Change of Color in the Hair from the Internal Use of Pilocarpin. EXHIBITION OF SPECIMENS. BY D. W. PRENTISS, M.D., OF WASHINGTON, D. C. Read in the Section of Dermatology and Syphilography, at the Fortieth Annual Meeting of the American Medical Association, June, 1889. Reprinted from the "Journal of the American Medical Association," December 21, 1889. CHICAGO Printed at the Office of the Association 1889. CHANGE OF COLOR IN THE HAIR FROM THE INTERNAL USE OF PILOCAR- PIN. EXHIBITION OF SPECIMENS. In the Phila. Med. Times of July 2, 1881. I published a case entitled "Remarkable Change in the Color of the Hair from Light Blonde to Black in a Patient while under Treatment by Pilocarpin. Report of a Case of Pyelo-Nephri- tis, with unusually prolonged Anuria.'' This was a case of a lady, 25 years of age, and the drug was used to relieve the uraemic symptoms resulting from the anuria, which latter was ex- treme. A record was kept of the amount of urine ex- creted, and this shows that on one occasion, from December 16 to December 23, a period of seven days, not a drop of urine was passed, and that from January 22, 1881, to February 2, eleven days, there was total anuria. From January 22 to February 11 (twenty-one days), but 36 grams, or a little over 2 ozs. of urine were passed. During this time the catheter was used twice daily. The uraemic symptoms were very marked and distressing, consisting of Note.-The specimens presented were as described in the paper. In addition a specimen of the hair of the lady was shown, taken this month (June, 1889), and was nearly black. Dr. Prentiss also showed specimens of the ermine in winter pelt (pure white), sum- mer pelt-white and brown-and in process of change between the two. And also specimens of the bobolink {Dolichonyx Orizivorus), showing similar changes. Wm. T. Corlett, Sec'y of the Section. 2 dry skin, continual vomiting, severe headache, insomnia, muscular twitchings, confusion of vis- ion, delirium, and threatened convulsions. Hot baths and hot packs did not cause sweating, and gave no relief. On December 16, 1880, treatment of pilocarpin hydrochlor-ate hypodermically was commenced, the dose given being 1 centigram (gr. The effect of this was very prompt, and the sweating and salivation produced most profuse. The relief to the uraemic symptoms was complete, the pa- tient falling into a quiet sleep as soon as the effect of the drug ceased, and sleeping all night, awak- ing in the morning bright and refreshed. The pilocarpin was thus used twenty-two times from December 16, 1880, to February 22, 1881, requir- ing 35 or 40 centigrams. As the patient became accustomed to the medi- cine it was found necessary to give 2 centigrams at a dose. After February 22 she began to im- prove, and no more was required. Change in Color of the Hair.-All her life up to November, 1880, the hair was a light blonde. Four specimens of the hair were sent to the edi- tor of the Phila. Med. Times, with the report of the case, for his inspection, and were as follows: " 1. November, 1879. "2. November, 1880.-On both dates the color was the same, a light blonde, with tinge of yellow. "3. January 12, 1881.-A chestnut brown; and "4. May 1, 1881.-Almost a pure black." The growth of hair was also more vigorous and individual hairs thicker. I believed at the time, and still believe, that this change of color was caused by the pilocar- pin. The lady is still at this date (March 10, 1889) under my observation. Her hair is nowr dark brown, having returned to that color from 3 black. The full report of this case can be found in the Phila. Med. Times for July 2, 1881. The following case is reported, as adding another to the evidence thatjaborandi will produce the ef- fect mentioned under favorable circumstances: Mrs. L., aet. 72 years, suffering from Bright's disease, contracted kidney. Hair and eyebrows have been snow-white for twenty years. Suffered greatly from itching of the skin, due to the urae- mia of the kidney disease. Skin harsh and dry. For this symptom fid. ext. of jaborandi was prescribed, with the effect of relieving the itching. It was taken in doses of 20 or 30 drops, several times a day, from October, 1886, to February, 1888. During the fall of 1887 it was noticed by the nurse that the eyebrows were growing darker, and that the hair of the head was darker in patch- es, These patches and the eyebrows continued to become darker, until at the time of her death they were quite black, the black tufts on the head pre- senting a very curious appearance among the sil- ver-white hair surrounding them. At