ABSTRACT
In the British Medical Journal of August 27th, 1910 reference was made to the brisk business done in the sale of human hair which is used to supply the natural lack of what has been called woman’s finest ornament. In Chambers’s Journal for September 1st we find some details as to the hair market which may supplement the information we were able to give as to the source of the commodity. The greater bulk, says our contemporary, comes from the south-eastern corner of Bohemia. In this region the human hair market is a familiar sight, and the preparation of the material is quite a large industry. The native supply is supplemented by cargoes from China, but these combings are restricted to a certain class of article. The importation from China is very large, the hair arriving in bales packed in straw, averaging about one hundred and thirty pounds in weight. The Chinese hair, as is well known, is intensely black, and as such is of no value. Upon its arrival at the factory, therefore, the first process is to change its characteristic colour. This is accomplished by bleaching it in a solution of hydrogen peroxide. Afterwards the hair is sorted according to its length and grade, dyed and finally finished in any shade desired by the customer. We are unable to say whether the trade is a profitable one, but we note that an individual—not apparently a member of the medical profession—describing himself as an ‘obesity specialist’ recently attributed his bankruptcy partly to his having devoted his attention to the importation and sale of human hair, and to ‘intellectual pursuits’. Bald men often ascribe the loss of their hair to the stress of mental work, the nutritive material intended for it being diverted to the brain—a theory which is received by the uncharitable as having much the same foundation as Falstaff’s attribution of his huskiness of voice to singing of anthems. It is conceivable that bankruptcy may lead to baldness, but the case referred to would seem to show that the baldness—of other people—may lead to bankruptcy.
