with their closely cropped heads, and the young men with their
clean-shaven faces, are, year by year, by this fashion, having their
hair-forming apparatus overstrained.

I also must condemn the modern practice of curling and crimping, the
use of bandoline, powders, and all varieties of gum solutions, sharp
hair-pins, long-pointed metal ornaments and hair combs, the wearing of
chignons, false plaits, curls, and frizzes, as the latter are liable
to cause headaches and tend to congestion. Likewise I protest against
the use of castor-oil and the various mixtures extolled as the best
hair-tonics, restoratives, vegetable hair-dyes, or depilatories, as
they are highly injurious instead of beneficial, the majority of
hair-dyes being largely composed of lead salts. But, should your
patients wish to hide their gray hairs, probably the best hair-dye
that can be used safely is pyrogallic acid or walnut juice, the hairs
being first washed with an alkaline solution to get rid of the grease.
Nitrate of silver is also a good and safe hair-dye, but its
application should be done by one experienced in its use. The
judicious use of these hair-dyes will give the hair above the surface
of the skin a brownish-black appearance, the intensity of the color of
which depends upon the strength of the solution. But hair-dyeing for
premature grayness should be avoided, as the diseased condition may be
averted by the proper remedies. Never permit the hair to be bleached
for the purpose of obtaining the fashionable golden hue, as the
arsenical solution generally used is highly dangerous; but, if your
patients must have their hair of a golden color, insist upon their
hairdresser using the peroxide of hydrogen, which is less dangerous
than the preparation first mentioned.

Perhaps one of the most pernicious compounds used for the hair at the