the time the first of these cases was reported, the facts as stated were received with considerable incredulity, the editor of one well-known Western medical journal openly refusing them credit. Others preferred the charge that the lady had formerly bleached her hair, and that when this was no longer possible her hair returned to its original color. In reply to these "suggestions," I will only say that the facts are known to scores of people at her home in Washington, D. C., and are en- tirely beyond question. As illustrating the ubiquity of the daily press, and the ease with which all sorts of nostrums, valueless or otherwise, may be brought into no- 4 tice through the newspapers, and how easy it is to make such a matter profitable to the advertiser, I mention an incident in connection with the case j ust reported: It seems that some enterprising newspaper man became cognizant of the case, and put a short no- tice in a New York daily paper, to the effect that a drug had been discovered that would turn white hair black, and make hair grow on bald heads, giving my name as being connected with the Smithsonian Institution. This paragraph must have been extensively copied in newspapers both throughout this coun- try and abroad. The first intimation I had of its existence was an avalanche of letters from all parts of the country wanting information, some offering money for the receipt, others enclosing money in advance; which latter, be it known, I at once returned. One from London, England, enclosing the half of a two-dollar bill, with the information that the other half would be speedily forthcoming on re- ceipt of the formula or medicine. These are the only cases thus far reported in ■which pilocarpin has been supposed to change the color of the hair. In 1879 Dr. G. Schmitz,1 of Cologne, reported two cases in which pilocarpin stimulated the growth of the hair in alopecia. One patient, set. 60-completely bald. Pilocarpin subcutaneously for disease of the eye. After three injections, within a fortnight, the head became covered with a thick down which grew rapidly, so that in four months no trace of the baldness was left. No mention is made of the color. In the second case the patient, set 34, had a bald patch on top of the 1 Berliner Klinische Wochenschrift, No. 4, 1879; Med. Bull., Philadelphia, 1882. 5 head the size of a playing card. Total restoration of the hair after two injections, in a short time. Scholler2 tells of similar results in animals in whom alopecia had been produced by injections of bacteria. Oscar Simon3 relates the case of a woman aet. 30. General alopecia-head, eyebrows, eyelashes, axillae and pudenda. In a few weeks after twenty injections of pilocarpin the lanugo of the whole body was restored. In other cases so treated there was no effect whatever. Prof. Pick4 relates the case of a man who was afflicted with alopecia areolata. Two weeks after pilocarpin injections followed a fine colorless lanu- go, and in twelve weeks restoration of the hair. Ten cases of alopecia pityrodes favorable results from same treatment. Color of hair not men- tioned. Landesberg,5 of Philadelphia, says that in more than 100 cases of eye disease treated by pilocarpin he observed no effect whatever upon the growth of the hair. Dose and mode of administration not mentioned. In 1882 Julius Pohlman0 experimented on white rabbits by hypodermic injections of pilocarpin. The dose used was large, 1 grain three times a day. No change in color was noted in pure white rab- bits. In particolored animals, white and brown, in one a brown spot on back of head deepened and spread to a remarkable degree down th£ back and sides of the animal to the legs. In other in- dividuals no change was noticed. Post-mortems in these animals showed enlarged spleen and al- tered suprarenal capsules. 2 Klebs' Archiv., 1879. 3 Berliner Klinische Wochensch., 1879. 4 Verteljahrschrift fur Dermat. und Syphil., 1880. 5 Med. Bull., Phila., 1882. 6 Buffalo Med. and Surg. Jour., 1882, p. 441. 