POISONOUS VIOLET POWDER.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XIII, Issue 185, 2 August 1878, Page 4

POISONOUS VIOLET POWDER.

Too much publicity cannot be given to a fact which is mentioued in the Lancet. It appears that for bo me time past there has been an epidemic amoDg

young children in the neighborhood of London, ending in many c^seS i\\ the desth of the IcMlq\ hud the disease presenting every appearance of erysi■peiaPv A person whose child was thuo attacked suspected the vftlofc powder in use in the hftr&eVy, and sent a packet to a "firm 1 blf analysts for chemical examination, It was found to contain 25 per cent of white arsenic. This poison, it seema unfortunately, is exceedingly cheap — ot all events cheaper than starch, of which violent powder is usually made. That the case is not an is^led one was proved by the fact that the analysts consulted (Messrs Evnns & Jones, of Lsadenball-street) subsequently purchased several packets of powder themselves, and having submitted them to analysis, discovered the same poison in the sunn amount. Their analyses have-, moreover, been confirmed by the medical men in the neighborhood. The Queen, writing on this Bubject, and warning cnotherß to be careful, says:-— "lt is a terrible thought that, in ministering to the comfort of a little child, a nurse or mother may be slowly poisoning it. But a remedy is at hand. Use only some finely powdered pure starch for the baby, and leave off face powders for all who are growing op. Face powders are not wanted, if women could only believe it. Air, exercise, and. the proper use of the bath will do more to produce good complexions than all the fase powders in the world."