THE HAIR AND NAILS

Like the skin, the hair and nails are part of the tegumentary system of the body. We shall therefore discuss them briefly here. They are not sense organs, although the hair, as noted, is highly sensitive even to a light touch.

The distribution and growth of hair on the head and on the body are definitely linked to

the endocrine tides of life. Hair growth is overt evidence of secondary sex characteris­tics, and its relationship to sexual attractive­ness is commonly recognized. The Biblical story of Samson and Delilah demonstrates how ancient is the concept that hair means strength and cutting it, loss of essential man­hood or womanhood.

The emotions involved with human hair have given rise in our time to a number of commercially inspired superstitions which are costly nonsense. The brand of soap or oil used on the hair is usually irrelevant to sim­ple proper hair care. Too frequent washing may remove essential oils. The hair is cleaned by combing and brushing with a stiff brush. It is hygienically immaterial whether the hair is waved and set with a "home permanent" or by a beauty-shop treatment.

No "Cure" for Baldness or Gray Hair

There is no scientifically demonstrated "cure" for baldness (alopecia). The receding hairline is apparently a hereditary charac­teristic transmitted through mother to son. No hair tonic or "treatments" will restore hair to the head that is bald by reason of he­reditary tendency. The loss of hair that occa­sionally follows acute diseases will, however, usually be made up. Hair cells are not "starved" through lack of circulation in the scalp, though stimulation of the scalp may possibly help to prevent premature baldness.

No "cure" for gray hair has yet been dis­covered either. The color of the hair is deter­mined by the pigment in the cells of the cen­tral shaft of the hair, which is no longer living tissue when it emerges from the hair follicle. Gray hair, which lacks pigment, can be dyed to change its color, but there is no known and practicable way of stimulating the production of hair pigment.

One type of cosmetic preparation that must be used with special caution is the depilatory for removing unwanted hair. Those which claim to "dissolve" the surface hairs may also same kind of protein substance. The saf­est and surest way to remove unwanted hair is with the electric needle in the hands of a competent technician under medical supervi­sion. The needle actually destroys the hair root. Other methods, such as shaving, rubbing with pumice stone, or yanking out with wax, do not.