Pointe Coupee Democrat. [volume] (False River [i.e. New Roads], Parish of Pointe Coupee [La.]) 1858-1862, 1860-03-17
NO. 10.

a jot whether his razor had round or
square back? Would the lady, as she
manipulated her lacework with her scis-
sors, hesitate to accept a three sided
scissor leg in place of halfround one,
if she knew that the difference involved
the life of a fellow-creature? Yet such
tritllng differences as these between
round and fiat stand in the way of the
health or misery of an entire class of
workers.
Of those artisans exposed to irritating
dust, probably miners take the second
place after the miserable dry-grinders.
In the majority of cases the collier works
in foul air; for, notwithstanding all the
official inspection, the ventilation of
mines is still execrable. The fire-damp
either blasts him into a cinder, or the
choke-damp noiselessly blots out his
life. However good, moreover, the gen.
eral system of ventilation in mine, un-
foreseen accidents will happen at any
moment. The pick of the collier strikes
into the gallery of an old pit, where car
bonic acid gas has been gathering per-
haps for a century; and the poisoned
air rushes in and does it work in an in
stant; or sudden invasion of carburet-
ted hydrogen disengaged by the fall of
mass OF coal, meets the miner, who is
working, perhaps, imprudently with
naked candle-and an explosion follows
which crowds the pit mouth with wall
ing multitude of newly made widows
and orphans.
There is class of artisans which
suffers from the inhalation of poisonous
matters into the lungs, like the grinders,
ETC., but the foreign matter here pre-
sents itself in the form of subtle vapor,
rather than in that of dust. We little
think, when we strike lucifer-match-
that atincomparable product of civilization,
whose inventor deserves a statue in
every capital in Europe-what suffering
it may possibly have caused in its man
ufacture. The composition at the end of
match is composed of phosphorus COM
bined with oxymuriate of potash and
glue, made into paste, and kept liquid
by being placed over a heated metal
plate. Into this composition the "dip-
per" dips the bundle OF matches, and in
doing SO he ia forced to inhale the va
por given off, which is strongly charged
with phosphoric acid, the effect of which
upon him is sometimes most disastrous
After time he experiences most excru-
clating pains in the bones of the Jaw.
but principally in the lower one; they
begin to swell, a purulent discharge
takes place, and, finally, the bone dies
and comes away. Mr.. Stanley, one of
the surgeons of st. Bartholomew's Hos
pital, had a patient who thus lost the
whole of the lower jaw The e appears
to be considerable doubt whether the
poison acts locally or constitutionally.
One would naturally suppose that if the
action we're local, it would first take
effect upon the bones of the nose. but.
as far as the experience Of surgery goes,
tie dipper always preserves his nose
intact. That the poisonous fumes have
a certain constitutional effect, the aspect
OF the workman at once declares; ca
daverous in complexion, emaciated to a
degree, and painfully nervous, he pre-
sents the appearance Of person suffer-
ing from e presence of some irritating
poison in the blood. Itcertainly is very
remarkable that phosphorous, which, in
the form Of phosphate of lime, is very
important constituent of bone, should
have such an extraordinary effect upon
it when received into the system in the :.
manner we have described. We are
not aware that this drug, when received
nto the stomach only, has ever pro-
duced the local effect noticed; but with
out doubt, tits the quantity Of the peison-
agent to which the workman is sub
jected, as he not only receives the fumes
directly into his mouth and air-passages
in the act Of dipping, but the whole at
mosphere of the factory becomes SO inn
pregnated with phosphorus, in conse-
quence Of its volatilisation when the
process Of drying the matches is being
proceeded with, that his clothes even
become saturated to such an extent that
Il, the dark they appear quite luminous.
In Vienna, where enormous numbers of
uclfer-natches are made, necrosis OF the
la.; is of common occurrence among the
workmen; and the German physicians
believe that the disease arises principal
ly in persons Of scrofulous habit, the
periosteum or lining membrane Of whose
bones are peculiarly liable to take on
naammatory action, the death of tie
bone following as matter of Curse r.
this siew of the case be .rne all scr
Ious persons shoula. be warned -.,u- :,
-mplo5menf as dangerous, and IL al an
cases employers should adopt every
precantlon N their power to prevent the
recurrence OF such mischief to the em-
ployed. Mr.. stanly says that the oil Of
tnrpentIne which is a solvent of phos.
pnorus,; when exposed in saucers. alb.
SOLIDS the rrhfoh Il