"FOR OOD. FOB COUXTRT AND FOR TRUTH."
W. Fletcher Ausbon, Editor
VOL. IV.
PLYMOUTH, N. C, FRIDAY, MARCH 24, 1893.
NO. il.
Published by Boanoko Publisliing Co.
BEHIND THB HILU . ""
My boy was young; he oould not .Iniow
Fha way earth's way ward current! flow.
And so, in early shallows bounds' .
Ills mis-manned shallop ran aground
He grew ashamed of his disgrace,
He could not look me in the face,
''For, mother, every man," said he,
"Has scorn, and only soorn, for me;
Ltnust go forth with alien men
And grapple with the world again,
cannot stay and face the truth
Among the people of my youth.
Where men are strange and scenes 'are now
There may be work lor me to do. ! J
'And, when I have redeemed the paat
will come back to you at last."
And bo watched while my boy, Will,
r "f ,1 Went down behind the bill.
Re climbed the hill at early morn
Beneath whose shadow he was born,
Tie stood upon its highest place '
The sunrise shining on his face,
, He stood there, but too far away
For me to see his tears that day;
My thoughts, my fear I cannot, tell c
Whan he waved back his sad fare well N
And then passed on, and my boy, Will,
Went down behind the hilL
Went down the hill; henceforth for me '
One picture in my memory
Crowds every other from its place-
A boy with sunrise on bit face;
His sunrise-lighted face I see
The sunset of all joy to me,
"For when, he turned hlra from my sight
Thdf mrrningmixei itself with night, :
AndDarkness came, when my boy, WiH :
. Went down behind the hilL
"fhe world is wide, and he has gone
Into its vastness, on and on.
" I know not what besets his path
What boors of gloom, what days" of wrath,
What terrors menace him afar,
WJt nights of storm without a star,
What mountains loom above his way,
."What oceans toss him night and day,
"What fever blasts from desert sands,
What death-bold winds from frozen lands,
What shafts of sleet or sun may blight
Aly homeless wanderer in hia flight;
A oaly know the world is wide
And he can roam by land and tlda,
Tia wide, ah mo I in every par
But narrower than his mother's heart
A joyless heart since my boy, Will,
f Went down behind the hill.
I know he bravely flzhts with fate.
3ut, ah, the hour is growing late; ;
l watch the hill by day and night '
It dimly looms before my sight.
And fast the twilight shadows fall;
The njght is glooming over all;
But In'my boy a faith is given '
As. saints of eld had faith in heaven I
I tauow jhat he will come again,
His praise on ail the lips of men,
He will come back to me at last
With deeds that shall reJeera the past,
Nor desert plain, nor mountain steep
Nor storm nor thunder on the deep,
Nor tempest in the East or West,
Shall hold him from his mother's Breast,
And, though the world grows blind anl
, dumb, --; ' , j.
I feel, I know, that he will csme; '
And 1 am waiting for him still,
And watch the summit of the hill; '
Sometimes I think I see him stand
And wave a welcome with his hand,
But 'tis a cloud upon the rim
Of sunset and my eyes are dim
'Tis but a mist mftde by the tears
'i hat thicken with the growing years,
I watch while there is light to see- -And
dream that he will come to me;
And though 'tis dark within, without
I will not shame him by a doubt;
The all-enfolding night draws near.
But he will come I will not f ear
Bui ah, 'tis long since my boy. Will,
Went down behind the hill.
-Sam Walter Foss, in Yankee Blade,
A WESTERN MAN
JJT H. Ii. WIBL01T.
FT was as clear a case
of abduction as you
ever heard of; if it
could be brought
. before the courts the
fellow would be con
victed in bo time at
all We were at the
Blue Springs Hotel
up in the Adiron
dacks, just a nice
crowd of us; ; old
Hunnistand, his wife and daughter, a few
other nice families and some of us men.
