head is usually covered with a growth of soft, silky hair which will soon drop out, to be replaced, however, by a crop of coarser hair in due season. The scalp should always be perfectly smooth. ”

“ The scalp is well supplied with blood, but it is not given much exercise. The tendency is for the blood stream to become sluggish, deposits gradually forming in the walls of the blood-vessels, which make them less elastic and decrease the size of the lumen. The result is less food for the hair roots and food of inferior quality. ”

“ The granular structure of the hairy scalp is opposed to the occurrence of the slit forms of exit, hence the openings were usually irregularly rounded. Any increase of size in the exit wound in the soft parts due to the passage of bone fragments with the bullet, was equalised in that of entry by the fact that the latter, as supported by a hard substratum, was usually larger than those met with in situations where the skin covers soft parts alone. ”

“ The hair upon the scalp is thicker and longer, the eyes remain closed, and very delicate hairs may be seen upon the margins of the eye-lids and upon the eye-brows. The nails are solid, the scrotum small and empty, the surface of the skin appears wrinkled but the dermis may be distinguished from the epidermis. ”

“ Closely analogous is criticism by scrutiny of sources: the scalpel may lay bare every bone and muscle, but its action may arrest the blood, and most likely will fail to discover any trace whatever of the soul. ”

“ Vascular changes in the scalp due to the same cause, the exaggeration of impulses during their transit of the gray matter of the hind-brain, making believe that the scalp is injured and needs more blood, react upon the nerve-endings increasing the illusion of injury. The pain is no illusion. It is impossible to decide whether vascular changes are the first effect of vagal agitation and therefore the immediate cause of pain or whether they are merely subsidiary results of the exaggeration of sensory impulses from the scalp. ”

“ In quadrupeds whose scapula, on the contrary, is wanting in the cartilage of prolongation (in the clawed, [7] such as the cat and dog) , the superior border of the scapula is visible, especially when the animal is resting on its fore-limbs, particularly when it crouches; at such a time the skin is markedly raised by that border; and the spinous processes of the vertebræ, beyond which it projects, occupy the bottom of a fossa (Fig. 15) . The internal surface of the scapula is turned towards the ribs; it is known, as in man (in whom this surface is anterior) , as the subscapular fossa. ”