The brush with moderately stiff whalebone bristles may be passed gently over the hair several times during the day, to brush out the dust and the dandruff, and to keep the hair smooth, soft, and clean; rough and hard brushing the hair with brushes having very stiff bristles in them, especially the metal or wire bristles, is of no service, but often irritates the parts and causes the hair to fall out. [Dr. Shoemaker then denounced the use of the so-called electric brush, saying its use was injurious, as also was the effort to remove dandruff by the aid of the comb and brush.  Continuing, he remarked:] And now the question arises, Should the hair be periodically cut?  It may be that cutting and shaving may for the time increase the action of the growth, but it has no permanent effect either upon the hair-bulb or the hair sac, and will not in any way add to the life of the hair.

On the contrary, cutting and shaving will cause the hair to grow longer for the time being, but in the end will inevitably shorten its term of life by exhausting the nutritive action of the hair-forming apparatus.  When the hairs are frequently cut, they will usually become coarser, often losing the beautiful gloss of the fine and delicate hairs.  The pigment will likewise change—­brown, for instance, becoming chestnut, and black changing to a dark brown.  In addition, the ends of very many will be split and ragged, presenting a brush like appearance.  If the hairs appear stunted in their growth upon portions of the scalp or beard, or gray hairs crop up here and there, the method of clipping off the ends of the short hairs, of plucking out the ragged, withered, and gray hairs, will allow them to grow stronger, longer, and thicker.

Mothers, in rearing their children, should not cut their hair at certain periods of the year (during the superstitious time of full moon), in order to increase its length and luxuriance as they bloom into womanhood, and manhood.  This habit of cutting the hair of children brings evil in place of good, and is also condemned by the distinguished worker in this department, Professor Kaposi, of Vienna, who states that it is well known that the hair of women who possess luxuriant locks from the time of girlhood never again attains its original length after having once been cut.

Pincus has made the same observation by frequent experiment, and he adds that there is a general opinion that frequent cutting of the hair increases its length; but the effect is different from that generally supposed.  Thus, upon one occasion he states that he cut off circles of hair an inch in diameter on the heads of healthy men, and from week to week compared the intensity of growth of the shorn place with the rest of the hair.  The result was surprising to this close and careful observer, as he found in some cases the numbers were equal, but generally the growth became slower after cutting, and he has never observed an increase in rapidity.