insignificance, however, when compared with the destruction caused by the
floating fluff of flax-mills. These mills employ children of tender years,
who have to work in an atmosphere loaded with vegetable particles to such
a degree, that in a measure it clouds the vision. The hecklers are the
chief sufferers in this department of industry, especially the children,
who are, many of them, forced to work the same time as adults--that is, as
long as human nature can possibly hold out. We shall have more to say,
however, when we come to consider the effects of bleaching and dyeing
works, respecting those trades which exhaust the youthful powers of large
portions of the working population, and thus do infinitely more damage to
the race than the more curious diseases of smaller trades, which may be
severe enough, but do not affect more than infinitesimal portions of the
population.
It would be supposed that workers on decomposing vegetable and animal
matter would suffer a sickness and mortality only inferior to the artisans
subjected to the emanations of poisonous metals. _A priori_, we should
say, for instance, that dustmen, night men, and the workers in sewers,
would be amongst the most unhealthy of the working classes, and, indeed,
routine sanitarians would summarily tell us that such must be the case.
The begrimed and dusty scavenger, whose very name is a reproach, spends
the best part of his life in clearing away the disgusting refuse of
civilization; he has yet another duty to perform which brings him into
still closer contact with unsavoury emanations. The lay-stall, or
scavengers' yard, is of course a huge collection of the sweepings of the
streets, the refuse of the markets, and the night-soil and dust of the
houses, but it is not allowed to remain in a fermenting and indiscriminate
mass. Almost as soon as it is deposited, men, women, and boys are employed
to sift and sort the heap; bones, glass, woollen and linen rags, old iron
and other metals, have to be eliminated from the mass and set aside, and
the coals and great cinders are extracted from the useless ashes by the
"hill-men." It would scarcely be possible to bring human life into closer
contact with filth of every kind than we find it to be in the workers in
these lay-stalls. Yet, strange to say, Dr. Guy, who has investigated their
sanitary condition, finds them to be among the healthiest of our working
population. "They are, with a very few exceptions," he tells us, "a
healthy-looking, ruddy-complexioned race;" that is, they wear their
natural rouge under their artificial tint, reversing the more fashionable
method of May Fair.
"One or two boys," he tells us, "whom I saw at work, would have been
excellent models for the artist." Our London readers will perhaps remember
to have seen troops of robust and rosy-looking young women, not perhaps in
afternoon toilet, making their way, about five o'clock, from the Marble
Arch across Hyde Park; these are the "hill-women," chiefly Irish, trooping
home to the rookeries of Westminster; their appearance quite confirms Dr.
Guy's views as to the healthful appearance of these workers. The master
scavengers, who live with all their families amid these heaps of dusty
desolation, excite the admiration of this searcher after truth still more;
and at last, breaking out of the calm unimpassioned manner which the
philosophical statist, who deals only with general truths, is wont to
impose upon himself, he thus fairly gives vent to his admiration for the
genus dustman:--
"To conclude this account of the health of this very useful class of
men, I will merely add that the score or so of master scavengers who
were brought together on more than one occasion by the trial already
alluded to (an indictment for nuisance against a lay-stall keeper), as
the origin of these inquiries, _are the healthiest set of men I have
ever seen_. I do not think, whether in town or country, such a body of
men could be brought together, except by selection; and it is not
going too far to assert of them, that if the comparison were limited
to the inhabitants of London, or our large towns, no score of selected
tradesmen could be found to match the same number of scavengers
brought casually together."
This is high praise, and doubtless deserved; but few people, however,
would have suspected that Hygeia clasped so closely to her bosom the grimy
scavenger in his filthy frock. Dr. Guy, however, gives us hard figures for
his pleasant flourishes. If we compare the scavenger with other workmen
placed under somewhat similar circumstances, he rises triumphant over
them. Thus whilst the bricklayer's labourer, generally a very poor
Irishman, it is true, suffers from fever, a ratio of 35-1/2 per cent., and
the brickmaker 21 per cent., the scavenger experiences only 8 per cent. of
illness from the same cause. This result does seem astonishing when we
remember that sanitarians sometimes attribute so much illness to the
presence of a neglected dust-heap; but as Dr. Guy very justly remarks,
those emanations which may prove injurious when confined within a small
space--and our houses, like bell glasses, cover and keep in numberless
impurities--become innoxious when fully exposed to the air. We suspect,
however, that the power of ashes to absorb noxious emanations of all
kinds, is at the bottom of the striking immunity which the scavenger
exhibits from all febrile complaints. Nightmen and sewer-men, again, are
brought into direct communication with the most disgusting, and as the
public are led to suppose, the most poisonous animal effluvia; they stir
in the very nidus of fever, yet it has been remarked by many observers
that they are singularly exempt from this disease. Sir Anthony Carlisle
tells us that out of fifty men employed in the sewers in his time, only
three had had fever. Thakrah declares that out of eighteen examined by his
assistant, only two had even slight disorders, and they informed him that
appetite was increased by the effluvia; and finally Dr. Guy tells us that
out of thirty-four nightmen examined by him, only one had had an attack of
fever, and he only through being out of work for three weeks; he suffered,
in short, _from change of air_, and perhaps want of food. Dr. Guy, in the
little pamphlet we have already quoted from, states a most remarkable
fact, illustrative of the changes of opinion, even amongst medical men,
relative to the effects of snuffing sewer emanations. He says, that a
gentleman who accompanied him in one of his inspections over a scavenger's
yard, informed him that, "he perfectly well recollects thirty years ago,
when he was a lad, seeing as many as twelve patients directed by the
faculty of that day _to walk round the shoots_ for the night-soil on his
father's premises; and he appealed for confirmation of this statement to
his brother, who said that he had seen scores of patients industriously
inhaling this curious dose of physic." Thakrah, who wrote his celebrated
"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 well-ascertained 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 5-3/4 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 families 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 civilization, 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 volatilization 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 phosphorous, 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 skin. The
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 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 volatilized 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 volatilized 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 volatilized 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 similates 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 to get rid of the distressing symptoms to which its
manipulation gives rise.
There is in Sheffield an occupation connected with tool-making which
forms, as it were, a connecting link between the diseases produced by
working in steel and those which flow from working in lead: we allude to
file-making. Unfortunately, the various preparations of lead enter very
largely into the arts and manufactures of this country; and as its action
upon the human body is very great, its pernicious influence is felt in a
vast number of occupations of a diverse nature. Thus, white-lead
manufacturers, sheet-lead rollers, painters, plumbers, potters, china
manufacturers, colour-grinders, glaziers, enamellers of cards,
lead-miners, and shot-makers, all come under the saturnine influence; even
the poor lacemakers of Belgium do not escape, for the manufacturer, in
order to make the fibre look white, requires them to dust it with
white-lead powder, and possibly, by this means, it may find its way into
the fair skin of a duchess!