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 Chapter 10
Market Efficiency

OUTLINE

The Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH)

Types of Efficiency
Degrees of Informational Efficiency
The Semi-Efficient Market Hypothesis
Security Prices and Random Walks
Anomalies
The Low-PE Effect
Low-Priced Stocks
The Small Firm and Neglected Firm Effects
Market Overreaction
The January Effect
The Weekend Effect
The Persistence of Technical Analysis
Final Thoughts

SUMMARY

The efficient market hypothesis (EMH) concerns informational efficiency and the fair pricing
function, not operational efficiency. The essence of the EMH is that so many people watch the
marketplace that few, if any, individuals can consistently make windfall profits by picking stocks
better than the next person.
There are three forms of the EMH. The weak form says that past prices, or charts, are of no value in
predicting future stock price performance. The semistrong form says that security prices already fully
reflect all relevant publicly available information. The strong form of the EMH includes private, inside
information as well. Considerable empirical research supports the semistrong form; however, we know
that, contrary to the strong form, insiders can make illegal profits.
The random walk theory does not state that security prices move randomly. Rather, it maintains
that the news arrives randomly and that, in accordance with the EMH, security prices rapidly adjust to
this random arrival of news.
Anomalies are occurrences in the market that are inexplicable by finance theory. Stocks with low
PEs tend to show unusually higher returns; January is a good month for the stock market; and small
firms tend to do especially well in January. Technical analysis is diametrically opposed to the efficient
market hypothesis, yet it has many advocates, including well-educated finance professors and
practitioners.

ANSWERS TO END OF CHAPTER QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS

1. Even in an efficient market, someone needs to ascertain the relative risk of the competing
investments and explore how these investments are correlated. Also, it is the action of security
analysts that help keep the market efficient.

33
34 Chapter 10: Market Efficiency

2. This a dangerous question. If you say you believe it absolutely, the interviewer might ask, “Then
why should we hire you?” If you say it is academic nonsense, you are dismissing a great deal of
financial research out of hand. The best answer is probably to say that you believe the markets are
quite efficient, that you agree with the semi-efficient market hypothesis, and that you believe there
will always be a place in the market for superior investment research.

3. The semi-efficient market hypothesis states that some stocks (pink sheet stocks, for instance) are
priced less efficiently than others simply because there are not as many analysts following them.
The semi-strong form of the EMH deals with the information set available to the analyst rather
than the available security universe.

4. The random walk theory states that news arrives randomly. The EMH states that security prices
react to the news. Note the EMH does not say that security prices move randomly.

5. Student response.

6. Charts are based on past data; the weak form of market efficiency states that past data are of no
value in predicting future prices.

7. Operational efficiency deals with the extent to which orders at the exchange are processed
correctly and in timely fashion. Informational efficiency deals with the speed and accuracy with
which security prices adjust to new information.

8. It is difficult to justify a blanket condemnation of charting techniques when it is clear that there is
a great deal about technical analysis that remains unknown, and when so many people find utility
in the graphical presentation of past data. The fact that research has found no consistently useful
way to employ charts does not mean it cannot be done.

9. A regression equation measures the best fitting line through a scattering of points. Some of the
data points will lie above the line and some below. Some individual securities are likely to show a
positive intercept, just as some will show a negative intercept. A small proportion of positive
intercepts do not invalidate the efficient market hypothesis. Also, the intercept results from the
examination of past data. The important next step would be to see if this information could be
used to earn above average returns in the future.

10. A test of market efficiency should ultimately distinguish between statistical significance and
economic significance. Many such tests find evidence of statistically significant relationships that
would have permitted someone to earn an abnormally large profit. However, these profits almost
always disappear when the test incorporates trading fees and taxes.

11. There is considerable room for disagreement regarding the meaning of the price/earnings ratio.
Finance is much more concerned with future events than it is with past events. A trailing PE,
based on past data, does not necessarily tell you anything about the future. If a company has some
“normal” level of earnings and earnings growth, the current PE (especially when presented as a
“relative” PE) may serve as a marker indicating whether the current price is higher or lower than it
has traditionally been.

12. Many people consider such a low price to be associated with an unusually risky stock.
 Chapter 10: Market Efficiency 35

13. There is increasing evidence (such as the Fama and French studies) that small firms provide
superior investment returns over the long term. Many portfolio managers have come to
incorporate a preference for small capitalization firms into an investment style.

14. There are 9 correct responses, 6 incorrect responses, and 8 runs. Using the RUNS file from the
software disk, the likelihood of these results happening by chance is 45.54%. (Note that the
number of runs may not be as useful here as the proportion of guesses that are correct.)

15-17 Student responses.

18. Up to $100,000. The Insider Trading and Securities Fraud Enforcement Act of 1988 increased
this amount to $1 million.

19. (CFA Guideline Answer: Reprinted with permission).

A. The notion that stock prices already reflect all available information is referred to as the efficient
market hypothesis (EMH). It is common to distinguish among three versions of the EMH: the
weak, semi-strong, and strong forms. These versions differ by their treatment of what is meant by
“all available information.”

The weak-form hypothesis asserts that stock prices already reflect all information that can be
derived from studying past market trading data. Therefore, “technical analysis” and trend
analysis, etc., are fruitless pursuits. Past stock prices are publicly available and virtually costless
to obtain. If such data ever conveyed reliable signals about future stock performance, all investors
would have learned already to exploit such signals.

