Talk:The Uncommercial Traveller

Lead Poisoning
Three chapters in The Uncommercial Traveller have references to lead poisoning.

CHAPTER XIX--SOME RECOLLECTIONS OF MORTALITY

One man with a gloomy malformation of brow--a homicidal worker in white-lead, to judge from his blue tone of colour, and a certain flavour of paralysis pervading him--got his coat-collar between his teeth, and bit at it with an appetite.

CHAPTER XXXII--A SMALL STAR IN THE EAST

''I saw a horrible brown heap on the floor in a corner, which, but for previous experience in this dismal wise, I might not have suspected to be 'the bed.' There was something thrown upon it; and I asked what that was.

'' 'Tis the poor craythur that stays here, sur; and 'tis very bad she is, and 'tis very bad she's been this long time, and 'tis better she'll never be, and 'tis slape she does all day, and 'tis wake she does all night, and 'tis the lead, sur.'

'' 'The what?'

'' 'The lead, sur. Sure 'tis the lead-mills, where the women gets took on at eighteen-pence a day, sur, when they makes application early enough, and is lucky and wanted; and 'tis lead-pisoned she is, sur, and some of them gets lead-pisoned soon, and some of them gets lead-pisoned later, and some, but not many, niver; and 'tis all according to the constitooshun, sur, and some constitooshuns is strong, and some is weak; and her constitooshun is lead-pisoned, bad as can be, sur; and her brain is coming out at her ear, and it hurts her dreadful; and that's what it is, and niver no more, and niver no less, sur.''

CHAPTER XXXV--ON AN AMATEUR BEAT

''As is the case with most pulps or pigments, so in the instance of this white-lead, processes of stirring, separating, washing, grinding, rolling, and pressing succeed. Some of these are unquestionably inimical to health, the danger arising from inhalation of particles of lead, or from contact between the lead and the touch, or both.''

Jamplevia (talk) 11:19, 24 March 2021 (UTC)
 * Thanks for documenting these -- however, as you probably already know, we need themes/concepts/major issues to be represented in Reliable sources to be included in an article, otherwise it would be Original research. What did you hope to happen by sharing these passages? Sadads (talk) 11:33, 24 March 2021 (UTC)
 * Added reliable source, more to come. As for my intent, go look at my contribution history ("to do is to be"). Jamplevia (talk) 11:46, 24 March 2021 (UTC)
 * The Uncommercial Travler is an important artifact for documenting what was known about lead poisoning in the 19th century. Jamplevia (talk) 12:30, 24 March 2021 (UTC)