
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, discharges and gets well 
in afew 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 extreme. 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 grease 
and arsenic are generally a blood poison in some degree; but when combined 
with “soap” the effect, atleast as far as my experience goes, is much more inju- 
rious.” MAYNARD, Guide, p. 12. 
In endorsing this I would add, that the combination is the more poisonons, in 
all probability. simply because the soap, being detersive. mechanically, facilitates 
the entrance of the poison, without, however, chemically increasing its virulence.. 









