at all events Miocene precursor of man, was a furred creature. The discovery of Egyptian mummies six thousand years old or more has proved that this physical criterion remains unchanged, and that it is to-day what it was so many scores of centuries back. Perhaps, then, the primary divisions of mankind were distinguished by hair the same in texture and colour as that which characterizes to-day the great ethnical groups. The wavy type bridges the gulf between the lank and woolly types, all in turn derived from a common hair-covered being. In this connexion it is worth mention, as pointed out by P. Topinard, that though the regions occupied by the negroid races are the habitat of the anthropoid apes, the hair of the latter is real hair, not wool. Further in the eastern section of the dark domain, while the Papuan is still black and dolichocephalic, his presumed progenitor, the orang-utan, is brachycephalic with decidedly red hair. Thus the white races are seen to come nearest the higher apes in this respect, yellow next, and black farthest removed.
No test has proved, on repeated examination, to be a safer one of racial purity than the quality of hair, and Pruner-Bey goes so far as to suggest that “a single hair presenting the average form characteristic of the race might serve to define it.” At any rate a hair of an individual bears the stamp of his origin.
See Dr Pruner-Bey in Mémoires de la société d’anthropologie, ii. P. A. Brown, Classification of Mankind by the Hair; P. Topinard, L’Homme dans la nature (1891), chap. vi.
Commerce.—Hair enters into a considerable variety of manufactures. Bristles are the stout elastic hairs obtained from the backs of certain breeds of pigs. The finest qualities, and the greatest quantities as well, are obtained from Russia, where a variety of pig is reared principally on account of its bristles. The best and most costly bristles are used by shoemakers, secondary qualities being employed for toilet and clothes-brushes, while inferior qualities are worked up into the commoner kinds of brushes used by painters and for many mechanical purposes. For artists’ use and for decorative painting, brushes or pencils of hair from the sable, camel, badger, polecat, &c., are prepared. The hair of various animals which is too short for spinning into yarn is utilized for the manufacture of felt. For this use the hair of rabbits, hares, beavers and of several other rodents is largely employed, especially in France, in making the finer qualities of felt hats. Cow hair, obtained from tanneries, is used in the preparation of roofing felts, and felt for covering boilers or steam-pipes, and for other similar purposes. It is also largely used by plasterers for binding the mortar of the walls and roofs of houses; and it is to some extent being woven up into coarse friezes, horse-cloths, railway rugs and inferior blankets. The tail hair of oxen is also of value for stuffing cushions and other upholstery work, for which purpose, as well as for making the official wigs of law officers, barristers, &c., the tail and body hair of the yak or Tibet ox is also sometimes imported into Europe. The tail and mane hair of horses is in great demand for various purposes. The long tail hair is especially valuable for weaving into hair-cloth, mane hair and the short tail hair being, on the other hand, principally prepared and curled for stuffing the chairs, sofas and couches which are covered with the cloth manufactured from the long hair. The horse hair used in Great Britain is principally obtained from South America, Germany and Russia, and its sorting, cleaning and working up into the various manufactures dependent on the material are industries of some importance. In addition to the purposes already alluded to, horse hair is woven into crinoline for ladies’ bonnets, plaited into fishing lines, woven into bags for oil and cider pressers, and into straining cloths for brewers, &c., and for numerous other minor uses. The manufactures which arise in connexion with human hair are more peculiar than important, although occasionally fashions arise which cause a large demand for human hair. The fluctuations of such fashions determine the value of hair; but at all times long tresses are of considerable value. Grey, light, pale and auburn hair are distinguished as extra colours, and command much higher prices than the common shades. The light-coloured hair is chiefly obtained in Germany and Austria, and the south of France is the principal source of the darker shades. In the south of France the cultivation and sale of heads of hair by peasant girls is a common practice; and hawkers attend fairs for the special purpose of engaging in this traffic. Hair 5 and even 6 ft. long is sometimes obtained. Scarcely any of the “raw material” is obtained in the United Kingdom except in the form of ladies’ “combings.” Bleaching of hair by means of peroxide of hydrogen is extensively practised, with the view of obtaining a supply of golden locks, or of preparing white hair for mixing to match grey shades; but in neither case is the result very successful. Human hair is worked up into a great variety of wigs, scalps, artificial fronts, frizzets and curls, all for supplementing the scanty or failing resources of nature. The plaiting of human hair into articles of jewellery, watch-guards, &c., forms a distinct branch of trade.
