HUMAN HAIR

Evening Post, Volume CXII, Issue 57, 4 September 1926, Page 20

HUMAN HAIR

SOME INTERESTING DETAILS,

Hair "is. distributed all over the human body, except the palms of the hands, the soles of the feet, the lips,; and the eye-lids. Us thickness varies in accordance' with the part of the[body it is growing on. The head, face, and chest has the thickest and longest. growth, writes Dr. Arthur Selwyu. Brown in "Popular Mechanics." There are about 1200 hairs per square inch on. the top of the head of a. middleaged man, and 160 per square inch on the face. : There is less than half this quantity on tho chest. Kace, sex, age, condition of health, habits, and climatic changes all influence the thickness and growth .of the hair. A woman with black hair has about 600 hairs per square inch on the top of the head, while a blonde has 760. per square inch, and a brown-haired person has about (350 hairs per' square inch, A black-haired person has the thickest hair and a blonde the finest. The total number of hairs on the head of any ordinary black-haired woman is about 110,000, while a blonde has 150,000, and a red-haired woman only 30,000. A wo- j man' hair is coarser and heavier than a man's, and it grows longer. The I average length of hair of women of the Anglo-Saxon race is from 18 to 30 inches, and that of men between 6 and 10 inches. Men's hair will seldom grow as .long as women's. The average speed, of hair growth is 2in per month, Dr. Brown tells us. The period of' growth of the hair on the head is about ■is years, and the eyelashes have a life Of about 130 days. After these periods the hairs wilt and fall out. Hairs grow just .as new cells replace the dried cells, of the skin that wither and fall off like licales. To quote further: '■'■ Scientists believe that hair has a high value as a racial characteristic. \ The microscope discovers that the structure of hair has multiform variations, and these may be clearly defined and utilised for personal »nd racial determinants, like finger and other skin prints. "Common observation shows that the texture and form of the hair of a negro, Chinaman, American Indian, and a Caucasian differ in quantity, colour, structure, and growing habits. All through the animal kingdom we may find similar differences in all the species. A man's lace, ifetionality, character, and the condition of, his health may bo shown by a microscopic investigation of one individual hair. Examine the hair on your forearm, your eyebrows, and your head, and you will see that it is all growing in different wavy ' patterns. The arrangement in your eyebrows, for example, will differ from that of many of your friends. Study tho patterns of eyebrows a little, and see how closely they are associated with personal characteristics and peculiarities. See how the graceful, flowing patterns of the eyebrows of an artist strongly cou-» trast with their regular arrangements ■een in bad-tempered and miserly individuals. You may even learn, to read character by -the hair patterns of eyebrows or head."