A lecture delivered to the Hairdressers' Guild, in St. James's Hall, March, 1885, on diseases of the skin of the head affecting the hair, and diseases of the hair : with remarks as to brushing, cutting and dressing the hair / by James Startin.

  • Startin, James, 1851-1910.
Date:
[1885]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A lecture delivered to the Hairdressers' Guild, in St. James's Hall, March, 1885, on diseases of the skin of the head affecting the hair, and diseases of the hair : with remarks as to brushing, cutting and dressing the hair / by James Startin. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    The bulbs are well supplied with blood-vessels. The hairs vary in thickness from 1,300 and 1,700 of an inch. It is probable the growth of hair resembles that of the cuticle, a cyloblast being formed by the pulp, and thus lengthening out into fibres, which become united, the coloury matter being deposited in the exterior layer. Its use is principally protective and decorative. Its pro- duction and decay is supposed by some authors to be connected with celibacy or incontinence. Enuchs, I believe, never become bald, and old maids and barren women, from Shakespeare’s witches down to our times, have been remarkable for their crinous de- velopments. Having now described to you the elements of the struc- ttu’e of the hair, I will proceed to relate to you the diseases of the skin of the scalp which affect its growth. I have arranged the diseases as nearly as possible in chronological order ; the first that comes under our notice, and is one of the commonest affections of the skin of the scalp prejudicial to the growth of hair, is Eczema, derived from the Greek £/c^£w, to bubble forth. It is usually seen as an eruption of minute vesicles or blisters, clustered together on a red and inffamed surface, attended as well as pre- ceded by a sense of itching. The vesicles soon become opaque, and give rise to minute scales. This disease may be developed on any portion of the body, but it is especially frequent upon the scalp, and more often in infancy. It is in early youth that we should especially notice and relieve these affections, as so much depends on the healthy after-gr<nvth of the hair in adult life. But age obtains no freedom from Eczema of the scalp; it may occur as late in life as 70 years. If the disease is allowed to run its course it mats the hair together, and you can understand how it disturbs its growth. If it con- tinues for a long period, the deep tissues of the skin become in- volved, and the roots of the hairs may become injured, and the hair fall out. In this case the disease is a cause of partial bald- ness, and is entitled to the name of sc-dled head. Sometimes it resolves itself into a chronic state of branny desquamation, which is so often a serious drawback to a healtliy crop of hair. The next disease we come to is Favus, a comparatively rare eruption of the scalp in this#country, more common in Ireland, but nevertheless important, and in my description of Diseases of the hair, I shall allude more particularly to it, as it has a parasitic vegetable character peculiar to it. We recognize it as an eruption of light yellow coloured crusts pierced by one or more hairs. The appearance of the hair is dull’ and its elasticity is completely destroyed. The external surface is observed to be covered with circular spores, which tends to split up the hair longitudinally, and at length totally disintegrate it. The hair is thus diseased in its whole length and the bulb is involved. If the disease become chronic and the hairs fall out, the follicle is destroyed and permanent baldness results. The skin in such patches