They are, as it were, the three general types to which may be referred
many particular shades. The black has under it the brown, the chesnut,
&c. The flaxen is connected on the one hand with the bright red and on
the other with the chesnut. The bright red which touches the flaxen by
one of its extreme shades, goes by an opposite shade to the natural
colour of certain flames.
All physicians have considered the colour of the hair as among the
characters of the temperaments. Black indicates strength and vigour.
The figure of a wrestler with flaxen hair would be almost ridiculous.
This colour is the attribute of weakness and delicacy; it floats upon
the head of figures which painters have made strangers to the great
passions, to powerful and heroic deeds; it is found upon the figures
of young people, in pictures where laughter, sport, grace and pleasure
preside over the subjects. These two colours, black and flaxen, as
well as their secondary shades, are found distributed among women in
nearly equal proportion; now reflect upon the kind of sentiment this
sex inspires according to the colour of the hair, without regard to
any other consideration, and you will see that a woman with flaxen
hair creates a sentiment which beauty and weakness united seem to
dictate. The epithets that we employ express this double attribute. On
the contrary, the term brunette announces in her that it designates,
a mixture of force and beauty. Beauty is then a common gift which
attracts us, but which, differently modified by external forms,
attracts us by touching, interesting and exciting us. Eyes in which
langour is depicted, are frequently associated with flaxen hair; whilst
black hair is almost always met with, in those whose vivacity and
sparkling seem to proclaim an excess of life which seeks to be diffused.
Habit which accustoms us to every thing, changes our taste in regard
to the colour of the hair, as it does to that of our dress. Black,
flaxen and their numerous shades are in turns fashionable in France;
and as the organization does not change with our taste, we have
contrived artificial hair; a happy means, which seems to subject to our
inconstancy the invariable course of nature, and which, changing at our
will the expression which the physiognomy borrows from the hair, can at
every instant exhibit man under forms which fashion extols to day, and
which ridicule pursues tomorrow. Now among these numberless variations
which succeed each other among us in the fashion of the hair, bright
red and its various shades never find a place. Most people have a
decided aversion to it. It is almost, in our eyes, a mal-formation to
be born with it. This opinion is too general not to have some real
foundation. The principle appears to me to be the usual connexion
between the hair and the temperament and of course the character which
results from this; now the kind of character connected with this kind
of hair is not commonly the happiest, though there are many exceptions
to this principle, which is proverbial. Another reason for the aversion
to hair of a bright red, is that the oily fluid which lubricates it
often exhales a fetid odour foreign to the other kinds of hair.
What is the relation that can exist between the hair and the character?
Has the first an influence upon the second? No; the following is the
way in which it should be considered. Every man has his peculiar kind
of organization and constitution. This forms the temperament; now, to
each kind is attached on the one hand this or that species of hair, and
on the other the predominance of some internal viscera, which though
less apparent is not less real. This predominance disposes evidently
to certain passions, which are the principal attributes of character;
then the colour of the hair and character are two different results
from the same cause, viz. constitution; but one has no influence upon
the other.
The hair coming out of the cutaneous pores has such a direction, that
that of the anterior part of the cranium is almost always oblique
in front, and tends to fall over the forehead; that of the middle
and posterior part pierces the skin perpendicularly, and that of the
posterior and inferior part traverses it obliquely, so as to fall
naturally down the length of the posterior part of the neck. It is the
same with that of the sides, which its direction as well as its weight,
carries upon the region of the ear which it covers.
_Eyebrows._
Upon the arch which borders the orbit above, is found a collection of
hairs forming a portion of a circle more or less evident, which shades
the eye and defends it from the too powerful impression of the rays of
light. The hairs of the eyebrows are thicker together in persons of
dark complexion, than in those of light. More numerous within, they
sometimes unite together the two eyebrows upon the nasal prominence,
and thus shade the root of the nose. Fewer without, they there cause
the eyebrow to terminate in a point. All are obliquely directed
from within outwards. Sometimes towards the internal side, they go
perpendicularly forwards. Their length is scarcely more than half an
inch; they do not exceed this except in some extraordinary cases. Their
colour is usually, though not invariably, the same as that of the hair.
