Anomalies and Curiosities of MedicineGould, George M. (George Milbrey)
Science
Anomalies and Curiosities of Medicine
Gould, George M. (George Milbrey)
Abnormalities, Human; Medicine -- Anecdotes
Rayer saw a Piedmontese of twenty-eight, with an athletic build, who
had but little beard or hair on the trunk, but whose scalp was covered
with a most extraordinary crop. It was extremely fine and silky, was
artificially frizzled, dark brown in color, and formed a mass nearly
five feet in circumference.
Certain pathologic conditions may give rise to accidental growths of
hair. Boyer was accustomed to quote in his lectures the case of a man
who, having an inflamed tumor in the thigh, perceived this part
becoming covered in a short time with numerous long hairs. Rayer speaks
of several instances of this kind. In one the part affected by a
blister in a child of two became covered with hair. Another instance
was that of a student of medicine, who after bathing in the sea for a
length of time, and exposing himself to the hot sun, became affected
with coppery patches, from which there sprang a growth of hair.
Bricheteau, quoted by the same authority, speaks of a woman of
twenty-four, having white skin and hair of deep black, who after a long
illness occasioned by an affection analogous to marasmus became
covered, especially on the back, breast, and abdomen, with a multitude
of small elevations similar to those which appear on exposure to cold.
These little elevations became brownish at the end of a few days, and
short, fair, silky hair was observed on the summit of each, which grew
so rapidly that the whole surface of the body with the exception of the
hands and face became velvety. The hair thus evolved was afterward
thrown out spontaneously and was not afterward reproduced.
Anomalies of the Color of the Hair.--New-born infants sometimes have
tufts of hair on their heads which are perfectly white in color.
Schenck speaks of a young man whose beard from its first appearance
grew white. Young men from eighteen to twenty occasionally become gray;
and according to Rayer, paroxysms of rage, unexpected and unwelcome
news, diseases of the scalp such as favus, wounds of the head, habitual
headache, over-indulgence of the sexual appetite, mercurial courses too
frequently repeated, too great anxiety, etc., have been known to blanch
the hair prematurely.
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