It had come to be pretty well understood
that Charlie Fitzpatrick stood the best
chance of carrying off the prize. 1 When
I tell 'you that old Hunnistan was re
ferred to in Bradstreet's" as
. 'flunnigtan, Ralph Broker Aa,"
and that his daughter was a beauty, you
' will doubtless surmise tho identity of the
prize. She was a fine girl, weighed
about a hundred and forty, with reddish
bloiid hair, genuine color, and these yel
lowish blond eyes that you don't see
every day. Her complexion was mostly
pinkish. She stepped off like a Ken
tucky thoroughbred, and bad all the
spirit of one, too- For one thing,
though, she , was too light-minded and
frivolous never took things seriously
f tftt you said to4ierj-f Irp uidhaye pro
f .ndto her mjsVff J snly ' whenever I
tried to lead up to it and get her into a
properly earnest state of mind, she
always guyed me so that I couldn't get
it out it would have fallen flat. - She
wouldn't give me credit tor-being in
dead farntst ; when I talked about hearts
being eaten out under a smiling exterior,
sjVe h.icrL'-i h a very ruds as-1 uncial-,
fied way not a giggle, but a regular out
and out shaky laugh.
Charley had better success with her
than I. She didn't laugh eo much with
him, and was more dignified. He is a
serious fellow, and she always respected
his moods, and asked him questions on
his favorite topics, to draw him out and
sympathize with him. Charley is five
years older than I am. He's been around
a lot more, and seen the world pretty
deep, I can toll you. He says society is
a hollow sham, and only empty-headed
Seople take to it; that for a man of any
epth it's a great bore, and for his part
he's through with it. He used to talk
to Miss Hunnistan that way for an hour
at a time, and she always agreed with
him. She left him abruptly sometimes;
Charley said it was because she didn't
care to have him see how he impressed
her. He used to confess to her what a
dissipated fellow he had been and how
he had seen the . folly of if, though, and
was no longer dazzled by any material
pleasure. -. ; -r ' v -
Well, by the most delicate indirection,
Charley had given Miss Hun nistan to un
derstand that her fortune was tho only
thing that stood between them; that he
was proud-spirited and afraid his motives
might be mwconstiuel. He had got
along to where his leve should soon mas
ter all his sensitive apprehension, and
break forth in spite of the girl's money.
That was the way he had it mapped
out. ;
A One evening, along the first of Aug
ust, a lot of us were sitting around
waiting to see who came up on the
stage. . Old Hunnistan had told us that
he was expecting a Western man up to
see him, almost any day, a real estate
agent that he had bought some property
of out in St. Paul or Salt Lake or around
there. When the stage ca ne around the
bend, we saw a man sitting ud in front
and -talking very chummy wita the
driver. Old Hunnistan said; "That's
Grimshaw."
He leaped down and she ok hands
with the old manias if he had been a
long lose brother, or something like
that, and hurried inside with him with
out noticing the rest of us. He was a
bfg, overgrown, lumbering ; sort of , a
man, coarse looking, and took fright
fully long steps when he walked. His
clothes were loose and flapped all around
him.
After dinner we were sitting out on
the piazza and this man Grimshaw came
out and began to walk up and down.
The first time he oassed. us he caught
sight of Miss Hunnistan, and didn't seem'
to be able to take his eyes oil. His man
ner was disgracefully free and. easy.
Every time he passed he stared at her
openly. ' I wondered whether old Han
nistan would introduce such a man to
his family. Just then he did one of the
most brazen, presumptuous things I ever
saw; he strode up to Miss Hunnistan,
tooh his hat off bis big head and said :
"Well, i so this is Miss Hunnistan, is
itf My name's Grimshaw; ol'n heard
your father speak of you, on his Western
trim M "
And before the poor girl could re
cover, he was looking her square in the
eyes and shaking hands with her in the
most vulgar, hearty way imaginable. His
voice wasn't exactly irritating, but it
was loud ; you always heard what he
said. I must say that Miss Hunnistan be
haved with a great deal of tact. She
seemed really pleased with, him, and in
troduced him to all of us. That didn't
bother him any. He just nodded around
in a breezy, familiar way, and said ho
was glad to know u.
Then without paying any more atten
tion to us, he walked Miss Hunnistan
around the piazza for a full hour. They
chatted together like a boy and a girl,
she always looking up in to. his face as
if she felt a real interest in him; I never
saw her so full of laugh and talk as she
was that night. ; '
This was not at all the right thing.
Charlie and I were anxious for morning
to come, so we could cut him and show
bim how much he was out ot place.
