HUMAN HAIR.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19905, 27 September 1926, Page 14

HUMAN HAIR.

SOME INTERESTING DETAILS. Hair is distributed all over the human body, xeccpt tho palms ol tho hands, tho soles of the leet, the lips, and the eyelids. Its thickness vanes in accordance with tho part ot the body it is growing on. on. The head, face, and chest, have tho thickest and longest growth, writes Dr Arthur Belwyn Brown in “Popular .Mechanics.’’ There are about 1200 hairs per square inch on the top of the head ot a middle-aged man, and 160 per square < inch on tho face. There is less than half this quantity on the chest. Race, sex, age, condition of health, habits, and climatic changes all influence tne thickness and growth of the hair. A woman with black hair has about 600 hairs per square inch on the top of the head while a blonde has 760 per square inch, and a brownhaired person has the thickest hair and a blonde the finest. The total number ol hairs on the bead of any ordinary blackhaired woman is about 110,000, while a blonde has 150,000, and a red-haired woman only 30,000. A woman’s hair is coarser and heavier than a man’s, and it grows longer. The average length of hair of women of the Anglo-Saxon race is from 18in to 30in, and that of men between 6m and lOin. Men’s hair will seldom grow as long as women's. The average speed of hair growth is 2in per month, Dr Brown tells us. The period of growth of tho hair on the head is about six years, and the eyelashes have a life of about 130 days. After these periods the hairs wilt and fall out. Hairs grow just as now cells replace the dried cells of the skin that wither and fall off like scales. To quote further: ‘Scientists believe that hair has a high value as a racial charcteristic. The microscope discovers that the structure of hair has multiform variations, and these may be elearlv defined and utilised for personal and racial determinations, like finger and other skin prints. “Common observation shows that the texture and form of the hair of a negro, Chinaman. American Indian, and a Caucasian differ in quantity, colour, structure, and growing habits. All through the animal kingdom we may find similar differences in all the species. A man’s race, nationality character, and the condition of his health may bo shown by a microscopic investigation of one individual hair. Examine the hair on vour forearm, your eyebrows, and your head, and you will see that, it is all growing in different wavy patterns. The arrangement in your eyebrows, for example, will differ from that of many of your friends. Study the patterns of eyebrows a little, and see how closely they are associated with personal characteristics and peculiarities. See how the graceful, flowing patterns of the eye-brows •if an artist strongly contrast with their regular arrangements seen in bad-tempered and miserly individuals. You mav even learn to road character by (he hair patterns of evehrows or head."