Five cases of fatal poisoning occurred between 1884-6 among the employés of a certain white-lead factory in the east of London. The cases presented the following common characters. They were all adult women, aged from 18 to 33, and they had worked at the factory for short periods, from three to twelve months. They all exhibited mild symptoms of plumbism, such as a blue line round the gums, and more or less ill-defined indisposition; paralyses were absent. They were all in their usual state of health within a few hours or days preceding death. Death was unexpected, mostly sudden. In four cases it was preceded by epileptic fits and coma; but in the fifth case no convulsions were noted, although they may have occurred in the night.
The author[849] had an opportunity of investigating by chemical means the distribution of lead in the fourth and fifth cases in the liver, kidney, and brain.
[849] “The Distribution of Lead in the Brains of two Lead Factory Operatives,” Journ. of Mental Science, Jan. 1888.
In the fourth case, from 402 grms. of liver 24·26 mgrms. of lead sulphate were separated. The right kidney (weighing 81 grms.) yielded 5·42 mgrms. of lead sulphate. The brain was dehydrated with alcohol, and then treated with ether, hot alcohol, and chloroform until an albuminoid residue remained; lead was extracted from each of these portions, viz., the alcohol used for dehydration, the ethereal and chloroform extracts, and the albuminoid residue, as follows:—
| Mgrms. of Lead Sulphate. | |
|---|---|
| Soluble in cold alcohol, | 1·11 |
| Soluble in ether and chloroform and hot alcohol, | 25·47 |
| Albuminoid residue, | 7·76 |
| 34·34 |
In the fifth case, the brain was examined more in detail, and the lead present estimated in the following solutions and substances:—
1. Alcohol used for dehydration. This may be called “the watery extract,” for, after the brain has remained in strong alcohol for some weeks, the result is that the alcohol contains much water and substances extracted with water.