The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1889-03-23
DOMESTIC POISONS.
Dangers Found Lurking in Unsus-
pocted Places.
Most Cosmetics, Wall Paper and Many OF
the Brilliant-Hued Dress Goods, ETC.,
etc, Contain Deadly POisons.

ETC., Contain Deadly POi5OnS.
Science has put many contrivances
at the disposal of art, but some of the
most useful and popular are not with
out their dangers. Yesterday cor
49, respondent called attention to the risk
involved in the rapidly extending use
of the glass fux now so much in de-
mand for imparting frosted appear
ance to various ornaments. At one
time it was employed simply as an ad-
hesive varnish, and in that state could
do little harm. But of late it has been
spriukled on flowers, dress and even
on head dresses, with the result that a
crowded room is speedily filled with it's
subtle spiculae. Every grain of this
powder is sharp particle of glass,
which irritates the eyes and skin, and,
if inhaled. is capable of setting up an
Irritation in the lungs and bronchial
perhaps causing serious injury. Ground
glass, it must be remembered. is one of
the most deadly of slow poisons, and
as such was at one time in great vogue
among the more cunning type of MUIR
derers. No doubt the "fiux" which
gives the snow-liile glitter to Christ
mas toys, cards and landscapes is less
noxious. Yet, like the flinty desert
sand. which is almost identical in COM
position, it is capable of being dis
solved, and if it enters the pulmonary
apparatus, or the stomach, or adheres
to any of the membranes, or gets in
contact with the delicate structures of
the eye, it must necessarily create
more or less inflammation. We may,
therefore, hope that those who now use
it will, in the interests of others more
self-denying. abandon a domestic
poison" the injurious possibilities of
which are So much out of proportion to
any charm it imparts to the human
form divine. Or, if they feel that this
is too great deprivation, it is no more
than reasonable that the powder should
be made adherent to the ornaments, in
stead of being permitted to impregnate
the air of a ball room, concert hall or
drawing room with its vicious particles.
Already most wise women have dropped
the use of the dangerous cosmetics, at
one time too much patronized. simply
because they found that, while for the
hour they impaired an artificial smooth
ness to the complexion, in the end they
destroyed it altogether. Gree and
Enone sought for the cosmetics in the
flowers of Thessaly; and the perfumes
OfGosmos' shop, which aroused the sar-
donic humor of Martial, were for the
most part of harmless character.
Even the paste by which Diana OF
Poictiers preserved her charms to old
age. and with which Anne of Austria
endeayored to do so, was not as abso-
lutely hurtful to the skin as those
which until recently were so fashiona-
bic. Arsenic orpimont-the yellow sui
phide of that deadly minerals, DR..
Malcolm Morris tolls us, common in
gredient in depilatories, and several of
the most popular washes" contain
lead in various forms. Nearly all the
hair dyes do. and traces of creeping
paralysis have been traced to their
use. Corrosive sublimate is another
occasional Ingredient in lotions war
ranted to improve the complexion.
Even biamuth and zinc. so generally
employed in various forms, are far
from harmless, for in the end they pre-
vent the natural action OF the skin, and
produce that pitted appearance so fire.
quently observed in the checks of elder
ly actresses and others who habitually
use preparations in which they are con-
taincd.
There is. indeed, no cosmetic like
fresh air healthy exercise, early hours
and cold water, so that when the Vicar
of Wakefield split the contents of the
vessel in which his daughters were
cOnc0cting "a wash for the face" that
astute parent acted discreetly in the
Young ladies' interests. Still, even
without the glass flux, the bismuth.
arsenic and zinc powders, the various
lotions and other cosmetics, there are
dangers enough lying in wait for peo-
pie who, like Branca Doria, do moth
ing but 'cat sleep and put their raj
ment on.l For, though the keen-eyed
analyst has managed to raise a warn
ing cry against a great number of the
more common domestic poisons, the
progress of luxury, comfort and re-
fiaemont has unconsciously on the part
OF any one except the manufacturer,
introduced others in their place. Not
that the manufacturer is always guilty
OF trying to kill his clients out of malice
prepense. lie more frequently errs
from ignorance, or by reason of his in
experience Of the effects likely to be
caused by the new chemicals he en-
ploys in his eagerness to produce some
thing pretty and cheap. As a rule, it
may be said that nearly all the articles
OF dress in bright reds, aniline reds,
magentas aud certain green's are more
o. less poisonous, and the general re-