Deducting 5,089 persons with no occupation, or the occupation not definitely stated, we obtain a total of 11,325, representing 68 branches of occupation. These figures indicate a widely extended industrial distribution.

ALCOHOL IN THE TRADES.

Coincident with increases in pay and reduction in the hours of labor has been manifested more intelligent interest in the industrial and sanitary conditions of working men and women. In the recent State Census every person engaged in industry was asked this question: "Is your present occupation injurious to health?" The object in including this inquiry was to locate by industries, and by cities and towns, those occupations which are considered injurious by those employed in them, and to supply opportunity for more careful investigation and the suggestion of remedies for existing unhealthful or dangerous conditions.

The results of the investigation are being tabulated by this Bureau and will be given to the public at an early day.

The following article from the Boston Daily Globe of January 12, 1906, presents the commercial side of the question as regards the use of denaturized grain alcohol instead of wood alcohol in our trades and manufacturing industries.

For years the federal revenue tax on commercial or denaturized alcohol has been so high -$2.07―that it has not been used enough in manufacturing or in the trades to make the revenue of consequence to the government. Meanwhile there has been a growing demand that the tax be abolished.

This demand for national legislation has now found expression in the introduction of a bill in Congress by Representative Calderhead, of Kansas, "to promote the industrial uses of alcohol and to enlarge the domestic market for farm products."

This measure is advocated warmly by the National Grange of Patrons of Husbandry, National Association of Automobile Manufacturers, and many other industrial bodies.

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The bill provides that "On and after the passage of this act no internal revenue tax shall be levied or collected on ethyl alcohol of domestic production which has been rendered undrinkable or unfit for use as a beverage prior to withdrawal from distillery bonded warehouse."

The interest the public has in this proposed national legislation centers in what it means for the building up of new industries.

Alcohol is an absolute necessity in the organic chemical industry, and in the manufacture of the great majority of such chemicals large quantities must be used. Owing to cheap alcohol the German manufacturers in these lines have developed their industries so that now they are the foremost in the world and have secured almost the entire trade in neutral markets. Not only this, but they sell large quantities in this country, the advantage resulting from cheap alcohol being sufficient to enable their products to be sold here in spite of the Dingley tariff. The total manufacture of fine chemicals in the United States is valued at less than $5,000,000, while the value of these articles exported by Germany exceeds $50,000,000.

The revenue laws of other commercial nations, such as Great Britain, France, AustriaHungary, Italy, Belgium, Holland, Russia, Switzerland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Cuba, Venezuela, Brazil, Argentine Republic, Chili, and Peru, distinguish between beverage and industrial alcohol so as to exempt from taxation the alcohol used only for industrial purposes.

Denaturized alcohol can be used extensively. Besides its utilization in innumerable chemical articles, it is used in the manufacture, in some form, of all kinds of hats, smokeless powder, fulminates, artificial silk, picture frames and moldings, polished metal goods, electric fixtures, coal tar dyes, photographic supplies, electric generators and motors, pencils, watches, clocks, etc.

It is claimed that for the permanent prosperity of such industries as the manufacture of automobiles, power boats and small stationary internal combustion engines, the tax should be removed from alcohol used as fuel, as it is the only way an unlimited supply of a cheap fuel can

be assured. A decrease in the cost of fuel or a condition of abundant supply stimulates demand for new machines, and the question of cheap fuel is thus a matter of importance to both the manufacturer and user.

Referring to the importance of alcohol as fuel, Prof. Elihu Thomson, the eminent inventor and scientist, says:

"Since alcohol mixes with water freely, a fire started with alcohol is one of the easiest to extinguish. This is not the case with gasoline, or even kerosene, both of which float on water and continue burning. . . . Whether denaturized or not, at a reasonable price it is the natural fuel for automobiles, inasmuch as the amount which can be produced is practically unlimited, whereas with the increasing use of gasoline the price is sure to rise."

With this internal revenue tax removed the production and consumption of commercial alcohol would be enormously increased. Many new industries would give additional employment to labor, farmers would find an increased demand for their products, and there would be an opportunity to secure an abundant supply of the best motor fuel for engines running all kinds of farm machinery.

