BARBER, one who shaves beards and dresses hair. The occupation of barber is an institution of civilized life, and is only known among those nations that have made a certain progress in civilization. It is referred to by the prophet Ezekiel: "And thou, son of man, take thee a barber's razor, and cause it to pass upon thine head and upon thy beard.° (Ezek. v, 1). We do not read of a barber at Rome till about the year 454 of the city; but there, as elsewhere, when once introduced, they be came men of great notoriety, and their shops were the resort of all the loungers and news mongers in the city. Hence they are alluded to by Horace as most accurately informed in all the minute history, both of families and of the state. But in early times the operations of the barber were not confined, as now, to shaving, hair-dressing and the making of wigs; but in cluded the dressing of wounds, blood-letting and other surgical operations. It seems that in all countries the art of surgery and the art of shaving went hand in hand. The title of barber-chirurgeon, or barber-surgeon, was gen erally applied to barbers. The barbers of
London were first incorporated by Edward IV in 1461, and at that time were the only persons who practised surgery. The barbers and the surgeons were separated, and made two dis tinct corporations — in France, in the time of Louis XIV, and in England in 1745. The sign of the barber-chirurgeon consisted of a striped pole from which was suspended a basin; the fillet round the pole indicating the riband or bandage twisted round the arm previous to blood-letting, and the basin the vessel for re ceiving the blood. This sign has been generally retained by the modern barber. In the. United States, however, it is only occasionally that the basin may be seen hanging at the door of a barber's shop. The character of the barber is amusingly illustrated in one of the talcs of the 'Arabian Nights Entertainments,' and has been immortalized by Beaumarchais, Mozart and Rossini, under the name of 'Figaro.'