HAIR-TAIL (Trichiurus), a marine fish belonging to the
Acanthopterygii scombriformes, with a long band-like body
terminating in a thread-like tail, and with strong prominent
teeth in both jaws. Several species are known, of which one,
common in the tropical Atlantic, not rarely reaches the British
Islands.
HAITI [Haïti, Hayti, San Domingo, or Hispaniola], an
island in the West Indies. It lies almost in the centre of the
chain and, with the exception of Cuba, is the largest of the group.
Its greatest length between Cape Engano on the east and Cape
des Irois on the west is 407 m., and its greatest breadth between
Cape Beata on the south and Cape Isabella on the north 160 m.
The area is 28,000 sq. m., being rather less than that of Ireland.
From Cuba, 70 m. W.N.W., and from Jamaica, 130 m. W.S.W.,
it is separated by the Windward Passage; and from Porto Rico,
60 m. E., by the Mona Passage. It lies between 17° 37′ and
20° 0′ N. and 68° 20′ and 74° 28′ W. From the west coast
project two peninsulas. The south-western, of which Cape
Tiburon forms the extremity, is the larger. It is 150 m. long
and its width varies from 20 to 40 m. Columbus landed at Mole
St Nicholas at the point of the north-western peninsula, which
is 50 m. long, with an average breadth of 40 m. Between these
lies the Gulf of Gonaïve, a triangular bay, at the apex of which
stands the city of Port-au-Prince. The island of Gonaïve,
opposite the city at a distance of 27 m., divides the entrance to
Port-au-Prince into two fine channels, and forms an excellent
harbour, 200 sq. m. in extent, the coral reefs along the coast
being its only defect. On the north-east coast is the magnificent
Bay of Samana, formed by the peninsula of that name, a
mountain range projecting into the sea; its mouth is protected
by a coral reef stretching 812m. from the south coast. There is
however, a good passage for ships, and within lies a safe and
beautiful expanse of water 300 sq. m. in extent. Beyond Samana,
with the exception of the poor harbour of Santo Domingo, there
are no inlets on the east and south coasts until the Bays of Ocoa
and Neyba are reached. The south coast of the Tiburon peninsula
has good harbours at Jacmel, Bainet, Aquin and Les Cayes or
Aux Cayes. The only inlets of any importance between Aux
Cayes and Port-au-Prince are Jeremie and the Bay of Baraderes.
The coast line is estimated at 1250 m.
Haiti is essentially a mountainous island. Steep escarpments, leading to the rugged uplands of the interior, reach almost everywhere down to the shores, leaving only here and there a few strips of beach. There are three fairly distinct mountain ranges, the northern, central and southern, with parallel axes from E. to W.; while extensive and fertile plains lie between them. The northern range usually called the Sierra de Monti Cristi, extends from Cape Samana on the east to Cape Fragata on the west. It has a mean elevation of 3000 ft., culminating in the Loma Diego Campo (3855 ft.), near the centre of the range. The central range runs from Cape Engano to Cape St Nicholas, some 400 m. in an oblique direction from E. to W. Towards the centre of the island it broadens and forms two distinct chains; the northern, the Sierra del Cibao, constituting the backbone of Haiti; the southern curving first S.W., then N.W., and reaching the sea near St Marc. In addition to these there are a number of secondary crests, difficult to trace to the backbone of the system, since the loftiest peaks are usually on some lateral ridge. Such for instance is Loma Tina (10,300 ft.) the highest
