i88 5 .J 
and other Manufactured Articles. 527 
leckless use made of arsenical pigments in various manu- 
factures, and the dangers arising therefrom.* 
. the other hand, it has been said that some exaggera- 
tion has taken place with regard to the numbers of the 
sufferers from arsenical poisoning, and that the subject has 
been hitherto treated too sensationally. 
We have been credibly informed, also, that the men em- 
ployed in the manufacture of arsenic in no way suffer from 
arsenical symptoms, and that on the whole they enjoy good 
health. T. he Inspector of the Cornwall and Devon mineral 
mines, Mr. R. Hunt, says the miners are a healthy set of 
men, and those engaged in arsenic mining make no com- 
plaint of the unwholesomeness of the work. The miners of 
Upper and Middle Styria are actually given to chew small 
pieces of crude arsenic, and believe in it, as men do who 
smoke and chew tobacco. It is said to relieve hunger, and 
give increase of strength. It is also supposed to be a protective 
against the fumes arising from the reducing-furnaces. 
On careful enquiry by competent persons the conclusion 
come to is that there is some exaggeration in these state- 
ments. It is, however, quite probable that men do chew 
minute pieces of crude arsenic with impunity ; but then 
crude arsenic is insoluble, and may pass through the stomach 
without having been aCted upon by its secretions. Many 
cases have been published that prove the truth of this 
assertion. But the case is very different when we have to 
deal with a perfectly soluble salt of arsenic, as the trioxide. 
Of the many arsenical preparations used in our manufactures 
the most dangerous, because the most extensively employed, 
is the trioxide. This is the principal ingredient in Scheele’s 
green, a pigment composed of 1 part of arsenic trioxide and 
2 parts of cupric oxide. Schweinfurt, Brunswick, Vienna, 
or emerald green, aceto-arsenites of copper, are all rather 
extensively used, mixed and unmixed, with such other 
materials as zinc oxide, in producing more delicate tints of 
colour. Another pigment, composed of chromic and ferric 
arsenate, is much employed, while arsenic acid enters into 
very many manufactures, aniline dyes in particular. Roseine, 
for instance, is produced by the arsenic acid process. 
In wall-paper printing, as in many other textile fabrics, the 
arsenical pigment is invariably mixed with zinc and some 
* For further details of numerous interesting cases of poisoning by arsenical 
pigments see a paper of mine in “ The Sanitary Record” of April 25, 1879, 
and “Medical Press,” 1879; also Mr. Henry Carr’s useful work, “Our Do- 
mestic Poisons,” published by Ridgway and Co., and in which appears a list 
of numerous other publications on arsenical poisoning 