6 The question of change of color of the hair is an interesting one both from a physiological point of view and from the practical one of pathology. The physiological aspect embraces the question of how a change of color takes place-whether in existing hairs or produced by shedding of the hair and a new growth taking its place of a different color. It has been doubted by good authority, Hebra and Kaposi, if the hair, after being once devel- oped, can change except by a very gradual pro- cess. This doubt is based upon the theory that the hair has no vascular or nerve connection with the general system, and must therefore be inde- pendent of nervous or systemic influence. This position is, however, not tenable. The clinical evidence is positive that the hair does change color under systemic influences-sometimes grad- ually and sometimes suddenly. We hear frequent- ly of the hair turning white in a night from violent emotions, as fright, great grief or great joy, and it has come to be a method of expressing extreme emotion to say " it was enough to turn one's hair white." I say it is not an uncommon thing to see mention of such cases in popular literature- but well authenticated cases are not so often found. It is recorded in history that the hair of Marie An- toinette and Mary Queen of Scots became white suddenly from the horrors to which they were subjected. Poets have not failed to avail them- selves of the idea. Byron in the " Prisoner of Chilion ' ' says: " My hair is gray, but not with years, Nor grew it white In a single night, As men's have grown from sudden fears." A short time since, in conversation with an eminent microscopist and pathologist, I asked 7 how he would explain from the basis of minute anatomy the sudden change in color of the hair. He replied that he did not explain it; that he did not believe it happened; that the reported cases were not authenticated. He further said that from the structure of the hair and its relation to the skin, he considered it impossible. Duhring, 3d Edition, is authority for the state- ment that Hebra and Kaposi discredit sudden cani- ties. There is nevertheless no doubt of the fact that such change does sometimes occur, and to set the matter definitely at rest I looked up the subject in the Library of the Surgeon-General's Office. The following are some of the references found: Dr. Wm, P, Dewees7 reports a case of puerperal convulsions under his care. From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. 50 ozs. of blood were taken. Between the times of Dr. Dewees' visits, not more than an hour, the hair anterior to the coronal suture turned white. The next day it was less light, and in four or five days was nearly its natural color. He also mentions two cases of sudden blanching from fright. Dr. Robert Fowler8 reports the case of a girl 16 years of age, apparently in good health, hair black; found one morning in combing her hair that a strip the whole length of the back hair was white, starting from a surface about 2 inches sq. around the occipital protuberance. Two weeks later she had patches of Ephelis over the whole body. In the Canada Jour. Med. Sei., 1882, p. 113, is reported a case of sudden canities due to business worry. Microscope showed a great many air ves- icles both in the medullary substance and between the medullary and cortical substance. 7 Phila. Med. Mus., 1807, Vol. iii, p. 219. 8 London Lancet, 1853, p. 556. 8 Dr. Graves9 says most authors are of the opin- ion that the hair, once formed, is independent of the organism-with which opinion he disagrees, instancing Plica Polonica as opposed to such a theory. He gives the following cases : 1. British officer in India, 48 years old, fell into bad health and became prematurely gray. Re- turned to England, regained his health, and in four years his hair returned to its original brown. 2. In a man 67 years of age, hair white, chest covered with long white hair, chest was blistered, and when hair grew out over blistered surface, it was black. 3. Man set. 35, bald. Small blister size of crown piece was applied to vertex for congestion of brain. Growth of hair followed over blistered surface. 4. Lady, hair of vertex gray and very scanty. Tar water applied. Hair grew and was of natu- ral color. 5. Same occurred in another case after applica- tion of citrine ointment. In the Boston Med. and Surg. Jour., 1851, is reported a case of a man 30 years old; hair scared white in a day by a grizzly bear. Was sick in a mining camp, was left alone and fell asleep. On waking found a grizzly bear standing over him. A second case : Man of 23 years was gambling in California. Placed his entire savings of $1,100 on the turn of a card ; was under tremendous ner- vous excitement while the cards were being dealt. He won. The next day his hair was perfectly white. In the same article is the statement that the jet black hair of the Pacific Islanders does not turn gray gradually, but when it does turn it is sudden, usually the result of fright or sudden emotions. 9 Dublin Quar. Jour. Med. Sci., 1847. 