Science of Dress/Chapter VIII
CHAPTER VIII.
COLOUR OF MATERIALS FOR CLOTHING.
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I HAVE dwelt at great length on the subject of healthy clothing for children, not only because, in relation to this question, childhood is decidedly the most important period of life; but also because many of the principles explained are perfectly applicable in the case of "children of a larger growth," concerning whom I shall speak further on. To both sexes, and all ages, also apply the remarks as to the colour of clothing materials, a question of great importance in relation to health, which form the subject of the present chapter.
The most healthy colour is the natural colour of the wool, which varies so much that pretty tweeds may be made from a mixture of shades, and of these, pretty walking dresses and outdoor garments, as well as good lounge and shooting suits, may be made. White, however, which is obtained by bleaching, may be worn with great advantage, both in summer and winter; and no dyed garment should ever be allowed to come in contact with the skin. An objection is generally raised to white clothes, that they have to be changed too often, as they get dirty so soon. But instead of this being an objection, all physiologists would consider it a great advantage.
Of course, it is absurd to imagine that white gets dirty sooner than any colour: it simply shows the dirt more. From the dust of the surrounding air, and from contact with dirty surfaces the clothes take up constantly a certain amount of impurity; but besides this outside dirt, they absorb a great deal of those refuse matters from our bodies, of which I spoke in the second chapter. Every day over two pints of dirty water pass through the pores of our skins in the form of sensible and insensible perspiration. In this dirty water there is about a quarter of an ounce of absolutely poisonous matter, and with it is mixed the oily excretion given out from the sebaceous glands. The chief part of all this refuse and impurity is taken up by the clothes, especially under our present system of clothing.
Now from all this it is clear that, if clothes are not frequently changed, people are, in a manner, poisoned by their own excretions—a fact which Dr. Richardson has formulated in his saying, that "Health will not be clothed in dirty raiment."
I have now to mention a rather unpleasant truth, namely, that there is a natural tendency in the human mind not to be ashamed of sins which are known only to the sinner himself, or which can be concealed. A crime is not a crime until it is found out. The same tendency obtains in small as in great matters, so people will wear, and allow their children to wear, clothes thoroughly impregnated with filthy and poisonous matters—as dirty as they can be—because, forsooth, they are of a dark colour, and people cannot see that there is anything wrong with them. Thus dresses and coats, and trousers and petticoats may be worn unconcernedly for months, when, if their colour had only been white, their wearers would have been ashamed of their dirty appearance in less than a week, and they would have been speedily despatched to the laundress's or cleaner's.
Clothes can hardly be changed too often, and if they are made of white materials we are constantly reminded of that fact. Moreover, dyes bring new dangers, as poisonous matters are often employed in the processes of dyeing. For instance, every one has heard of the use of arsenic in dyeing, and although I believe it is not now used so much as formerly, it is just as well to be on one's guard against it. It is arsenic which produces that beautiful bright green known as Scheele's green.
The colouring principle of the aniline dyes, of which the worst are the red and yellow coraline, is a very active poison, and produces an eruption on the skin, which has more than once been mistaken for erysipelas, but which disappears when the irritating cause is removed. Some time ago Dr. Woodland called attention to a number of cases of eruptions on the legs and feet, for which he had been consulted. His suspicions were aroused by finding all the patients had worn red stockings, and on analyzing these he discovered a compound of tin, which had been used as a mordant in fixing the dye. Each time articles dyed in this way are washed, the tin salt becomes more and more soluble. The skin excretions attack the oxide of tin, and thus a poisonous compound is formed. Some colouring substances unite directly with the fibres of the material to be dyed, and require no mordant to make them fast. Indigo is one of these so-called substantive colours, so indigo-blue is a very safe colour for your own or your children's clothes. But nearly all vegetable colours require mordants, and the principal mordants are salts of iron, tin, and alumina.
Notwithstanding the fact that salts of tin are commonly used in red dye, such is the general ignorance on the subject that it is frequently worn next the skin by preference. In underclothing shops, even in some of the most fashionable, red flannel vests and drawers are sold with the greatest complacency as being "very good," and "recommended by the faculty," or "anti-rheumatic," and in every chemist's shop we see dozens of "chest protectors," made of material dyed with this poisonous stuff, in spite of the fact that, so long ago as 1876, Dr. Richardson published a case of disease resulting from the wearing of such a "comforter," together with some strong censure of the use of the aniline dyes.