The semi-strong form hypothesis states that all publicly available information about the prospects
of a firm must be reflected already in the stock’s price. Such information includes, in addition to
past prices, all fundamental data on the firm, its products, its management, its finances, its
earnings, etc., etc. that can be found in public information sources.

The strong-form hypothesis states that stock prices reflect all information relevant to the firm,
even including information available only to company “insiders.” This version is an extreme one.
Obviously, some “insiders” do have access to pertinent information long enough for them to profit
from trading on that information before the public obtains it. Indeed, such trading – not only by
the “insiders” themselves, but also by relatives and/or associates – is illegal under rules of the
SEC.

For the weak form or the semi-strong forms of the hypothesis to be valid does not require the
strong-form version to hold. If the strong-form version were valid, however, both the semi-strong
and the weak-form version of efficiency would also be valid.

B. Even in an efficient market, a portfolio manager would have the important role of constructing and
implementing an integrated set of steps to create and maintain appropriate combinations of
investment assets. Listed below are the necessary steps in the portfolio management process:

1) Counseling the client to help the client to determine appropriate objectives and identify and
evaluate constraints. The portfolio manager together with the client should specify and
quantify risk tolerance, required rate of return, time horizon, taxes considerations, the form of
income needs, liquidity, legal and regulatory constraints, and any unique circumstances that
will impact or modify normal management procedures/goals.
36 Chapter 10: Market Efficiency

2) Monitoring and evaluating capital market expectations. Relevant considerations, such as

economic, social, and political conditions/expectations are factored into the decision making
process in terms of the expected risk/reward relationship for the various asset categories.
Different expectations may lead the portfolio manager to adjust a client’s systematic risk level
even if markets are efficient.
3) The above steps are decisions derived from/implemented through portfolio policy and strategy
setting. Investment policies are set and implemented through the choice of optimal
combinations of financial and real assets in the marketplace – i.e., asset allocation. Under
the assumption of a perfectly efficient market, stocks would be priced fairly, eliminating any
added value by specific security selection. It might be argued that an investment policy,
which stresses diversification, is even more important in an efficient market context because
the elimination of specific risk becomes extremely important.
4) Market conditions, relative asset category percentages, and the investor’s circumstances are
monitored.
5) Portfolio adjustments are made as a result of significant changes in any or all relevant
variables.

20. (CFA Guideline Answer: Reprinted with permission).

A. Efficient market hypothesis (EMH) states that a market is efficient if security prices immediately
and fully reflect all available relevant information. Efficient means informationally efficient, not
operationally efficient. Operational efficiency deals with the cost of transferring funds. If the
market fully reflects information, the knowledge of that information would not allow anyone to
profit from it because stock prices already incorporate the information.

1. Weak form asserts that stock prices already reflect all information that can be derived by
examining market trading data such as the history of past prices and trading volume.

Empirical evidence supports the weak form.

A strong body of evidence supports weak-form efficiency in the major U.S. securities markets.
For example, test results suggest that technical trading rules do not produce superior returns after
adjusting for transactions costs and taxes.

2. Semistrong form says that a firm’s stock price already reflects all publicly available
information about a firm’s prospects. Examples of publicly available information are annual
reports of companies and investment advisory data.

Empirical evidence mostly supports the semistrong form.

Evidence strongly supports the notion of semistrong efficiency, but occasional studies (e.g.,
those identifying market anomalies including the small-firm effect and the January effect) and
events (e.g., stock market crash of October 19, 1987) are inconsistent with this form of market
efficiency. Black suggests that most so-called “anomalies” result from data mining.

3. Strong form of the EMH holds that current market prices reflect all information, whether
publicly available or privately held, that is relevant to the firm.

Empirical evidence does not support the strong form.

 Chapter 10: Market Efficiency 37

Empirical evidence suggests that strong-form efficiency does not hold. If this form were correct,
prices would fully reflect all information, although a corporate insider might exclusively hold such
information. Therefore, insiders could not earn excess returns. Research evidence shows that
corporate officers have access to pertinent information long enough before public release to enable
them to profit from trading on this information.

B. Technical analysis in the form of charting involves the search for recurrent and predictable
patterns in stock prices to enhance returns. The EMH implies that this type of technical analysis is
without value. If past prices contain no useful information for predicting future prices, there is no
point in following any technical trading rule for timing the purchases and sales of securities.
According to weak-form efficiency, no investor can earn excess returns by developing trading
rules based on historical price and return information. A simple policy of buying and holding will
be at least as good as any technical procedure. Tests generally show that technical trading rules do
not produce superior returns after making adjustments for transactions costs and taxes.

Fundamental analysis uses earnings and dividend prospects of the firm, expectations of future
interest rates, and risk evaluation of the firm to determine proper stock prices. The EMH predicts
that most fundamental analysis is doomed to failure. According to semistrong-form efficiency, no
investor can earn excess returns from trading rules based on any publicly available information.
Only analysts with unique insight receive superior returns. Fundamental analysis is not better than
technical analysis in enabling investors to capture above-average returns. However, the presence
of many analysts contributes to market efficiency.

In summary, the EMH holds that the market appears to adjust so quickly to information about
individual stocks and the economy as a whole that no technique of selecting a portfolio--using
either technical or fundamental analysis--can consistently outperform a strategy of simply buying
and holding a diversified group of securities, such as those making up the popular market
averages.