Well, when we came down in the morn
ing, there he was with Haskins, the
landlord, .old Hunnistan and his wife,
and three or four others, talking away as
if he had known them for years, telling
how he had beenup since five, and had
walked around the point four miles for a
swim water like ice, too. He had
gathered a big bundle' of ferns and,
flowers and things, and gave it to old
lady Hunnistan as if it was a bouquet.
I couldn't see why everybody gathered
around him so when he talked, with a
big laugh at abou every other sentence.
You couldn't tell anything about his
age; he might have been thirty-five, or
ten years older. He had a smooth, pink
complexion, like a girl's, a stubby red
mustache and squinty gray eyes. . The
way he ate was positively indecent;
handled himself well enough, but the
quantity. . He put away enough to run
a plow horse. It was provoking, but we
really had no chance to cut him. ' ne
barely noticed us, just gave a little nod,
and never looked to' see wheth
er we returned it. His man
ner was the height of ill-breeding
30 indifferent and independent; but
you can't cut a man when he never takes
much notice of you, except to look at
you as if you were a deuce of a freak.
Charley said be must be taken down.
All morning he was busy with old Hun
nistan with maps and deeds. In the.
afternoon he joined our crowd as easy '
and familiar as could be. Charley and I
called i bind Mr. Ilarkshaw, but ho
wouldn't have it; corrected us right
there, Ho laid ha dtfi't r -re for tec-
nis and would like Miss Hunnistan to
show him about the place. He said it in
a nervy, confident way that was irri
tating. And the : Hunnistan girl was
quite willing said she'd be .delighted,
and he walked her off. as if he could have
the earth for the asking. Charley said i
'What an ill-bred savage, with as
much idea of propriety as an orangou
tang 1" He can be awfully cutting at
times. - " '
We didn't see him again until evening,
when we greeted him as Mr. Rumshaw.
He corrected us again, in his blunt, cold
blooded manner; he was the most uncon
ventional man that way. Miss Hunnis
tan seemed fascinated by the fellow, , In
the evening they promenaded on the
piazza again; he was an awful man to
walk, seemed to want to move all the
time. -. . ...
In the morning we found tint he had .
routed Miss Hunnistan out at five
o'clock, and taken her up the 1 lake in
Charley's canoe. . He brought her back
at eight, and ate his breakfast with the
most brutal affability, as if nothing had
happened. Most people are a litis stiff
and grumpy mornings, but he wasn't;
always had a plebian, good natured wa?
with him. After breakfast Charley anu
I said:
' Good morning, Mr. Handshawt"
He stopped and said he wanted a
word with us. We walked down tho
path a way, and he said. '
-"Now, you look' here, my name isn't
Iiandshaw or Rumshaw or Harkshaw,
but Grimshaw G-r-i-uvs-h-a-w; if
' either of you forgets this any more in
future, I'll take you both down to the
lake and drop you in where, it's deep,
with a sinker tied around you.'"
Then he went back to the hotel. Of
comae, his threats were absurd; but,
someway, when the beggar looked at you
it made you feel uncomfortable and want
to move away so we let his name alone
after that. ; He took Miss Hunnistan aud
h'. father out fishing that morring.
After lunch) which he called "dinner"
az.d ate a great deal of, he was obliged'
to give up Miss Hunnistan, because he
had tired her out. We wondered what
he would do then. Instead of coming
around where us men were, he went
down in a ravine at the south end of the
hotel, where a lot of children were build-'
ing a dam. The fellow was simply im
possible, that's all. You could never tell
how to take him. .
Well,' things went on this way for two
weeks. None of us could get acre than
a word at a time with Miss Hunnistan.
When this person wasn't talking to the
old man about . "subdivisions" and "in
side property" and ' "additions," he was.
trotting the girl off walking, or boaticg,
or swimming, or something. Once when
some of us went up to the point, we
came to a place in the woods that looked
- like snakes or frogs; he picked Miss
Hunnistan up as if she was luggage, and
carried her across on one arm, while the
rest of us went around laughed all the
, time, too, as if he was doing something
smart.
