Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1875-10-29

| POISONED SrocKINGs.-Th recent intro
duction and extended use of colored or
striped stockings, and the evil effects e1pe
rienced by the wearers of them, have served
to direct the attention of the physician and
analyst to the question of the dyes used N
coloring them. The Pail Mall Gazette, in
noticing the evil effects of wearing colored
hose, cites several instances where the first
symptoms were intense irritation in the
skin OF the feet, swelling, and an inAamed
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 fve-shilling piece.
This condition was accompanied by general
feverishness, rigors, loss of appetite, and
sensation of peryading nlalaiss. In severe
attack the patient was rarely able to walk
for three weeks, and after one attack passed
of it was often followed By another Of
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 in
teryals, not only on the feet, but on the
hands, ears, etc, for more than three wears.
There was no doubt as to the cause and
method of this blood poisoning, for tho
blisters first came in stripes corresponding
to the colored stripes of the stockings, and
laundresses complained of the irritation and
inhamed condition of their hands after
washing these poisonous articles. Scotch
lady who suffered from like cause brought
a successful suit against the firm which sup
piled her with the goods, and it was for
mally announced by them that henceforth
the use Of arsenic 10 the composition of the
dyes would be discontinued. Although
having no wish to appear as % aiarmists,"
yet 1t Is evident that the occasion is one
calling for a watchful care on the part Of
both purchaser and manufacturer. As we
have suggested above. these facts are worthy
OF special consideration at present. For, |
while the fashion Of wearing striped stock |
ings will, without doubt, soon be confined |
to gentlemen alone, yet the use by them Of |
questionable colors may result in the disas-
trous effects above described .-Appleton' |
Journal
CONN THEo' TIE RYE-A New York pic |
torial publishes an Illustration Of Comm
Thro' the Rye" and blunders into what we
pFesame i the popular misconception Of the
ditty, giving laddie and = lassie NEE ting
and kissing in field of grain The lines
u a laid.e meet a lassie
Comm thrO' the rye,
And especially the other couplet
A the lads they smile on me-
When comm thro' the rye,
Seem 10 imply that traversing the rye was
a habitual or common thing, but what in the
name OF the Royal Agricultural Society could
be the object in tramping down crop of
grain IN that style? The song perhaps sug
gests harvest scene, where both sexes, as
Is the custom in Great Britain, ure at work
reaping, and where they would come and 90
through the field indeed, but not through
the rye itself, 50 a 10 meet and kiss in it.
The truth i, the rye in this case is no more
grain than Rye Beach Is, it being the name
1t small, shallow stream near AYR, in Scot
land which, having neither bridge nor ferry,
was torded by the people going TO and from
the market, custom allowing lad TO steal
a kiss from any lass Of his acquaintance
whom he might meet in midstream. Our
will see that this is the true
explanation, if he will refer to Burns's
original ballad in which the first verse refers
10 the lass wet;ing her clothes in the stream
Jenny i a wat, puir boaie;
Jenny's saloon dry;
She draE'it a her petticOaue,
tounln thr0 the rye.
Ns4JlrypJrt lie, all.