May 6, 1887.] 



8GIENCE, 



445 



cles of iron and steel. The peculiar diseases of 

 the glass-workers are burns, catarrh caused by 

 the irritation of the sand, soda, lime, arsenic, and 

 manganese used in the manufacture of glass, 

 emphysema of the lungs, and hypertrophy of the 

 heart, due to over-distention of the lungs from 

 long and hard blowing. 



The diseases of hatters are described by J. W. 

 Stickler, M.D., of Orange, to be catarrh, rheuma- 

 tism, 'shakes,' mercurial sore mouths, and pul- 

 monary affections. Diseases of the lungs seem to 

 be the most fatal form of illness among hatters ; 

 63.5 per cent of all the deaths being due to this 

 class, 51.8 per cent being caused by consumption 

 alone. It is doubtful if any other trade will show 

 such an excess of deaths due to pulmonary 

 phthisis. The average life of hatters does not ex- 

 ceed forty years. 



Dr. Newton of Paterson contributes an article 

 on the diseases of workers in silk, flax, and jute. 

 Those who are engaged in dyeing the silk suffer 

 from bronchial, pulmonary, and rheumatic affec- 

 tions, induced by the hot, moist atmosphere of 

 the dye-house, and to inflammation of the skin of 

 the hands and arms, caused by the irritant action 

 of the dyes. Taken as a whole, however, the 

 trade of silk-operatives may be considered a 

 healthful one, and devoid of the dangers common 

 to many of the textile trades. Those who work 

 in flax and jute are, on the contrary, subject to 

 great dangers to their health. The ' hacklers,' 

 those who draw the flax or jute through steel 

 combs in order to arrange the fibres in a parallel 

 direction, and to remove short threads and dirt, 

 are a short-lived class. Only from fifteen to eighteen 

 out of a hundred survive, or enjoy good health at 

 the age of forty. This is due to the irritant ac- 

 tion of the dust on the lungs. A person entering 

 one of the rooms where this work is being done, 

 from the fresh air, is immediately seized with 

 paroxysms of coughing. The same is true of the 

 spinners as of the hacklers. Hemp and flax 

 dressers inhale a dust which is peculiarly irritat- 

 ing ; and so fatal is the result, that, if a girl of 

 eighteen commences with this work, and is regu- 

 larly employed, she nearly always dies of con- 

 sumption before reaching the age of thirty years. 



The diseases which occur in the manufacture of 

 rubber boots and shoes are described by J. P. 

 Davis, M.D., of Milltown. One of these is lead- 

 poisoning ; from six to twelve pounds of litharge 

 and white lead being added to every twenty-four 

 pounds of gum, for the purpose of drying the 

 rubber and giving it weight. The pressure of the 

 last against the pit of the stomach causes soreness 

 of the muscles, congestion of the abdominal or- 

 gans, and dyspepsia. In addition to this, acci- 



dents from machinery are not infrequent, the 

 sticky rubber drawing a hand or an arm between 

 the rollers. This series of papers on the hygiene 

 of occupations is a most interesting and instruc- 

 tive one, and cannot but do great good by direct- 

 ing public attention to the dangers, many of 

 which are remediable, of artisans in occupations 

 which are usually considered healthful and free 

 from danger of all kinds. 



The entire report is a most valuable one, and 

 should be in the library of every one interested in 

 the public health, as a book of reference. 



The report of the dairy commissioner of the 

 state of New Jersey for 1886 treats entirely of 

 matters relating to imitation-butter, and is worthy 

 of notice for a fairness and moderation usually 

 conspicuous for its absence from publications re- 

 lating to this subject. Aside from the report of 

 the commissioner, it contains a somewhat ex- 

 tended paper upon the history and methods of 

 manufacture of imitation-butter, and the sanitary, 

 commercial, and legal questions relating thereto, 

 also by the commissioner ; a paper upon the 

 chemistry of butter and its imitations, by Prof. H. 

 B. Cornwall ; a description of a method of identi- 

 fying and determining coloring-matters in butter, 

 by Prof. Albert R. Leeds ; and various matters re- 

 lating to the state law and its construction by the 

 courts. 



— 300,887 immigrants arrived at Castle Garden, 

 New York, during 1886, an increase of 30,748 as 

 compared with 1885. 997 were returned to 

 Europe : of these, 70 were insane, 20 idiotic, 1 

 blind, 88 were enceinte, 8 were convicts, and 18 

 cripples, 350 suffered from diseases which ren- 

 dered them unable to earn their living, and 437 

 had no means of support. 



— The number of persons of unsound mind in 

 England and Wales, Jan. 1, 1886, as reported to 

 the commissioners in lunacy, was 80,156, exclusive 

 of 248 chancery lunatics, residing with their com- 

 mittees, and 81 insane convicts, — a gross in- 

 crease during the year of only 452 patients. The 

 number of registered lunatics in Scotland on the 

 same date, apart from 62 persons in the lunatic 

 department of the general prison at Perth, and 

 230 imbeciles in training-schools, who are regis- 

 tered separately, was 10,895, — an increase for the 

 year of §68. The total number in Ireland was 

 14,415, — an increase of 136. This gives an aggre- 

 gate of 105,466 insane (including some idiots with 

 them) in public and private institutions for luna- 

 tics or establishments for paupers, or boarded out, 

 and subject to governmental inspection ; and the 

 total increase in twelve months was 856. 



