Metallic Poisoning.

Manufacturer and builder 11, 1873

A recent report of the New York Board of Health states that the cases of lead poiaoning in the trades are not so numerous as has been supposed, the deaths from this cause between 1852 and 1873 being 228, of which 48 occurred in 1852, and only 5 in 1872. An inspection during 11872 or nearly 1,500 men, women, and boys at different establishments, did not disclose one case of lead poisoning. Six or eight persons complained of occasional colicky pains and weakness of the wrist, but there were no marked cases of lead paralysis. In the dispensary for nervous diseases in New York there were in 1871 only 32 cases of this disease, and the patients were chiefly painters. It is stated that type-setters and stereotypers are more free from metallic poisoning than any other workers among lead. An inspeetion of establishments for fancy printing showed that the inhalation of bronze powder produced pulmonary diseases, and that the irritating effects of metallic powders caused frequent attacks of bronchitis. In one establishment the bronzing ia done by machinery, and a vacuum is formed underneath such machinery by which all the loose particles of bronze are drawn into a box and thence into a bag. By these means 2,400 pounds of bronze were saved in one year. This large quantity of saved shows the large quantity of metallic dust thrown out into the air surrounding the employes in establishments where the vacuum box is not used. Workmen in manufactories of metallic paints were especially apt to be poisoned, the precautions against which have already been published in the pages.