9 The following cases are of change of color from white to black: Dr. Bruley,10 physician to the Fontainebleu, reported to the Society Medicale, Paris, in 1798, the case of a woman 60 years old, hair naturally white and transparent as glass, became jet black four days before her death (phthisis). On exam- ination after death the bulbs of the black hairs were of immense size and engorged with dark pigment. The roots of white hairs that remained were dried up and two-thirds smaller in size.11 Dr. Alanson Abbe12 mentions case of Dr. Capen, who had become gray, but on recovery from dis- ease his hair became quite dark. In the St. Louis Med. and Surg. Jour., 1845, p. 310, there is reported the case of an old man 81 years of age, robust and hale. Hair from being perfectly white became black-same of the beard. This man also presented the phenomena of second sight; could read readily without glasses. The text-books on skin diseases also mention cases. Several cases of sudden canities are re- ferred to in Ziemssen. Brown-Sequard in his own person noticed one day a white hair in his beard where there was none the day previous. He pulled it out and the next day others appeared. This was observed re- peatedly, and there was no doubt the hair in its entire length turned white in one night. Under the microscope these white hairs showed small air bubbles in place of the normal pigment. In a case of hemiplegia, the hair became white on the paralyzed side. The same has been reported in cases of neuralgia. Other anomalous cases have been noted where the hair became white in patch- es, and where individual hairs have been seen al- io Boston Med. and Surg. Jour., 1852, p. 406. 11 Wilson. Skin Dis. p. 377. '2 L,oc. cit. 10 ternately white and black at different stages of its growth-to which condition Karsh and Landois have given the name of " ringed hair, " and as- cribed it to an intermittent trophic disease affect- ing the hair follicle. Wilson18 mentions a case where the hair was gray in winter and regained its normal color in summer. Alibert14 and Beizel relate cases of women with blonde hair which all came out after severe fever, and when new hair grew it was black. Alibert also relates the case of a young man who lost brown hair during illness, and that which re- placed it was red. In the case of an epileptic girl of idiotic type with alternating phases of stu- pidity and excitement, during the stage of stupid- ity the hair was blonde; during excitement it was red. This change of color took place in two or three days-the change always beginning at the ends of the hairs. Pale hairs showed an increased number of air spaces. It has been frequently ob- served that when the hair changes color gradually the change begins in the end and extends toward the bulb. In conversation with an eminent or- nithologist on the change of color in the plumage of birds he said: "I have lately been watching hairs in my moustache turn gray, and it always begins at the ends and extends to the roots." Speaking on the subject with a lady (the one who furnished the specimens here shown), she mentioned the case of the physician who attended her at the seashore last summer. The doctor's hair was long and quite gray. One day he came in to see her after having his hair cut and she was surprised to notice that the gray hair had given place to black. Examination showed that '3Drocker. Dis. of Skin, 1888. Mkoc. cit. 11 his hair towards the ends had been white and that nearer the skin black. The white portion had been removed by the cutting. The cases here collected are only a few in com- parison to what might be found ; but they are sufficient to prove beyond all reasonable doubt that the hair does suddenly change color under certain circumstances, and that the change takes place in existing hairs. Analogous to changes in the color of the hair in man are the changes which occur in the lower animals. In animals and birds such changes are often periodical, as in. their summer and winter coats. This occurs to a very marked degree in a great many species. Thus the ermine in summer is dark brown, in winter is pure white. Among birds the ptarmigan is white in winter and brown in summer. So with our familiar bobolink, yel- low in fall, in spring black and buff. As to the question whether, in birds and animals, this change takes place in individual feathers and hairs, or whether all the old plumage and fur is shed by moulting, recent investigations favor the view that it is due to both. Dr. Elliott Cones13 says it may be either or both. Mr. Robt. Ridge- way (Smithsonian Institute) inclines to the opin- ion that in birds it is accomplished by moulting. Dr. Louis Stejneger (Smithsonian Institute) was formerly of same opinion, but recent studies have inclined him to the belief that there is also a change in the color of existing feathers. He was led to this change of belief by a critical study of the changes in color of the black and white fly- catcher of Europe, and especially from an exam- ination of a series of twenty-seven specimens of the narcissus flycatcher {Xanthophygalia Narcis- Fur Bearing Animals. 