As bearing upon the same side of the question (the financial) we quote from an article in the January number of Moody's Magazine written by Mr. Charles E. Keator, vice-president of the Dunlap Vehicle Co.

"Alcohol is the best solvent for shellac, and in the form known as 'spirit varnishes' is largely used by the furniture, picture frame, piano and organ, and various other woodworking industries. In the production of stiff hats it is also an important material, and it enters largely into the manufacture of a large variety of organic chemicals and similar articles. The production of the best smokeless powders consumes very large quantities of alcohol, which is also an important factor in the manufacture of fulminates, detonating powders, etc. Other industries requiring large quantities of alcohol are those producing photographic supplies; celluloid and other pyroxylin compounds; transparent soaps; electrical apparatus; colors and dyes, and a great variety of articles of general consumption. For some of these purposes grain alcohol is still used, but as a rule its excessive cost (the tax of $1.10 per proof gallon is equivalent to a tax of about $2.07 per gallon on industrial alcohol) has forced manufacturers to use substitutes of various kinds which cost more to produce than alcohol, but are cheaper because they are untaxed. Of these substitutes the principal is refined wood alcohol, which is inferior to grain alcohol for most purposes, and has injurious qualities that render it dangerous to the health of the workers handling it."

It is to the closing portion of the preceding paragraph that we wish to call particular attention, and to the following cases showing the dangerous effects of wood alcohol which have been furnished us by Mr. J. W. Cotton (160 Market Street, Lynn, Mass.), secretary of Local Union No. 111, Brotherhood of Painters, Decorators, and Paperhangers of America.

CASE 1.- (From Dr. W. McL. Ayres, Cincinnati, O.).

W. E. C., aged 44, painter (October, 1901), had been varnishing and shellacking the inside of the closets in one of the large Cincinnati hotels. The shellac had been cut by, or dissolved in, wood alcohol. While in one of the closets he became dizzy, had an intense headache and was forced to stop for a time and get some fresh air. After this he returned to work, but was again attacked by nausea, vomiting, and headache, that forced him to discontinue his work entirely for several days. At present he is practically helpless and unable to do any work requiring the use of his eyes.

E. L., male, white, aged 54, consulted Dr. Driver on June 15, 1901. He gave the following history: In August, 1894, after shellacking the benches and interiors of several schoolhouses, he awakened in the morning of the second night to find that he was totally blind. The diagnosis was optic nerve atrophy from inhalation of wood alcohol.

S. E. S., aged 44, April 12, 1902, worked a whole day varnishing tanks in a brewery, using a varnish which had been mixed with wood alcohol. In the evening when he left his work according to the statement of his physician, Dr. Brock of Waynesburg - he acted like an intoxicated man, and two hours later went into a comatose condition, which lasted 24 hours. When aroused the sight of the right eye was somewhat impaired and that of the left eye was entirely gone. Dr. Brock, in reply to a recent note, states that the vision of the right eye in time failed entirely. He also states that soon after the poisoning he was taken with left-sided pneumonia, from which recovery was never complete. About six months ago tubercular trouble developed and ended in death June 8, 1904.

CASE 4. (From Dr. Nelson L. North, Jr., Brooklyn, N. Y.).

H. E. W., aged 48, was employed as a varnisher of closed beer vats. These vats were badly, if at all, provided with ventilation, and wood alcohol was employed to dissolve the shellac used in the varnish. While engaged in this work he experienced the usual constitutional symptoms of methyl alcohol intoxication, and he began to have foggy vision. When seen in hospital by Dr. North, central acuity had fallen to 20-70 in each eye. Optic papillæ pale. Fortunately, in this case prompt treatment was followed by improvement to almost normal in either eye.

CASE 5. (From Dr. Nelson L. North, Jr., Brooklyn, N. Y.).

A. H. S., aged 35, strong and healthy, weighed 190 pounds. He was employed as a beer vat shellacker. During the winter of 1900-1901 he was engaged in his employment of varnishing the interior of ill-ventilated vats with shellac dissolved in wood alcohol. He began to suffer from loss of eyesight, and when seen by Dr. North his vision was 10-200 and there was every indication of optic atrophy, the discs being very white. Abstinence from work and long-continued treatment brought about some amelioration of vision, but improvement of central sight did not extend beyond 20-50.

