The Ebensburg Alleghanian. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1865-1871, 1866-07-19
Are Paper Collars Poisonous ?

Inc question at the head OF this article |
Is one of great interest and Importance, |
says the Round Table Invented almost |
by accident, and at first worn only by |
young men in arrears with their washer |
women, paper collars have now become a |
popular institution, both in this country
aud IN Europe. Ladies have adopted |
them, and comparatively few gentlemen
now prefer the more expensive but sub
stantial linen. Thousands Of persons.
therefore, are deeply anxious in regard to
the recent rumOr that these collars are
poisonous. Manufacturers, who announce
every style Of collar and cuff in paper,
may be ruined if their wares are proved
to be detrimental TO the health Of the
Wearers. But in such matter as this il
would be criminal to conceal the facts.
A Boston paper states that clerk in a
wholesale store in that city was recently
afflicted with painful eruption about the
neck. Thinking it was merely boil, he
PAID little attention TO it at first; but as
the pain grew more intense he was in
duced to consult a physician, who de-
clared that his patient was suffering from
the effects Of poison absorbed into the
system from paper collars. The physi-
suited in numerous similar cases, and upon
careful inquiry it was ascertained that
| half dozen of the young clerk compan-
ions, all OF whom wore paper collars, were
| constantly troubled with the same erup-
! tions.
But, without attempting to argue from
| these cases, let US look at the general facts
in regard to paper collars. In order to
| initiate linen rs nearly as possible, these
collars are enameled, and in this process
arsenic is used. Everybody knows that
the enamel upon visiting cards is poison
Gus. Children have died from being al
lowed to play with such cards. It will be
remembered that the first importation of
swans for the Central Park were poisoned
| by some careless and thoughtless persons
who threw pieces of card-bo into the
lake for the swans to eat. One would
suppose that a knowledge Of facts like
these would long since have aroused the
suspicious Of the public as to the danger
from paper collars prepared in the same
way as cardboard ; but the majority of
| people did not reflect upon the subject at
all, or fell into the error of believing that
the enamel was only poisonous when eaten.
1t is easily susceptible of proof, how
ever, that arsenic is very deleterious no
matter how it may be absorbed into the
system. When taken directly into the
stomach it may be more fatal !; but when
it enters through the pores of the skin
and infects the blood, its operations are
hardly less deadly, although they may bo
slower. The very name Of the arsenic,
derived from the Greek, announces its
| Of II h.
who prepare it are obliged to dress in a
costume and helmet of leather, the eyes
protected by glasses and the nostrils by a
wet sponge but in spite of these precau-
tlons and carefully regulated diet, they
only average thirty years of life. Instan-
ces are on record of persons who have died
from sleeping in rooms covered with
arsenical paper, and the green wallpaper,
once so much in use, is now almost
completely discarded because Of the ar
senIo employed in its manufacture. Here
is poison, then, which is equally dan
gerous, whether eaten, inhaled or absorbed,
and which is used to enamel the collars
to be worn around the neck. Il thus
enters the system through the pores,
reaches the blood directly when the kin
!, is frayed, and, being rendered volatile by
the heat of the body, is also inhaled at
every breath. Could anything be more
dangerous, more pernicious
But although we are compelled to
answer the question, Are paper collars
, poisonous in the affirmative, some per-
sons may object that they have worn
, these collars for a long time without
perceiving any evil effects. This may be
, true, and yet the effects may exist. The
} eruptions which afflicted the Boston clerk
were the protests Of nature against the
poison which he was absorbing. In all
strong constitutions nature can make such
} protests and utter such warnings against
further Indulgence; but in the weak the
7 poison may be left to do its deadly work
; without any outward sign of danger. We
, recall the case of an invalid American al
J Paris, who was accustomed to smoke 6
) new clay pipe every day. These pipe;
were whitened with arsenic, as the paper
s collars are, and :he poison was released
t by the heat of the burning tobacco, JUS
/ as it is released from the paper collars BY
9 the heat of the body. The smokes
slowly bat steadily declined, and no
+ until after his deceaso did the physicians
: discover that they had cured his origina
5 ma!ady, and that he had died of arsenica
f poisons
Many men and all the ladies who veal