The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1885-08-20

stances, IN somewhat r0ugn-and-ready
way. it " given by stablemen and
herdsmen in many parts Of Europe,
especially in Austria, to the animals
under their care. Nor can the stable
men of this country be said to be entire
ly innocent of this charge; for it is a
well established fact that this drug i'm
proves the appearance of the skin and
hair. making it sleek and glossy, be-
sides rendering the animal plump and
strengthening its brea hing organs.
What wonder, then. that such men
finding, as We have already said, these
results, begun to argue that what is
good for an OK or horse is. in smaller
quantities, good for a man. They actual
al do so argue; and to the daily use of
arsenic they attribute several good re-
suits, such as c.earness of complexion
and increased powers of digestion as
shown by sol dity of flesh; they say it
strengthens their respiratory organs
and enables them, laden with heavy
burdens. to climb mountains without
fatigue; and some even declare it in
creases their courage which may be
true. if the aforesaid good results follow
its use, for courage Is often only an
effect of conscious strength, as timdity
is of conscious weakness.
1t 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
servances. A very small dose is at first
taken once a week-bread and butter
is the favorite medium-then twice a
week. and so on, until, when the indi-
vidual arrives at dose daily. the dose
itself is increased till as much may be
taken as in ordinary circumstances
would kill two. or three individuals
But it must not be understood that those
people can consume the drug altogether
with impunity. When they first begin
with their very small doses they are
seized with nausea and burning pains in
the mouth. throat and stomach, and
are probably very much more uncom-
Portable than a boy who has taken his
first cigar. But one popularity of
arsenic-eating is this, that when man
has once begun to indulge in it he must
continue to indulge, for If he ceases the
arsenic in his system poisons him; or,
az it is popularity 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, so that it is ex-
tremely difficult to stop the habit; for,
as sudden cessation causes death, the
gradual cessation produces such ter
rible heart-gnawing that it 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-
markedly sensitive to arsenic, mau
may, on the other hand. indulge in
these poisonous doses for years. This
is probably owing to the fact that ar.
senic acts on the skin, and thus is being
constantly carried out of the system
and also because 1t is readily eliminated
by the kidneys. Now, this prevents
any accumulation going on in the tbs.
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 given dose is entirely re-
moved. But yet the fact remains that
these Austrian peasants can swallow
arsenic to an extent aud with an i'm.
punity unprecedented in the annals Of
toxicology. For the solution of the
problem we may offer the following
Considerations: First Of ALL the human
organism may become accustomed tc
most, if not all, po'sons if they are adj
ministered at first in exceedingly
small doses; and in this way poison
as is well known, may become 6
''mithridate" to itself. Secondly
though the human organism is ex
tremely sensitive to arsenic, yet some
constitutions may be less so thar
others; thus, for instance. the arsenic
eaters of Syria are all of them robust
mountaineers, whose forefathers hav.
eaten arsenic from generation to gen
GRAFTON, SO that, as may be supposed
each generation has become more ar
senic-proof than the one before it Third
ly. like most mountaineers, the Styrian'
consume large quantities Of milk ant
butter. as we'll as other food rich il
fats, when the oily matters to certain
extent unite with the arsenic, forming
an arsenical soap, which does not 81
readily enter into the blood, so tina
the total amount of arsenic actually as
simulated is proportionally small. From
this We see that if the Syrian partake
of an unusual amount of this deadl,
drug, he is at the same time not onl,
less susceptible to its influence by hi
hereditary descent and his habits, bu
his food supplies him with some sort 0
an antidote.
One other fact may be noticed il
connection with arsenical poisoning
namely, that the preliminary symptom
of accidental poisoning have often re
suited from the apparently insignif
cant cause of the use OF the t1imsy
5right-green tartalan ball-dresses s
much in vogue a few years back, a
also from sleeping in rooms papere
with hangings containing the beautiful
ly brilliant color known as Scheele'
green. The dangerous activity of tn
very minute quantities of arsenic whic
under such circumstances enter tn
system may probably he explained b
the fact that the poison in all sue
cases acts directly through the lung:
and not through the stomach, where
would be subjected to the modifying in
fluences already mentioned,
These last points bring us to the treat
ment of person suffering from arsenic
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