The Waterbury Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1917-1946, 1942-01-19
THE SCIENCE OF PEUGENICs

Y
Whenever the question of absorb
ton through the skin comes up here,
and or Doc (Granite) Brady re-
iterates that no one as yet has
proved that anything is or can be
absorbed through unbroken skin
(Granite, I said. not Granny, q
considerable number and variety Of
readers go to the trouble of setting
the or Doc right or back by citing
more or less noted, eminent or IA
nous authorities who, it seems,
at one time or another, have stated
or implied that all sorts of medi-
cines and poisons are absorbed
through the unbroken skin. But,
Heck, boys, the theories, beliefs or
opinions of doctors of the past or
present have no weight in ques-
ton of science or fact I still main
tain there is no scientific evidence
that the unbroken skin absorbs
anything, and my own skin is still
available for any properly controll-
ed test any physician or physicians
of standing may care to make =
provided both sides agree to pub
lish the result and accept it as final
proof one way or the other. Incl
dentally, readers who know better
will please be advised my files are
already overstuffed with reports OF
individuals who have themselves
unquestionably absorbed dynamite
or nitroglycerin, iodine and various
other things through their hands,
and statements Of doctors that VIC
tins of shoe dye poisoning and the
like have absorbed the poison
through the skin. That's what they
imagine-I do not exclude such sub
stances from the test on my skin.
I confess have an Interior pur-
pose in repeating from time to time
the assertion that nothing is or can
be absorbed into the body through
unbroken skin (skin not scratched,
cut, blistered or punctureD. 1t is
because other doctors, who know
no more about it than I do, have so
often asserted that this and that is
absorbed through the skin, that the
notion persists in the medical and
the popular mind.
Here is an instance OF that sort
of propaganda. An article in what
purports to be, a medical journal
tells how the doctor made a dag
nosis. Young couple consulted him
about their failure to have a child.
The doctor examined the husband
and could find nothing wrong.
Then he examined the wife and still
could find nothing wrong. AS the
wife was leaving the consulting
room the doctor suddenly noticed
that every few strides there was
curious change in ner gait, a sort
of shuttle. He called her back and
told her he now understood every
thing. He told her she was a
negress! She broke down in sobs,
and confessed that there was some
negro blood in her family-but if
the doctor would only keep the Sc
cret she could go on being happy
with her husband who, Of course,
never knew anything about that.
She had undergone several abor-
tons rather than take the chance
Of giving birth to a black child,
ETC., etc.
All sheer hokum, of course. In
the first place, if the woman had
had several abortions the doctor
would at least have found reason to
doubt the story Of sterility. In the
next place, there is no such thing
as a "throwback" - that is, the
birth of black child to white par
A., ,f L l~o
to have some negro blood. A child
may be slightly darker than the
lighter colored parent or slightly
less negroid in characteristics than
the parent with negro blood, but