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Warren Commission Hearings: Vol. IV - Page 63« Previous | Next »

(Testimony of Paul Morgan Stombaugh)

Mr. Stombaugh.
Looking at the hair under low power--under a low-power microscope we find that a Caucasian hair differs from the hair of the Negroid or Mongoloid race in diameter fluctuation. The hair shaft varies in width through its entire length. I might take, for instance, this yellow or this black pencil. Here we find that the diameter of the pencil is uniform through the entire length. Now, if we would twist this pencil we would change the diameter of the pencil slightly. This would be so in a Caucasian hair, where there might be slight fluctuations in a hair, such as a person with wavy hair would have a slight fluctuation. The person with straight hair has hair shafts which for all practical purposes, are uniform in diameter the entire length.
In Negroid hair, there is great fluctuation. Their hair is very curly and kinky. This is caused by the great fluctuation present in their hairs.
Mr. Eisenberg.
You mean in the diameters?
Mr. Stombaugh.
Yes; diameters.
In Mongoloid hair, which includes Asiatic and North American Indians, there is little or no fluctuation present in their hairs.
Going back to the Caucasian hair, the color of the Caucasian individual's hair differs from black to blond and, of course, white.
Negroid hairs are dense black usually; some are white. There are a few exceptions here where we find some redheaded persons of this race. The Mongoloids are always black, but not quite as dense black as those of the Negroid race.
The texture of the hair: Caucasian head hairs, are very soft, flexible; Negroid hairs are very stiff and wiry; and Mongoloid hairs are flexible, but not as soft and flexible as the Caucasian.
Now, as to the general width, or rather diameter, of the shaft, we find Caucasian is medium, the Negroid is medium, the Mongoloid hairs are much larger than either the Negroid or the Caucasian.
Mr. Eisenberg.
May I have this chart which the witness has been discussing marked as 668, Mr. Chairman?
The Chairman.
Yes.
(Commission's Exhibit No. 668 was marked, and received in evidence.)
The Chairman.
May we take a recess at this time just for a few moments.
(Short recess.)
Mr. Dulles.
Mr. Eisenberg, would you proceed?
Mr. Eisenberg.
Yes, sir. Mr. Stombaugh, you were discussing the characteristics of Caucasian as opposed to Negroid and Mongoloid hair. Could you proceed with that discussion?
Mr. Stombaugh.
I have another chart here.
Mr. Eisenberg.
That is labeled "Racial Determination of Hairs" and unlike chart 668 it has no subcaption under that general caption, is that correct?
Mr. Stombaugh.
That is correct. In the previous chart I used I had taken some photographs of hairs under relatively low power, 100 diameters.
In this chart I have enlarged the hairs, taking them under approximately 400 diameters, so we can look into the hair. Here we begin to see the real differences between the hairs among the various races.
In the Caucasian race, the cuticle, in other words, the layer of scales around the outside of the hair, is medium to thick.
In the Negroid hair the cuticle is very thick. In the Mongoloid hair the cuticle is very thick.
Pigmentation in the cortex, which gives the hair the color, in Caucasian hair is very fine to coarse and is very evenly distributed throughout the cortex of the hair. In Negroid hair the pigment is medium to coarse, but the big difference is that the pigment granules are clumped together, leaving large white-gapped areas throughout the cortex of the hair.
In the Mongoloid hair, the pigment is medium to coarse but it is very heavily distributed throughout the hair. As you can see, in the Caucasian hair the cortex is relatively light. In Negroid hair it is clumped, and in Mongoloid hair it is dense.
Mr. Eisenberg.
Mr. Chairman, may I have this chart admitted as 669?
Mr. Dulles.
It is admitted as 669.
(Commission Exhibit No. 669 was marked, and received in evidence.)
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