Harold Kimball Jr.) age 11, of San Diego, Calif., for his question:

In the olden days the town barber was also the town surgeon. During the reign of Henry VIII an act was passed separating the two professions, and from then on barber¬surgeons could no longer perform surgical operations other than bloodletting and toothdrawing. 'The act also made it against the law for surgeons to practice barbery.

Bloodletting was practiced widely. By withdrawing a bit of blood, it was thought, most illnesses could be cured.

The barber' s pole of red and white spiral stripes still stands. In the olden days this striped pole represented the bandage with which the barber wrapped his patient after bloodletting. Today it marks the spot where you can get a haircut.