The stiff hats so extensively worn by men produce more or less injury.
Premature baldness most frequently first attacks that part of the head
where pressure is made by the hat. It is, indeed, a pity that custom
has so rigidly decreed that men and women must not appear out of doors
with heads uncovered. It would be far better for the hair if to be
bare-headed were the rule, and to wear a hat the exception.

Since we can not change our social regulations in this respect, we
should endeavor to render them as harmless as possible.

The forms of hats that are least injurious are: for Winter, soft hats
of light weight, having an open structure, or pierced with numerous
holes; for Summer, light straws, also of open structure.

As regards the head-covering of women, the fashions have been for
several years favorable to proper form. The bonnet and hat have become
quite small, and cover but little of the head. This beneficial
condition, however, is in part counterbalanced by the weight of false
curls, switches, puffs, etc., by the aid of which women dress the
head. These, by interfering with evaporation of the secretions,
prevent proper regulations of the temperature of the scalp, and
likewise lead to the retention of a certain amount of excrementitious
matter, both of which are prolific sources of rapid thinning and loss
of hair in women.

False hair has likewise sometimes been the means of introducing
parasites, which give rise to obstinate affections of the scalp.

Cleanliness of the entire surface of the skin should next demand