We found out that he had been born
out In Minnesota; thtnt of itf When he
was fifteen years old he was a peanut
boy on the train and then somehow he
got into the real ' estate business. 1 He
didn't smoke, and wouldn't even drink
wine. His talk about cigarettes was the
most indelicate buffoonery. He had
never read anything but Shakespeare,
much, and he knew two songs, "Rock
of Ages" and "The Bridge," that he
was Sable to ' sin? at any hour. He
always said "Yes, ma'am" and "No,
ma'am," and seemed to Jike old Lady
Hunnistan about as well as her daugh
ter. .
Once tho Van Stubter boy knocked
down a nest full of young birds. This
fellow saw him, and he showed a fiend
ish temper. He says to him, "Here,
you little imp I" and grabbed him by the
collar ani shook him viciously. We
couldn't hear what else he said because
the kid yelled so; but he made him take
the birds away into the woods where the
cat wouldn't find them, and the boy
never went around on that side of the
house much after that.
Charley and I bad gone down to an
arbor one afternoon for a quiet smoke.
Charley had given it up; he said the
Hunuistahs 'weren't much as far as
family goes, and he knew where he could
do better any day. We decided to go
back to town. As we came out, we saw
farther down the path this fellow and
the Hunnistan girl; tfiey were walking
together with their heads bent over, and
he had one of his big awkward arms clear
around her. Charley is really witty at
times; he said:
"There's something about that girl I
don't Uke.M Good, wasn't it! .
After that it wasn't any secret that
they were engaged. . I suppose he went
at it in his pushing, matter-of-fact way,
without saying a word about the girl's
money, and pretending not to think of
it at all. He did seem to be fond of her
though; never. took his eyes .oil when
she was in sight. All the same, I, think
he mesmerized her, ' or something like
that, if the truth was known. Old
Hunnistan said be was a rustler and had
made money. I can't see how he ever
got his start. Puck. V
, 5,000,000 lizards Killed Yearly.
Five hundred thousand lizard skins
were shipped from the State of Tabasco,
Mexico, to the United States last year.
Thousands ol the skins are marketed in
Mexico, while large quantities', are ex
ported to Europe. It is estimated that
the dumber of lizards slaughtered for
fheir skins in the State of Tabasco last
year was 5,1)00,000. Atlanta Journal,
CHEESE MADE IN CAVES
'SOW THB FAMOUS ROQTJEFOET
IS MAITUFAOTTXBED. '
An Interesting Process, 20OO Years
Old, Largely Carried on in Dark
Mountain Caverns.
OQUEFORT cheese is made
from ewe s milk in a most
interesting manner. The sheep
have . been bred always ' for
their milking quality, and the bulk of
the cheese is yet made of this kind of
milk, but recently, as the demand for it
has increas3d, some cow's milk is used,
without any difference materially, in the
quality of the product. . It is not the
milk, or any special preparation of it,
upon which the character of the cheese
depends, but the unique process of cur
ing in these caves, in which the temper
ature is precisely the same every day in
the year; the atmosphere is pure and of
an unchangeable moisture, so that the
special germs which cause the fermenta
tion always ' act in, precisely the same
way, and thus the cheese never varies in
quality;- So that ' whether cow's or
sheep's or goat's milk is used, the cheese
is always Roquefort. :-:
The mountain on which the village of
Roquefort, France, is situated, is called
Larzac, and is about twenty-five miles in
length and nearly 3000 feet high. The
soil is chiefly limestone and the fertility
of it is. only moderate." The natural pas
ture is thin, but it is made up by crops
of ' clover, aanfoin, lucern and mixed .
grains, as tares and oats, orrye and peas.
These mixed crops, under good culture,
yield abundantly, and afford the largei
part of the subsistence of the sheep, of
which about 300,000 aro kept to supply
the milk. By close breeding this race
of sheep has become specially prolific ol
milk, rich in fat and caseine, having five
and seven per ceat. respectively of these
elements of cheese. It is not so sweet as
cow's milk. ..' ' ' ;
This cheese la what we call a "half
skim," that is, the evening's milk i ii
skimmed after being heated to near
boiling, and set until the morning. Thf
fresh milk and the skimmed evening's
milk are warmed up to ninety degree
and thn.curdled by the addition of a
large spoonful of rennet to fifty quirts
or 120 poinds of milk. Tne heating
and the quantity of rennet .used are
varied as the weather may be warm oi
damp, as this has some effect upon the
behavior of the milk as is well known to
checsomakers. The curd, when suffl-'
ciently firm, is cut to liberate the waey,'
which is dipped off, and the curd is lift
ed into the moulds. These are of earth
enware, and glazed, cylindrical in form,
and pierced with holes for tho drainage
of the whey. . They are eight inches in
diameter and three and a half deep, thus
making a cheese that weighs five pounds
when fully cured. As the molds are
filled, the curd is inoculated with a fer
ment made of dried moldy bread pow
dered, this being well distributed among
the curd by the finger as the curd is
placed in the mold. The curd is
heaped above the edge of the mold
three inches, ,so that as it shrinks the
cheese will just fill he mold.