C. Portfolio managers have several roles or responsibilities even in perfectly efficient markets. The
most important responsibility is to:

1. Identify the risk/return objectives for the portfolio given the investor’s constraints. In an
efficient market, portfolio managers are responsible for tailoring the portfolio to meet the
investor’s needs rather than to beat the market, which requires identifying the client’s return
requirements and risk tolerance. Rational portfolio management also requires examining the
investor’s constraints, such as liquidity, time horizon, laws and regulations, taxes, and such unique
preferences and circumstances as age and employment.

Other roles and responsibilities include:

2. Developing a well-diversified portfolio with the selected risk level. Although an efficient
market prices securities fairly, each security still has firm-specific risk that portfolio managers can
eliminate through diversification. Therefore, rational security selection requires selecting a well-
diversified portfolio that provides the level of systematic risk that matches the investor’s risk
tolerance.

3. Reducing transaction costs with a buy-and-hold strategy. Proponents of the EMH advocate
a passive investment strategy that does not try to find under- or overvalued stocks. A buy-and-
hold strategy is consistent with passive management. Because the efficient market theory suggests
that securities are fairly priced, frequently buying and selling securities, which generate large
38 Chapter 10: Market Efficiency

brokerage fees without increasing expected performance, makes little sense. One common
strategy for passive management is to create an index fund that is designed to replicate the
performance of a broad-based index of stocks.

4. Developing capital market expectations. As part of the asset-allocation decision, portfolio

managers need to consider their expectations for the relative returns of the various capital markets
to choose an appropriate asset allocation.

5. Implement the chosen investment strategy and review it regularly for any needed
adjustments. Under the EMH, portfolio managers have the responsibility of implementing and
updating the previously determined investment strategy for each client.

D. Whether active asset allocation among countries could consistently outperform a world market
index depends on the degree of international market efficiency and the skill of the portfolio
manager. Investment professionals often view the basic issue of international market efficiency in
terms of cross-border financial market integration or segmentation. An integrated world financial
market would achieve international efficiency in the sense that arbitrage across markets would
take advantage of any new information throughout the world. In an efficiently integrated
international market, prices of all assets would be in line with their relative investment values.

Some claim that international markets are not integrated, but segmented. Each national market
might be efficient, but factors might prevent international capital flows from taking advantage of
relative mispricing among countries. These factors include psychological barriers, legal
restrictions, transaction costs, discriminatory taxation, political risks, and exchange risks.

Markets do not appear fully integrated or fully segmented. Markets may or may not become more
correlated as they become more integrated since other factors help to determine correlation.
Therefore, the degree of international market efficiency is an empirical question that has not yet
been answered.
Another random document with
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method is therefore not applicable in such cases, but is useful in
water examination.
Electrolytic Reactions.—Solutions of lead are easily
electrolyzed, and give a precipitate of lead at the cathode;
simultaneously the peroxide is produced at the anode, and the
reaction is acid. In nitric acid solutions Riche pointed out that the
whole of the lead is carried to the anode, and this is the reaction
made use of in the determination of lead present in the urine (see p.
172).
The presence of copper in an electrolyte regulates the
precipitation of lead oxide, copper alone being deposited at the
cathode, and at the same time the presence of a small quantity of
copper promotes the destruction of organic materials.

