New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1855-01-24
THE EFFECTS OF sALERATUS.
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SIR 10 former number Of this paper alluded to
the use Of Salerstus in modern cookery. have not
hesitaisc 20 pronounce Il an efficient agent IN the
production Of that most alarming nfsnnie nortsity
which prevails Your resders know, perhaps, that
We ose sbout SEQ 900 nh .btans of the United states
every yesr under ten years Of age and some OF them
know if they have read all tina, has been written on
the subject within few years that not lee Of these
children might have survived had il not been for the
effects OF Saleraius.
Some individuals have doubted the truth OF my
suggestions. They have seriously Questioned whether
Saerstus is really poisonous Such individuals may
be interested n the following statement snd facts;
HAD been lecruripg in North Adams, Mas, on
Diet and Regimen. Al the close of the lecture the
Rev. Robert Crawford came 10 ME and inquired
whether al. not foLd of collecting tacts; and when
replied in the affirmative, h. gave me 4 particular
account OF an incident in Will an.town which is Only
four miles from thai place
In the yesr 1885 q indiy.u, fems- who Wa desir-
Gus OF tIyibg 70 earn an 'ou's Livelihood Tor herssf
and her family by keeping b. sri n rented house
in WIh.ms,0wn aud ip,k about fifteen bosrlers
They were chiefly, 4 rct ~houy young men who
were s'tei ding the ooi'as az that lace
The housekeeper Wa guorant Of the ls'hisn able
uod,s of cookery. though she knew th>t rich food
YVES generally preferred She had heard Of Sslers-
toe ard that by many cooks Il sas freely used A.
cordrgly she procured quantity and freely user IT,
The warn biscuits were So full Of II ~ not only 70
give them a yellow or burnt appeAr.nee hut also to
+. rder III. bitter n.nsecus 10 tue taste Many
other articles we're filled Fith Il IN Ike m1nuer In
enoesvoriDg 70 mske light puctIngs, hoSe'er she
used 50 uch OF tee srncle IL ~as laid, A. 10 render
them heavy, almost SO, ~ lead. Inc students
called ibese pudd ugs by the name Of sp'ctc graz
an :" So that whenever they wished for slice, tn y
goulo ssk TO be helped 70 sOme Of tue specific
gravity.
After The spse Of few months disease broke ont
among thee stujebts-so severe thai many believed
il 10 be contagious OF the whole number thstesn
were onr6ued for long time and the fourtees III vas
slightly affected for few days. The hoase became
known by the uare Il the pesthOuse. Two of the
patients oied another barely escaped death; aud
eleven finally recovered.
The ibdiyiduai who escaped the disease wholly vas
Pro-. Iatlock, now of the Williamstown college
Tie 81 Who ooly slightly affected Gas the Rev.
M. Crawford, my informant The latter had no
doubt never had any-that the disease was caused
SOLELY by the Saleraiu-. saw Prof Tatlock suD
quebtly who confirmed the statement of Mr. Ccaw-
f,rd II appears hat be Ike Mr.. Crawford, ale very
little of the food which was so filed with Sa.ratus
aud the biscuits hey seldom ever tasted.
slso saw and converted freely WITH De Sshln. one
OF the tso prir cpal physicians wn0 attended at the
"pest bouse during the sickness Aforesaid aud shg
If still = practising ply stefan IN Wilamstown. III
told that, TO the present dsy, neither he nor hi
U
Any doubt that the whole trouble was caused b,
saleratus
The nature OF the disesse some what peculiar
hat IN .yeJy particular gave Indication that the eta
eel of lire mad been attacked by no meas or power
l.sse enemy. The bowels lost their tone, aad ther
was great muscular prOstraton. Blsters spilled q
sry part Of the system, we're sure 10 be followed by
almost immediate mortiicsi 100 OF the part In short
the disease was one Of the meet severe ever kao IL
that region.
But if the more ezcess,re of this irritating sub
stance is able TO produce such terrible effects car
the less Of IT, which almost every Thert
prevails, be entirely iDDocuous
Many tell us they do not use II To excess, though
thew are veil aw that many others do so. But so Il Il
with almost every abuse. ! bsve SELDOM, IT ever
me, with a person who would confess to the error o
/ hsbtIac,ag-tboueh | have met With thousands whC
knew that such al abuse prevailed sl around them
Ipas recently tax Ed 10 task by venerable house
kesper OF this Common wealth for saying that the u.'
of ten or twelve pOuoos of steratus IN family va
/ by DO means uncommon. Why said she, Il Dc
not USES 50 much as this in my great family. Hos
large is your family, Madam | inquired. Il
col sists OF ten persoos. Aud bow much sa'erAtu
do YOU use yearly "A pound will last me thfe
weeks" "Weli, Madam, that is between seventeen
and eighteen pounds year She wa surorlsei
and SAID that che did BOT use so much: pound, sh
said would last her nearly four weeks. But this, {
her surprise, was thirteen pounds year
there can be no doubt that the sub inflammation
the sline ntary canal which the babitua use Of tb
ak ali induces, both children and adults, il On
csuse of that drea6 mortality which prevails anon
the former; but which. ia summer and autumn wbe
other causes cooperate, proves peculiarly alarming
For nv own part can hardly resist the full convlc
ton, that, Of the 100000 aforementioned, who d.
prematurely, at les-t 1907 900 might survive but 70
the effects of sslerstus. WV. A. ALcorr, MD.
/ Aubuyn Dale Mas, Dec. 70. 1884
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