It is only necessary to add that the waxing of the leaves, after they have been separated and figured, and before putting them into bouquets, constitutes a protecting envelope against the effects of the powdered coating for workmen who then handle them, as well as for women who wear them; but this film of wax is only applied, comparatively speaking, to a small number of leaves, for it alters the green and vivacity of its colour.
In the preparing of the stuffs in the process of drying, Dr Vernois says:—A new condition and serious results appear. The multiplicity of sharp points fixed in the wooden squares inevitably pricks and scratches the skin of the workmen. An inoculation of the arsenical salt immediately takes place, as if it had been practised experimentally. The skin irritates and inflames, a vesicle first, then a large pustule covers the orifice of the prick, and undergoes all the stages of inflammation, which produces suppuration and often gangrene, below which a deep and painful ulceration is developed—all the more tedious to heal as the inoculation is renewed from day to day.
The action of picric acid mixed with the paste can only augment and aggravate the irritation of the wounds. If the ulcerations are numerous the workmen may absorb the arsenious acid and be liable to serious results. I have seen a certain number of workmen with glandular enlargements under the armpits, and the hands in such a state that they were obliged to come to the hospital, where they were only cured after one or several months of treatment. The aspect of the hand was then characteristic to the greenish-yellow tint of all the skin, and especially of the palmar aspect of the hands. To the greenish crust under the nails was nearly always added a yellow colour of the nails, produced by the repeated contact with picric acid.
When we add a generally diffused erythema, then a series of black points, or of inflamed pustules, and sometimes a whitlow, we shall have a faithful representation of the evils which most frequently present themselves in the preparers of stuffs, for artificial flowers tinted with Schweinfurt green.
Amongst the endeavours to counteract the evils entailed upon the workers in this branch of industry may be mentioned the attempt to substitute chrome for Schweinfurt green, as the less poisonous of the two substances, and the ingenious process of M. Bérard-Zenzilin, which consists in directly incorporating the arsenical colouring matter with a specially prepared collodion.
AR′SENIDE. Syn. Arsen′iuret; Arseniure′tum (-i-ū-), L.; Arséniure, Fr. A combination of arsenicum with a metal (including hydrogen), in definite proportion.
AR′SENITE (-nīte). Syn. Ar′senis, L.; Arsenite, Fr.; Arsenigsäure salz, Ger. A salt of arsenious acid.
ART. [Eng., Fr.] Syn. Ars (gen., ar′tis; pl., ar′tes), L.; τεχνη, (tech′ne), Gr.; Kunst, Ger. Primarily, strength, power, and hence also mental strength, skill; the application of knowledge or power to effect a desired purpose; the power or ability of doing something not taught by nature or instinct; practical skill guided by rules. Science is knowledge—Art, practical skill in applying this knowledge. Art is applied science; whilst SCIENCE is knowledge obtained by observation, experience,
and ratiocination. This distinction is nowhere more fully seen than within the domain of chemistry, where knowledge, deduction, great power of generalisation, and great expertness are necessary elements of success. Art has filled the world with luxuries, conveniences, and comforts; and art—the ARTS—useful or fine—are the safest and surest civilisers of our race. See Science.
ARTESIAN WELL. A cylindrical perforation bored vertically down through one or more strata of the earth till it reaches a porous bed of gravel containing water, this fluid being placed under such incumbent pressure that it rises up the perforation either to the surface, or to a convenient height for the operation of a pump. When they rise to the surface these wells are called spouting or flowing. The name of these wells is taken from Artois, a province in the Departement du pays de Calais, where their use was revived. They have been in use for a long time in Italy and in the East. The accompanying drawing represents the manner in which rain may be supposed to distribute itself when it falls upon a portion of the surface of our globe. The figure represents a geological section, showing the succession of the different strata.