By ANDREW WILSON, F. R. S. E.

That the beautifying or improvement of the person, under certain circumstances, is a perfectly legitimate procedure, when judged by the common-place rules of society, is a conclusion which demands no evidence by way of support. No one would dream for a moment of disputing the assertion, to come to personal details, that a defacing wart, mole, or wen, on the face, capable of being readily removed, without danger, by surgical interference, should be so disposed of. And to take the very common and exceedingly annoying case, of a profusion of hairs attaching themselves prominently, say, to some simple skin-growth, and capable of being permanently or temporarily removed by depilatories, the same remark holds good. Such acts of personal attention need no excuse. On the ground of common personal Æsthetics, apart altogether from the freedom of annoyance from marked blemishes of face or figure, the amelioration of such deformities is a bare act of justice to the individual in question. The removal of a blemish is physiologically as defensible a proceeding as the replacement of missing teeth by the aid of the dentist, and in this latter act we find the truest warrant, since, for digestive purposes, the possession of teeth or their artificial substitutes is absolutely necessary for the preservation of health. To the replacement of a maimed limb by an artificial one, there can be still less objection. The common ground of expediency, utility, and function, presents us with an unanswerable argument in favor of aiding nature, in so far as we are able, by the devices of art.

Very different, however, is the argument which would fain carry these same reasons into the domain of the peruke maker, and into that of the manufacturer of face-paints and lotions. On what grounds, Æsthetic or otherwise, could a change of color in the hair be demanded or defended? Similarly, on what grounds could we justify the practice of face-enameling, or the smoothing out of the wrinkles which time writes naturally enough on our brows and faces at large? It can not be argued that a false eyebrow or curl is as justifiable as false teeth, for the purpose of the latter as aids to digestion is plain enough; whilst the only conceivable ground for the adoption of the former appendages would be “an improvement in looks”—an avowedly small-minded excuse, and one, in any sense, of doubtful correctness. To the deficiency or want of eyebrows we become accustomed, as to the whiteness of hair or other peculiarities of physique; but if the practice of supplying nature’s defects—justifiable enough under certain conditions, as we have seen—is to be regarded as legitimate under all circumstances, the extremes of absurdity to which such a practice may and does lead are readily enough discerned. Admitting the false eyebrow, why should we exclude the “nose machine” advertised for the charitable purpose, when worn daily (in private), of altering the unbecoming natural style to that of a becoming and, it is to be presumed, fashionable olfactory organ?

Of the deleterious effects of the continued application of the fashionable lotions and varnishes for the face, medical science is not slow to testify. Few readers can forget the exposures in the famous Rachel case; or the testimony then and at other times offered, to show that such “preparations” for the toilet are made, as a rule, to sell and not to use. Let Dr. Taylor, in the name of authority, speak concerning the effects of common hair-dyes. “Cosmetics and hair-dyes,” says this author, “containing preparations of lead, commonly called hair-restorers(!) may also produce dangerous effects. I have met,” he continues, “with an instance in which paralysis of the muscles on one side of the neck arose from the imprudent use of a hair-dye containing litharge. These hair-dyes, or ‘hair-restorers,’ are sometimes solutions of acetate of lead of variable strength in perfumed and colored water. In other cases they consist of hyposulphite of lead, dissolved in an excess of hyposulphite of soda. In one instance, the continued use of such a dye is reported to have proved fatal, and lead was found in the liver, and in one of the kidneys. Mr. Lacy,” adds Dr. Taylor, “has pointed out the injury to health which is likely to follow the use of white lead as a cosmetic by actors.” Doubtless “preparations” do exist, in which the metal in question is absent; but in any case, the want of certainty as to the composition of the substance, should, in itself, serve as a condition inculcating caution and suspicion in regard to the use of such nostrums.