HAIR CHANGED IN COLOUR THROUGH EATING PENGUINS' EGGS.

Oamaru Mail, Volume I, Issue 272, 7 March 1877, Page 4

HAIR CHANGED IN COLOUR THROUGH EATING PENGUINS' EGGS.

(ftoniut Aia»irkttn Jjurna'.t A y«ar agw> the British ship StTathmorc mi wwciccl on one of the Crozet Islands, s group of rocks that are situated below the bottom of the page in moa* goographies, andf are, indeed, among the most aouthero bits of laid on the globe. The »urvkor»„ who at first found themselves extremely unfortunate in being cast away upon ft desolate islam*, were obliged to subsist exclusively upon penguins' tg>£». The penguin, as all students of nttorul history know, is a large fat bird, which sita ot» the extremity of its tail-feathers, andidmefcs its time between laying eggs and laying plans for the capture of fish. The eggs are not savory, for, though they are well planned in point of size, they are injudiciously mixed with, more salphurettect fcytfaragen than an epicure really needs. We can imagine with what wry faces the people of the Strathmore began t&> devour these eggs J but we cannot imagine the delight with which they recognise*! the remarkable effect wrought upon them bv their unaccustomed diet. First their complexions grew clear anil fair, and their brown, black, or grey hair slowly assumed & gorgeous golden tint. When, after six months of egg diet, they were resetted by »passing vessel, they resembled a theatrical company of blonde burlesqners, especially as their supply of clothing was remarkably scant. What is stilt more strange, their return to the English climate, and to Englisn beef and beer, ha* made no alteration in the brilliancy of their locks, and there is no reason to ttowbt that they will remain blonde and golden for the rest of their hapny lives. What is the ingredient in penguins* eggs which colours "the hair of those who eat them 't No chemist will have the slightest hesitation in replying that it is the excessive amount 08 sulphur which they contain. Everyone knows that sulphur possesses the property of bleaching vegetable fibres which are submitted to the action of its fumes, and it can easily be comprehended that the survivors of the Strathmore were thus transformed by the bleaching powers of the sulphur, which, in the condition of the sulphuretted hydrogen, was-so conspicuously present in the- penguins' eggs. Hence those who wish to change themselves into yellow - haired blondes need not go to the Crosset Islands, neither need they live upon penguins'' eggs. All they have to do is to remain quietly at home, antl confine themselves to- a diet consisting chiefly of sulphur. The use of sulphur, baths, sulphur ointments, and smelting - bottles containing sulphuretted hydrogen, would, doubtless, hasten the desired effect, and it is possibly that in the course of two or three moulds of persistent sulphnrisution, e.eiv t»euerat Logan could transform himself into- a snnny-ha;red blonde, whose oeauty would inspirw unusual confidence and esteem, llertafteiv we shall hear no more of ha.ictye or tia-ir-i'yers, and the demand for Sttlphur will be so enormous as to tusU C e resources of our Lius. voleauoes Su- tiie r utmost limits.