58 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. X. No. 234 



temperatures. At first it had been my intention to have made this 

 determination of temperature in the same general way as the 

 other ; but, with my indifferent command of the language, at the 

 beginning of the investigation I had the greatest difficulty in 

 making my subjects understand that the operation would result 

 in no bodily harm, which I had no difficulty in understanding they 

 anticipated, by the perspiration oozing from every pore, a look of 

 piteous agony in their faces, and eyes fearfully watching for the 

 first suspicious movement on my part. 1 naturally concluded that 

 much misery would be saved, without in any way affecting the 

 accuracy of the result, by determination from the individual rather 

 than the mass. The determination was made by placing the bulb 

 of a thermometer well underneath the tongue, and keeping the 

 mouth closed till the mercury column reached its highest and 

 stationary point. 



Our mean temperatures were 98.1° F. for winter (December), and 

 97.7° for summer (July), whilst theirs were 100.2° and 98.4° re- 

 spectively. I cannot help thinking that part of this large difference 

 is owing to our Eskimo having changed his diet, by the rations we 

 allowed him, towards the summer season. 



In determining the mean heights, I considered it advisable to ex- 

 clude palpable extremes, as my measurements were necessarily 

 from a limited field. The result was a mean height for the men 

 of 5 feet 3.9 inches; for the women, within a very small fraction of 

 S feet. W. A. Ashe. 



The Observatory, Quebec, July 18. 



Chrome considered as a Poison. 



In Science (viii. p. 178) is printed an extract from a paper 

 written by Dr. Charles Harrington, and which appeared in the 

 Boston Medical a7id Surgical Jou7-tial (cxv. No. 6). Dr. Harring- 

 ton's paper was an original communication made to the Massa- 

 chusetts Medical Society, and was read at the annual meeting of 

 June, 1886. The society recommended the paper for publication. It 

 thus appears with the indorsement of two journals and one 

 medical society, all of the very first standing and ability. 



This paper concerns itself with chromium considered as a poison 

 to the animal body, and cites four cases, all of whom were Dr. 

 Harrington's patients : ist, A woman who made caps from blue 

 cloth. She was attacked by ulceration over most of the body, 

 with swellings, and with constitutional disturbances which had not 

 subsided at the end of two years. The cloth proved to contain a 

 ■" large amount of chromium." To dust arising from it the symp- 

 toms are assigned. 2d, The case of a clergyman whose hands 

 ulcerated. His gloves proved to contain "a large amount of 

 chromium," and to this the ulcers are attributed. 3d and 4th, 

 Two young boys who were attacked with nausea, vomiting, fever, 

 delirium, and convulsions. Their new suits of clothing were ex- 

 amined, and proved to contain " chromium in great abundance." 

 The paper states that its compounds, when taken internally, pro- 

 duce symptoms similar to those described. One child sucked his 

 fingers, and the other bit his nails. And thus the chrome-poison 

 was introduced. The dejecta from the elder of the boys proved 

 to contain " traces of chromium, and thus established the diagnosis 

 of poisoning." 



The well-written and highly indorsed paper, curiously enough, 

 does not offer the slightest evidence that chromium or any of its 

 compounds, in any quantity, however large or small, can injuriously 

 affect the animal body. Furthermore, there is no reliable tradition 

 or literature to that effect. And yet chrome-dyes have been in 

 general use since 1828 at least, the American consumption alone 

 being thousands of tons annually. In fact, so general is their use, 

 that chromic oxide may be found in almost any piece of cloth which 

 may happen to be at hand. 



In the entire absence of any reliable literature pertinent, I was 

 led to make studies as to the poisonous effects of chrome-salts. 

 In the weaving of fabrics, the yarn suffers a constant succession of 

 shocks and scrapings, which must detach any thing like dust which 

 may adhere to it. If, then, dust from chrome-dyed yarn had any poi- 

 sonous effects, weavers ought to have some knowledge of it. In- 

 quiries were set afoot in three mills in Philadelphia, and from none 

 was there reported any injurious effect from such dust. If any 



existed, it was not known to the weavers. This seemed im- 

 portant. 



