Poisoning of workmen from arsenic and its salts is comparatively rare. See ARSENIC-POISONING.
The condition known as brass-founders' ague has been recognised for a long time in workmen employed in the production of brass and German silver. A feeling of languor and exhaustion and a sense of pressure on the chest may be observed within a few hours after beginning work, but more usually at the end of the day. This is followed by chills, which may last for several hours. The face becomes pale, the features drawn, and the skin covered with cold perspiration. The patient becomes fearful and restless ; and headache, nausea, and pain in the joints serve to increase his discomfort. The chill is usually succeeded by a rise in temperature, which is terminated by an outbreak of profuse perspiration. As a rule these symptoms disappear overnight, after the person has vomited freely. A workman who has suffered a number of such attacks attains a certain degree of immunity. Some workmen remain immune to the effects of the fumes, others arc affected only after having stopped their work for a time and then returned to it. The drinking of large quantities of warm milk is a good prophylactic measure. Airy and well ventilated workshops, to gether with suitable suction-devices over the melting-pots, are also a great desideratum.
The fumes of bisulphide of carbon, which is largely used in vulcanising rubber, may give rise to a very severe form of chronic poisoning, marked especially by disturbances of the nervous system. The symptoms, which sometimes appear within a few weeks, at other times not until months or years afterward, consist in headache, vertigo, loss of appetite, a bad taste in the mouth, nausea and vomiting, abdominal pains, and constipation. To these may be added pains in the joints, itching, and hyperfesthesia or ana:sthesia of the skin. Prolonged exposure to the poison is followed by severe nervous disturbances, which in the beginning are characterised by a period of excitement, including extreme volubility, irritability, and spas modic muscular contractions. This is followed by a period of depression, marked by muscular weakness, tremor, uncertain movements, fatigue, loss of memory, and confusion. Of even greater importance are the psychic
disturbances, including insanity and mania. The quicker the patient is removed from the effects of the fumes, the better the chances of recovery. The prevention as well as the cure of the disease depend on an abundance of fresh air and avoidance of all alcoholic beverages.
The disturbances resultant to the general health from the inhalation of dust are many and varied. They are fully discussed in the article on DUST DISEASES (which see).
Among occupation diseases must also be considered the many and varied affections of the skin produced by handling various materials, which often bring about prolonged disability, and sometimes necessitate a change of occupation. These conditions are popularly termed " itch," although the itch-mite has nothing to do with them, nor have the affections anything in common with the disease caused by this parasite. These inflammatory conditions of the skin are associated with a great many pursuits, including galvanising, glass polishing, quinine manufacture, the production of tar and its derivatives, smelting of arsenical ores, cement work, baking, wood polish ing, and gilding. Hydrofluoric acid produces deep ulcers, similar to those already noted in connection with chromic acid.
When metallic silver finds its way into the skill, small dark-blue spots appear in those portions that are exposed to the light. A more general discoloration is noted in workmen engaged in the preparation of silver nitrate (lunar caustic), especially in those whose duty it is to remove the little sticks from the moulds and pack them (see Plate XIV. 5.) The staining of the skin by nitrate of silver does not seem to be con nected with any effects on the general health, but the resulting inflamma tory disturbances in the skin may disable the workman for a considerable period, and, if he shows any particular susceptiblity to the affection, may compel him to change his occupation. In order to avoid the trouble, persons thus employed should be cautioned to practise extreme cleanliness, to wash their hands thoroughly and often, and to anoint them with vaseline before beginning work.