The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1878-11-20
THE ARSENIC HABIT.
Present Beauty at the Expense Of
Future Ugliness.

CHS 10 OAC VI IuG dTSSu1C.08CtIS.'
Zone of our patients2"
mo. l never saw her before. But her
vice and folly are written on her face so
plainly that he who runs may read"
"Why does she eat arscnic2o
sTo make her pretty, as she fondly i'm
AGNES. And it does seemingly do so
temporarily. l will tell YOU the
signs by which you may know
arsenlc-eaters, and you will be astonished
at the number who are addicted to the
vice. When you zee a woman with
swollen skin and puffy eyelids, plump
and with milky whitenoss of complex
ion, you may be sure that you have
case. They think they are plump, but it
IS fictitious plumpness. Instead of good
adipose tissue filling out the skin there
is only a 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 eyelids, first the lower, then the up
per. Examine the skin, and you will see
that the pores seem enlarged and the skin
between them swollen and of an unnatural
whiteness. And this is not confined to the
face alone, you understand. I speak of
the face simply because that you can see.
And when you look for the transparent
white color on their faces, don't be de-
celved by a delicate tlnge of red. If the
brow and nose have that corpsey white,
the red on the cheeks is paint. And ne
woman who uses arsenic can do without
paint"
''Are there many arsenic-eaters in New
York;" a
"A very great many" the aged physi-
clan replied. "They are OF two classes,
actresses and the ladies OF fashionable
society. After arsenic has been taken for
long time," the doctor continued, cit is
demanded by the system. It not only
affects the skin, but it lessons the excre-
ton of carbonic acid and urea-checking
the retrograde metamorphosis-- stimulates
the cerebral functions, induce sense of
Well-belng, and in some subjects causes
decided mental exhilaration. Further
more, cessation of its use permits the wa
ter-distended skin to collapse, and then
wrinkles and yellowness follow instead of
plumpuess and transparency. What
woman could you expect to accept that
Su"nSo WACu AOGA1uS IAOlc t'ldu ueE
sanity and life was in danger? It is also
said that the sudden stoppage of the
habit will produce all the symptoms of
arsenical poisoning, and even result IA
tally"
A leading physician says: ssIt is true
that many women, especially profession
ais. become arsenicophagi through physi-
Clans prescriptions given for the cure of
cutaneous disorders induced by the pois~
on OF lotions and washes for the face; but
! assure you, of my own positive knowl-
edge, that an infinitely greater number of
women off the stage employ this poison
to heighten their charms. I can tell an
arsenic.eater at sight unerringly. An
Indian painted for the war path is not a
mole conspicuous object to physicians
eye than woman who habitually uses
arsenic. The pulled, watery skin is UNI
mistakable. Fowler's solution, which is
very common form in which arsenic is
taken, is the arsenite of potassa. Each
fluid dram contains q halt-g grain of arsen-
ious acio-each drop, say the l-12 of
grain-and when it is administered
incidentally the dose is three to five drops
three times day. Some patients and
others accustomed to it Gun take, how
ever, forty five drops per diem. Dono-
vans solution is the iodine of arsenic and
mercury, and is much weaker, only about
one-third as strong, if remember Alright.
De Valangin's solution is the t,r-chloride
of arsenic, and is only three-eighths
as strong as Fowler's solution. The
weakest preparation Of all is Pearsons
solution, the arseniatc of soda, which is
generally used externally only.
Il esteem arsenic as a most valuable
remedial agent, but it must be used with
care, and beyond doubt it is an exceed
ingly dangerous thing to addict one's
sell to. But what can you say or do to
prevent its use by women, creatures who
use belladonna ana atropin and morphine,
and every other dcs dly drug they imagine
can be made to serve to heighten their
PHYSICAL destinations or give them a
temporary semblance of vivacity9 You
tell them, 1t will give you loathsome and
almost incurable cuttaneous diseases,
your scalp will become security, your hair
will fall out. you will become pulled |
up andGdropsical ofiform, and they simp-
~ reply, with self-satisied smirk at
the mirror, while poisson still gives them
$Srnkyk I,