They are firmer, more resisting and larger than the hairs of the head.
If they were longer they would curl like the hairs on the genital
parts, of the nature of which they partake.
The eyebrows enjoy two evident motions. 1st. They are depressed and
carried inwards, by forming over the eye a very evident arch. 2d. They
are raised up and separated from each other, by expanding the parts
around the orbit. The length between the extremes of these two motions
is nearly an inch. The first motion takes place to defend the eye
from a very bright light. It expresses also the melancholy and gloomy
passions; hence the reason no doubt why the same word is applied to
the moral state of the mind, and to the row of hairs of which we are
treating. Observe on this subject that the sanguineous and choleric
temperaments, which are the most disposed to the passions which make
the eyebrows contract, are precisely those in which the hairs that
compose them are found in general the most evident. The second motion
enables us to receive upon the region of the orbit a great quantity
of the rays of light; it allows us to raise the upper eyelid to a
great extent in order to open the eye wide, which the first evidently
prevents. It expresses also the gay passions, those which dilate the
face. Painters have studied more than anatomists, the different degrees
of elevation and depression of the eyebrows.
_Eyelashes._
Upon both eyelids there exists a small row of hairs, a little longer
than those of the eyebrows, of the same nature as them, directed
obliquely forwards, crossing each other when the two eyelids are
brought together, and serving to defend the eye from the small
particles floating in the air. In general they do not curl; when they
do and turn towards the eye, an irritation ensues, and they must be cut
off. Sometimes a bad direction is the cause of this irritation.
I would remark on the subject of the eyelashes, that all the openings
of communication with the interior, as those of the meatus auditorius
externus, the nose and the anus, and oftentimes also the orifices of
the lactiferous tubes, are surrounded with a great number of hairs
which defend these openings from external bodies. Around the mouth the
beard takes the place of these hairs; the urethra has none, but the
prepuce at its orifice is instead of them.
_Beard._
The males of most animals are distinguished from the females by some
external productions. The comb of the cock, the mane of the lion, the
horns of the stag, &c. are examples of these distinctive characters.
In man, the beard is the principal attribute of the male. It occupies
all the chin, the sides of the face, both lips and the superior part
of the neck. It leaves the cheeks bare as well as the parts around the
eyes; thus observe that it is there that the passions are principally
depicted, the expression of which would be concealed by the hairs, if
the lower part of the face was the seat of them.
The beard, not so long in general as the hair of the head, is longer
than that of every other part of the body. It is very commonly of the
colour of the first, though more rarely flaxen and is more frequently
of a bright red, which it often is in persons with flaxen hair. The
nature of the hairs of the beard is the same as that of the hairs of
the genital parts, the eyebrows, &c. They curl, are stiffer, more
resisting and uniformly less oily than the hair of the head.
The quantity of beard varies remarkably in different men. Those in whom
it is abundant and of a deep black are in general strong and vigorous.
Observe also that the strongest males in the different species of
animals are those, in whom the external production which distinguishes
them from the females, is the most conspicuous. We might say that this
characteristic production is the index of the strength or weakness of
their constitution. A small lion has not a noble mane; great horns
belong to a well made stag, and long, twisted ones to a good formed
ram. Observe that it is not the same with the other hairs common to
the two sexes. Often in a weak man, those of the arms, the thighs, &c.
are as evident and even more numerous, than in the most muscular.
