"Treatise on the Effects of Trades and Professions on Health,' about this period, tells us that the parents of consumptive youth in his time, brought them up to the business of a butcher in the hope of averting that formidable malady. In endeavouring to avoid Scylla they fell into Charybdis, inasmuch as it is a wellascertained fact that butchers, although exempt from consumption and scrofula, are very prone to inflammatory diseases. They are seldom ill, but when ill it goes hard with them, so much so, that as a class, these jolly red-faced men, the very pictures of their own beef, are but short-lived. The effects of animal emanations, and the contact of animal substances with the skin. in protecting workmen from consumption, is a very remarkable circumstance. Tanners constantly at work among tan-pits are rarely, we believe, attacked with phthisis; and those artisans in the woollen manufacture termed cloth piecers, whose skins are smeared with oil in the course of the day, present a remarkable contrast to the workers in cotton factories their flesh being plump and rosy, and their muscles strong. Mr. Thompson of Perth, who has investigated this subject, found the weight of one hundred young persons, so employed, increased in three months 575 lbs., giving an average increase of 53 lbs., and in eight selected cases the gain during the same brief period averaged no less than 17 lbs. each person. The beneficial effect of this department of the woollen manufacture is so well known, that in Yorkshire the better classes frequently send the delicate members of their family to the woollen mills for the benefit of their health. The application of oil, especially of cod-liver oil, to the skin, has indeed been recommended to consumptive patients, as thereby a greater amount of carbonaceous material can be thrown into the system without deranging it than by any other. After having drawn attention to so many occupations which are positively injurious to artisans, it is at least gratifying to be able to point to one large and rapidly increasing manufacture which is so clearly beneficial in its operations upon human health.

There is a class of artisans which suffers from the inhalation of poisonous matters into the lungs, like the grinders and the masons, &c., but the foreign matter here presents itself in the form of a subtle vapour, rather than in that of dust. We little think, when we strike a lucifer-match-that incomparable product of civilisation, whose inventor deserves a statue in every capital in Europe-what suffering it may possibly have caused in its

manufacture.

The composition at the end of a match is composed of phosphorus combined with oxymuriate of potash

and glue, made into a paste, and kept liquid by being placed over a heated metal plate. Into this composition the dipper' dips the bundle of matches, and in doing so he is forced to inhale the vapour given off, which is strongly charged with phosphoric acid, the effect of which upon him is sometimes most disastrous. After a time he experiences most excruciating pains in the bones of the jaw, but principally in the lower one; they begin to swell, a purulent discharge takes place, and, finally, the bone dies and comes away. Mr. Stanley, one of the surgeons of St. Bartholomew's Hospital, had a patient who thus lost the whole of the lower jaw. There appears to be considerable doubt whether the poison acts locally or constitutionally. One would naturally suppose that if the action were local, it would first take effect upon the bones of the nose, but, as far as the experience of surgery goes, the 'dipper' always preserves his nose intact. That the poisonous fumes have a certain constitutional effect, the aspect of the workman at once declares; cadaverous in complexion, emaciated to a degree, and painfully nervous, he presents the appearance of a person suffering from the presence of some irritant poison in the blood. It certainly is very remarkable that phosphorus, which, in the form of phosphate of lime, is a very important constituent of bone, should have such an extraordinary effect upon it when received into the system in the manner we have described. We are not aware that this drug, when received into the stomach only, has ever produced the local effect noticed; but without doubt, it is the quantity of the poisonous agent to which the workman is subjected, as he not only receives the fumes directly into his mouth and air-passages in the act of 'dipping,' but the whole atmosphere of the factory becomes so impregnated with phosphorus, in consequence of its volatilisation when the process of drying the matches is being proceeded with, that his clothes even become saturated to such an extent that in the dark they appear quite luminous. In Vienna, where enormous numbers of lucifer-matches are made, necrosis of the jaw is of common occurrence among the workmen; and the German physicians believe that the disease arises principally in persons of scrofulous habit, the periosteum or lining membrane of whose bones are peculiarly liable to take on inflammatory action, the death of the bone following as a matter of course. If this view of the case be true, all scrofulous persons should be warned from the employment as dangerous, and in all cases employers should adopt every precaution in their power to prevent the recurrence of such mischief to the employed. Mr. Stanley says that the oil of turpentine which is a solvent of phosphorus, when exposed in

saucers, absorbs the vapour which does so much mischief, and that its employment in a large lucifer-match factory in the neighbourhood of the London Hospital was attended with the happiest success. Thus we have another example of the power of the chemist to make the good elements of his craft do battle with the evil ones in the cause of humanity.

Another and more common instance, in which the workman is sacrificed to luxury, is the case of the water-gilder. The skill of this artisan is employed in gilding metals, principally silver, by the action of fire. The metal to be gilded is coated with an amalgam of gold and mercury, and is then exposed to the fumes of a charcoal fire, which drives off the mercury, and leaves the gold adherent to the metal. During the process the fumes of the mercury are inhaled by the workman, and indeed, deposit their metalliferous particles over the entire surface of the skinthe result is that he speedily becomes afflicted with mercurial tremor, or, in the language of the workshop, he gets a fit of 'the trembles.' If he proceeds with his work, the tremor rapidly increases. Dr. Watson, in describing a patient thus afflicted, says:

'He was led into the room, walking with uncertain steps, his limbs trembling and dancing, as though he had been hung on wires. While sitting on a chair he was comparatively quiet, you would not suppose that he ailed anything; but, as soon as he attempted to rise and to walk, his legs began to shake violently with a rapid movement. He could neither hold them steadily nor direct them with precision.'

