Rensselaer Republican, Volume 20, Number 48, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 2 August 1888 — Advantage of Being Red-Headed. [ARTICLE]

Advantage of Being Red-Headed.

Philadelphia Record. There are only two red-headed men in the Kirkbridge Insane Asylum of the 165 persons who are being treated there at the present time. According to Dr. Edward N. Brush, who is the superintendent of the institution, the old theory relative to the susceptibility of lighthaired people to insanity was exploded years ago. A tour of the asylum showed that all the inmates, e'xcept four, were of decidedly dark complexion, and even’ the four exceptions were by no means light. In the famale department of the asylum the same fact is noticeable, and but a few light-complexioned women were to be seen. “It used to be a popular opinion among the uninitiated that most insane people were light-haired,” said Dr. Brush, “but that is not so. The reason for this false supposition I cannot understand, nor can I account for the fact that we have so many dark-haired people here. I suppose it comes in a natural way, though, because there are a great many more dark people than light.”