=Arsenic in Wall-Papers and Paints= has until a few years ago been a not uncommon source of prolonged ill-health—the cause of which has possibly not been detected until the illness disappears, when the offending room is vacated for a period. Arsenical pigments are now only rarely used for wall-papers. The symptoms produced vary greatly, and may closely simulate those of different diseases. In some cases repeated attacks of diarrhœa and abdominal pain occur. Or there may be nausea, headache, frequent griping pains, and loss of appetite. In other cases restlessness, loss of sleep, and general malaise are the chief symptoms, with the occasional addition of conjunctivitis (superficial inflammation of the eye). Out of 100 cases collected and reported on by a Committee of the Medical Society of London, diarrhœa, nausea, and intestinal mischief occurred in 85; severe depression in 16; conjunctivitis in 19; and cough, asthma, etc., in 9. The severity of the symptoms produced will vary with the amount of arsenic contained in the paper, and the length of time daily that the patient is exposed to the fumes. Some persons again are much less susceptible to the influence of arsenic than others. This will explain why some escape while occupying the same room in which others suffer severely. More commonly, however, the exemption is due to shorter exposure. The most dangerous preparation occasionally employed in wall paper printing is Scheele’s green (arsenite of copper). Emerald-green—an aceto-arsenite of copper—is sometimes used to produce more delicate tints. Aniline dyes, especially the red, may contain much arsenious acid (white arsenic). The arsenic compound is made to adhere to the paper by size or some other material. When dry, it cracks and peels off, and minute particles get into the air as dust. In addition, arsenic compounds easily volatilise, and become diffused in a gaseous condition throughout the atmosphere of a room, even when its temperature is not greatly raised. The virulence of the arsenical colouring is in proportion to its volatility. Arsenic seems to be much more dangerous when associated with size. It has been shown that a mixture of white arsenic and starch paste, or other organic substance, leads to the formation of gaseous arseniuretted hydrogen, while this does not occur when no organic matter is present (Dr. Fleck). Distemper frequently contains arsenic, and as it also contains size, arseniurretted hydrogen is liable to be given off at any time. Size is largely used for fixing colour; thus, the proper conditions for the development of arseniurretted hydrogen—the most dangerous compound of arsenic—are present. As much as 17 grains of arsenic have been discovered in each square foot of a wall-paper. Now, arsenic is sometimes given internally for certain skin and other diseases, but the dose is only from 1∕60 to 1∕12 grain; the capacity for poisoning of such a paper as the above will therefore be evident.