Dyspepsia and Baldness

1895

Dyspepsia is one of the most common causes of baldness. Nature is a great economizer, and when the nutrient elements furnished by the blood are insufficient to properly support the whole body she cuts off the supply to parts the least vital, like the hair and nails, that the heart, lungs and other vital organs may be better nourished. In cases of severe fevers, this economy is particularly noticeable. A single hair is a sort of history of the physical condition of an individual during the time it has been growing, if one could read closely enough. Take a hair from the beard or from the head and scrutinize it, and you will see that it shows some attenuated places, indicating that at some period of its growth the blood supply was deficient from overwork, anxiety or underfeeding.

The hair falls out when the strength of its roots is insufficient to sustain its weight any longer, and a new hair will take its place unless the root is diseased. For this reason each person has a certain definite length of hair. When the hair begins to split or fall out, massage to the scalp is excellent. Place the tip of the fingers firmly upon the scalp and then vibrate or move the scalp, while holding the pressure steadily. This will stimulate the blood vessels underneath and bring about better nourishment of the hair. A brush of unevenly tufted bristles is also excellent to use upon the scalp, not the hair. — Hall's Journal of Health.

Unwilling Brides

1896

If there is a person on earth entitled to sincere commiseration, it is an unwilling bride — a girl who has given her hand, without her heart, in marriage; and more especially is she to be pitied if her heart, unhappily, has been prepossessed by another. Can any prospect be more dreary than that which lies before such a bride? What has she to look forward to, what to expect, what to hope? Linked not for a day, but for life, to one with whom she has no sympathy — who is no more than a stranger, save that in law and in fact but not in soul, he is her husband!

Is it not dreadful to contemplate? How much more so to experience! It is natural and it is proper that parents should desire that their daughters should marry well, and it is reasonable that they should prefer for them husbands in comfortable circumstances.

But when it comes to the exercise of compulsion in the selection of a husband — to commanding a daughter to relinquish an engagement or an attachment on which her whole soul is fixed, and to marry a man towards whom she feels indifference or dislike — that is a very different matter.


Why Men Become Bald

Men become bald more frequently than women because of the closeness of the hats they wear, which keeps the head too hot, induces perspiration and weakens the hair. The boys of the famous Blue Coat school in London, who never wear hats, never become bald late in life.

Big Word for Baldness Impressed the Jury

1914

Clever Use of Scientific Term Resulted in Acquittal of Lawyer's Client

The case was one of assault and battery, and one of the witnesses was a local doctor whom the prosecuting lawyer proceeded to bully, suggesting that he was prejudiced in favor of the defendant, and had willfully distorted his evidence in his favor.

The doctor denied this, and went on to say that the defendant was suffering from "phalacrosis." The word caused a sensation in court, and, asked to define the disease, the doctor described it as "a sort of chronic disease of an inflammatory nature which affects certain cranial tissues." Asked if it affected the mind, the doctor said he was not posing as an expert, but he had known some persons when suffering from the disease become raving maniacs, and others merely foolish. Some showed destructive and pugilistic tendencies, while many others had suffered for years and had never shown any mental abnormalities.

He refused to say anything further, and the jury promptly acquitted the accused, because, as the foreman explained, "Doc said there was something the matter with his head."

When the case was over the prosecutor sought enlightenment as to the mysterious disease, and found that "phalacrosis" meant — baldness.