Sketcher.

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, Issue 428, 28 July 1904, Page 3

Sketcher.

UNSUSPECTED DANGERS. f|ffi|gS if there "were* 'mot already sufiiills that flesh is heir to, Wgßg&\ qrfite a rage for discovering new ones appears to- have set in, i ■despite Shakespeare's' excellent advice -that we Bhould*' ' \ .Eathor bear (hose ills yq have, Than fly to others that we know not of. Were ..we to heed all that is written in theee da} 3 of ultra-scientific research on. what we have termed. Unsuspected should live in a state of constant dread, and existence would become atolferable.'' !) . We have always considered walking to * U- .fllL.l lit---., o « . A

be oae of the healthiest forms of .exercise, but it appears, from a theory lately started by a French army doctor named Colin, that the shock caused by the, heel of the boot striding the ground is extremely bad for the Nervous system. Dr. Colin, who has beeri making extensive experiments, declares that this constant jar, slight as it is. has in time a prejudicial effect on the spine and brain;,and to this is due a great part 0! the feering of fatigue after long walks Especially is this the case with soldiers, who have. considerable weight in arms and accoutrements to carry. In a day's march of about twentyone miles this shock is repeated about forty thousand times, and to this Dr. Cslin..ascribes- the freqtient headaches suffered by the men after long marches, An a means of prevention the doctor proposes india-rubber heels.

, _., This news is bad enough for man; but poor woman--has an additional causa Sot uneasiness, arising from the very ground on which she treads—the dust, mu3, and other accumulations on pavements having been proved from recent investigation to contain bacilli of the most dangerous character. As if this were not si ffieleatly terrifying, a Yiennase doctor has lately been experimenting with some grapes which he bought. After rinsing the dust from the grapes in pure spring water, he found the water very dirty. As ah experiment be injected some of this water into three guinea-pigs. One died in two days of peritonitis; the other two also died after a lapse of over a mouth, On examination, the bodies showed pronounced tubercul&is originating in tno Bite of - inoouJatior.

Man, however, co,mes in for his shara, since an American chemist haß discovered that there is death not only in the pot; bat in the pot-hat, and threatens ua with leadpoisoning from the' sweat-band, as the glotay white leather lining which goes against the forehead is accurately if not euphoniously termed. This truth is endorsed by the statement of Dr James Startin of Harley Street, who promulgates the warning that eczema 'on men's foreheads is often caused by their wearing hats the linings of which have been whitened and glazed with arsenic and other irritating substances. He reoommends that the lining should be of Bilk or some soft undyed material. The discovery by Dr J. F. Geisler, the American chemist above mentioned, according to the ' British Medical Journal,' came about in this wise. He bought a tall hat in New York, which ther&.is-termed a-stove-pipe, and •which causeia him more than""the average amount of discomfort. One day the hat was accidentally exposed to an atmosphere containing sulphuretted hydrogen, and a discoloration of the sweet-band was noticed, which on examination was found to be due to the formation of sulphide of lead. Careful analysis of the band showed it to contain no less than 0 8585 grain of leed per square inch, or 37 518 grains for the whole band. Nor are the children free, since it has been remarked that the wearing by them of red stockings coincides with pustular eruptions on their legs and feet, The Board of Health in Paris employed ML Sohutzonberger, a chemical expert, to ascertain whether the dyes colouring the stockings contained poisonous matter. In his report he says that all the many specimens submitted to him derived their red colour from matters obtained from aniline and containing a large proportion of antimoniac oxide. As children perspire freely, this matters enters into Bolution, and ia thus taken into the pores. The Prof eesor had no doubt that it was the cause of the pustular rash which accompanies the use of red stockings The Board of Health thereupon is in favour of the interdiction for wearing apparel 6£ dyes-obtained from metallic preparations. That this, at all events, is no cry of 'Wolf was proved by the sad case of Mr Cronin chief of the town police in Pretoria, South Africa, who in June last year was laid up with feverand a swelling that commenced with the feet and ankles, extended over the" whole body till his eyes were nearly closed, - the'" result, according to ; local medical opinion, of poisoning from coloured Books.

.Another note ofj : warning, is , Bounded; from South.[Africa to ladies.-who (ire. given over to/ an inordinate love of. bangles. Last January a 'Kaffir 'girl presented herself at GreySrHdßpital; Kihgwilli&mßtown, desiring that her • arm should be amputated. It appeared' that the bangled which she wore bad so compressed the .flush, as to - produce-extreme inflammation, and'it became absolutely necessary that the arm should be amputated The operation was. successfully performed by Dxs Blaine and Brownlee, and the patient will now bo more wear ornaments on that arm.at least. To such an extent will fashion, even Amongst the dusky savages, enslave the fair sex.

' A ".curious case came under my notice lately, which, I think, is of public value. A children's party and Christmas tree resulted in most of the little people, and many of the older ones, being -isaized with symptoms of mineral poisoning. The fact of several who were present who had not pfcrtaSen'b! food or liquid of any kind being in..the number of. those- affected directed "'my''attention to'"the coloured candles' ~ on. .•' the trde.; * ; These "I had examined by the county analyst, Mr Lowe, of Chester, whose report is to the effect that the green candles were coloured with arsenical green, to the extent that every eight candles would contain sue grain of arsenious anhydrite,., He further reports that the red candles were coloured with vermilion. There is no doubt, therefore, that we had not farther to seek for an explanation of the symptoms—a crowded room, with the atmosphere charged with arsenical and mercurial fumes sufficiently accounting for it. It is only fair to state that! learn the candles were not of/Eaglish manufacture, and were bought with. the toys:' A common cat* s 3 of blood-poisoning wasrecently quoted by a doctor at one of the : Berlin, hospitals, to which institution a' I seamstress was admitted suffering from blood* poisoning, caused by using a common metal thimble, when Bhe had.a slight scratch on her finger. On examination, the thimble was found to have .two or three small spots of verdigris Inside. , Commenting on thip, the 'Lancet' save: ' Steel thimbles are much safer, and cost very little. Another variety in common use is enamelled within, and is, if possible, freer from objection. Let ns not forget to add a caution that cuts or scratches on the hand should never be neglected by sewingwomen as long as dy«s continue to be used in cloth manufacture,'

The fosegoiag are far from exhausting the stook of such recent disclosures: the drinking of tea is said to have an injurious effect upon the complexion, bj darkening the ; skin and causing pimplea; but what is perhaps the unkisdest out of all, a Berlin scientific- gentleman informs us that danger lurks in a. kiss. He has counted and classified the bacteria which lodge in the human' month—some twentytwo diatisct speoies,' His conclusion is; th.at persoas who cannot abstain from so dangerous a habit as kissing should indulge in it ihrOugh the medium of a respirator 1

To know what we are ignorant of haß uways seemed one of the chief pleasares I arising from the study of the sciences, and if from time to time unpleasant truths be discovered, as they must be, it is a moot question whether their publication is in every case beneficial or necessary; and though it is well to be forewarned, th ereare cas.s in which * where ignorance is bhss'tis folly to be wise.'