HAIR TONICS Loosening and Falling Out of the Hair.—This often takes place as the result of infectious diseases, on ac count of the weakening of the scalp. Contrary to common belief, it is probably never due to results of dis sipation and excesses. Hygienic measures to improve the general health come first in importance. The use of tar soap and the yolk of egg is beneficial. To plunge the head Compounding Hair Washes. When the solid substances, as rose mary or bay leaves, saffron wood, southernwood, and the like are rec ommended, they are prepared by boiling in the water or other liquid into cold water night and morning, and afterwards to dry the hair, brushing the scalp briskly to a warm glow, is beneficial for men so af fected. The recipes for various ton ics and lotions will be given contain ing all the known specific remedial agents, and persons threatened with baldness are earnestly advised to compound their own remedies and not purchase advertised nostrums.
Dry and Harsh Hair.—This condi tion of the hair may be improved by shampooing the scalp with yolk of egg, as recommended for dandruff, or the scalp may be washed with a weak solution of green tea applied cold, or with an emulsion of castile soap con taining a small quantity of tannin. Alcohol in any form is highly objec tionable, as it tends by rapid evapo ration to increase the dryness of the scalp. Shampooing the scalp occa sionally with a good shampoo mix ture is also useful. This condition may occur from too frequent wash ing of the scalp with soap or other substances that deprive it of its nat ural oils.
Baldness.—Absolute baldness is a condition in which the follicles or roots of the hair have lost their vi tality. It is absolutely incurable. Hence preventive measures should be taken as soon as there is any indica tion of a tendency to baldness, as shown by the falling out or loosening of the hair. The bases of most hair invigorators and restorers is some form of cantharides or quinine. A number of simple household remedies have been recommended which are harmless and may be tried by any one, among these being sage tea, Ja maica rum, lemon juice, vinegar, salt water, lobelia, onion juice, boxwood, and ammonia.
Instructions for the use of these homemade remedies are as follows: Mix 1 pint of strong sage tea, 1 pint of bay rum, and 1 or 2 ounces, more or less, of glycerin, depending upon the amount of natural oil in the hair; or substitute neat's-foot oil foi glycerin if the latter does not suit the skin. Shake the mixture well and apply with the finger tips to the scalp, rubbing thoroughly into the roots of the hair every night. This tends to prevent the hair from turn ing gray.
Or wash the head daily with good old Jamaica rum.
Or rub the pulp of lemon on the scalp.
Or pour boiling water on rock salt or sea salt, using 2 heaping table spoonfuls to 1 quart of water, and allow it to cool before using. Use as a wash daily.
Or 1 teaspoonful of ammonia in 1 quart of warm water. Use as a wash.
Or fill a jar or bottle with pow dered lobelia. Mix brandy and sweet oil in equal parts, and add as much of the mixture as the powdered lo belia will take up. Mix and allow
the compound to stand three or four days. Apply to the roots of the hair by rubbing with the finger tips daily.
Or cut a small onion in half and rub the scalp with it just before re tiring. The onion juice is said to stimulate the skin and invigorate the roots of the hair. Rinse well with soft water and castile soap in the morning.
Or steep in a covered saucepan for 15 or 20 minutes 4 large handfuls of the leaves of the common box, such as is used for garden borders. Let the decoction stand over night. Strain through a linen cloth and add ounce of cologne or lavender water. Use as a wash daily.
Hair Tonies.—The principal reme dial agents in proprietary articles usually known as invigorators or re storatives for the hair are the va rious preparations of cantharides (usually the vinegar or tincture), quinine (either in the form of cin chona bark or quinine sulphate), car bonate of ammonia, tincture of ar nica, an infusion of the tendrils of the grapevine, and various astringent substances. These preparations may be based on solid unguents, as lard, white wax, spermaceti, or beef mar row; or on liquid unguents, as sweet, olive, cocoanut, or other oil, espe cially castor oil, which is thought to be a specific for promoting the growth of the hair; and diluted with various vehicles, as alcohol, eau de cologne, rose water, distilled water, and the like. Jamaica rum, with or without the oil of bay, and sherry wine are thought to have tonic prop erties. And various cleansing agents, as borax and ammonia, are frequent ly added. All of these preparations may be perfumed with the various es sential oils according to taste. They require only mixing. Hence it is suf ficient to give the formulas, in the following table. The ingredients should be shaken well before using and applied daily, being well rubbed into the roots of the hair until it stops falling out, or is otherwise in a satisfactory condition.
The following is an especially rec ommended recipe: put in a glass bot tle 8 ounces of 95 per cent alcohol; add ounce of glycerin, 8 grains of sulphate of quinine, lj grains of tincture cantharides, 2i drams of tincture rhotany, and ounce of es sence of lavender. Mix and shake well before using.
Compounding Hair Tonics. — In compounding the various hair tonics in the preceding table the solids, as black tea, bay leaves, and the like, must be boiled fifteen or twenty min utes to produce an infusion, and then strained through a linen cloth. Cin chona bark and jaborandi should be first reduced in a mortar to a fine powder before boiling. Solid un guents must be melted with gentle heat, oils cut in alcohol or other spir its, and remedial agents added while the mixture is still hot enough to dis solve them readily. The whole should then be removed from the fire, thor oughly mixed by beating with an egg beater or otherwise, and strained through a linen cloth to remove the dregs. The essential oils and other volatile perfumes, if any, should be reserved until the liquor is nearly cold, to prevent loss by evaporation.