Human Hair.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 976, 14 November 1890, Page 4

Human Hair.

Eighty thousand pounds of human hair, the value of which is by no means insignificant, appear in the trade returns of Canton, and it could be wished that it did not, says our Consul the e, for as the majority comes from the heads of beggars, criminals, and dead persons, it is not pleasant to think o£ its being worn by the ladies at home, even although it goes through long processes of purification before it is made up into the wige, chignous, waterfalls, &c. Buttons are the jewellery of China. Consul Alabaster, in his report from Canton, recommends this trade to the attention of British mauufaotutors. He says the manufacture was originally introduced to Canton by foreigners, but it has been allowed to pass almost entirely into native hands, and last year over 560,0001 b of brass buttons were actually ex. ported by the Cantonese. Mr Alabaster thinks the trade might easily be recovered if manufacturers would introduce improved models.