12 sina) of Japan. His studies in full will appear in the Proceedings of the U. S. National Museum, 1889. Dr. C. Hart Merriam, Ornithologist of the Agricultural Department, in a letter dated June 12, 1889, says : " The change from fall to spring plumage in birds is due to moult-without excep- tion as far as I am aware. In the case of mam- mals the matter is now in dispute. Probably in the majority of cases it is due in part to moult and in part to actual change in the color of ex- isting hairs The change in color from im- maturity to maturity is always due to the growth of new hairs or feathers." That the change in birds and mammals is due in part at least to change of existing coats seems established. Sometimes this change is almost sudden, as where the change of season is very abrupt. In such case of course there would not be time for the growth of new hair or plumage. In the golden plover {Charadrius Dominicus) the black belly of summer changes to white in winter. While this change is taking place indi- vidual feathers part black and part white may be seen. In Bonaparte's gull, a common gull of our coast (Larus Philadelphia) the black of the head of summer changes to white in winter principally by change in color of existing feathers. Another interesting feature of this question as bearing on the change in the color of the hair by drugs, is the influence of certain substances ad- ministered as food, in changing the color of tissues in some of the lower orders. In orange canaries it has come to be an established fact that by feeding the parent birds with a certain kind of food the active ingredient of which is cayenne pepper, the offspring will be of an orange color, and orange- colored canaries may be seen in the stores of most bird fanciers. A food for producing orange cana- 13 ries is extensively advertised by a bird dealer in Baltimore (Bishop). It is reported that the In- dians of the Amazon cause green parrots to change to yellow and red by feeding them upon the fat of a certain fish allied to the shad.10 Dr. Merriam, in the letter previously quoted, says: "It is well known that food affects the color in birds. Red purple finches and pine grosbeaks invariably turn yellow when caged. This is due undoubtedly to the absence of some important food element. In some of the Zoological Gardens of Europe it is the custom to send white spoonbills and flamin- goes to Amsterdam Garden to be recolored. The particular food by which Mr. Westermann accom- plishes this end is a secret-but it is believed to be a kind of shrimp or small crustacean which has a quantity of red pigment in its shell.'' In the same direction are the changes of color in other tissues by particular foods. It has long been known that when pigs are fed on madder their bones become red. This fact has been taken advantage of by physiologists in studying the structure and development of bone. The phos- phate of lime acts on the coloring matter of mad- der as a mordaunt. When given intermittently to a growing animal, the bone presents alternate rings of red and white.10 Darwin17 mentions that pigs in Virginia eat the paint root (Lachnanthes Tinctorial) and their bones are colored pink, and it caused the hoofs of all but the black varieties to drop off. " From facts collected by Heusinger it appears that white sheep and pigs are injured by certain plants, whilst dark- colored individuals escaped On asking some farmers in Virginia how it was that all their i6 Wallace's Amazon. i^Todd's Cyclop, of Anat, and Physiol., Vol. iii, p. 853. 17 Origin of Species, p. 9. 