The habit of cutting the beard as most Europeans do, of preserving
it like the Asiatics and of dressing it in different ways like the
Chinese, gives a different expression to the face which characterizes
the people. A masculine, vigorous physiogomy which expresses strength
and energy, cannot be deprived of this external attribute without
losing a part of its character. That of the Orientals exhibits an
appearance which coincides with the strength of their bodies, and
forms a contrast with the effeminacy of their manners. I do not know
if, in consulting the history of the different people who allow their
beard to grow, and that of nations who cut it, we might not be tempted
to believe that muscular force is to a certain extent connected with
its existence, and that this force is always diminished a little when
we are constantly deprived of it. Every one knows the vigour of the
ancients, that of the people with long beards, and that even of certain
men who, among us, allow their beards to grow in conformity with the
laws of monkish institutions. No doubt many causes may make weakness
exist with a beard; but in a general view I think we can admit that
there is a certain relation between it and strength. Take from a cock
his comb, which is the characteristic of the male, as the beard is that
of man, and he will lose strength. I am persuaded that we might take
from the lion a part of his power by taking away his mane. We know
the result of the experiments of Russel upon the castration of stags;
their horns, after this operation have grown in an irregular manner,
or have not even grown at all. This external attribute of the male in
this species, appears as we know at the period of virility, when the
vital forces are increased. It is the same with the human beard. This
coincidence would alone prove that the use of this last is to serve
for an external character to the male sex. The eunuch, whose powers are
feeble, loses also oftentimes much of his beard.
Such are our prejudices in regard to the idea we form of beauty, that
we ridicule what is really and absolutely so, for that is certainly
so which indicates organic perfection. A peacock without his tail of
emeralds, a ram or a stag without their horns, displease us; why does
not man without his beard?
II. _Of the Pilous System of the Trunk._
The hairs on the trunk are very variable. Some men appear as it were
shaggy, whilst others are almost without hairs. There are more of them
generally on the anterior than on the posterior part of the trunk. It
is principally along the linea alba and upon the chest, that they are
found in man. This last part is in general destitute of them in woman,
who has usually very few on the trunk.
Both sexes have a very considerable quantity on the genital parts. They
are there, as I have said, of the nature of the beard. Less frequently
flaxen than the hair of the head, as frequently of a bright red, they
are most usually black. They are, next to the beard, the longest hairs.
They have generally no determinate direction; each hair almost has a
different one. Few animals, like man, exhibit this excess of hair upon
the genital parts. There is a great difference in individuals as to its
quantity. The blackness and abundance coincide in general with strength.
III. _Pilous System of the Extremities._
Man has many hairs upon the whole surface of his extremities. The
proportion of number is nearly the same in all; but the length varies
very much; in some, they form only a down; in others, they are a little
longer; whilst in others, they are nearly of an inch in length, reach
over each other, and give the extremities a shaggy appearance.
At the top of the superior extremities, there is in the hollow of the
axilla a collection of hairs which are longer than the others, and are
nearly of the nature of those of the genital parts. Nothing similar is
seen on the inferior extremities.
The pilous system does not exist on the internal part of the arm and
fore-arm in many men, in whom we see it only behind and on the sides.
It is more uniform on the inferior extremities. The back of the foot
and hand always have hairs. They are never seen on the sole of the one
or the palm of the other; a circumstance of essential advantage to the
perfection of touch.
ARTICLE SECOND.
ORGANIZATION OF THE PILOUS SYSTEM.
Whatever varieties exist in the form, size and arrangement of the
hairs, their organization is nearly the same in all. We shall now
examine this organization in a general manner. Chirac, Malpighi and all
anatomists since them, have explained very well in some respects, and
very badly in others, the structure of the hairs of the head, which is
nearly the same as that of all the other hairs. The following is what
careful dissection has shown me concerning it.
