Jasper Republican, Volume 1, Number 44, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 July 1875 — Hair on the Chin. [ARTICLE]

Hair on the Chin.

The question of beards has given rise to considerable discussion in many circles. The hair, or beard, differs from the hairon the head by its greater hardness and its form. According to Caesar, the Germans thought, and perhaps justly, the large growth of the beard favorable to the development of all the powers. But there are cases in which the circumstance is an indication of feebleness. It frequently takes place in men of tender constitution, whose pale color indicates little power. The beards of different nations afford an interesting study. Borne have hardly any, others a great profusion. The latter generally consider it as a great ornament; the former pluck it out, as, for instance, the American Indians. The character of the beard differs with that of the individual; and in the case of nations varies with the climate, food, etc. Thus the beard is generally dark, dry, hard and thin in irritable persons of full age; the same is the case with the inhabitants of hot and dry countries, as the Arabians, Ethiopians, East Indies, Italians and Spaniards. But persons o? a very mild disposition have a light-colored, thick and slightly-curling beard. The same is the case with the inhabitants of cold and humid countries, as Holland, England, Sweden. The difference of circumstances causes all shades of varieties. The nature of the nourishment, likewise, causes a great variety in the beard.

Wholesome, nutritious and digestible food makes the beard soft; but poor, dry and indigestible food renders it hard and bristly. In general the beard has been considered, with all nations, as an ornament, and often .as a mark of the sage and the priest. Moses forbade the Jews to shave their beards. With the ancient Germans the cutting off of another’s beard was a high offense; with the East Indians it is severely punished. Even now the beard is regarded as a mark of great dignity among many nations in the East, as the Turks. The custom of shaving is said to have come in use during the reigns ot Louis XIII. and XIV. of France, both of w’hom ascended the throne without a beard. Courtiers and inhabitants of cities then began to shave in order to look like the King, and, as France soon took the lead in all matters of fashion on the continent of Europe, shaving became general; but it is only in the beginning of the last century that shaving off the whole beard has become common. Till then fashion had given divers forms to mustaches and beards. Much could be said, and has been said, in a medical point of view, in regard to shaving the beard. Such a discussion would lead us, however, here too far. It is not to be denied that the mouth, one of the most expressive parts of the countenance, is shown to much better advantage in consequence of shaving, and at the same time old age appears to much greater advantage with a beard, •which conceals the loss of the teeth. Moreover, the eye gains much in expression by a full beard. Every one knows the trouble of shavings and who does not remember Byron’s computation of the amount of this trouble in “Don Juan?” Seume, a German author, says in his journal: “ To-day I threw my powder apparatus out of the window. When will come the blessed day that I shall send the shaving apparatus after it?” Shaving, among many ancient nations, was the mark of mourning; with others it was the contrary. Plutarch says that Alexander introduced shaving among the Greeks by ordering his soldiers to cut off their beards; but it appears that the custom had prevailed before among the Macedonians. The Romans began to shave 454 A. U., 296 B. C., when a certain Ticibus Moenas, a barber from Sicily, introduced this fashion. Scipio Africanus was the first that shaved every day. The day that a young man first shaved was celebrated, and the first hair cut off was sacrificed to a deity. Adrian, in order to cover some large warts on his chin, renewed the fashion of long beards; but it did not last long. In mourning, the Romans wore a long beard, sometimes for years. They used scissors, razors, tweezers, etc., to remove the beard. The public barber-shops (tonstrinae) where the lower classes went were much resorted to; rich people kept a shaver (tonsor) among their slaves.— Exchange.