Similarly, and in the same way, dyers were questioned, and 

 none of them had any knowledge of injury from chrome. Such 

 operatives have their hands and arms in chrome-dyes at almost any 

 hour of the day, and therefore their replies seemed interesting. 



Of even more importance are the workers in a chrome-factory, 

 one which has been in operation over fifty years. Here are pro- 

 duced the alkali bichromates which dyers use. The operatives 

 (some hundreds in number) live in an atmosphere quite heavily 

 charged with alkali chromate dust, visibly charged. Yet these 

 people are as healthy as those in other occupations. As a matter 

 of fact, there may any day be seen at this factory several pension- 

 ers, worn out in the service, and now too old to do more than the 

 semblance of labor. 



But this is to be said, every man who works exclusively within 

 the factory has the nasal septum partially destroyed in from eight 

 to twenty weeks. The cautery then ceases, and there is no further 

 inconvenience. And, further, if strong chrome-liquors, or much 

 chrome-dust, be allowed to get upon any abrasion of the skin, they 

 are apt to produce sores ; and, if these sores be treated to more 

 chrome, they will continue to suppurate, and will produce sores 

 with vertical walls, having the appearance of syphilitic chancres ; 

 but if a sore be protected by salve, or otherwise, it heals like any 

 other one would. 



Through the courtesy of a practising physician, the health of 

 these bichromate-makers was discussed at a meeting of a medical 

 society whose members had the care of them. No chrome-disease 

 or chrome-poisoning was known to those physicians. 



To sum up so far : there is not known to exist, among the 

 workers in any of the forms of chrome, any chrome-disease or 

 chrome-poisoning from contact, from inhalation, or otherwise. 

 This much established, there was no risk in the following experi- 

 ments : — 



1. Three healthy men were exposed for four hours to an at- 

 mosphere containing vapors from boihng sodium bichromate, — 

 vapors visible in a beam of sunlight. 



2. Two healthy men were exposed twenty minutes to an at- 

 mosphere containing visible clouds of dust of neutral sodium 

 chromate. 



3. The lower half of a shirt-sleeve was saturated with a ten-per- 

 cent solution of potash bichromate, and then bound around the 

 arm from wrist to elbow. It remained thus in contact with the 

 skin three hours, and was kept moist. 



4. A piece of white cotton cloth was dyed black in the ordinary 

 way, by sumac, iron nitrate, chrome, and logwood. After washing 

 in cold water alone, and passing through a clothes-wringer, a piece 

 of it, eight inches wide and ten inches long, was pinned to the inner 

 side of the undershirt, and worn in contact with the skin for four 

 hours on a hot day. 



No experiments were made to ascertain the effects of wearing 

 chrome-dyed clothing, only because the writer was able to recall 

 precisely the cases of so many men, women, and children who had 

 done that without any deleterious results, so far as known. None 

 of them, at least, were affected in any of the manners described 

 as due to chrome-poisoning, in Dr. Harrington's communication. 

 No unpleasant results followed any of the experiments mentioned. 

 No one of the subjects has suffered in the slightest. The time 

 elapsed is more than a month. 



In the daily papers of July 12 of this year, appeared the report of 

 a coroner's jury which considered the cases of several persons who 

 died in Philadelphia during the years 1885, 1886, and 1887, from 

 eating buns, it was supposed, made by Palmer, a baker, who had put 

 into them chrome-yellow. The ages of the victims were from three 

 years to twenty-four years, among them being seven of Palmer's own 

 family. He did not deny having put lead chromate in the buns. It 

 was, indeed, in evidence that eighty per cent of Philadelphia bakers 

 so used it. The testimony of Dr. Stein, Dr. Stewart, and Dr. Stark, 

 the attending physicians upon the particular subjects under con- 

 sideration, was that the symptoms were those of lead-poisoning, and 

 that they set about to search for the source. They found it in 

 Palmer's bakery, — the lead chromate which he put in the buns. 

 The viscera of victims, after death, were submitted to Dr. Leffman, 