REFERENCES.
[1] Pliny: lxxxiii., 11, N.c.v.
[2] Stockhusen: De Litharg. Fumo, etc. Goslar, 1656.
[3] Tronchin: De Colica Pictonum. 1758.
[4] John Hunter: Observations of Diseases of the Army in Jamaica.
London, 1788.
[5] Meillère, G.: Le Saturnisme. Paris, 1903.
[6] Bisserie: Bull. Soc. Pharmacol. May, 1900.
[7] Houston: Local Government Board Annual Report, 1901-02,
supplement, vol. ii.
 CHAPTER II
ÆTIOLOGY
Lead poisoning of industrial origin rarely occurs in the acute form.
Practically all cases coming under the notice of either appointed surgeons,
certifying surgeons, or even in the wards of general hospitals, are of the
subacute or chronic type. There is no reason to suppose that lead
compounds are used more frequently by the workers in lead industries as
abortifacients than by other persons.
The compounds of lead which are responsible for poisoning in industrial
processes are for the most part the hydrated carbonate, or white lead, and
the oxides of lead, whilst a comparatively small number of cases owe their
origin to compounds, such as chromates and chlorides.
The poisonous nature of any lead compound from an industrial point of
view is proportional to (1) the size of the ultimate particles of the substance
manufactured, and therefore the ease with which such particles are capable
of dissemination in the air; and (2) the solubility of the particles in the normal
fluids of the body, such as the saliva, pharyngeal and tracheal and bronchial
mucus, etc., and the fluids of the stomach and intestine. An instance of the
variation in size of the particles of lead compounds used industrially is the
difference between ground lead silicate (fritted lead) used in the potteries,
and the size of the particles of ordinary white or “raw” lead. By micrometric
measurements one of us [K. W. G.[1]] found the average size of the particles
of fritt to be ten times that of the white lead particles. Further, direct
experiment made with equal masses of the two compounds in such a manner
that the rate of settling of the dust arising could be directly compared in a
beam of parallel light showed presence of dust in the white lead chamber
fifteen minutes after the fritt chamber was entirely clear. It is found as a matter
of practice that where dust is especially created, and where it is difficult to
remove such dust by exhaust fans, the greatest incidence of lead poisoning
occurs. The association of dusty processes and incidence of lead poisoning is
discussed in relation to the various trades in Chapters XV. to XVII. Fume and
vapour given off from the molten metal or compounds, such as chlorides
(tinning), are only a special case of dust.
The channels through which lead or its compounds may gain entrance to
the animal body are theoretically three in number:
 1. Respiratory tract.
2. Gastro-intestinal.
3. Cutaneous.
For many years most authorities have held that industrial poisoning by
means of compounds of lead takes place directly through the alimentary
canal, and that the poison is conveyed to the mouth mainly by unwashed
hands, by food contaminated with lead dust, and by lead dust suspended in
the air becoming deposited upon the mucous membrane of the mouth and
pharynx, and then swallowed. As evidence that lead dust is swallowed, the
classical symptom of colic in lead poisoning has been adduced, on the
supposition, in the absence of any experimental proof, that the lead
swallowed acted as an irritant on the gastro-intestinal canal, thus causing
colic, and, on absorption from the canal, setting up other general symptoms.
Much of the early treatment of lead poisoning is based upon this assumption,
and the administration of sulphuric acid lemonade and the exhibition of
sulphate of magnesia and other similar compounds as treatment is further
evidence of the view that the poisoning was considered primarily intestinal.
One of the chief objections to this view, apart from the experimental
evidence, is that in those trades where metallic lead is handled, particularly
lead rolling, very few hygienic precautions have ever been taken in regard to
washing before meals, smoking, etc. Although in these trades the hands
become coated with a lead compound (oleate), and the workers frequently
eat their food with unwashed hands, thus affording every opportunity for the
ingestion of lead, the incidence of poisoning is by no means as high or so
pronounced in these occupations as in those giving rise to lead dust, such as
the white lead industry, where special precautions are taken, and where the
incidence of poisoning is always related to the dust breathed.
Respiratory Tract.—In a report on the incidence of lead poisoning in the
manufacture of paints and colours, one of us [T. M. L.[2]] in 1902 laid stress on
the marked incidence of poisoning in the specially dusty lead processes.
Following on that report special attention was given to the removal of dust by
means of exhaust ventilation. With the introduction of precautionary
measures, the incidence of poisoning underwent a marked decrease, this
decrease being most definite in those industries where efficient exhaust
ventilation could be maintained (see p. 47). Experience shows that cases of
poisoning in any given trade or manufacturing process are always referable to
the operations which cause the greatest amount of dust, and where,
therefore, the opportunity of inhaling lead dust is greatest.
The investigations of Duckering[3], referred to on p. 203, show the amount
of dust present in the air in certain dangerous processes. His results clinch
the deductions made from general observation, that dusty processes are
those especially related to incidence of industrial poisoning. Ætiologically,
therefore, the relationship of dust-contaminated air and poisoning is
undeniable, and in not a few instances on record persons residing at a
distance from a lead factory have developed poisoning, although not
employed in any occupation involving contact with lead, aerial infection
through dust remaining the only explanation. The actual channel through
which the lead dust suspended in the air gains entrance to the body is,
therefore, of especial importance; one of two channels is open—gastro-
intestinal and respiratory.
The investigations of one of us (K. W. G.) on the experimental production of
lead poisoning in animals has shown conclusively that the dust inhaled was
far more dangerous, and produced symptoms far earlier than did the direct
ingestion of a very much larger quantity of the same compound by way of the
mouth and gastro-intestinal canal. There is no doubt whatever that the chief
agent in causing lead poisoning is dust or fume suspended in the air. That a
certain amount finds its way into the stomach direct is not denied, but from
experimental evidence we consider the lung rather than the stomach to be
the chief channel through which absorption takes place (see p. 81).
The following table gives a specific instance of the incidence of lead
poisoning in a white lead factory, and demonstrates clearly the ætiological
importance of dust. The increase in reported cases, as well as in symptoms
of lead absorption not sufficiently severe to prevent the individual from
following his usual occupation, was associated with the rebuilding of a portion
of the factory in which the packing of dry white lead had been carried on for a
large number of years. The alterations necessitated the removal of several
floors, all of which were thoroughly impregnated with lead dust. Before the
alterations were undertaken it was recognized that considerable danger
would arise; stringent precautions were therefore taken, and the hands
engaged in the alterations kept under special observation. Notwithstanding
this there was an increase in the number of reported cases, which were all
mild cases of colic; all recovered, and were able to return to their work in a
short time.
Table I.—Lead Poisoning in a White Lead Factory.
The figures refer to the weekly examination of the whole of the men. For example, if a man
was returned as suffering from anæmia on three occasions, he appears as three cases in
Column 7.

Year Total Total Cases Cases Cases of Cases of Cases of Blue Line
Number Cases of in Dusty in Other Suspen- Anæmia Tremor
of Poisoning Processes Processes sion
 Exami-
nations
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9)
1905 5,464 9 8 1 20 78[B] 249[B] 311[B]
1906 [A] 5,096 18 16 2 9 256 215 532
1907 4,303 4 3 1 6 62 81 38
1908 3,965 4 3 1 5 40 25 11

[A] Structural alterations in progress, including cutting up “lead floor,” saturated with
white lead dust.
[B] These numbers for the half-year only, the inspection being taken over in June,
1905.

