The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1894-11-22
WOMEN AND ARSENIC.
The havages of a Habit winch Nhy
Women are Said to Indulge In.

| (From the New York Commercial AaVer-
tiser.)
arsenic, of all drugs, is Wonoefiui ia IT'S
cosmetic effects. After few months DOS
| ing the cuticle ACQUIRES a pellucid clear
ness free from spot or blemlsh' beneath
winch the fire tracing of veln or Ing IN
| restricted play of ar emotion is e4qulsltely
pictured. To be sure.there are some oosl1-
nate skins which will yield only TO pro-
| longed dosing, but there is 1urther COM
pensation is such cases though the soften
Ing of harshness in the visage ana gener-
al rounding out of what, in TINS way De-
comes lovely countenance.
| Now this pleasing state Of thing S. Ike
the ugllness of the sibyl, is external only
Inc woman who uses arsenic Tor any
length of time draws drafts upon the near
future. which are only redeemed In the
bankruptcy Of her health. Inc lahguor
which externally is delicious pI owes inward
~ torture. That exquisite whlteness OF
brow, cheek, nose and neck is concomitaEt
only with an organic agony In comparison
with which the path of virtue Is TRIUMPH OF
| the Hesh, And when the repose OF the Pill
low affords to an ugly girl the solace OF
dreams or sleep, her fair, drugged sister
| losses like skiff in storm. fighting vivid
nightmares. The devil, according TO st.
Cyprian, makes women pay for their
beauty. Arsenic, in this respect, Is ike
the devil.
1t may not be known to many men, al
though it undoubtedly is to most women.
that an immense business has grown up all
over the country in the manufacture and
sale of what are known as arsenic complex
ion waters. In New York. Philadelphia,
Chicago and Boston these goods are deliv-
cred in wagons to the retail druggists SO
great has the trade become. The waters
are white pellets, which must be taken
morning and night indefinitely. Now, these
goods contain very little arsenic, but when
woman whose system does not yield read
lily becomes impatient for results she has
another resource at command. This is to
persuade medical friend to give her a
prescription for the drug or to purchase it
on some pretense at a store. Young girls
are the most frequent victims of his sort.
1t is curious fact that very few women
over 80 are arsenic fiends in this country.
which shows the habit to be comparatively
recent here.
But when a woman once becomes user
of the drug in this way there seems no es-
cape for her. The horrors set forth in
''The Confessions of.hn Opium Eater" are
nothing compared to the ordeal of the
woman who is battling the craving for ar
senic. Even a few weeks abandonment of
the drug will convert her dangerous
beauty into faded ugliness. The skin as
sumes the tint of ancient whitewash. The
nose grows fabby. and the hue which so
adorns the cheek capriciously establishes
itself at the tip of that olfactery organ.
The head grows heavy, and the nervous
system, like the heroine of any paper
covered romance, is torn with contending
emotions. A single look in the mirror
makes this wretched creature an arsenic
consumer once more.
Does any man deem this an exaggerated
picture. or that we are not suffering ma
tionally from the habit which is response
BILE for it? Ask an authority on the drug
trade or any active member of the board
of health of such metropolitan centers as
San Francisco, st. Louis, Philadelphia,
Boston. New York, Chicago. The con-
certed action which these bodies will make
has reference only to the sale of the drug.
The efforts of Commissioner Edison himself
have been largely rendered nugatory by
the facility with which small quantities of
arsenic can be mailed from one city to an
other. Moreover the legislation of the
states is not uniform. But now it is intend
ed to prevent the sale of the drug unless
specially prescribed, and to break up the
trade in arsenicated nostrums. A bill has
been prepared and will be introduced into
various Legislatures to this end.
arsenic has always offered great temp
tation to women said DR.. Cyrus Edison,
reviewing the subject when he was asked
about it. but. after all, we can only take
general measures. do not see how we are
to prevent the use of the drug unless we
convince the women that it does more harm
than good. They Can always procure it by
stealth, even if it be made a misdemeanor
to traffic in it. and then we would have on
ly aggra waited the evil. Physicians are very
careful in prescribing arsenic and not in
frequently do not reveal to the patient that
the drug has been prescribed at all. 1t is
of undoubted efficacy in skin diseases"
1t was Sufgeon-General Wyman who
pointed out. when the anti-arsenic agitat-
ton began, that there is danger from slav-
cry to the drug in another direction. 1t
gives occasion for a murderous use of arsen-
ic, and will complicate the investigation of
Suspicious deaths. Traces of arsenical
poison are now very weak as evidences of
murder; The victim may have been a
'fend'". Indeed. some ofdbe most inter-
esting murder cases have been complicated
in this way. Mrs. May brick owed her Pc
cufiar type of beauty to indulgence In the
turing poison, and one Of the most famous
of Wilkie. Collins's novels hinged upon the
same euSlaVem6nt of The heroine.