February 15, 1873.J THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
615 
opening, enveloping* all around in a stifling, unhealthy 
atmosphere, in which the furnace, or calciner-men, are 
actively employed. The necessity for the use of respi¬ 
rators is undoubted, yet the men wholly disregard this 
precaution. The rough metal so obtained is now sub¬ 
mitted to the furnace, mixed with pieces of old iron, 
which assist greatly in its reduction from all further 
impurities ; the latter floats in a molten state above the 
heavier mass of fluid lead, which is now run out into 
the pots. These pots are huge reservoirs arranged in a 
long row down the apartment, and in these the lead, by 
its crystallization, becomes separated from the silver. 
At this work the potmen are engaged: bathed in per¬ 
spiration, parched with thirst from their arduous exer¬ 
tions and the heat around, they raise by means of great 
perforated ladles tho crystalline masses of the metal, 
and, swinging up and down upon the longer arm of the 
ladle as a lever, effectually shake out all the lead and 
silver still remaining in a molten state. The crystalline 
mass is swung round into the pot next to the workman. 
Tho same process is repeated here, the lead again passed 
on to a reservoir still further off. until at the extreme 
end of the row we may find but half an ounce of silver 
in a ton of lead ; whilst, on the other hand, each succes¬ 
sive pot further on is of course poorer in lead, richer in 
silver, even to the extent of 200 ounces in the ton of 
lead. 
Now as to the hygienic condition of the pot-men. The 
surface of this molten mass in each huge reservoir is 
constantly undergoing rapid oxidation. The fumes escap¬ 
ing into the atmosphere around consist almost entirely 
of oxide of lead. For eight hours a day successively the 
pot-men are exposed to these fumes—inhaling the poison 
at every breath, receiving it upon the surface of the skin 
when in a state particulai'ly favourable to absorption, 
washing the deposit which must oocur upon the lips and 
tongue into the stomach by the large amount of water 
which many take to allay their thirst. Such are the 
ordinary conditions of life to which the pot-men at these 
smelting works are exposed. 
To follow the lead and silver in their further stages 
will take a brief sketch. The lead, which has been de¬ 
silverized as above described, is now run into moulds 
stamped with the proprietor’s name, and is ready for the 
market; whilst the contents of the reservoir so rich in 
silver are brought into the refinery. Here it is kept at 
a red heat, and a blast of steam constantly passing over 
its surface oxidizes the lead, which, being readily fusible, 
runs off as “litharge” through an aperture in the fur¬ 
nace. The appearance of the interior of this furnace and 
the formation of litharge must be seen in order that the 
beauty of the sight may be fully appreciated. The 
litharge is again reduced into the metallic state, whilst 
the silver not yet perfectly refined is kept in a molten 
state in a furnace driven to the intense heat of quite 
1873 s ' Fahr. until all impurities are removed, when it is 
allowed to cool in a mould of calcined bone-ash—the 
only material known which will answer the purpose, and 
resist the intense heat of the silver. The formation of 
this great silver plate at one of our large lead works is 
the “ lion’’ of the building ; and the sea of molten silver 
once seen is not easily forgotten. 
At what expense to the health of the workmen is this 
interesting process purchased F The exposure to the 
fumes at the furnaces being only necessitated during the 
stirring and discharging of the* load, the occupation is 
decidedly less noxious than that in which the pot-men 
are engaged. A knowledge of this fact evidently has 
much to do with the hours diming which the men are 
employed; for, whilst the men at the furnaces are on 
duty for thirty-six hours at a time, the pot-men are 
divided into three “ watches,” each of which is occupied 
for eight hours at a time. The intermittent nature of 
the duties at the furnaces has the result of securing to 
the men a far greater immunity from the action of lead 
on the system than is the case with the pot-men, who, 
without exception, exhibit every appearance of failing 
health. They all have a sallow, haggard countenance ; 
the breath is offensive; they complain of a sweet taste 
in the mouth ; their teeth are usually carious in the ex¬ 
treme ; often the “ blue line” is very evident; their 
digestive powers are impared; the secretions generally 
are torpid. With such a state of things as the general 
rule of their lives—constantly adding day by day to the 
accumulation of the poison within their bodies,—it may 
well be supposed that their existence is none of the 
happiest; constantly handling the metal, inhaling it in 
a minute state of division into their lungs, swallowing 
it with every draught of water, bathed in an atmosphere 
teeming with the fumes of the furnaces and pots, it is 
indeed not surprising that, unless very strict precautions 
are taken, they are as likely to suffer from lead-poisoning 
as are their fellows at the whitelead establishments. The 
more serious effects of lead result from sheer carelessness 
on the part of the men; utter want of regard for their 
personal welfare is the mainspring of these evils ; added 
to vmich, ignorance of the simplest hygienic principles 
and total disregard to ordinary cleanliness degrade their 
moral and physical endowments. 
The managers use every expedient which has a protec¬ 
tive tendency, and constantly give general directions to 
the men regarding sanitary measures, which the work¬ 
men as constantly neglect—in fact, they all seem to re¬ 
quire a severe attack of colic to bring them to be anything 
like reasonable agents in the matter. The works to 
which I chiefly allude have an extremely healthy site, in 
view of the Worm’s Head, with the dashing breakers on 
the Pembrey Sands ozonising the atmosphere ; and in 
such a locality our numerous cases of lead colic would 
remind us of the lines in ‘ Lalla Rookh ’— 
“ Full iu the sight of Paradise, 
Beholding heaven and feeling hell! ” 
The precautions which should be enforced in these 
establishments are twofold in nature, and refer to the 
buildings and the person of the workmen. The apart¬ 
ments should be lofty; perfect ventilation, with a full 
current of air through the buildings, is absolutely 
requisite. Each workman, by this means, would secure 
not only a large cubic volume of air, but the poisonous 
fumes would be more diluted and more freely conveyed 
out of the building. The floors should be swept daily, 
after having been previously damped so as to avoid all 
dust arising. The men should be directed to use their 
ladles carefully, so as to disturb the contents of the pots 
as little as possible. In regard to the person of the 
workmen more particularly, they should cover themselves 
with a garment to be used only when at work, and which 
should be shaken and laid aside as soon as they leave the 
buildings. Strict cleanliness should be observed in then- 
person—their hands should be washed frequently, and 
more especially before meals, from the adhering metal. 
Respirators ought more generally to be worn throughout 
these establishments, and if they are neglected the mouth 
should be well rinsed out with water before swallowing 
their food, or, better still, a gargle of dilute acetic acid 
or table vinegar might be used with advantage. Even 
with these precautions the salivary secretion carries a 
certain amount of lead into tho stomach, so it is decidedly 
advisable that an occasional purge of sulphate of magnesia 
be taken, as well as the sulphuric acid drink which is 
used at whitelead-works, and which should be taken two 
or three times a week. These simple rules, il strenu¬ 
ously adhered to, would render cases of colica pictonum 
at these works comparatively rare. The buildings here 
are lofty, allowing of a good cui’rent of air, the floors are 
regularly damped and swept; but, in spite of every per¬ 
suasion on the pait of the managers, the men assiduously 
neglect the other important items. They olten take 
meals in the same clothing as they work in, frequently 
avoid washing their hands, and absolutely reluse to wear 
respirators. One man actually declared he had a great 
antipathy to these useful little articles, because he feared 
