West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1885-09-04

ONpcNalll III Austria, To the animals
under their care Nor cSu the stable
men of this country be- said so D. entire
ly innocent OF this charge; for il is \
well established fact that this drug I'M
proves the appearance OF tho skin and
hair making Il sleek and glossy, be-
sides rendering the animal plump and
strengthening its breathing organs
what wonder, then. that such men
finding, as we have already said, these
results, begin tN argue that what is
good for an OK OF horse is i'm smaller
quantities, good for "A man. They actual
al do so argue; and To TIA, daily use of
arsenic they attribute several good re
suits. such as clearness OF complexion
and Increased powers ol digestion as
shown Ivy solidity of 0c-h they say IL
strengthens their respiratory organs
and enables them, laden with heavy
burdens, TO climb mountains without
fatigue; and some even declare " IN
creaSeS their courage which may be
true II the aforesaid good results follow
ITS use, Tor courage is often only an
eHect OF conscious strength, as timidity
Is OF conscious weakness.
Ii must not however. be supposed
that any one takes to the hcdri or
arsenic-eating quite openly. On the
contrary, it is generally begun in secret
and at the increase Of the moon-and
IN some villages with superstitious OBJ
seryanccs A very small dose is AZ first
taken once a week bread and butter
is the favorite melium then twice a
| week, and so on, until, when the indi.
vidual arrives at dose daily. the dose
itself is increased till n much may be
taken as IN ordinary circumstances
would kill two or three individuals.
But It must not bc understood that those
people can consume the drug altogether
with impunity. Whom they first begin
with their very small doses they are
seized with nausea and burning pains i'm
the mouth, throat and stomach. and
are probably very much more uncom-
lortablc than boy who has taken his
hrst cigar. But one peculiarly OF
arsenic-cating is this. that when a man
has once begun to indulge i'm IL he must
continue TO indulge, for ii he ceases the
arsenic in his system poisons him; or.
As It Is populariy expressed. the last
| dose kills him Indeed. the arsenic.
eater must not only continue his indul-
gence but he must also increase the
quantity OF the drug. 80 that it is ex-
tremcly difficult to stop the habit; for.
as sudden cessation causes death. the
gradual cessation produces such ter
rlblc hcart-gnawing that 1t may proba-
bly, be said that no genuine arsenic
eater ever ceased to eat arsenic while
life lasted
1t IS curious that while, on the one
hand, the human organism is so re-
markably sensitive to arsenic, n mau
may. on the other hand indulge in
these poisonous doses for years. This
Is probably owing TO the fact that ar
scnic acts on the skin, and thus is being
constantly carried out of the system;
and also because 1t is readily eliminated
10y the Kidneys Now. this prevents
any accumulation going on in the It's
sues, and thus, what might seem al
most mythical, is at least brought with
in the range of possibility. 1t has been
calculated that this process OF elimina-
ton has to be carried on for fourteen
days before "A given dose IN entirely re-
moved. But yet the fact remains that
these Austrian peasants can swallow
arsenic TO an extent and with an i'm
punity unprecedented i'm the annals of
toNicOlogy For the solution OF the
problem We may offer the following
considerations: First Of all. the human
organism may become accustomed to
most, IT not all, pO sons if they are ad-
ministered at first i'm exceedingly
small doses; and IN this way a poison.
IS IS well known, may become
''mithrdate' to itself Secondly.
though the human organism is ex-
tromeiy sensitive 10 arsenic, yet some
constitutions may be less so than
others, thus, for instance, the arsenic
eaters OF Styria are all Of them robust
mounta'ncers whose forefathCrs have
eaten arsenic from generation to gen
erauon, so that as may be supposed
each generation has become more ar
scnic-proof than the one before IT, Third
ly, like most mountaineers, the Styrians
consume large quantities Of milk and
butter as well as other food rich i'm
fats, when the OIL matters 20 n certain
extent unite with tn, arsenic. forming
an ar-cncal soap. which does not so
readily enter into the blood. so that
the total amount Of arsenic actually as
slmilatcd is prOpOrtiOnally small. From
this we see That if the Syrian partakcs
Of an unusual amount Of this deadly
drug, ne Is at the same time not only
less susceptible TO its influence by his
hereditary descent and his habits. but
his food supplies him with some sort Of
an antidote.
One other fact may be noticed in
connection with arscnical poisoning
namely that the preliminary symptoms
Of accidental poisoning have often re-
suited from the apparently inagnih-
cant cause Of the use Of the Himsy.
brightgreen tart9lau ball-drcsscs so
much in vogue q few years back, nc
also from sleeping i'm rooms papered
with haugiugs containing the beautiful
ly brilliant color known rs SchpcIc's
green. The dangerous activity Of the
very minute quantities OF arsenic which
under such circumstances enter the
system may probably be explained by
the fact that the poison In an such
cases acts directly through the lungs.
and not through the stomach. where il
would be subjected to the modifying in /
huences already mentioned
Thee last points bring US 10 the traat-
mont of person suffering from arsenic
al poison NC This poison IS 20 fro-
qucntly thc cause of death both bv ac-
cident and design that it i- important
that every one should know the proper
remedies To- be used in such rrcum-
stances Until % nm ca mao arrives.
Che vomiting which generally occurs
when au overdose of arsenic is swal-
lowed. should be freely encouraged.
followed by demuloent drinks. switched
eggs. cream, OIL or. b.,tor su.l. amixt- [
ure of equal PARTS OF oil AMI Nmo-