CASES OF POISONING. 15 



CASE III. 



Doctor Kelsey related some facts regarding arsenical poisoning from wall paper 

 as it had recently occurred in his own person. The last two years he had suffered 

 from occasional attacks of gastric and intestinal disturbance, attended with slight 

 fever, and from inability to do hard work, either mental or physical. The walls of 

 his office were papered with a very rich green " velvet. library paper." During a 

 recent house cleaning the paper was thoroughly swept down, and as a result a 

 green powder was observed on the floor all around the edge of the room. On test- 

 ing this he found it to be almost pure Paris green. A paper hanger was sent for 

 to remove the paper, and after working a few hours he was seized with all the 

 symptoms of acute arsenical poisoning and was obliged to desist. Another who 

 took his place to finish the job suffered the same way on the following day. It 

 was discovered that at some former time the ceiling had been covered with Paris 

 green and subsequently a coat of another color had been laid over it. The servant 

 who attempted to wash this was confined to his bed for three days with cramps 

 and diarrhea. Finally the two members of Doctor Kelsey's household who had 

 taken considerable interest in what was being done were attacked with similar 

 symptoms, and he himself had one of his old familiar attacks. Since repapering, 

 now six months ago, he has had none of his old trouble. 



CASE IV. 



A child in Troy, N. Y., while playing with some water-color paints, used a small 

 book, attracted by the bright green color of its cover, for a palette. He mixed 

 the paints on the cover of the book for some time. Then he was suddenly taken 

 with convulsions. Physicians who were hastily summoned declared that he had 

 been poisoned. They administered antidotes, but the child went into convulsion 

 after convulsion, and it was only after three days' incessant labor that the physi- 

 cians saved his life. They afterwards investigated the manner of his being 

 poisoned. They discovered that the dye with which the bright-colored book was 

 covered contained the poison. In wetting the paints on the book cover the child 

 innocently wet also the dye and soon transferred some of the poison to its own 

 lips, b 



CASE V. 



About the middle of September, 1886, my patient, Mrs. S.. changed her resi- 

 dence from the country to the city. She very soon discovered that some ferns in 

 her parlor were withering, but not from neglect nor improper care, since, although 

 ultimately dying, they revived for a brief season on being removed to another part 

 of the house. In the early part of November she suffered from an attack of 

 nausea and dizziness so intense, especially when she attempted to stoop, that for 

 several days she was obliged to keep in bed. These symptoms persisted in thei* 

 intensity for about a fortnight and were followed by a sharp attack of facial 

 neuralgia which lasted about a week. In the latter part of December the dizzi- 

 ness reappeared, but in far milder form than it had been the month before. At 

 about the same time she began to complain of extreme lassitude and a loss of 

 pleasure in pursuits that formerly gave her pleasure. The quiet of her own room 

 was the one thing that she eagerly sought. 



Although she suffered from continual nausea, her appetite was usually good; 

 there was, as she expressed it, an almost constant ' ' gnawing in the stomach. ' ' After 

 the eating of food the nausea would increase, and she would complain of a feeling 



N. Y. Med. Jour., 1881, 33: 102. 



&Wood, Case 32, Report Mass. State Board of Health, 1883. 



5050 No. 8604 2 



