The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1889-09-26
Arsenic Eaters.

1no mellOCS OF some s0cQety women
for heautifying their peruons are as nu-
merous as their mental whims," said 8
King street drug clerk to a Reporter
yesterday, as afashionably dressed woman
passed into an adjoining store. There.
is woman laced so that I'll bet rEy hat
she can't draw q. long breath, although
she knows perfectly we'll the danger that
attends snch practice"
1.-THE vanity Of woman |" ejacula ed the
philosophical Reporter.
But this is not all,n continued the
druggist. "Ifyou could be>with me for
few days behind my prescription stand
you would learn o good many things that
would make you open your eyes.
Have you ever noticed woman with
8 complexion pale as death, and Of a wax
like smoothness No? We'll, Just watch
for il, and you will meet one of them
before a week passes, and there is not a
druggist in Charleston who cannot tell
you all about the cause oflit. It is the
pernicious-I might use stronger ad.
jectiVe-habit Of arsenic eating. Itwould
surprise you to know the many ways in
which the drug is prepared for this pur-
pose, although the most common ia In q
small palatable wafer which is sold BY
the box.
"The trade is, of course, confined to q
narrow circle, and while the wafer is the
most popular form of its use, nots few
use Fowler's solution in its ordinary form.
There is no doubt in my mind that drug.
gists throughout the city dispose of lots
Of the drug for the sole purpose of viii.
tening the skin, or, as most women would
say, identifying the complexior.', In
fact, I do not hesitate to say thAt the
higher up you go in society the more
prevalent you will find the practice"
s'Bnt do you sell the poison indiscrimi-
nately without a physicians prescrip.
tion?" asked the Reporter.
"Oh, no." was the reply, "but you must
not lose sight of the fact that prescrip-
ton is not hard to get, and one can easily
understand how q young woman or
fashionable matron, for that matter, could
induce the family doctor to write pre-.
scription that would enable her to procure
the poison that would sbeautify' their
faces at the risk of their constitutions.
"The color impaired is peculiar, and
when once known cannot. be mistaken.
1t fills out the skin, giving slight puffy
appearance, and there is glaze like wax.
If the blood be warm and dyigosous a faint
pink tint is seen under the glazed surface,
but should the blood run sluggishly, then
paleness,as Of death pervades. The
eyes are invariably bright and have
rather staring appearance. AS the
habit grows the eyes become sunken and
the pupils dilate, and dark circle sur
rounds them. No matter how much
improvement in the color of the skin may
result from the use of the drug, it is Ger.
tain that death lu1ks in every grain and
it is only question of time-and short
time-ere the blood becomes stagnant,
the heart refuses to work, the brain and
nerves numbed, and then the end. Every
woman of any Intelligence knows this,
but, as you remarked while ago; her
vanity makes her continue the practice,
and she never realizes the danger until
her health is wholly ruined"
Of course the number of arsenic eaters
in Charleston is comparatively small and
is confined principally to certain class
of women. Still there are others who
use the drug, and principally for the pur.
pose of improving their complexions.-
Neacs and Courier.