Zebrafish scales

Knot in hair

Caucasian blond Hair

Balance and Weights, in case.

Human mustache hair

Moth wing scales

Folding balance and weights, with case.

Scales from butterfly wing

Coccolithophore

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False-coloured scanning electron micrograph showing the surface of a single strand of hair which has been heavily bleached and straightened. This image shows the tip of a hair taken from the front of the head of a female of Caucasian descent. Although naturally curly, the hair has been repeatedly straightened. Exposure to hair colour or dye, heating and drying can over time damage the hair shaft (barbed wire-like appearance seen here) making the hair brittle and more prone to breakage. The hair shaft is made up of several layers of a tough protein called keratin. The outer layer (cuticle) is visible here and is made up of overlapping, tightly packed scales. Horizontal width of image is 829 micrometres.

Damaged human hair, bleached and straightened, SEM

SEM of a strand of human hair. Variation can be seen in the structure and appearance of hairs in particular the cuticle, the outer most part of the hair, which is composed of overlapping, scale-like cells and can be a useful indicator as to its origin. Human hair scales have a random, non-repeating pattern, in contrast to those of animals, which are more regular in their arrangement. Scanning electron micrograph; x 750; hair is approximately 95 micrometers wide.

Human hair (Asian origin)

False-coloured scanning electron micrograph of butterfly wing scales from the peacock butterfly (Inachis io). The colours seen in butterfly wings are not usually created by pigments but are the result of the microstructure of the scales which, due to their photonic crystal nature, scatter light to give the iridescence associated with these insects. Width of the scales is equivalent to 100 micrometers.

Butterfly wing scales

Photomacrograph of human mustache hair. Mustache hair is facial hair which grows on the upper lip. The hair shaft is made up of several layers of a tough protein called keratin. The outer layer (cuticle) is visible here and is made up of overlapping, tightly packed scales. Natural hair colour is determined by two types of melanin, pigments produced by melanocytes in the hair follicle. Eumelanin is black or brown in colour while phaeomelanin is red/yellow, and different proportions of these two pigments create the variety of shades of hair colour. Width of image is 1 cm.

Photomacrograph of a knot in human hair. The hair shaft is made up of several layers of a tough protein called keratin. The outer layer (cuticle) is visible here and is made up of overlapping, tightly packed scales. Natural hair colour is determined by two types of melanin, pigments produced by melanocytes in the hair follicle. Eumelanin is black or brown in colour while phaeomelanin is red/yellow, and different proportions of these two pigments create the variety of shades of hair colour. Width of image is 2 cm.

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Scales

Images

Works

Damaged human hair, bleached and straightened, SEM

Human hair (Asian origin)

Butterfly wing scales

Human mustache hair

Knot in hair

Today’s opening times

Wellcome uses cookies.

Scales

Images

Works

Damaged human hair, bleached and straightened, SEM

Human hair (Asian origin)

Butterfly wing scales

Human mustache hair

Knot in hair

Wellcome Collection

Today’s opening times