Meillère[4] goes to considerable trouble to show that absorption of lead dust

by the lung is hypothetical; that it may take place, but that it is not a channel
of absorption of practical importance. He cites a number of opinions and
experiments by various observers on the absorption of lead through the
mucous membrane of the mouth, alimentary canal, conjunctiva, etc., and he
regards the absorption of lead as one peculiarly confined, in the majority of
instances, to the intestinal canal.
The usual view is that, in the passage of the respired dust-laden air through
the nose, the larger particles of dust are deposited first of all upon the
mucous membrane in the interior chambers of the nose; further, a second
deposit takes place on the posterior wall of the pharynx and in the throat,
where the eddies produced by the current of air inhaled through the nostrils
allow the finer particles to become more easily deposited. Finally, should a
small trace gain access to the larynx, it is said to be deposited there upon the
mucous membrane, to be subsequently ejected, and only a very small
proportion of the total may ever find its way into the lung.
In all arduous labour, directly the respiration rate rises through extra calls
made upon the muscles of the body, an increase in the depth of respiration
takes place; yet even under these circumstances Meillère and others incline
to the view that the dust is deposited on the mucous surfaces of the mouth
and swallowed. Experimental evidence is entirely opposed to these
suppositions. In the first place, unless particles of dust readily find their way
into the lung, it is difficult to understand how the lung itself becomes the site
of so much deposit of carbon, and of flinty material in stonegrinder’s
pneumokoniosis. The staining of the lung by means of carbon particles,
particularly in dwellers in cities, is too well known to warrant more than a
passing reference. Moreover, experimental work has shown that fine powders
suspended in the air easily reach the lung. Armit[5] has shown that the nickel
in nickel carbonyl poisoning gains direct access to the lung, and becomes
deposited there, the metallic particles being readily demonstrated in the lung
tissue itself. Further, the experiments (see p. 84) demonstrate that white lead
dust and other forms of lead dust definitely gain access to the lung, and thus
inhaled produce all the symptoms of lead poisoning in animals subjected to
the inhalation. White lead, litharge, or red lead, are not easily suspended in
water, and long-continued mixing is necessary to make a suspension. Great
difficulty is found in “laying” lead dust by water, as the following experiment
demonstrates: Five wash-bottles are arranged in series; in the first ground dry
white lead is placed, and the other three bottles are filled with water, and a
tube laid under the surface of the water in such a way that the air from the
first bottle must pass the whole of the water seals in each subsequent bottle.
In the last bottle is dilute nitric acid saturated with sulphuretted hydrogen. If
the series is now attached to an aspirating jar, and air drawn slowly over at
the rate of ordinary respiration, the white lead powder in the first bottle being
at the same time shaken so that the air is fully charged with finely powdered
dust, lead is quickly detected in the air passing through the last bottle of the
series, by the darkening of the solution. In this way the presence of lead dust
has been demonstrated after passing through four 2-inch water seals and 8
feet of ¹⁄₄-inch wet rubber tubing. Such an experiment negatives the theory
that all, or even a large quantity, of a finely divided powder becomes
deposited on the upper portion of the respiratory tract.
Particles of lead present in the air in industrial processes are exceedingly
minute, and even in ground white lead the average size of the particle is
under 1 μ. Finally, Tanquerel[6] and Stanski[7] succeeded in producing lead
poisoning experimentally by blowing lead dust through a tube inserted in a
tracheotomy opening. There remains, therefore, no room for doubt that the
lung is the pre-eminent portal for lead absorption, particularly in industrial
processes; from which it follows, as has been extensively shown in actual
practice, that the diminution of dust in workshops and factories by means of
exhaust ventilation is invariably followed by a diminution in the number of
cases of plumbism.
Gastro-Intestinal.—We have dealt with absorption by way of the lung,
and have insisted that such inhalation of dust is of greater importance in
giving rise to industrial lead poisoning than gastro-intestinal absorption.
Gastro-intestinal absorption can take place, and is by no means negligible, in
ordinary industrial conditions. One of the most interesting and important
confirmatory evidences of the absorption of lead by the gastro-intestinal canal
is to be found in the large outbreaks of poisoning in which water-supplies
have been contaminated, either at their source or locally. We have already
seen that electrolysis may play an important part in the solution of lead in
water, and also learnt from Gautier[8] that the carbon dioxide content of water
is not necessarily the sole predisposing element in the solution of lead. In this
connection an important case is described by Thresh[9], where water by no
means soft, but holding some 30 degrees of hardness, produced lead
poisoning in an isolated family. The water in question was distinctly acid to
litmus-paper, and contained a very high percentage of nitrates; the compound
or salt of lead present was therefore one easily absorbed from the alimentary
canal (see p. 86).
In all instances of water-borne lead poisoning the amount of lead present in
the water was small; but as such lead would not be removed by boiling, the
amount of water consumed per person from the contaminated source was
probably large. As the signs of poisoning did not appear until a considerable
time had elapsed, a much larger quantity of lead was probably absorbed than
would appear from the simple statement that the water contained ¹⁄₁₀ grain
per gallon.
A number of cases have been reported from use of diachylon as an
abortifacient, and the symptoms in these cases are invariably those which
occur in other severe forms of poisoning such as are met with in industrial
processes. In nearly every case colic was the first symptom, followed later by
paresis of various types—amaurosis, albuminuria, albuminuric retinitis,
melancholia, encephalopathy—and not a few of the persons succumbed. In
most of the reported cases abortion was produced, but in some, particularly in
one[10], three dozen pills containing diachylon were taken in a month,
producing acute lead poisoning, colic, and paresis, but not abortion.
In fifteen recorded cases of the use of diachylon, fourteen showed a lead
line, in many cases distinct and broad. This point has considerable interest,
as such a line cannot have been produced by oral contact. The drug in the
form of pills would be rapidly swallowed, and little opportunity afforded for
particles to remain in the mouth. Its presence, therefore, suggests excretion
from circulating blood of lead which has been absorbed in the intestine. The
blue line will be referred to again later (see p. 122).
Practically all cases of water poisoning and of swallowing of lead
compounds have developed colic. Further, colic is cited in all the early
recorded cases, even in the very earliest cases referred to in the historical
note, of lead poisoning; and as poisoning in those cases had invariably taken
place by swallowing the drug, it may be presumed from this association has
arisen the belief that lead must be swallowed to produce gastro-intestinal
symptoms. No attention has been paid to the fact that a few cases of definite
cutaneous absorption of lead from the use of hair lotions have been followed
by colic. Gastro-intestinal symptoms, therefore, can be produced without the
direct ingestion of the drug, and colic is a symptom of generalized blood-