14 pigs were black he was informed that the black members of a litter were selected for raising, as they only had a chance of living." Fleurens (1824) made use of madder for col- oring the semicircular canals of pigeons, to out- line the canals more distinctly. See also Ferrier on "Functions of the Brain," and the writings of Vulpin, the French physiologist. Mr. Lucas, osteologist of the National Museum, informs me that the bones of the crow are made purple by feeding on pokeberries. Ridgway says the bones of the Western fox squirrel are red while those of its Eastern brother are white. No cause has been assigned for the difference. See also experiments by Marci Paolini in 1841. (Specimen quorundam experimentorum de vi Ru- biae ad ossa ovorumque Gallinarium putamina calcariae coloranda. No. 1 of Miscellanii Med- ichi, Pamphlet Vol. 1149.) He gives a very good plate of the colored skeleton of a fowl, and also of its colored egg after four months feeding Ru- bio. Tinctorium. He also gives references to other authorities, the most satisfactory of which is Bel- chior, Philosophical Transactions, Vol. 9, 1732- 44, who gives an account of feeding hogs and fowls with madder root and wheat meal. A rooster so fed died in sixteen days, and showed the condition admirably. Other writers take up the subject after him in the same publication. It is reported that among workers in cobalt and indigo the hair becomes blue. Also in artisans working with copper, the hair takes a greenish hue. The color of butterflies can be changed accord- ing to the food upon which the caterpillars are fed. More remarkable still, perhaps, is the change of color in the chameleon, and in many insects, 15 according to the color of the substance with which they are in contact. The environment undoubtedly has a powerful influence upon the coloring of animals and birds. This is clearly illustrated in every museum of natural history. Specimens from arid desert re- gions are uniformly of a dull, faded appearance compared with those from regions of luxuriant foliage. M. G. Pouchet,18 in his work "Mechanism of Change of Color in Fishes and Crustaceans,'' says that change of color in fishes is due to the size of contractile colored cells placed in the skin. These are under the influence of the nerves. The author found that the particular nerves controlling them (in the turbot) were nerves of the sympathetic system. By cutting the nerve supplying a particular area of the skin, he had been able to retain that area unchanged in color, while the rest changed as the fish found it- self on a dark or light surface. That the eye is the means by which this change in its condition is communicated to the fish or crustacean, and that then reflex action takes place through the sympathetic nerves on the color cells of the chro- matophors, is proved by the fact that when the animal experimented on is blinded, no further change of color occurs when it is removed from light to dark or the opposite. Also see Monthly Microscopical Jozirnal, 1871, Vol. vi, M. G. Pouchet on "Study of Connection of Nerves and Chromoblasts '' (principally in fishes and batrachians). The reasons assigned by naturalists for periodi- cal change in color of plumage or fur are twofold: 1. Sexual selection. 2. As a protection against enemies. 18 Trans, of Brit. Assoc, for Adv. of Science, 1872, p. 152. 16 i. Sexual selection. The male takes oxi a brighter and more attractive appearance to facili- tate the business of courtship and the securing of a mate. 2. Asa protection against enemies. In Arctic regions birds and mammals are usually white in winter, the color of the snow, so that they are with more difficulty found by their enemies. Dar- win supposes that originally only a few individu- als took on this change, and these being better protected, gradually, by a process of natural se- lection, only the white variety was left. It is apparent from what has been said that there is very much concerning the changes of color of the hair and other appendages of the skin in man and the lower animals that is not understood. In its normal condition the color of the hair is dependent upon the hair bulb. It is here that the melanine is secreted from the color- ing matter of the blood, and from this point as the hair grows it permeates its cells, the intensity and shades, from black to blonde, depending prin- cipally upon the amount of the coloring matter. In black hair the hair bulb is larger, contains a greater amount of melanine, and the hair itself is coarser and of more vigorous growth. In those cases where the hair has turned from white to black, and minute examination has been made, this has been found true. In the case reported by Bruley, already referred to, of a woman aet. 60 whose hair, previously white, became jet black four days before her death, the bulbs of the black hairs are described as being of immense size and engorged with dark pigment, while the roots of the white hairs that remained were dried up and two-thirds smaller in size. So, on the other hand, in change from dark 17 to white the hair is finer in texture, less vigorous in growth, and the