18 ARSENIC IN PAPERS AND FABRICS. 



again soon after they returned in the autumn. The plumbing was in good con- 

 dition and the furnace was a new one. From the fact that the discomfort was 

 worse when the latter was in action the source of the trouble was attributed to 

 it. No immediate increase of symptoms followed the papering of the halls, but 

 the health of the family grew worse during the spring of 1885. The chief symp- 

 toms were trouble with the digestive organs and insomnia. The tongue was 

 heavily coated and the food seemed to " sour " in the stomach. Nausea was fre- 

 quent. There was much languor and dizziness, and the eyelids were badly 

 inflamed. In July the family moved away to the seashore and there was a 

 marked improvement, but on going back to the house for August the symptoms 

 appeared again, while return to the seashore for September brought immediate 

 relief. In the early autumn the symptoms returned, but were not at their height 

 until the furnace was used. The air of the room was tested for carbon monoxid 

 with negative results. Mr. A.'s symptoms increased to a greater extent than 

 those of the others and were accompanied by soreness of the abdomen and 

 abdominal pains at night. 



During the last week of December, 1885, the source of the trouble was discov- 

 ered by a qualitative analysis of the papers. Pending the removal of the papers 

 the family left the house and experienced immediate relief, especially in sleeping, 

 but many of the symptoms continued for some time afterward. On January 7, 

 1886, a week after leaving the house, 1,750 cc of Mr. A.'s urine were analyzed and 

 contained 0.01 mg arsenious oxid per liter. The papers were replaced by abso- 

 lutely nonarsenical paper, and the health of the family gradually came to its 

 normal condition, although there was occasional digestive disturbance. The 

 elimination of arsenic from the system was apparently very slow. Eight hundred 

 cubic centimeters of the urine, analyzed March 31, contained about as much as 

 before, and 820 cc, analyzed May 26, contained 0.007 mg per liter. Some time 

 after this another sample of urine was sent to me at Annapolis, and was set aside 

 with several others until I could find time to take up the subject again. So much 

 time elapsed, however, before the analysis could be made that I do not consider 

 the results worthy of record. a 



CASE X. 



Mr. D. , after living in a room which contained no wall paper, removed to 

 another house and occupied a room in which the paper, a dark red, contained 1.42 

 grains [of arsenic] per square yard. About a month after moving Mr. D. began 

 to be troubled with severe headaches, which were attributed by one physician to 

 change of locality. These headaches continued for some weeks, and in addition 

 there was trouble with the eyes and throat. Another physician suspecting arsenic 

 poisoning, the paper was examined. Other papers in the house contained arsenic, 

 but were only qualitatively analyzed, and contained less than that of the room in 

 question. February 12, 1886, the urine contained 0.015 mg arsenious oxid per 

 liter. The paper was removed and a nonarsenical paper substituted. Improve- 

 ment began at once and the headaches soon disappeared. Here again was an 

 apparently slow elimination, as on June 18 the urine contained 0.003 mg per 

 liter. & 



Sanger, Case 1, Proc. Amer. Acad. of Arts and Sci., 1894, 29:112. 



& Sanger, Case 3, loc. cit. In this and the following cases taken from Sanger's 

 paper the urine was always examined in the most careful manner, careful tests 

 being made to insure the absolute purity of the reagents. 