infection rather than a localized irritative action on the intestinal mucosa. This
question, again, is more related to pathology than ætiology, and is dealt with
in that section. But mention may be made here of the fact that a number of
observers, more lately Meillère, have laid it down as an axiom that
experimental production of lead poisoning in animals gives no criterion or
evidence of lead poisoning produced in man industrially. Very grave exception
must be taken at once to such a statement. In the majority of experiments
quoted by Meillère the quantity of lead given for experimental purposes has
been large—much larger, indeed, than is necessary to produce small and
characteristic effects—and instead of chronic poisoning an acute lead
poisoning has generally been set up; and even where chronic poisoning has
supervened, the condition has as a rule been masked by the severer initial
symptoms. On the other hand, the evidence to be derived from comparison of
the various observations from animal experiments brings out with remarkable
unanimity the similarity of the symptoms to those produced in man, and, as
will be seen later in the section devoted to Pathology, experiments by one of
us (K. W. G.) have so far confirmed this surmise; in fact, a description of a
case of encephalopathy coming on after lead poisoning of a chronic nature,
described by Mott, agrees in practically every particular with the train of
symptoms as observed in these experimental animals. Certain slight
differences as to the muscles first affected are observed, but it is practically
always the homologous muscle (the physiological action of which more nearly
resembles the human muscle) which is the one to be affected in the animal,
not the anatomical homologue. Thus, for instance, in the cat the spinal
muscles, and particularly the quadriceps extensor, is the muscle which is first
affected through the medium of the anterior crural nerve. This extensor
muscle is one which only performs a slight amount of work in extending the
knee-joint, the amount of work being, however, disproportionate to the size of
the muscle. The extensors of the fore-feet ultimately do become weakened,
but it is the hind-limb upon which the stress first falls.
Attention has been given to the solubility of lead salts in gastric juices, the
majority of such experiments having been performed with artificial gastric
juice. The method at present in use, prescribed by the amended rules of
August, 1900, for earthenware and china factories, is based on some, if
slight, consideration of the physiology of digestion. The method described by
Rule II. states that the estimation of the quantity of lead present in the lead
fritt shall be performed as follows:
A weighed quantity of dry material is to be continuously shaken for one
hour at room temperature with one thousand times its weight of an aqueous
solution of hydrochloric acid, containing 0·25 per cent. of HCl. This solution is
thereafter to be allowed to stand for one hour, and to be passed through a
filter. The lead salt contained in a portion of the clear filter is then to be
precipitated as lead sulphide, and weighed as lead sulphate.
 This method has been adopted on the supposition that the solubility of a
lead salt in the gastric juices is the chief source of the lead poisoning in the
Potteries, and that the hydrochloric acid content of the solution determines,
for practical purposes, the quantity of lead dissolved out of a given sample.
The temperature, however, at which this estimation is made—namely, room
temperature—is one considerably lower than that of the body, and the
quantity of lead taken up into solution at this temperature is less than that
which occurs at the ordinary temperature of the body—37° C. Practically
twice as much lead is dissolved out of fritt at 37° C. for an hour as is rendered
soluble at the ordinary temperature of the room—about 15° C. Thomason[11],
who made some experiments in this direction, gives a figure of 2·35 lead
oxide dissolved at 15° C. and 4·54 at 37° C. In another estimation—a matter,
too, of some considerable importance—it was found that acetic acid dissolved
1·97 per cent, at 15° C., and 3·27 at 37° C. In lactic acid the figure was 2·28
at 15° C., and 3·53 at 37° C. It is therefore a low estimation of the solubility of
any substance by the gastric juices if the substance is operated on at a
temperature below that of the body.
The question of the solubility of a lead salt in the gastric contents is
important in view of the small quantities of dust swallowed; and in addition to
hydrochloric acid, other substances are also present in the gastric juice,
which is by no means a simple aqueous solution of the mineral acid. Further,
the gastric juice, except in cases of pathological type, is not acid in periods of
gastric rest, unless such acidity may be represented by the presence of
fermentative acids—acetic, lactic, and butyric.
The activity of the gastric juice on lead is directly caused by the quantity of
organic acids present in addition to the hydrochloric acid, and by the
presence of foodstuffs—(1) in the undigested and (2) in the semidigested
condition. In considering the absorption of lead products from the gastro-
intestinal canal, the normal digestive processes should not be lost sight of—
that is, the sequence of events which occur during digestion of food. On
swallowing food, no definite acidity is present in the stomach for fifteen to
twenty minutes, and even after that time the hydrochloric acid is only
commencing to be secreted. As digestion proceeds, and the whole mass
becomes partially dissolved, such portions as are in a soluble condition are
passed through the pyloric opening at intervals, and the whole contents of the
stomach do not pass straight through the pyloric opening as through an
ordinary straight drain-pipe. As each mass of food passes onwards through
the pylorus, it comes into contact in the duodenum with pancreatic juice, and
with the bile, these alkaline fluids rapidly change the reaction, and allow the
other ferments, trypsin, etc., to become active. As the mass proceeds
onwards through the intestine, the succus entericus also exerts its function.
Finally the fluid contents of the intestine are passed onwards through the ileo-
cæcal valve. During the passage from the pylorus to the ileo-cæcal valve, the
reaction of the intestinal contents undergoes variations, from an alkaline in
the duodenum or upper parts of the jejunum, to acid at the ileo-cæcal valve.
Practically no absorption takes place from the stomach itself; a small quantity
of water and such highly volatile fluids as alcohol may be absorbed, but the
main absorption is not commenced until the food has left the stomach; in fact,
the stomach contains no mechanism for food absorption. The work of
absorption of the products of digestion is carried on actively through the small
intestine until finally the materials have reached the large intestine through
the ileo-cæcal valve; water is then mainly absorbed, and albuminous fluids
and substances in solution to some extent, but the amount of absorption
which takes place is infinitesimal as compared with that of the small intestine.
These points in the physiology of digestion require to be taken into account
when discussing the absorption of lead salts in the gastro-intestinal canal.
When human gastric juice is obtained direct from the stomach in man, and
lead is submitted to its action, definite quantities of lead pass into solution;
and, curiously enough, in the normal gastric juice lead sulphate is as soluble
as both white lead and litharge. The following two tables give the results of
the estimation of the direct action of human gastric juice upon lead. The
particular point is that the juice was obtained by the stomach tube from
persons who had been given a simple test meal preceded by a twelve hours’
fast; the juice was therefore in a normal condition. The tests gave the
following results in the normal stomach:
Lead sulphate 0·080 per cent.
White lead 0·048 „
Litharge 0·040 „

