_Injurious woods._—In recent literature there are several interesting references to injury to health from certain poisonous kinds of wood—skin affections in workers manipulating satinwood, and affections of the heart and general health in workers making shuttles of African boxwood. Details of these forms of poisoning are reported from England and Bavaria. The wood used for making the shuttles was West African boxwood (Gonioma Kamassi). It appears that the wood contains an alkaloidal poison which affects the heart’s action. The workers suffered from headache, feeling of sleepiness, lachrymation, coryza, difficulty of breathing, nausea, and weakness. Four workers had to give up the work because of the difficulty in breathing. Inquiry was made by Dr. John Hay of Liverpool in 1908 and by the medical inspector of factories in 1905. The following table shows the symptoms found: +----------------------+-----------------------------------+ | | Persons Examined. | | +-----------------+-----------------+ | Symptoms. | 1905. | 1907-1908. | | +-------+---------+-------+---------+ | |Number.|Per cent.|Number.|Per Cent.| | (1) | (2) | (3) | (4) | (5) | +----------------------+-------+---------+-------+---------+ |Headache | 27 | 24·1 | 18 | 22·8 | |Feeling of somnolence | 10 | 9·0 | 17 | 21·5 | |Running of eyes | 13 | 11·6 | 9 | 11·3 | |Running of nose | 28 | 25·0 | 20 | 28·0 | |Breathing affected | 34 | 30·4 | 13 | 16·4 | |Nausea or sickness | 13 | 11·6 | 3 | 3·8 | |Faintness or weakness | 11 | 9·6 | 1 | 1·2 | +----------------------+-------+---------+-------+---------+ The later inquiry shows considerable diminution in the amount of complaint as to respiratory trouble. This may have been due to the improved conditions of working, freely acknowledged by the men. Men were examined who had complained of the effects of the wood in 1905, and had continued uninterruptedly at the same kind of work during the interval without any obvious further injury to their health, although they preferred working on other woods.