54 MATERIALS FOR PREPARING SKINS. 



great preservative. Use dry powdered arsenic, plenty of it, 

 and nothing else. There is no substitute for arsenic worthy of 

 the name, and no preparation of arsenic so good as the simple 

 substance. Various kinds of "arsenical soap" were and may 

 still be in vogue ; it is a nasty greasy substance, not fit to 

 handle ; and although efficacious enough, there is a very serious 

 hygienic objection to its use.* Arsenic, I need not say, is a 

 violent irritant poison, and must therefore be only guarded; 

 but may be used with perfect impunity. It is a very heavy sub- 

 stance, not appreciably volatile at ordinary temperatures, and 

 therefore not liable, as some suppose, to be breathed, to any 

 perceptible, much less injurious, extent. It will not even at 

 once enter the pores of healthy unbroken skin ; so it is no 

 matter if it gets on the fingers. The exceedingly minute 

 quantity that may be supposed to find its way into the system 

 in the course of time is believed by many competent physi- 

 cians to be rather beneficial as a tonic. I will not commit 

 myself to this ; for, though I never feel better than when work- 

 ing daily with arsenic, I do not know how much my health is 

 improved by the out-door exercise always taken at the same 

 time. The simple precautions are, not to let it lie too long in 

 contact with the skin, nor get into an abrasion, nor under the 

 nails. It will convert a scratch or cut into- a festering sore of 

 some little severity ; while if lodged under the nails it soon 

 shows itself by soreness, increased by pressure ; a white speck 

 appears, then a tiny abscess forms, discharge's and gets well 

 in a few days. Your precautions really respect other persons 



* "Strange as it may appear to some, I would say avoid especially all the so- 

 called arsenical soaps; they are at best but filthy preparations; besides, it is a 

 fact to which I can bear painful testimony that they are, especially when applied 

 to a greasy skin, poisonous in the exti'eme. I have been so badly poisoned, while 

 working upon the skins of some fat water birds that had been prepared with arsen- 

 ical soap, as to be made seriously ill, the poison having worked into the system 

 through some small wounds or scratches on my hand. Had pure arsenic been 

 used in preparing the skins the effect would not have been as bad, although gi'ease 

 and arsenic are generally a blood poison in some degree; but when combined 

 with "soap" the effect, at least as far as my experience goes, is much more inju- 

 rious." MAYNATCD, Guide, p. 12. 



In endorsing this I would add, that the combination is the more poisonous, in 

 all probability, simply because the soap, being detersive, mechanically, facilitates 

 the entrance of the poison, without, however, chemically increasing its virulence. 



