, 1845. He says that beard-tokens
are rare, and he thinks that the national aversion to their origin
probably caused their destruction or dispersion after they had served
their purpose for the year.
POWDERING THE HAIR
In the olden days hair-powder was largely used in this country, and many
circumstances connected with its history are curious and interesting. We
learn from Josephus that the Jews used hair-powder, and from the East it
was no doubt imported into Rome. The history of the luxurious days of
the later Roman Empire supplies some strange stories. At this period
gold-dust was employed by several of the emperors. "The hair of
Commodus," it is stated on the authority of Herodian, "glittered from
its natural whiteness, and from the quantity of essences and gold-dust
with which it was loaded, so that when the sun was shining it might have
been thought that his head was on fire."
It is supposed, and not without a good show of reason, that the Saxons
used coloured hair-powder, or perhaps they dyed their hair.
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