In the second digestion, in which the analysis of the contents showed the
patient to be suffering from the condition known as “hyperhydrochloridia,” the
results were—
Lead sulphate 0·046 per cent.
White lead 0·042 „
Litharge 0·340 „

A very large number of experiments have also been performed for the
purpose of determining the solubility of raw lead glaze, and white lead, in
artificial digestions, the digestions having been made up in such a way that
they resembled as far as possible in every particular the ordinary stomach
contents. The type of digestion used was as follows:
Dry breadcrumbs 140 grammes.
Hydrochloric acid 5 c.c.
 Lactic acid 0·1 c.c.
Acetic acid 0·1 c.c.
Pepsin 1·2 grammes.
Milk 1,200 c.c.

Digestions were performed with this mixture, and in every case the digest
was divided into two portions; each portion was retained at body temperature,
with agitation for a couple of hours, and at the end of that time one portion
was submitted to analysis. The second portion was neutralized, sodium
carbonate and pancreatic ferment added, and digestion carried on for another
two and a half hours at body temperature. At the end of this time the
pancreatic digest was examined.
Thirty-five digestions were performed. When 1 gramme of white lead was
used—that is, 0·01 per cent., containing 0·75 per cent. of lead oxide—the
quantity of lead found as lead oxide in the acid digest varied from 2 to 3 per
cent., whilst the amount found in the pancreatic digest varied from 4 to 6·5
per cent. of the added salt. On increasing the amount to 12 grammes—that
is, 1 per cent.—the quantity returned in the digest only increased from 1·5 to
2 per cent. In other words, in the addition of larger quantities of material the
ratio of solubility did not rise in proportion to the quantity added. Where a
direct pancreatic digestion was performed without the preliminary digest of
the gastric contents, the amount of lead present in the digest was only about
0·2 per cent. of the quantity added; indeed, it was very much smaller than the
amount dissolved out after preliminary acid digestion—that is, if the normal
sequence of digestion is followed, the solubility progresses after the gastric
digest has been neutralized and pancreatic ferment has been added,
whereas very slow action indeed occurs as the result of action of the
pancreatic digest alone. Some experiments described by Thomason[12],
although carried out without special regard to the physiological question of
the progressive nature of digestion, distinctly confirm the point raised. Thus,
in a digest of gastric juice, milk, and bread, 5·0 per cent. of lead was
dissolved, whereas when pancreatic juice alone was used only 0·4 per cent.
was found to be dissolved, a remarkable confirmation of the point under
discussion.
The difficulty of estimating lead present in these gastric digestions is a very
real one, as, owing to the precipitation of lead by various fluids of an
albuminoid nature, it is difficult to determine the amount of lead present in a
given quantity of digest; moreover, in making such a digest, much of the
material may become entangled among the clot of the milk in a purely
mechanical fashion, and, in attempting to separate the fluid from the other
portion of the digest, filtration no doubt removes any lead which has been
rendered soluble first of all, and reprecipitated as an albuminate. An
albuminate of lead may be formed with great ease in the following way: A 5
per cent. solution of albumin in normal saline is taken, 0·02 per cent. of
hydrochloric acid is added, and 10 per cent. solution of lead chloride added
as long as a precipitate is formed. The precipitate is then filtered off, and
washed in a dialyser with acidulated water until no further trace of lead is
found in the washings. A portion of this substance taken up in distilled water
forms a solution of an opalescent nature, which readily passes through the
filter and gives the reaction of protein with Millon’s reagent, and the lead
reaction by means of caustic potash and sulphuretted hydrogen, but very
large quantities of mineral acid are required to produce any colour with
hydrogen sulphide. Lead which gains access to the stomach, either dissolved
in water or swallowed as fine dust, becomes in all probability converted first
into a soluble substance, chloride, acetate, or lactate, which compound is
then precipitated either by the mucin present in the stomach, or by the protein
constituents of the food, or by the partially digested food (peptonate of lead
may be formed in the same way as the albuminate described above). In this
form, or as an albuminate or other organic compound, it passes the pylorus,
