CHAP. 47.—THE HAIR.
Of all animals man has the longest hair upon the head; which
is the case more especially with those nations where the men and
women in common leave the hair to grow, and do not cut it.
Indeed, it is from this fact, that the inhabitants of the Alps
have obtained from us the name of " Capillati,"[1] as also those
of Gallia, " Comata."[2] There is, however, a great difference
in this respect according to the various countries. In the
island of Myconus,[3] the people are born without hair, just
as at Caunus the inhabitants are afflicted with the spleen
from their birth.[4] There are some animals, also, that are naturally bald, such as the ostrich, for instance, and the aquatic
raven, which last has thence derived its Greek[5] name. It is
but rarely that the hair falls off in women, and in eunuchs
such is never known to be the case; nor yet does any person
lose it before having known sexual intercourse.[6] The hair
does not fall off below the brain, nor yet beneath the crown of
the head, or around the ears and the temples. Man is the
only animal that becomes bald, with the exception, of course,
of such animals as are naturally so. Man and the horse are
the only creatures whose hair turns grey; but with man this is
always the case, first in the fore-part of the head, and then in
the hinder part.