Holy Writ simply teems with allusions to the luxurious tresses of the fair daughters of the East, and there is little doubt that at an early period in the world's history women awakened to the fact that a well-tired head was a very potent attraction, and had a recognised market value. Jewish women were particularly famed in this respect, and employed female barbers, who, with the aid of crisping pins, horns, and towers, prepared their clients for conquest. These jewelled horns were generally made of the precious metals, and the position denoted the condition of the wearer. A married woman had it fixed on the right side of the head, a widow on the left, and she who was still an unappropriated blessing on the crown. Over the horn the veil was thrown coquettishly, as in the illustration. Assyrian women delighted in long ringlets, confined by a band of metal, and the men were not above the weakness of plaiting gold wire with their beards. Rimmel, in "The Book of Perfumes," relates a curious anecdote of Mausolus, King of Caria, who turned his people's fondness for flowing locks to account when his exchequer required replenishing. "Having first had a quantity of wigs made and stored in the royal warehouses, he published an edict compelling all his subjects to have their heads shaved. A few days after, the monarch's agents went round, offering them the perukes destined to cover their denuded polls, which they were delighted to buy at any price". It is not surprising that Artemisia could not console herself for the loss of such a clever husband, and that, not satisfied with drinking his ashes dissolved in wine, she spent some of her lamented lord's ill-gotten revenue in building such a monument to his memory that it was counted one of the wonders of the world. [Illustration: EGYPTIAN HEAD-DRESS.] The Egyptians were also partial to wigs, some of which are still preserved in the British Museum. Ladies wore a multitude of small plaits and jewelled head-pieces resembling peacocks and other animals, which contrasted with their dark tresses with brilliant effect; or a fillet ornamented with a lotus bud. The coiffure of a princess was remarkable for its size and the abundance of animal, vegetable, and mineral treasures with which it was adorned. In Egyptian tombs and elsewhere have been discovered small wooden combs resembling the modern tooth-comb, and metal mirrors of precisely the same shape as those in use at the present day, as well as numerous other toilet appliances. [Illustration: ANCIENT GRECIAN.]