A second, mold is then filled in tho
same way and ., plaoad on the tint, and
the curd is covered with a plate of lead,
which serves to press it and get rid of
the excess of moisture from it. When
this has been effected, the cheese will
have shrunk within the limits of its
mold. The whey drains from the
shcasea Into channels cut in tho table
upon which they are laid, esd is re-,
- s. 1' 1.!.L it.
mo.vea. ' Ane apartmeus .wuicu mis
work is done is an outer .cave,' inclosed
by a wall in front. . '-,' ' -
Here the cheese stays until it is drained
of the wbey, being turned twice a day.
A special part of the process at this stage
is the warming and moistening of the
rooms by menus of vessels filled with
steaming warm water, frequently re
plenished. About three days completes
the draiuaga of the cheese, and it is thoa
moved to the drying room, which Is an
airy, cool aporcoaect fun&hryi with
tables covered with cloths on which the
cheeses freed from the molds are laid.
They are tuned morning and evening
for two or three days, when they are
taken into the caves for the special treat
ment to which they are subjected, and
which has the effect of giving to this
raw curd a delicate and delicious flavor
and mellowness. . V
The caves being formed by the dis
placement, fracture, and heaping together -of
a vast number of rocks, are made up
of an intricate labyrinth of open spaces
and narrow passages, through which cur-
rents of cold air are continually passing. -These
air currents are controlled by
closing up some of the passages, leaving,
openings that may be closed or shut as
the wind outside may make desirable.
Some of the spaces are arched over with
masonry, but all., are profoundly dark,
and the visitor sees only the little glim
mering lights flickering in the darkness
as he passes the open portal of one of the
caves where the women, dimly seen, are
scraping the mold from the theeses or
turning them or moistening them, and in
their curious ways aiding the wonderful
germs at work to effect the slow changes
in the curd. . . ,
V The temperature of the caves is kept
at sixty degrees by the use of the venti
lators, and the moisture is sustained at a
humidity of forty -eight degrees.. When,
the cheeses are brought into the caves
they weigh eighteen per cent, of the
milk U3ed.
They aro now laid oa the ground ou
clean straw to be gradually coolei down
to the temperature of the cave. They
then go to the salting room, where they
are rubbed with salt on oue face, whic'u
is turned to the ground ; a second cheese
is salted in the same way on one face and
Jaid on the Brat; a tnird ' ono is then
salted . and laid od tho second one. In
this way the cave is filled with cheeses. In
twenty-four hours the cheeses are salted
on the other face ' and reversed and
. placed as before. This frequent revers
ing is to keep a certain quautity of mois
ture in the cheese and develop th
growth of the special fungus which has
been sown in the curd. This is the com
mon green mold, PencilliurA glaucucn.
In forty-eight hours more tho cheeses
become viscous and are rubbed with a
ccarse cloth and .again pil d as before.
In two days more the fungus has spread
through the cheese and appears oa the
outside as a sticky pasty matter. This
is scraped off with knives, with a thin
stratum of the crust, which is sold as an
article of food.
The cheeses are now sorted, the most
solid being placed on the floor and the
others on them in threes, as before ' In
eight days they becjme covered with a
yellowish-red. mold, and this with a for
estof minute vegetation of white mildew.
This is scraped off aud given toplg.
In twelve days more a second scraping
(raclage) is given,' the best cheeses mak
ihg the growth of fungus most quickly.
