follows; when the stomach is teased and fretted with overloading, and
the food gulped down without being masticated, gastric and intestinal
derangement supervenes, which is one of the most prolific sources of
the early decay and fall of the hair.

The nervous system, which is one of the most important portions of the
human structure, and which controls circulation, secretion, and
nutrition, often by being impaired, plays a prominent part in the
production of baldness. Thus, it has been demonstrated by modern
investigation that the nerves of nutrition, by their defective action,
are often the cause of thinning and loss of hair. The nutritive action
of a part is known to suddenly fail, the hair-forming apparatus ceases
to act, the skin changes from a peculiar healthy hue to a white and
shining appearance, and often loses at the same time its sensibility;
the hairs drop out until very few remain, or the part becomes entirely
bald. It is the overtaxing of the physical powers, excessive brain
work, the exacting demands made by parents and teachers upon
children's mental faculties, the loss of sleep, incessant cares,
anxiety, grief, excitement, the sudden depression and exaltation of
spirits, irregular and hastily bolted meals, the lack of rest and
recreation, the abuse of tobacco, spirits, tea, coffee, and drugs of
all forms, that are fruitful sources of this defective action of the
nerves of nutrition, and consequent general thinning and loss of hair.

The hair, particularly of the head, should also receive marked local
attention. In reference to the use of coverings for it, I know of no
better rules than those which I laid down in my chapter on clothing in
"Household Practice of Medicine" (vol. i., p. 218, William Wood & Co.,
New York), in which I state that the head is the only part of the body
so protected by nature as to need no artificial covering.