CASE 6. (From Dr. Norton L. Wilson, Elizabeth, N. J.).

O. E. H., aged 42, workman in the cabinet department of a large factory where Columbian spirits were used in mixing shellac and other polishing mixtures. His vision was reduced to 10-200. His discs were pale and the vessels were small. Said he never drank wood alcohol to his knowledge. He absorbed it through his hands, as he frequently bathed his hands in Columbian spirits to "cut" the shellac.

CASE 7.- (As published in Painters Magazine, July, 1905.).

H. Bradshaw, 106 E. Fullerton Ave., Chicago, states, "I have been a painter for over ten years. I was scraping off a floor which needed revarnishing, and I had to use wood alcohol to take it off easier. I got down on my knees and had my face close to the floor. When I got through I felt kind of dizzy, but I still went home. That was Saturday night, and Monday morning I was totally blind. That happened December 10, 1904, and I am still the same. I have tried the best specialist in Chicago, and for a time I could see nine inches, but after a while I went back to nearly total blindness again. I had no idea wood alcohol would do this or I should never have used it.

CASE 8.- (From A. T. Hawes, A.M., M.D., and Dr. Jones, Lynn, Mass., Oct., 1905.).

C. L. B., painter, age 52, cleaning old furniture with wood alcohol, and shellacking floors of three rooms with wood alcohol shellac. Working three days. Totally blind fifteen days after. No change.

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Mr. Cotton also favored us with a copy of a pamphlet entitled Poisoning by Wood Alcohol," read at the fifty-fifth annual session of the American Medical Association, in the Section on Ophthalmology, by Frank Buller, M.D., Professor of Ophthalmology in McGill University, Montreal, Canada, and Casey A. Wood, M.D., Professor of Clinical Ophthalmology in the University of Illinois, at Chicago.

Dr. Buller's tables of published histories present an authenticated list of 54 cases of methyl alcohol amblyopia. The records show that there have been 40 deaths from the use of methyl alcohol.

From a study of the cases, the authors of the pamphlet conclude that there are three degrees of wood alcohol poisoning:

1. An ordinary mild intoxication, with perhaps some dizziness, nausea, and mild gastro-intestinal disturbance, terminating in perfect recovery within a few days, but occasionally followed by more or less serious damage to vision.

2. A toxic effect more pronounced in every way, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, and gastro-enteritis being conspicuous symptoms. Dimness of vision, often increasing to total blindness, is characteristic of this degree of poisoning.

3. An overwhelming prostration which terminates in coma and death.

The authors of the pamphlet further state that a study of the case histories in the investigation justify them in drawing the following conclusions:

1. Methyl, or wood alcohol, in any of its forms, as well as all methylated preparations made from it, are dangerous poisons, menacing both life and eyesight.

2. It is best known to us in its deodorized form as Columbian spirits, purified wood alcohol, cologne spirits, colonial spirits, standard wood spirits, union spirits, eagle spirits, green wood spirits, and a variety of other fluids.

5. To this date, at least 153 cases of blindness and 122 deaths have resulted from this poison; in all, 275 instances of lost life and eyesight. This total would probably be raised to 400 if a more thorough search were made.

13. Poisoning by inhalation of the fumes of methyl alcohol generally occurs when the exhalations are mixed with rebreathed air, as in varnishing the interior of beer vats, small rooms, etc. It is also highly probable that in susceptible subjects repeated or even single "alcohol rubs" may produce poisonous symptoms, through absorption of the spirit by the skin.

15. The use of ethyl or grain alcohol in the arts, as in the manufacture of varnishes, as a burning fluid, for "stiffening" hats, lacquering brass, etc., is without danger to life or eyesight. By adding to it a small percentage of naphthalin, for example, the fluid would be undrinkable. A combination of ethylic alcohol with 10 per cent of wood spirit would answer the same purpose. Such a mixture is the methylated spirit" of Great Britain, where not a single case of acute poisoning or

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