There is a sort of idea that red flannel possesses some mysterious curative properties superior to any other colour. As example of this popular error, I remember being very much struck by a highly educated gentleman, who was suffering from a severe cold on the chest, informing me that his mother had told him to put on a thick red flannel next the skin, and that if the flannel were not red it would do him no good. I have noticed also that among the poorer classes red is decidedly the favourite colour for children's clothes; and I fancy I am about right in stating that of patients applying for relief at children's hospitals, nine out of ten will be found to be wearing some article of clothing coloured red.
At the recent Health Exhibition Mr. Startin, of St. John's Hospital for Skin Diseases, showed a very interesting series of articles which had produced diseases of the skin through the poisonous colours employed in dyeing them, and concerning these he made the following remarks, which I quote in full, as they are at the same time both true and lucid:—
"During the last few years," he said, "articles of dress, especially those worn next the skin, such as stockings, socks, gloves, drawers, &c., have been coloured with dyes derived from coal tar, amongst which are magentas, reds, violets, blues, and yellows of great beauty. And so long as they are worn externally they produce no impression save admiration; but their application to articles of dress, such as named above, and worn in contact with the body, has shown that they are capable of producing irritation and eruptions of the skin, and in some instances constitutional disturbance. Many of these aniline dyes, as they are called, are derived from benzol and other products of coal tar, from which are obtained reds, blues, and magentas of great beauty, some of which, when brought into contact with the skin by means of the perspiration, act as powerful irritants, more in some instances than others. The dye is soluble in the perspiration, and hence it becomes absorbed into the skin. Some of the magenta dyes also contain arsenic, that compound being used in their preparation. It sometimes happens that the colour and pattern of the sock is transferred to the skin, and is represented by lines and figures of inflammation. This inflammation is sometimes propagated to different parts of the body in the same individual, and is often of a very severe and intense character; and still greater annoyance often results by reason of its recurrence after the skin has apparently recovered."
A typical case was mentioned in the correspondence on the subject of the injurious effects of aniline dyes published in the Times during August, 1884. After wearing red silk stockings a lady found the colour transferred to the skin of the parts covered by them, her feet became very inflamed, and on consultation the physician informed her that her trouble was the result of poisoning from the dye of her stockings.
Among cases of poisoning from gloves, socks, shoe-linings, &c., Mr. Carr mentions that of a young woman whose business was to cut out dyed goods. An interesting case is recorded by Dr. Myrtle, of Harrogate, whose patient had for some time been wearing stockings of a deep red colour, and suffered from large inflamed blisters. Treatment was given for several weeks, and the stockings discarded, but the trouble remained. Then Dr. Myrtle discovered that she was wearing slippers lined with magenta flannel, which kept up the irritation. After the removal of the lining she soon recovered.
Apropos of this case, Dr. Myrtle remarks that he has had several cases where mauve-dyed articles of clothing have produced great local irritation, which in one or two cases has proved not only painful, but most difficult of cure. Neckties and socks have furnished obstinate forms of an eruption of an herpetic character, the base of each vesicle being painful and greatly inflamed. The eruption has, in appearance and nature, resembled shingles more than anything else, although it is, as far as my observation goes, a distinct form of skin disease.
Dr. Blair, of Goole, has mentioned a case in which a lady, after wearing a pair of bronze-green silk gloves for a day or two, was attacked with a peculiar blistering and swelling of both hands, which increased to such an extent that for three weeks she was compelled to carry her hands in a sling, suffering acute pain, and being unable to feed or dress herself.
Arsenic is used in preparing some aniline dyes, and clothing dyed with them may thus exercise a harmful influence on the wearer. An agitation took place in Germany in 1884 for the purpose of prohibiting their use by parliamentary action; but I do not know whether the decree has yet gone forth for their abolition from the manufacture of clothing.
Symptoms of arsenical poisoning are drowsiness, weakness, internal pain, severe depression, swelling of the throat, feverishness, and—which is very important—a metallic taste in the mouth. All these symptoms have been produced by arsenical wallpapers, and would probably result in an increased degree from arsenic in clothes, but in this case perhaps the cause is not so likely to be suspected. There is a popular idea that green is the only colour in the production of which arsenic plays a part; but this is a great mistake, for not only can good greens be obtained without the use of arsenic, but very many other colours, such as red, yellow, mauve, fawn, magenta, brown, blue, and even innocent-looking grey and white, are frequently obtained by its use. Hence it is not sufficient, in order to escape the risk of poisoning by arsenic, simply to avoid certain colours, but samples of wall-papers or dress materials should be chemically tested for the poison. The public analyst or some chemist can be applied to, or the following test, called Reinsch's test, may be employed: —
Cut the suspected substance into small pieces, and place them in a test-tube half filled with a liquid consisting of one part of hydrochloric acid to four of water. Light a spirit-lamp with a moderate flame underneath the test-tube. Take a small piece of copper foil, brighten it by rubbing with emery or glass-paper, and through a hole in one end fasten a fine platinum wire. As soon as the liquid bolls insert the copper into it, and lower the flame so as to maintain only a gentle simmering. By means of the wire the copper can be drawn out from time to time to examine the progress of the test.
