Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
July,  1915. 
What  is  Rice  Powder? 
295 
vation  of  oculists  in  which  the  patients,  invariably  women,  complain 
of  vision  being  blurred,  inability  to  use  the  eyes  for  any  length  of 
time,  and  severe  itching  of  the  lids.  The  slightest  rubbing  of  the  lids 
produces  a  marked  redness  of  the  eyes  and  only  aggravates  the  itch- 
ing. In  severe  cases  the  lids  are  frequently  swollen  from  constant 
rubbing.  There  is  a  sticky,  elastic  secretion  which,  when  being 
removed,  pulls  out  in  long  strings.  Microscopic  examination  of  the 
secretion  reveals  masses  of  what  appear  to  be  crystals.  Until  recently 
no  satisfactory  explanation  of  the  presence  of  these  crystals  in  the 
eye  has  been  given.  Secretion  taken  from  the  eyes  of  two  sisters 
suffering  from  this  peculiar  complaint  were  submitted  to  the  pro- 
fessor of  pathology  of  one  of  the  university  medical  schools,  who 
found  that  the  crystals  came  from  rice  face  powder.  Seven  other 
patients  in  whom  the  same  symptoms  and  microscopic  conditions 
were  found  all  used  the  same  make  of  a  face  powder.  When  the 
powder  is  applied  to  the  face  with  a  puff  a  portion  of  the  fine  dust  is 
driven  upward  and  lodges  on  the  moist  eyeball.  The  rice  powder 
in  the  presence  of  the  tears  then  becomes  mucilaginous  in  character 
and  is  not  washed  from  under  the  eyelids.  The  powder  produces 
the  irritation,  which  is  aggravated  by  rubbing.  Those  who  use  a 
chamois-skin  in  applying  the  powder  are  less  liable  to  cause  the 
fine  dust  to  arise,  which  probably  accounts  for  the  condition  not 
being  found  in  every  woman  using  face  powder.  The  condition  is 
quickly  relieved  by  flushing  the  eye  with  boric-acid  solution.  The 
irritation  rapidly  disappears  when  the  eyes  are  kept  washed  out  with 
a  soothing  eye,- wash." 
Although  no  further  explanation  is  given  of  the  identity  of  the 
crystals  in  the  so-called  rice  powder,  I  have  no  hesitation  in  saying 
that  from  my  own  experience  the  crystals  were  undoubtedly  those  of 
talc,  which  is  used  almost  universally  in  rice  powders  and  in  which 
a  microscopic  examination  usually  shows  the  material  to  be  in  the 
form  of  broken  crystalline  fragments,  very  sharp  angled  and  alto- 
gether capable  of  producing  such  symptoms  as  those  described. 
In  consequence  of  the  foregoing  experience  with  the  so-called  rice 
powder  submitted  by  the  Philadelphia  physician  I  made  an  investi- 
gation of  the  composition  of  a  number  of  the  different  kinds  of  rice 
powder  sold  in  Philadelphia.  Several  of  the  samples  were  of  purely 
local  origin,  many,  however,  being  of  national  reputation  and  dis- 
tribution. It  may  safely  be  assumed  that  the  conditions  found  in 
Philadelphia  could  be  duplicated  anywhere  "in  the  United  States. 
