Color of the hair.—­Nature has suited the hair to the complexion in every case, and we cannot improve upon her idea of harmony.  That is why any attempt to change the color is so unsatisfactory.  The “bleached blonde” is always recognizable; so is the woman who dyes her faded locks in vain effort to retain her “youth.”  As the hair changes by natural processes the complexion changes to match it, so that we never get a chance to improve upon nature’s handiwork.

In Elizabethan days, wigs were worn to harmonize or match with the costume.  Queen Elizabeth had over eighty.  Think of purple hair?  Yet some dyes give a purple tinge to the locks.

Dyed hair.—­Dyed hair is a sorry makeshift at best.  Far better let nature have her way.  There is but one hair-dye that is not positively harmful, this is henna, and its use entails no end of trouble because it must be frequently renewed,—­some use it every day.

To prepare the dye, get a quarter pound of henna leaves; to this add two quarts of cold water.  Let stand on the back of the range where it will steep slowly for four or five hours.  Add three ounces of alcohol and bottle.  Apply with a tooth-brush.  It gives a sort of reddish-brown color.  Women whose hair is prematurely gray often use this, declaring their white hair prevents them from obtaining or holding business positions.  But where hair has whitened prematurely there is always a freshness and vitality about eyes and complexion that bespeaks youth.

Physicians strongly deprecate the use of hair dyes.  No matter how strenuously the label insists on “absolute harmlessness,” the dye relies for its effectiveness upon the presence of lead in some chemical combination.  The frequent application of lead to the scalp induces a certain dangerous form of poisoning, which results in paralysis.  If “dye you must,” pin your faith to henna.

[796 Mothers’ remedies]

Gray hair.—­“The only thing to do with gray hair is to admire it.”  This is true.  Nothing so sets off an aged face like the crown of silver.  To color it is a great mistake.  There is absolutely no cure for it; the one thing we can do is to make it a beauty.  Gray hair is due to the exhaustion of the pigment or coloring cells of the hair, supposed to be occasioned by the lack of a regular supply of blood.

For the progressive whitening of the hair due to the advance of age, curative agents are rarely of any avail, especially if the trouble is hereditary.  Not that gray hair and baldness are handed down from father to son, but that the peculiarities of constitution which produce them are inherent in both.  Nervousness, neuralgia, a low physical condition, aid the falling and blanching of the hair, and the victim should build up the general system.  Preparations of iron and sulphur, taken internally, are supposed to supply certain elements of growth and pigment-forming power to the hair.