hair bulbs smaller. The sudden change in canities when due to vio- lent emotions, can be explained in no other way than through the bulb. It is true that there is no direct vascular or nerve connection between the bulb and its hair after it emerges from the skin, but it is also undoubtedly true that there is communication by osmosis between the cells of the papilla and those of the shaft and different layers of the hair. Wilson19 ascribes the cause of sudden whiten- ing of hair to insufficient nutritive power of the skin ; also suggests that there may generate a gaseous fluid in the hair in place of its normal constituents. He says further that the fluids from the blood-vessels of the skin permeate the hair, and thus change in fluids may alter color. In all of the cases of sudden change to white, where the hair has been examined, the coloring matter has disappeared and in its place is found an accumulation of minute air globules. The same is true of gray hair of advancing age. How the air gets into the capillary structure has never been explained. Two possible explanations are offered. One is that in the destruction of the coloring matter a gaseous substance may be de- veloped. The other is that air may find entrance from without, through the sides or end of the hair. It is possible to suppose a condition of the bulb producing a vacuum in the hair shaft that shall cause, by suction, a drawing in of air. The view that the air finds entrance through the end of the hair is supported in the fact that the change of color begins at the extremity. Erector pili muscle has an important influence on pathological changes which take place in the J9 Lecture on Skin. 18 hair bulb. This minute muscle has its origin in the true skin and, passing downwards, is in- serted into the base of the hair bulb, so that when it contracts it lifts the hair outwards and com- presses its papilla. The effect of sudden fright causes the hair to "stand on end'' by contract- ing this muscle. Temperature has its influence with animals and birds. In cold weather (win- ter) the change is to white ; in summer to biack. Cold we know contracts the skin and thus prob- ably causes pressure on the hair bulb. That the hair is easily influenced by external causes, as well as those which come through its bulb, is fully demonstrated. The mere fact that it can he so readily dyed and bleached artificially shows that the agents used for this purpose penetrate its sub- stance. Bleaching agents such as chjorine, per- oxide of hydrogen and strong alkalies act by re- moving the coloring matter, and not by adding any whiteness of their own. It remains to say a few words upon the subject of changing the color of the hair by substances taken internally ; and as this paper has already exceeded the limit I had set for it, I shall be brief. i. In the human subject the only agent, as far as I am aware, which has been charged with changing the color of the hair, when taken inter- nally, is jaborandi. Of this sufficient has already been said. 2. Cayenne pepper in changing the color of canary birds to orange. This is is a well known fact to bird fanciers. I tried in Washington to get a specimen to show you, but was told it was not the season for them -that they came in the autumn. Also that they soon relapsed to their original color unless the cayenne pepper food was kept up. 3 The change of color in parrots by the In- 19 dians of the Amazon, from green to yellow or red, by feeding the fat of a certain kind of fish (Wallace's Amazon). 4. The restoration of certain birds to their orig- inal brilliant colors at the Zoological Garden, Amsterdam, by feeding a kind of shrimp or small crustacean. 5. As analogous to the above, the effect of madder in staining the bones of pigs red, and of pokeberries coloring crows' bones purple. It might be of interest, did time admit, to study the influence of diet and habit upon the color of hair in different nations of men ; as for instance, why the Saxons have light hair and the Gauls black hair. It is within the bounds of possibil- ity, also, that discoveries may be made in the fu- ture by which the color of the hair in the human race may be modified by judicious treatment of the parents. Some colors of hair are not popular, especially with ladies, and it is not likely that cayenne pep- per will ever become popular to produce the or- ange hue. But if its antithesis should be discov- ered and the orange changed to black or blonde, then perhaps the gentle maiden with auburn hair will disappear, and the white horse be left in mel- ancholy solitude.