Hair Under The Microscope

Iu centnries past ihe bnmau hair jlayed ai important puft iu all judicial irocepdings. Those that were peimitted o wear beanl and hair bad riglits that onld uot be claiined by the shorn and haved Wheu ïuen made oat-h, they ouched their beard and hair, and wornen placed the iiugcr tips of the right ; mud on their tresses Sörvauts were obhged to have thoir i ïair ent, and if a freedman went iuto lavery he had to divest himself uf his ïirsnte adorniaents Au adult adopted 3v foater párente was ubliged to have lis beard sbaved and the shaving of ; )eard aud hair was a pnnisbment iulicted on The jnrisprndenoe of om' aueestors dealt with punishruent 'by skin aud hair" for sraall offeosea and ''by neck and hand" fov greater crime?. There lias always been more or los siiperstition aboat hair. Qreat strength was implied by if, and Wizards una witchea knew of coucoctious of hair by which they poisoned eneniies. Cats'háir was especiiilly. namen in the category of poisonons hairs, and.even at the beginuing of the seventeenlh century Paulus Zaochias, a fanious physician, writes of the vimlent poison of the hair of oats. Aruoug civilized peoiilosnch snperstitious beliefs have goue out of existeuce, and ouly Malaya give their enemies tiger hairs in broth to kill them. Hair today, however, is one of the important factors in dreiding rmirder cases, and the microscopic examiuation of bair, wheie it is round iu criminal cases nnder suspicious cirenmstances, is invariable. The first thing the coroner is called upou to determine is whether the haii is from man or beast. The microscope determines this beyond peradventure. Animal hair differs in oonstructiou from that grovvu on a human bead. Iu lmman bair the upper skin is smooth and thiu. The circular ection is comparatively broad, foriniiig the main part of the hair shaft. It is striped in appearauce and carries tho color matter. The tubular part is thin, estending to about oneflfth and certaiuly not more thau to one-quarter of the entire width of the hair. Animal hair also consista of three parts, but these are differently constructed, the tube often filling the entiie hair. The ends of the hair must be closely watched, and especially woman's bair will be found ragged and torn at the ends. The hair from beards is nsually the thickest, its diameter being as inuch as 0.15 millimeters, while hair from female heads can be as fine as a diameter of 0. 0G