I. _Origin of the Hairs._
The hairs of the head, and in general all the hairs, arise from a
sub-cutaneous fat, or the cellular texture of the parts which are
destitute of this fluid. Each is contained at its origin, in a kind
of small membranous canal, the nature of which is perfectly unknown
to me, and whose transparent parietes allow the hair to be plainly
seen, when we have separated them with a delicate scalpel from the
surrounding parts. This small cylindrical canal accompanies the hair to
the corresponding pore of the skin, insinuates itself into this pore,
passes through it, extends to the epidermis and is intermixed there
with the texture of this membrane, but goes no further. The length of
this canal, and consequently of the course which the hair runs under
and in the skin, is nearly five lines in the hairs of the head. There
is no adhesion between the hair and the internal surface of this small
canal, except at the enlarged base of the first where, it receives its
nourishment. Thus, by opening the canal at this place, and destroying
its adhesions there, the hair becomes free, and is drawn from without
inwards with great ease, by taking hold of its enlarged end with small
forceps. In this way, the canal is insulated. I have thus dissected and
separated, upon a surface of two inches, a very great number of these
canals which appear, when nothing but them is left on the internal
surface of the skin, like so many small elongations of it.
Are there vessels and nerves in this small cylindrical sac which
contains the origin of the hairs? We see distinctly elongations going
to its external surface, especially towards its extremity opposite
to the skin; but dissection does not teach us the nature of these
elongations. I have never been able to trace them to a neighbouring
vessel or nerve. Haller has not been more successful, though he speaks
of authors who have traced nerves to the origin of the hairs. I presume
however that these elongations are especially vascular. Is there a
fluid between the origin of the hair and its covering? By opening
the latter, nothing escapes, though some authors have pretended the
contrary. Besides, if this fluid is in the form of dew, as upon the
serous surfaces, it cannot be distinguished.
It is in the middle of this small cylindrical sac, of which I have just
spoken, that the origin of the hair is found. We see at its extremity
an enlargement oftentimes almost insensible, at others very evident,
though always less than has been said. This enlargement is of the same
colour and nature as the hair itself. It adheres to the canal very
probably by the vessels and perhaps the nerves it receives from it. The
hair which arises from it goes through its canal without adhering, as I
have said, to its parietes, passes with it through the oblique pore of
the dermis, leaves it at the epidermis, and goes outward.
All authors say that the hair does not pierce the epidermis, but only
raises it up, and that this forms a sheath which accompanies it to its
extremity. This assertion is incorrect; in fact, 1st, the hair is as
thick in its canal of origin as it is out of it. 2d. This canal being
opened at its extremity opposite to the skin, we can draw out of it,
as I have said, the whole hair with great ease, and without the least
resistance; which would not be the case however if the covering of the
epidermis was to be broken. It appears that from the enlargement of
its extremity, the hair has no adhesion either in the sub-cutaneous
canal, or in its passage through the skin, or the epidermis. 3d. If the
cutaneous epidermis was raised up to cover the hair, this would have a
treble thickness, unless this epidermis became wonderfully thin upon
it. 4th. We do not see this pretended rising up by drawing out a hair
of the head; on the contrary a depression exists at the place where
this comes out. The cutaneous epidermis furnishes nothing then to the
hairs, though the nature of them may be in part the same as its own,
and it is proper to consider them as uniform in their structure from
one extremity to the other.
Under the skin, through it and out of it, the hair is composed of two
distinct parts. One external, forms a canal which extends from the
enlargement of the dermoid extremity to the opposite one; the other
internal, which composes as it were the medulla of it, is of an unknown
nature.
II. _External Covering of the Hairs._
The external covering of the hair appears to be of the nature of the
epidermis. It has in fact almost all the attributes of it. 1st. The
hairs of the head burn exactly like this membrane, give out when
burning an analogous odour, and leave after combustion a similar kind
of coal; now it is principally to the external portion that these
phenomena are owing. 2d. Water penetrates the hairs with great ease;
hence very useful hygrometers can be constructed with them; now the
same is true of the epidermis; and moistened hairs in foggy weather
present in this respect a phenomenon analogous to that of the epidermis
softened, wrinkled and whitened by the contact of a cataplasm. 3d. It
is by means of the epidermoid covering that the hairs are foreign to
life, that they are insensible and never become the seat of any acute
or chronic affection. 4th. This covering is white, whatever may be the
colour of the hairs. The cause of the colour resides in the internal
medulla; thus the epidermis of negroes and that of white people differ
but very little. Hence why when the internal substance of the hair has
disappeared, the canal remaining alone exhibits a more or less evident
whiteness. 5th. In this state, though the interior of the hair may be
dead, the epidermoid exterior, which is independent of it, preserves
most commonly the faculty of growing when it is cut; thus the cutaneous
epidermis is truly foreign to all the subjacent diseases of the skin.
