Chapter XXXIV: Appendix

NUMBER OF CASES of Lead Poisoning notified to the Home
Secretary under Section 29, 1895, during 1898, 1899,
and 1900.[73]

+---------------------------+--------------------------+
| | Number of Reported Cases.|
| Disease and Industry. +--------+--------+--------+
| | 1900. | 1899. | 1898. |
+---------------------------+--------+--------+--------+
|Lead Poisoning | 1058 | 1258 | 1278 |
|China and Earthenware | 200 | 249 | 457 |
|Litho.-Transfer Works | 10 | 11 | [73] |
|Glass Polishing | 7 | 8 | 19 |
|Smelting | 34 | 61 | 82 |
|Tinning and Enamelling | 16 | 24 | 24 |
|File Cutting | 40 | 41 | 46 |
|White Lead | 358 | 399 | 332 |
|Paints and Colours | 56 | 75 | 59 |
|Coachmaking | 70 | 65 | 45 |
|Shipbuilding | 32 | 30 | [74] |
|Electric Accumulator Works | 33 | 33 | 11 |
|Other Industries | 202 | 290 | 103 |
+---------------------------+--------+--------+--------+

ANALYSIS OF REPORTS on Lead Poisoning by Certifying Surgeon.
Factories and Workshops: Annual Reports for 1899 and 1900
(Dr T. M. Legge).

+----------------------------+---------------------------------------+ | | Total Cases. | | +-------------------+-------------------+ | | 1900. | 1899. | +----------------------------+--------+----------+--------+----------+ | | Males. | Females. | Males. | Females. | |Smelting | 34 | ... | 52 | ... | |Brass | 3 | ... | 11 | 1 | |Sheet Lead | 17 | ... | 26 | ... | |Printing | 17 | ... | 25 | 1 | |File Cutting | 35 | 3 | 39 | 1 | |Plumbing | 8 | 1 | 16 | 1 | |Tinning and Enamelling of | | | | | | Iron Hollow Ware | 2 | 3 | 11 | 4 | |White Lead | 288 | 28 | 340 | 22 | |Red Lead | 19 | ... | 19 | 2 | |Earthenware | 92 | 105 | 119 | 111 | |Litho.-Transfers | 7 | 3 | 6 | 4 | |Glass | 7 | ... | 7 | 1 | |Enamelling of Iron Plates | 8 | 3 | 6 | 4 | |Electric Accumulators | 30 | ... | 31 | 1 | |Paints and Colours | 51 | 5 | 47 | 1 | |Coachpainting | 61 | ... | 58 | ... | |Shipbuilding | 31 | ... | 30 | ... | |Paint in other Industries, | | | | | | excluding House Painters | 46 | ... | 47 | 5 | |Other Industries | 58 | 18 | 64 | 17 | +----------------------------+--------+----------+--------+----------+

Dr T. M. Legge deals with the age, distribution, and duration of employment in persons brought in contact with metallic lead, and with the salts of lead, either in the form of dust or of paint; and in the following table, taken from his annual Report for 1900, shows that in those who handle metallic lead or use it as paint, symptoms of poisoning are more slowly developed than in those employed in industries in which the salts of lead are present in the form of dust.

+--------------------------------+-------------------+-------------------+ | | | Duration of | | | Age. | Employment. | | Source of Poisoning. +---------+---------+---------+---------+ | | Under |30 Years | 1–5 | 5 Years | | | 30. |and over.| Years. |and over.| +--------------------------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+ |Metallic Lead per cent.| 43.0 | 57.0 | 37.4 | 62.6 | |Salts of Lead as Paint „ | 43.6 | 57.4 | 45.8 | 55.2 | |Salts of Lead as Dust „ | 65.4 | 34.6 | 76.0 | 24.0 | +--------------------------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+

The reports bring out the fact that Saturnine palsy is essentially an affection of the male sex, while the symptoms of headache, anæmia, and encephalopathy are more common in the female.

THOMAS OLIVER.