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WHAT CAN BE DONE TO PREVENT BALDNESS? 21;
though not by reverses which the subject
takes philosophically. This theory does
not fit well with the popular idea of the
good-naturedness of bald-headed men—
but as a matter of fact bald pates are no
better natured than men with movie
adornment of the loveliest kind. The
foolish, apologetic smile on the countenance
of a bald-headed man is no criterion
of the way he treats his wife.
Dr. Parker, some years ago, presented
a strong thesis in support of the idea
that certain toxins formed in the lungs
when breathing is habitually shallow or
the subject confined in bad air, are concerned
in the production of premature
baldness. He declared that insufficient
expansion of the upper part of the lung,
the apex, was accountable for the
trouble, and that women, being chest
breathers perforce, seldom go bald.
Getting down to the real science of
alopecia, there are three characteristic
stages. First, unnatural oiliness of scalp
and hair, which is called seborrhoea,
that is, excessive flow of sebum from the
oil glands which discharge their secretion
"Brushing the Scalp Is a
Measure of the Utmost
Value in Postponing Baldness"
upon the base of the hair shaft, and normally
keep the skin and hair soft and
pliable. Second, dandruff, known as
seborrhoea sicca, drying of the secretion
and the unsightly scales and crusts that
fall upon the shoulders. Finally, falling
of the hair.
Lassar and Bishop contributed to our
knowledge the contagious character of
dandruff. They took dandruff scales
from the head of a student who was
losing his hair, mixed them with a little
vaseline and rubbed the material into the
back of a guinea pig, much as a barber
might massage your scalp for you, if you
were foolish enough to let him. The pig
presently became bald. Professor Sabouraud
rallies to the support of his colleagues
by discovering that the whole
business, seborrhoea, dandruff and falling
hair, is caused by a very minute parasite
which burrows its way down alongside of
the hair shaft, reaches the oil gland always
connected with the hair shaft, sets
up chronic irritation and inflammation of
the gland, causing its excessive outpouring
of oil, and finally arrives at the fol-