10
T H O M A S S. A R G Y R I S
FIG. 6. Wounds made in female C 5 7 B L / 6 J mice with growing hair follicles. The
mice were plucked 1 0 days prior to wounding (from Argyris, 1 9 6 4 ) .
similarly sized wounds, suggests strongly that it is the competence of the
resting hair follicle to respond to the growth-promoting effects of damage
that is responsible for the variation in the time of appearance, amount,
rate and pattern of hair growth stimulation. The basis for this competence
has yet to be explained.
(ii) Growing hair follicles. Since damage results in the stimulation of
growth of resting hair follicles, we might predict that damage should not
affect growing hair follicles because they are already growing. T o test
this assumption wounds have been made on the backs of mice whose hair
follicles have been induced to grow b y plucking 10-12 days earlier (Fig.
6) (Argyris, 1962, 1964).
During the next 10 days after wounding, the growing hair follicles