TO GROW HAIR ON A BALD HEAD.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 9919, 6 August 1910, Page 4

TO GROW HAIR ON A BALD HEAD.

(By A SPECIALIST.) Thousands of people suffer from baldness and falling hair who, having tried nearly every advertised hair tonic and hair grower without results, have resigned themselves to baldness and its attendant discomforts. Yet their case is not hopeless; the following simple home prescription has made hair grow 'after years of baldness, and is also unequalled fcr restoring grey hair to its original colour, stopping hair from falling out, and for destroying the dandruff germ. It will not make the hair greasy, and can be put up by any chemist: —Bay Rum Soz, Lavona de Composee loz, Menthol Crystal J dram. If you wish it perfumed add half to one teaspoonful of French Fleur Perfume, which unites perfectly with the other ingredients. This preparation is highly recommended by physicians and specialists, and is absolutely harmless, as it contains none of the poisonous wood alcohol so frequently found in hair tonics. _ Do not apply to face or where hair is not desired. 3099

and absorbed into the circulation; and naturally those substances will bo most readily and quickly absorbed which need the least work to be done on them by tho digestive, juices in order to enable tliom to pass in a state of clear fluid into the cells and tubes of the body. Judged from this standpoint " predigested' foods —that is to say, foods that have been partially dissolved by subjection to tho action of extracts of the digestive glands of the lower animals (e.g., peptonised milk, peptonised gruel, etc..) would bo regarded as the most ■ desirable and digestible of foods: and so they may be sometimes for temporary use during sickness —yet the habitual adoption of such foods would tend to render the digestive powers of tho individual weaker and weaker, on account of their failing to give adequate work to the mouth, Taws, teeth, stomach, intestines and various digestive glands of the individual taking them. A mother confined 'to a- peptonised diet would tend to become gradually unable to properly complete the digestion of even the most soluble of such preparations (much less would she be able to digest ordinary normal food). Thus it is that in the end . the most easilv digestible materials are capable of bringing the whole organism into a state of extreme inefficiency—tho _ degeneracy of idleness —while the habitual use of foods needing a considerable amount of work to be done on them prior to- swallowing would bring the whole digestive apparatus, and along with it the whole organism, into a state of high efficiency and good health. In the case of a nursing mother tne former state would be associated with absence or unfitness of milk supply, while tho latter would naturally tend in the reverse direction—there would be a free flow of healthy milk. To recapitulate: Excessive so-called " ' digestibility" of food, whether achieved by partial predigestion or not, is the reverse of beneficial in the case of healthy, normal people. To make this point clear I have drawn up the following table:— TABLE OF RELATIVE DIGESTIBILITIES. Foods popularly re- Foods popularly regarded as " i)iges- girded as relatible." lively " Indigestible/' if compared with the food placed opposite.

Peptonised • milk, Good Clieddai peptonised milk gruai; cheese, eaten with s Patent -malted or crust of wholcmea. predigested foods; bread, or with pla.ii ■ Milk, milk ■ pud- oat cake, dings, custards, etc. (Clear soups, beef tea, calf's foot jelly, etc., might bo placed underi the same category, but they contain so small a proportion of nutrient material that they should bo regarded as appetising or mildly stimulating drinks or relishes, rather , than as supplying appreciable food. Thus the nutritive,, building, or sustaining powers of the food stuff contained in a wholo bucketful of beef tea or < good clear soup are not equivalent to those of a single quart of milk.) White bread. Wholemeal bread. Well boiled rolled Plain oat cake; oats or oatmeal. nuts or almonds. Delicate white fish; Groper (hapuka) 01 sweetbread;. tripe; achnapper; breast of chicken; Ordinary roast mut or very tender ton, - or roast bee: mutton. (perhaps rather tough but not overdone). Baked apple, stewed Raw apple, othoi fruits, cooked vege- raw fruits, salads, tables.

In order to understand the/meaning and lull significance of the above table, read at this stage the section- •" Farreaching Effects of Masticatory Exercise" in the Society's new .book on the "Feeding and Care of Baby," pages 133 and 134.

Tho foods in the second column are not really indigestible, but for the meat part they need thorough mastication. Provided this is earned out they are, in a sense, really more digestible as a whole than the foods iii the first column, because the latter do not ensure enough work, especially oil the part of mouth, jaws, teeth and salivary glands; and most of them do not leave enough unabsorbable debris to ensure proper action of the bowels—the common result of these two defects being constipation, fermentation of the contents of stomach and bowels, flatulence, and, in a word, " indigestion." VEGETABLE MARROW.

Where does marrow come in, and how is it that Rachel finds this vegetable indigestible? If marrow is eaten in the very young, green state—in the stage at which wo cut cucumbers, tho stage before the seeds have properly formed and. while the flesh is free from fibres —if then, marrow is quite easily digested. True, the direct nutritive value is almost, nil (only about a tenth that of an equal bulk of potato), but such foods are valuable on other grounds. To those who like them, young marrows afford the stimulus of enjoyment common to all pleasant and palatable changes of food. Further, they tend to prevent over-eating, and supply a certain amount of soft, unabsorbed residue for the bowel to workon. Finally, they are a Source of wholesome salts similar to those present in the growing tissues of all green young vegetables. • It is not probable that tho marrow which disagreed with our correspondent was eaten at the early stage. I assume it had been allowed to ripen to the yellow, more or less mealy condition, in which there is liable to be a good deal of firmer, more and the whole vegetable has become "stronger" in taste and coarser in texture. In this -condition there would be much more chance of disagreement. This n iglit arise from the simple need for more thorough mastication, or it might be due to the development of chemical substances, not trying io most people, but liable to specially affect certain individuals. The first difficulty would probably be ovorcomo by more thorough mastication, and the second would also tend to be minimised by paying strict attention to all-round hygiene (mastication, fresh air, exercise, etc.), but there are cases where people 'Cannot take with impunity certain articles of diet which are quite innocuous as regards the great majority of human beings. Common examples are tomatoes, rhubarb, stone fruits, strawberries, potatoes, honey, cane sugar, shellfish, jams, et-c. The practical question whether Rachel should give ur> eating vegetable marrow or try to habituate herself (and indirectly her baby as well) to its use, is one which could only be satisfactorily determined by taking into consideration all the facts noted above.

If, in spite of ail precautions, fullgrown marrow, oaten in moderation, still tends to disagree, it would bo wisest to cease taking it. especially while nursing, because tho uaby might be assumed to have a similar idiosyncrasy to the mother, and might thus bo upset in the same way by the special substance, to which she is herself so susceptible, finding its way through her milk into the blood of her child. On the other hand, where fruit and vegetables are scarce, it is a pity to give up one which is relished and whir 1, may be simply because it needs more mastication (a form c. exercise which would greatly benefit

the mother in other directions as well), or because the vegetable needs gatherinn; at an earlier stage, or perhaps requires cooking differently. Many people bake marrow under meat, and thua saturate it with fat instead of boiling it. Finally, there is a very potent reason for a particular -food disagreeing, which may obtain in our correspondent's case —namely, "worry" and what is called "auto-suggestion." If a. person forms a conclusion that anything is going to disagree; and thinks or worries over the point, the probability is that digestion, will bo upset whenever tho particular viand which gives rise to this anxious expectancy is taken.. Many cases supposed to illustrate the saying " One man's food is another man's poison" are really due to this factor. / Moral—Don't worry !