As a great fan of Charles Dodgson, the Anglican deacon and fantasy
writer, I wanted to discover exactly what was a mad hatter. MERCURY
was used in the hat making process and, of course, we now know that
we should not eat swordfish or really anything else that is
contaminated with that metal.
A quick look at wikipedia showed the following:
Acute exposure to mercury vapor has been shown to result in profound
central nervous system effects, including psychotic reactions
characterized by delirium, hallucinations, and suicidal tendency.
Occupational exposure has resulted in broad-ranging functional
disturbance, including erethism, irritability, excitability,
excessive shyness, and insomnia. With continuing exposure, a fine
tremor develops and may escalate to violent muscular spasms. Tremor
initially involves the hands and later spreads to the eyelids, lips,
and tongue. Long-term, low-level exposure has been associated with
more subtle symptoms of erethism, including fatigue, irritability,
loss of memory, vivid dreams, and depression.[51][52]
Erethism or erethism mercurialis is a symptom complex of mercury
poisoning, presenting with excessive shyness, timidity and social
phobia[1][2]. This was common among hat makers of old England who
used mercury to stabilize the wool in a process called felting. The
character the Mad Hatter in Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland is
often believed to be an example of someone suffering from erethism,
but this account is apocryphal. The character was almost certainly
based on Theophilus Carter, an eccentric furniture dealer who was
well known to Carroll[3].
On Apr 18, 2009, at 10:46 AM, Bonnie Flythe wrote:
> Hello,
> So here is an odd question. In 1794, both William Johnson and
> David Johnson
> were noted as "hatter". Was this an occupational designation? If
> they were
> hatters, was this at a time when hatters used lead in the making of
> hats?
>
To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions at
http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-roots.html
|