If much arsenic is present the copper will almost immediately be coated with the colour of lampblack or dark steel; if there is less arsenic, a period varying from half a minute to half an hour, which is the extreme time, will be required. If after that limit the copper is not coated all over as above, the material may be accepted. This process, however, while negatively proving the absence of poison, does not positively prove its presence, for the coating may arise from a few other ingredients present in the colouring matter, such as mercury or sulphur. As these ingredients, however, may also be injurious, it is as well to reject the wall-paper or clothing material when the coating is observed. Arsenic is used in linen glaze, and paper collars and cuffs, and, as before observed, is largely used in the preparation of aniline dyes, but if properly managed does not pass into the "finished" dye. Hence the painful and irritating effects produced by articles of dress dyed with aniline colours, are generally caused by the dyes themselves when improperly fixed. Aniline is a narcotic poison when taken internally, and a local irritant if applied to the skin, so that the dyes derived from it may participate in its poisonous qualities. Aniline colours are largely used in artificial-flower making; and M. Napias, in a paper read before the Paris Society of State Medicine, observed that he finds makers of artificial flowers who use quantities of aniline dyes suffer from symptoms of lead-poisoning, particularly those who use "geranium red," which contains 20 per cent, of lead. Thus aniline dyes, though so greatly praised for their beauty, are not the unmixed good which some pretend them to be.
As regards dyes, light colours are more healthy than dark, since they contain less colouring matter, and fast dyes are safer than those which fade rapidly. Indigo-black is a very "fast" dye, and is therefore better than blacks obtained from logwood. Logwood has a peculiar effect well known by dyers, in that it deprives the skin of the sense of feeling.
Dyed materials are least injurious when there is least perspiration, and they should be especially avoided for dresses to be worn during exercise. White, therefore, besides being the prettiest, is the most healthy colour for summer and evening dresses.
"Fast" colours are safe, owing to the fact that they are less liable to be decomposed by the perspiration. The best way of ascertaining whether or not a material is dyed "fast" is to wash a small piece of it, and notice whether the colour comes off in the water or on to your hands. Colours which "come off" should be avoided, as, even if they do not come in contact with the skin, particles of them enter the body with the breath, and if the dye is poisonous they act injuriously in that way.
Some interesting experiments as to the value of various colours for use in tropical climates were made in the Soudan by the war correspondent of the Lancet. Two thermometers were placed in wooden boxes, one of which was painted black, the other white; they were left in the sun for one hour, at the end of which time the thermometer in the black box registered 117° F., that in the white 102° F.
In another experiment six thermometers having two parts of new bunting of various colours wrapped round them were hung up exposed to the sun for one hour, with the following results :—
Temp, of the air in shade . . . 91° F. „ thermom. covered with white . 106° „ „ „ „ yellow. 109½° „ „ „ „ red . 100° „ „ „ „ blue . 114° " „ " " light blue 115° „ „ „ „ black . 117°
Ten tin biscuit-boxes painted as below were exposed with thermometers standing up in them on the sides opposite to those turned towards the sun. Temperature of air in the shade, 88° F. They were closed and left for about two hours. They registered as follows :—
- White . . 100° F.
- Yellow . 103½°
- Red . . 104°
- Stone colour 102½°
- Blue . . 106°
- French grey 106½
- Lead colour. 109°
- Dark green. 110½°
- Light green. 109°
- Black . . 114°
RESULT.
A.a. Painted white and exposed to the full rays
of the sun...... 100° F.
Painted French grey ditto ditto . 111°
Painted dark grey ditto ditto . 112°
A.b. Painted with one coating of grey over
white . . 108°
Painted with two ditto ditto . 116°
Painted white and exposed to the sun . 100°
Whitewashed ditto ditto . 98½°
B. Biscuit-box painted French grey . . 111°
Over this one coat of whitewash . . 102°
With two coatings ditto . . 96°
C. Biscuit-box painted lead colour . . 112°
Over this one coat of whitewash . . 103°
With two coats ditto . . 97°[1]
According to Dr. Parkes the material of clothes is of no importance as far as regards protection from extreme heat in the form of direct solar rays, and colour must be trusted to in this respect. White has the greatest protecting power, then grey, yellow, pink, blue, and lastly black. On the other hand, in the shade colour does not markedly protect against heat, and the thickness and non-conducting character of the material worn must be depended on.
- ↑ Lancet, May 9th, 1885.