The Manitowoc tribune. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1866-1878, 1875-09-16
POISONOUS DYES.
Aiulteration is bad, but poisoning is


vorse, and especially poisoning by
Arsenic. The agonies which are endur-
el by those who have swallowed or i'm
bbed arsenic in poisonous quantities
ae too well known to need mention,
aid arsenic applied in the shape of dye
fu materials, whether silk or woolen,
which are worn next the skin, brings
alout consequences nearly as dangerous
aid as painful. Attention should be
c.lled to the subject because it seems
that manufacturers are recommending
the use of this substance for dyeing
articles Of personal apparel. That
arse1ic Cin the shape of Scheele's green)
hiss long been used to produce the we'll
known dazzling green in dresses, artifi-
cial flowers and papers for walls. and
thst these articles have produced all the
effects of arsenical poisoning, are facts
50 well established that sensible people
have contented themselves with avoiding
any material of that particular color;
but lately Dr.. Sedgwick wrote to the
Tines, stating that, his wife and him
selthaving ''suffered much in the man.
ner that people do when poisoned by
arselical vapors," he analyzed his bed
room paper, which was pale blue, and
found large quantity of arsen.c. Now,
blue Wallpapers are generally thought
safe Some years ago silk socks and
stockings dyed in stripes of very bril-
liant hues-orange, purple and crimson
we're sold, and many persons suffered
frightfully through wearing them. The
first sympatoms were intense irritation
in the skin of the feet, swelling and an
infamed appearance; then an outbreak
of watery blisters of all sizes, from
groups of the size of hemp seed to single
blisters on the sole of the foot larger
than fiYe-shilling piece. This condi-
tion was accompanied by general fever
ishness, rigors, loss of appetite, and
sensation of pervading malaise. In
severe attack the patient was rarely able
to walk for three weeks, and after one
attack passed off it was often followed by
another of a milder type. In one case
gentleman was obliged to wear cloth
shoes for upward of eight months, and
with other patients the system has been
SO impregnated with the poison that
blisters have reappeared at intervals,
not only on the feet but on the hands,
ears, etc., for more than three years.
There was no doubt as to the cause and
method of this blood-poisoning, for the
blisters first came in stripes correspond
ing to the colored stripes of the stock
ings, and the laundresses complained of
the irritation and infamed condition of
their hands after washing these poison
GUS articles. In another instance q
crimson silk vest dyed in the same way
was worn for two days with consequences
very painful to the wearer. A Scotch
lady brought successful action against
the firm which had supplied her with
these goods; the manufacturers had
''scare," and it was formally announced
that the employment of arsenic for dye
ing wearing apparel would be abandon
ed. But that this abominable practice
has been recommended seems tolerably
certain. And O recent case is mention
ed, too, of person who had u serious
attack of bisters On his forehead, caus-
ed by poisonous dye used for the lin
ing material of his hat. The head is the
most perilous point of attack, for this
particular form of blood-poisoning,
though it is not erysipelas, has strong
tendency to run into that painful, dis
figuring and dangerous disease.-PaU
Mall Gazette.