ARSENIC EATING.

Observer, Volume 2, Issue 29, 2 April 1881, Page 305

ARSENIC EATING.

"Do you see that lady?" said a prominent Auckland chemist, to a contributor to this journal, ' ' As sure as the sun will rise to-morrow, so surely will that woman die prematurely, in a few years, by a slow Tout certain self-destruc-tion." The scene was in Queen-street, and the lady in question was standing on the side-walk, waiting for the Ponsonby 'bus. The afternoon sun shone full upon her, dress and tout ensemble marked her as fairly well off and refined, and her face was beautiful, but about the large gray eyes there was a wearied, troubled expression, and the marble face was almost deathlike in its pallor. The skin was translucent, showing the delicate blue veins beneath. It Avas perfectly pure and clear but unnatural. "That lady," said the chemist seriously, "is an arsenic eater. Few have any idea how the deadly habit is spreading. Even in this city it numbers its devotees by twenties, and the husband who prides himself on his wife's beautiful complexion, the father who presses the pale forehead of his daughter, and the lover who is proud of while he is anxious about the transparent complexion of his sweetheart, never dreams for a moment that it is an unnatural effect produced by the use of a poison which will sooner or later destroy life. I am not telling this for sensation ; it is a terrible truth, and I could sit down and write off a list of a dozen names of ladies who are- in the habit of using this drug regularly. I co»Jd startle this city by telling it that the women of

many of its best families are committing a slow suicide. A practical chemist can tell at a glance a person addicted to this vice, and it has been my custom for years past to note down the persons I meet who have the mark of the arsenic habit upon them. If I were to show you that list, you would be astonished." " How is the drug usually taken ?" " Sometimes pure in minute doses, but generally in the form of Fowler's solution. For the first few months, maybe in some cases for a year, little or no effects ensue, but after that the beautiful pallor which you have seen is produced. After a few years the wretched woman begins to feel her health giving way, and decides to discontinue its use. Alas, it is too late ! The face changes to a livid red ; every one notices it, and in despair she returns to the same course, and receives the congratulations of her friends on her restored health. After some years, however, the face gradually changes from the clear colour of alabaster to a dull, ghastly complexion like chalk ; the whole system, saturated with this mineral, gives way, and usually death mercifully ends a life of paralysis.