Were it not painful to contemplate, the incoherent muscular action of workmen thus afflicted would appear ludicrous. In endeavouring to put his food into his mouth he will sometimes, as in chorea, bob it against his eye or his cheek; and extreme cases have been known, in which the unfortunate water-gilder thus afflicted has been forced to take his food like a quadruped. As the disease increases, the complexion becomes of a brown hue, and, presently delirium, and lastly, want of consciousness supervenes. To this complexion comes the water-gilder; and, as the silverer of looking-glasses is exposed to the action of mercury, both by touch and inhalation, the same effects are produced upon him. If the charming belle, as she surveys her beauty in the glass, could but for a moment see reflected this poor shattered human creature, with trembling muscles, brown visage, and blackened teeth, she would doubtless start with horror; but, as it is, the slaves of luxury and vanity drop out of life unobserved and uncared for, as the stream of travellers disappeared one by one through the bridge of Mirza. Happily, the subtle finger of electricity has in a measure emancipated the water-gilder from

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the horrors of his art. The voltaic battery now deposits the metal without the intervention of quicksilver, and science has eliminated another of those destructive agencies which have hitherto afflicted this class of artisans

The silvering of mirrors and looking-glasses still remains a dangerous operation; but there can be no doubt, that with properly constructed flues, the floating metal would be entirely conducted away. Indeed it is by the chimney that much of the metal now escapes; for Thakrah tells us that he has been informed by a manufacturer that from the sweepings of the chimney on one occasion, he had collected twenty pounds of good quicksilver. Another, and a very manageable expedient, sometimes resorted to by those exposed to the fumes and the oxide of mercury, is to cover the mouth with a tube-like proboscis, which hangs out of the way of the floating metal, and thus conducts pure air to the operator.

Thakrah tells us that workers in brass also suffer from the inhalation of the volatilised metal. The brass melters of Birmingham suffer from intermittent fever, which they call the brass ague. This malady leaves them in a state of great debility. The filers of brass, on the same authority, are subject to a most peculiar affection; like Tittlebat Titmouse, their hair turning a vivid green. It is supposed that the copper in the brass dust combines with the oil of the hair, and thus an oxide of copper is formed. Coppersmiths are of course similarly affected. Plumbers, whilst casting, are subject to the volatilised oxide of lead, which in time produces paralysis, and while they are soldering, many deleterious fumes arise, of a sweetish taste, and of a highly astringent nature, which often produces violent attacks of constipation.

But poisonous metals may attack the mucous membrane in the shape of finely-divided powder, used in the arts. There is an exceedingly beautiful paper, of an apple-green colour, which is often selected for the coolness and cheerfulness of its appearance. The writer was himself once deluded by the seductive appearance of a paper of this description, and had his library furnished with it. Strange to say, a violent cold seemed to seize every one, even in the midst of summer, who stopped long in this apartment, especially if they came much in contact with the walls. On questioning the paper-hanger, the mystery was speedily explained. I never hang that kind of paper,' he said, without getting a bad sore throat and a running of the 'eyes-all the trade knows it is good for a cold to have any dealings with it.' The cheerful green of the paper is nothing less deadly than the aceto-arsenite of copper: an irritant poison of the first class. The flock part of the paper contains a large

quantity of pigment in the form of dust, which is of course liable to be detached from the walls on very slight occasions. It has been erroneously supposed, that the metal must be volatilised by heat ere it can be separated from the paper; but the action of detachment is mechanical, and not chemical, the poisonous dust either falls or is brushed off the wall, and becomes mixed with the ordinary dust of the room; the lifting of a book, or the displacement of a pile of papers, proves sufficient to set these particles in motion, and to bring them in contact with the mucous linings of the eyes, nose, and throat; hence the violent irritation produced, which simulates so closely the effects of a bad cold in the head. Professor Taylor, the celebrated medical toxocologist, has moreover proved the presence of arsenic in the dust fallen from this kind of paper. In a letter to the Medical Times and Gazette,' of January 1st, 1859, he says:

I procured from the shop of Messrs. Marratt and Short, Opticians, 68, King William Street, London Bridge, a quantity of dust for the purpose of analysis. The walls of this shop are covered with an unglazed arsenical paper, and, as I am informed, they have been so covered for a period of about three years. In collecting this dust from the tops of the cases containing the instruments, great care was taken not to touch the walls. The quantity thus collected for examination amounted to about 450 grains. It was nearly black, and, under the microscope, appeared to consist of fibres of sooty particles. It was very light and flocculent. One hundred and fifty grains of the dust were examined by Reinsch's process, and enough metallic arsenic was obtained from it to coat about ten square inches of copper foil, in addition to a piece of copper gauze. From the latter deposit, by the application of heat, octahedral crystals of arsenic were readily obtained. The case had not been dusted for a period of nine months. Even the dust of instruments locked up in the cases, which were lined at the back only with the green paper, was found to be charged with this poisonous pigment. Half a grain of the dust sufficed to cover pretty thickly with metallic arsenic a square inch of copper gauze. These facts,' says Professor Taylor, lead to the inevitable inference that the air of a room, of which the walls are covered with an unglazed arsenical green paper, is liable to be charged with the fine dust of the poisonous aceto-arsenite of copper. Those who inhabit these rooms are exposed to breathe the dust. The poison may thus find its way by the pulmonary membrane into the system, or it may affect the eyes, nose, and throat by local action.'

After this unimpeachable testimony to the poisonous character of the pigment in this paper, it is not difficult to understand that the workmen employed in its manufacture are particularly liable to attacks of illness which exhibit all the symptoms of acute influenza; or that the paper hangers, in putting it up, are sometimes obliged to leave work for a time, in order