Dallas herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1849-1873, 1872-07-06

Tbo Get lhot noafly ml tho groom
tnlpfng nov W. nso vs. nraoIionl has
boon indiVutably proved Wy oml
mont analysts lpcoimon1 can be
produced u pale green papers con
minihr Nix, nine md 0gcn lDurlccn
Grains NJ nncnic 10 tho square foot;
aud papers containing only u leaf
or line Of green In tho pattern nrc
msc. ical aud injurious, Yot such
pnpoia nro 10 bo seen everywhere.
4 rncnic wan first employed IN the
manufacture of wall papers about
the beginning of tlia century, and
liz uso has been on tho increase,
year after year. NJ to the present
limo. II We cover our walls with
a poison which Is not only deadly,
hut volatile, can wo wonder at do
lcriorntion Of health and OF raco2
But now lollows an important point,
proving that arsenic IL not confined
to Green coloring ~ supposed, but
ia used in papers of all colors, and
oven in white. Many OF tho pig
ments now in use appear 20 contain
arsenic; therefore, in substituting
paint Gr wash for paper, it is impor-
tant To know Of what tho c0lors arc
composed. There is II now blue,
used for coloring walls, which con
tains arsenic, and thogroon distcm-
por wash so often used instead Of
paint ia almost invariably arsenic
al; being totally unglazod, 1t is all
tho moro rapidly injurious. But
the gaseous oxhaIaLions OF arsenic
have been found dangerous, both
from glazod papers and oil paint.
and was proved at Munich in 1860,
Tho prusaian Government, rccog.
uizing tho danger, forbade tho use
of arsenic in any colors, whother
distcmpcr or oil, for indoor work. y
Yet in this country arsenic paint is
freely used on the walls of our
rooms and on Vcniciin blinds, the
groom paint used for these latter ar
ticles containing about sovonty-iivc
per cont. of arsenic. Of what use,
comparatively speaking, arc re
strictions on the sale Of arsenic by
druggists, when painters and pa
per makers can purchase it in un.
limited quantities, using it by tons
weekly for wall papers, and thus
poisoning thcpopulation Wholesale?
Legislation in this matter is urgent
ly called for, to make penal tho use
# arsenic in any form, in the inter
ior OF houses, and to provide legal
protection aud compensation for tho
victims Of this ubiquitous mode OF
poisoning. Thoro is also another
question to be dealt with-how to
ret rid of all the arsenic now on
our walls, which, without doubt, is
permanently injuring the health Of
the present and rising generation,
and through il future generations.
How can anything but petcriora.
ton of race result from living, and
bringing up children, in atmos-
phcrcs where overy breath that is
drawn conveys deadly poison in
TO the blood ? Tho cerebral symp-
toms produced by arsenic arc pc
culiurly deserving Of attention, and
offer Il wide field for investigation
TO physicianS who devote them
selves to the study Of diseases of
tho brain and nervous system. Fc-
vcrs and eruptivc diseases appear
to result not unirequcnly from this
mode Of blood poisoning, and who
can say how much of epidemic dis
case and mortality thcrolrom may
not be, in great measure, due TO
this cause. by prcdisposing tho sys-
TEN for its reception and by the
prostra.ion ofstrcngth which would
lcnd to induce fatal results in at
taclss not of themselves dangerous?
One marked effect Of arsenic is to
produce cholcraic diarrh0a, and
other systoms akin to that disease.