6th. I presume that it is this covering which gives to the hairs of the
head the property of remaining so long uninjured. When removed far from
the access of the air, they remain unaltered for ages; they have not
in them the principle of decomposition of the other animal substances.
They never become putrid either in air or water. Thus we have seen that
the cutaneous epidermis never undergoes putrefaction, which seizes upon
the subjacent parts.
It appears however that the hairs are more unalterable than the
epidermis, and that there is even a difference of nature between them.
In fact, 1st, maceration and ebullition, which make the epidermis very
easy to be broken, though they soften it but little, leave the hairs
with their usual resistance, unless carried to degrees that I have not
tried. By boiling and macerating them comparatively with the epidermis,
we easily make this observation. 2d. The acids act less efficaciously
upon the hairs than upon this membrane; but the alkalies dissolve them
with as much and even more ease. 3d. A thread of epidermis of equal
thickness would be incomparably less resisting than a hair. 4th. The
hairs can, like the epidermis, be painted of different colours; but
they do not retain them so long, and on this account the colour must be
renewed oftener.
Some modern authors have said that there is detached from the external
covering of the hairs a kind of scales which form as it were little
branches to them. We do not see these elongations. However the
experiment mentioned by Fourcroy, and which consists in this, that by
rubbing a hair between the fingers, it is raised like the heads of
some species of grain in the direction from its base to its point, this
experiment, I say, appears to prove the existence of these insensible
elongations, which perform also an essential part in the adhesion of
the hairs of the head to each other, an adhesion that is such that when
they have remained a long time without being separated, as in long
diseases, it is only done with the greatest difficulty.
Sometimes the hairs are bifurcated in a very evident manner at their
extremity.
It is the greater or less thickness of the epidermoid covering of
the hairs, which constitutes the different nature of them. Thick
and compact on the genital parts, the chin, &c. it is less easily
penetrated with water, and renders the hairs more elastic there and
more capable of curling. Loose and thin in the hairs of the head, it
makes them more smooth, and gives them more sensibly the property of
the hygrometer. It is the peculiar nature of this external covering,
which gives to the hairs of the head and the hair of negroes the
character which distinguishes them.
From what we have just said it is evident that the external covering of
the hairs of the head is the part of them which is essentially inert
and foreign to life. It is not the same with their internal substance.
III. _Internal Substance of the Hairs._
This substance is the most important; it is this which essentially
characterizes the hairs, which I should have ranked in the epidermoid
system, if they had nothing but their external covering, as is the case
when they become white.
We are entirely ignorant of the nature of this internal substance. It
can only be presumed that there are extremely delicate vessels inclosed
in the common epidermoid covering containing a colouring substance,
which stagnates in these vessels, or at least is subjected in them to
a very slow nutritive motion. Among these vessels, do any of them as
on the skin, open outwards to throw off fluids? Many physiologists
have thought so, and on this account they have considered the hairs as
real emunctories. I do not believe that we have any anatomical data
upon this point; but the plica polonica, a singular disease in which
the hair when cut pours out blood, evidently proves that they have
exhalants in a natural state, which then becoming enlarged and dilated,
pour out a fluid that they before refused to admit. Besides, there is
no doubt that the pilous exhalants, infinitely less active than the
cutaneous, are a much less copious emunctory. As to the absorptions
which some have pretended are made by the vessels of the hairs, I think
that nothing can prove them.