The home journal. (Winchester, Tenn.) 1858-188?, 1878-11-14
The Arsenic Habit.
Now York SUM-
She is one Of the arsenic-eaters."
Cone of vol. : patientsP n

read"
"Why does she eat arsenic?"
"TO make her pretty, as she fondly
imagines, And it does seemingly do so
temporarily, | will tell you the signs
by which you may know arsenic.eaters,
and you will be astonshed Mt the mum
Der who are addicted TO the vice. When
you see woman with a swollen skin
and puffy eyelids, plump and with a
milky whiteness of complexion, you
may be sure that you have case.
They think they are plump, but it is a
fictitious plumpness Instead of good
adiposc tissue filling out the skin, there
Is only watery secretion, They have
brought about dropsical condition Of
the skin And the first most prominent
place in which it becomes apparent Is in
the cyclids, first the lower, then the
upper. Examine the skin, and you will
see that the pores seem enlarged and
the skin between them swollen and Of
an unnatural whitencss. And this is
not confined TO the face alone, you
understand, speak Of the face simply
because that you can see. And when
you look for that transparent white
color on their faces, don't be deceived
by Il delicate tinge Of red. If the brow
and nose have that corpsey white, the
red ON the cheeks is paint. And no
woman who uses arsenic can do without
paint"
care there many arsenic-caterS in
New YOrkW
"a very great many" the aged ply
stefan replied. "They are of two
classes, actresses and the ladies of fash
lonable society, After arsenic has been
taken for long time" the doctor con-
tinucd, cit is demanded by the system.
It not Only affects the skin, but it less
ems the secretion of carbOnic acid and
urea checking the rctrogade metamor-
phOsis stimulates the cerebral func-
lions, induces a sense Of well being, and
in some subjects causes decided mental
cxhiaration. Furthermore, cessation
of It's use permits the water distended
skin to collapse, and then wrinkles and
yclIOwness follow, instead OF plumpncss
and transparency. What woman could
yon expect TO accept that change when
nothing more than her sanity and life
was in dangcr2 II is also said that the
sudden stoppage of the habit will pro,
duce all the symptoms Of arsenical
poisoning, and even result fatally"
A leading physician says; at is true
that many women, especially profess
SIGNALS, become arsenicophagi through
physicians prescriptions given for the
cure Of CutaneOus disorders induced by
the poison Of lotions and washes for the
face; but | assure you, Of my own
positive knowledge, that an infinitely
greater number Of women Off the stage
employ this poison to heighten their
charms. can tell an arsenic-cater at
sight unerringly. An Indian painted
for the waT-path is not more conspiCu-
Gus object to a physicians eye than a
woman who habituaIly uses arsenic
The pulled, watcry skin is unmistakablc.
Fowler's solution, which is II very com.
mon form in which arsenic is taken, is |
the arsenitc of potassa. Each fluid dram
contains hali-grain of arscniOu5 acid
each drop, say the liz of a grair--and |
when it il administered incidentally the |
dose is three to five drops, three times a
day Some patients and others accus-
toned TO it can take, however, forty-tivc
drops per diem, DOnOyan's solution is
the iodine Of arsenic and mercury, and
is much weaker, only about one-third
rs strong, if remember Alright. DE
Valangin's solution is the tcr-chl0ride
of arsenic, and is only thrcc-cighths IA
strong as Fowlcr's solution. The weak
est preparation of all is Pcarson's solu
ton, the arscniatc of soda, which is
generally used externally only,
" esteem arsenic as u most valuable
remedial agent, but il must be used
with care, and beyond doubt it is an
exceedingly dangerous thing to addict |
ones self to-. But what can you say or
do to prevent its use by women, crca-
lures who use belladonna and atropin
and morphine, and every other deadly |
drug they imagine can be made TO serve
to heightcn their physical destinations
or give them temporary semblance of
vivacity? You tell them, it will give |
you loathsome and almost incurable |
cutancOus diseases, your sCalp will be- |
come scuriy, your hair will fall out, you
will become pulled up and dropsical of
form, and they simply reply, with Il
sell-satiSlicd smirk at the mirror, while
poison still gives them fictitious
beauty, All, we'll, we will stop it before
we come TO that 1t is not an easy
thing to leave of, The arsenic habit is
almost as difficult to put away as the
opium habit Its victims do not dare
to stop it. could tell you of one bright
little lady who only a few years ago was
n most charming Soubrctte on our New |
York stage. She had II pretty face, n
beautiful soprano voice, and vivaCity |
that fairly electrified her audience. |
But she was very thin. She was so thin,
that to conceal her meagcrness in the
days of fitting hoops, she used to wear
her pads all the time, even in summer.
She took to using arsenic. She is now
too big to dance her voice is no longer
clear, but muillcd, AS though by fat in
her throat. She has brought about II
physical condition that has crowded her !
out of her line of business, and threatens
soon to retire her altogether from the
stage, and yet she does not dare leave
off the use of the drug that has wrought
the change in her. And she will keep
on getting stoutcr and stouter, or rather
more and more dropsical, until it kills
her, probably, if she can not renounce
the habit.
at is true, that women get arsenic at
almost any drugstore, with very little
question. 1t is sufficient for Mrs. A. to
know that Mrs. b. gets an arsenical
solution from u particular drugstore,
and going there, to say, Put me up an
ounce of the same arsenical solution
that you furnish to Mrs. b. Ninety
nine chances to one she gets it, without
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