Morphology and histochemistry of human hair.

This chapter is concerned with the structure of the mature human hair shaft and the chemical composition of its subcomponents as adduced from the examination of fibres mainly with the conventional transmission electron microscope (TEM). The broad outlines of the techniques used in the study of hair are reviewed, with particular attention being paid to the processes of chemical staining which enable one to define various aspects of the chemical composition of the hair's microscopic sub-components. Against this background the internal structure of normal undamaged hair is described.