They undergo this process frequently as
the mold gathers, until the character of
it changes, showing that the condition
ot the curd has changed. ' First, the
red mold that appears on cream in damp
dairies, and known by its circular spots
of red, and then a dense blue mold cover
the cheeses and announce the completion
of the curing. ' The cheeses are then
finally scraped; wiped, and wrapped in
tinfoil, which excludes the air, and are
then ready for market. ''
As the curing proceeds, those cheeses
..that indicate superior quality by the ap
pearance of the mold on them are kept
separate and held for a later sale, when
the exquisite flavor so highly valued be
comes developed, and tbeso' are sold at
the highest prices. ....
, This whole process, intricate as it is,
has been learned during no oce knows
how many centuries, but at least twenty.
It has been taught4 by father to son, ot
mother to daughter, and by this long
practice perfection has been reached.
But with our present knowledge of tho
changes wrought by the actiou of these
minute plants on the uitrogenous mat
ter of the-, card, there will be no dif
ficulty in formulating a method of mak
ing this cheese thit will : produce a qual
ity equal to the original, if the means of
controlling., the curing by tomperature
and moisture are provided. .
, It will be noticed by the expert in
cheese-making that- this variety owes its
character principally to the fact that the
curing of it depends upon the culture id
the cheese and cot oh it of the fuugi by
which the changes in tho curd are pro
duced. It is, in fact, similar in this re
spect to the equally rich and fine Stilton
of England, which is inoculated with
the fungus by inserting skewers dipped
in a preparation of the mold or by placing
m tne cura Fragments of tno rungna as
it is placed in tho . moid. The actual
inoculation produces a much more effec
tive operation than the mere outside ex
posure to the fungus germs that exist in
the air, and just as culture produces
better effects in other plants desired for
special qualities. New York Times,
Russia aud Her WolTG3.
What is known in Russia, writes oui
Odessa correspondent, as tho wolf season
commences 'with the -early autumn and
continues., until late in the spring. The
last year for : which, statistics of the.
depredations committed by .the wolves
are given are sufficiently remarkable. In
one year alone, , according to. thedata
collected by provincial Governors, thi
total loss of domes tio animals by welves
amounted to 800,000 head, valued at
$4,000,000, which is about equal to one
year's wolf tax revenue. As an evidence
that the number of wolves does not ap
preclately decrease, the Government of
Olonetz is cited, where wolves and bears
destroyed, in 1875, 6785 head; in 1880,
5322; in 1885, 5156, and in 18S9, 5600.
, In none of the above mentioned govern
ments does the number of wolves an
nually destroyed average more than 100,
and these are generally the younger ani
mals not yet trained to the crafty tactics
of - the older wolves and pack leaders.
New York "Journal ' ' e
uecr Terrapin Cooking Contest.
An intermunicipal terrapin contest toot
placa the other day at Meadowbrook,
near.-Philadelphia, Penn., the countrf
place of Thomas B. Wanamaker, sou 1
John; Wanamaker. It was the Tfesult o)
a discussion that has long besnvja 'pro
grefci between some club men iof Balti
more and Philadelphia- as. to whict
: method, of preparing terrapiceww-'tb
better. Arthur Padelfprd took..up-.the.
gauntlet in behalf of the Baltimoferreft
ipe. He wasr represented by. Jaraea'-Pot
ter, also of that city, and-' accompanied
by a Baltimore chef and a party of sevec
gentlemen to inlet 'as a jury. Thcyjbrought
with them s -number, of Maryland dia-'
mondbak' ?M"r3s,". whtcli "are quoted
just" now at $150 per doaen- Tbg ter
rapin was prepared according to tbt
forms in vogue in the two cities, and
nine of the jurors decided in favor of the
Baltimore rec:pc Chicago Ucraid.
WHY THE HAIR WHITENS
BUDDED BLANCHING- IS DJJJt19
AIR SV-BBXtUB.
A. Compositor ., Startllnfr Experi
ence A Doctors Experiments!
