ON  ARSENIC  IN  PAPER-HANGINGS. 
345 
ment  of  the  arsenical  pigment  by  the  current  of  air,  and  to 
favor  to  the  greatest  extent  the  possible  volatilization  of  arsenic. 
It  should  be  mentioned,  that  in  all  these  experiments  the  tube 
connecting  the  test  apparatus  with  the  large  tube  which  contain- 
ed the  paper  was  plugged  with  cotton  wool,  to  prevent  any 
particles  of  the  pigment  from  being  mechanically  carried  over 
into  the  test-solutions. 
8th  Experiment. — Strips  of  arsenical  paper-hangings  were 
pasted  together,  back  to  back,  with  paste  in  a  state  of  decom- 
position. Air,  collected  over  the  gas-flame,  was  passed  over 
this  paper  for  a  period  of  nine  days ;  the  tube  containing  the 
paper  was  not  heated  until  after  the  second  day. 
Not  a  trace  of  arsenic  was  detected  in  the  solutions  in  any 
one  of  these  experiments,  neither  were  any  arsenical  particles 
carried  away  mechanically  by  the  air  as  it  swept  over  the  paper, 
as  was  proved  by  a  careful  chemical  examination,  after  each  ex- 
periment, of  the  plug  cotton  wool  above  referred  to. 
In  order  to  furnish  indisputable  proof  that  the  green  arsenical 
color  employed  in  the  manufacture  of  paper-hangings  is  not 
affected  by  air,  even  when  in  a  finely-divided  and  perfectly  un- 
protected condition,  600  grains  of  finely-powdered  emerald  green 
were  uniformly  dispersed  through  a  quantity  of  cotton  wool,, 
sufficient  to  fill  compactly  a  tall  jar  of  about  a  half-gallon 
capacity.  A  tube,  connected  with  the  test  apparatus,  and 
plugged  with  cotton  wool,  was  passed  to  the  bottom  of  the  jar, 
and  air  was  drawn  through  the  apparatus  continuously  for  one 
week,  the  jar  which  contained  the  emerald  green  being  main- 
tained at  90°  F.  during  a  portion  of  the  time.  Not  a  trace^of 
arsenic  was  found  to  have  been  volatilized  at  the  conclusion  of 
this  experiment. 
It  may,  I  think,  be  very  safely  concluded  from  the  experi- 
ments detailed  above,  added  to  those  performed  by  Mr.  Camp- 
bell, that  the  possibility  of  injurious  consequences  resulting 
from  the  employment  of  paper-hangings  colored  with  arsenical 
pigments  has  been  disproved;  and  that  the  symptoms  which 
have  been  described  as  exhibited  by  persons  who  happened  to 
occupy  rooms  hung  with  such  paper-hangings,  can  only  be 
regarded  as  accidentally  connected  with  that  circumstance,  and 
are  ascribable  to  other  causes. — London  Pharm.  Journ.,  May, 
1858. 