1 Witn Hairs In Hi Beard. 1
HE blanching of the hair and'
i- a . n!J. v t :
r, pearu oi utiuo uiutuu, tuo yi
1 nlinist. following serious in-'
juries in a train wreck, has ex
cited much speculation and theorizing as
to the causes of hair so suddenly turning
white. , , i
Some physiologists are of the opinion
that the hair may become white in the
course of a few hours, and this is the .
popular impression. Others assume that
such sudden changes never take place,
although it is certain that the hair fre
quently turns gray in the course of a few
weeks. It is difficult to find in the
works of the older writers well authenti
cated cases of these. sudden changes,
most of those quoted having been taken
on the loose authority of persons evi
dently not in the habit of making scien-'.
tifio observations. Such instances un
supported by analogous cases of alreli- ,
able character must necessarily . be re
jected as not fulfilling the rigid' .
requirements demanded by scientific in
quiry, in which all possible, sources of
error should be rigidly excluded.
Regarding the subject, however, from
a purely scientific point of view one
must acknowledge tuac mere aro a lew
cases' of comparatively recent 'date in
which sudden blanching of the hair has
been observed and carefully investigated
by men trained to accurate ; scientific
methods. . "',,)
v One of the cases is reported in Vir
5how's Archives for April, 1855, by Dr.
Landois as occurring under the observa
tion of himself and Dr. Lohmer. In this
case the blanching of the hair occurred
in a hospital in a single night while the
patient was under the daily observation'
of the visiting physicians. . The patient,
a compositor, thirty-four years of age,
with, light hair and blue eyes,1' was ad
mitted into the hospital July 9, 1865;
Buffering from an acute attack of de-.
lirium tremens. A marked peculiarity
in the disease was excessive terror when
ever any one approached the patient.'
He slept for twelve hours on the night
of the 11th of July, after having taken'
thirty drops of laudanum. .Up to this
time nothing unusual had been observed
regarding the hair. . "
On the morning of July 12th it was
evident to the medical attendants and ta
all who saw the patient that the hair of'
the head and beard had become gray. '
The patient himself remarked the change
with intense astonishment. The hair re
mained gray as long as the patient was
under observation, to September 17tlu
An interesting point connected with this' .
case is that " the hair was subjected to
careful-microsconiQ examination. The
color of the hair in general is due to the
presence of pigment granules and of a
fow.air bubbles. In the case of the com
positor the white hairs were found to
contain a multitude of bubbles of air in
the medulla and cortical - substance of
the shaft of the hair, but the . pigment
granules were everywhere preserved .un
altered. The hair filled with bubbles of
air is white for that same reason that
granulated sugar and the foam on ther
seashore are white. , The individual
granules of the sugar aud the individual
bubbles that form the foam are transpa-'
rent. The reflection ot light from gran
ule to granule and from bubble to bub
ble makes the mass of the sugar and of
foam white. 1 In a similar way the re
flection of light from air bubble to air
bubble makes the hair seem white. . ;
Dr. Landois quotes instances, of
blanching of the hair in' which there
were alternate rings of white' and brown.
Another very curious . case of sadden
bltnching of the hair is reported by
Erasmus Wilson in the proceedings of
the Royal Society," London, volume "xr,
No. 91, page 40o. In these cases also
tho white portion presented on ' micro
scopio examination great bubbles of airy
bfit no diminution in 'the quantity of
pifts&eat matter. ,
Tbt possibility of sudden blaaohing of
th hair Is further . Illustrated by .(hei
curious aha&rvAtfoa made by &a osl
brated Brown-Sequard of clixj of hfo
fame." LU observed in his own person
four white hairs on one side of his beard'
and seven on the other. These he pulled
out. Two days after he found two hairs
on one side and three on the other that'
were white throughout their .entire
length. This observation he verified
several times. .
The microscopio examinations 'made
leave no doubt as to tho cause ot the
white color of the hair in cases of sud
den blanching. All are agreed that there
is no diminution in the pigment, but
o c
comes filled with air bubbles, 6maU gio-
bules of air being found in . the,, cortical
substance. The hair in these cases pre-"
seots a marked contrast to hair that bas
become gray gradually from old &ia.
The change of color due to ae is cau'jd
by an actual diminution in the quality
of pigment.
How the air finds its way into the
hair in sudden blanching it is di"".ai!; t
imagine. In all of the casc3 recorded
the blanching of the hair was apparently
dependent upon strong emotion, jn
erally terror ' This is all that can bo
said on the subject ot its c ...-iti - i, IVj
mechanism of the change not b;'nv lia.
derstooJ. "-"ta FritiCViC C..:j- , ' -
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