and becomes reprecipitated and redigested through the action of the
pancreatic juice. A consideration of the action of artificial gastric juices and
the properly combined experiments of gastric and pancreatic digestions
suggest that the form in which lead becomes absorbed is not a chloride, but
an organic compound first formed and gradually decomposed during the
normal process of digestion, and absorbed in this manner from the intestine
along with the ordinary constituents of food. Dixon Mann[13] has shown that
about two-thirds of the lead administered by the mouth is discharged in the
fæces, and that the remaining one-third is also slowly but only partially
eliminated. This point is of very considerable importance in relation to
industrial poisoning of presumably gastro-intestinal origin, and consideration
of the experiments quoted suggests that the digestion of albuminate or
peptonate may to some extent be the basis which determines the excretion of
so much of the lead via the fæces. This alteration of solubility has no doubt a
bearing on the immunity exhibited by many animals when fed with lead, and
probably explains the fact that many of the experimental animals fed with lead
over long periods exhibited no symptoms of poisoning (see p. 85), whereas
control animals, given a far smaller quantity of lead by other means and
through the lung, rapidly developed symptoms of poisoning. A diversity of
opinion exists as to the effect of pepsin upon the solubility of lead. Oliver[14]
considers that the pepsin has a retarding influence on the solubility of lead in
the gastric juice, and Thomason’s experiments also support this view,
although it is difficult to see why the action of pepsin alone should be of such
extreme importance. There is also the complicating fact that other added
substances in the food may mask any direct pepsin factor that may be
present. Albumose and peptone rather than pepsin are to be regarded as the
more important substance physiologically in their reaction with lead, and it is
interesting to note that Schicksal[15] found that by exposing lead in the form of
white lead in a 1 per mille solution of hydrochloric acid in the presence of
peptone produced a greater solvent effect on white lead than did the diluted
acid alone, and the same effect was also seen on metallic lead.
Table II.—Schicksal’s Table.
Amount
dissolved
returned
as
Metallic
Solution. Substance. Time. Lead.

(a) 1·0 per cent. peptone 100 White lead, 10 3 days at 37°
- 0·1471 grm.
0·1 per cent. HCl c.c. grms. C.

(b) 1·0 per cent. peptone 100 Metallic lead, 4

- „ 0·0330 „
0·1 per cent. HCl c.c. grms.
(c) 0·1 per cent. HCl, 100 White lead, 10
0·0983 „
c.c. grms.
(d) 0·1 per cent. HCl, 100 Metallic lead, 4
0·0194 „
c.c. grms.
(e) Metallic lead, 4
0·3 per cent. Na2CO3 None
grms.
(f) 0·3 per cent. Na2CO3 White lead „
(g) 0·3 per cent. Na2CO3
- White lead „
0·5 per cent. NaCl

(h) 0·3 per cent. Na2CO3

- Metallic lead „
0·5 per cent. NaCl

The experiments referred to on p. 18 undoubtedly agree with those of

Schicksal. In addition to the presence of peptones, the effect of carbonic acid
must be also considered, as increase in solubility in gastric and pancreatic
digestions was produced when carbonic acid gas was bubbled through the
digest during the period of action. The whole question of solubility of many
materials in the fluids of the stomach and intestinal canal requires entire
revision, not only as regards lead, but as regards a number of other metals,
including arsenic.
The Mechanism of Lead Absorption.
—The final method of absorption of lead particles or lead solution into the
animal body remains to be considered. Experimental phagocytosis of lead
particles—as, indeed, of any minute particles of substance—suspended in an
isotonic solution, may be observed directly under the microscope. Lead
particles show no exception to the rule, and white blood-corpuscles in a
hanging-drop preparation, made by suspending them in an isotonic salt
solution and serum, may be watched englobing particles of lead, and by
appropriate means the ingested lead may be afterwards demonstrated. In
such an experiment, much of the lead absorbed by the individual corpuscles
rapidly loses its property of giving a black precipitate with sulphuretted
hydrogen, and has apparently become converted into an organic compound,
peptonate or albuminate.
In the section devoted to the Chemistry of Lead, it has been noted that the
colloidal solutions of lead are not precipitated by sulphuretted hydrogen, and
that albuminates and peptonates of lead are presumably of colloidal form.
There seems evidence, therefore, that the direct absorption of lead takes
place by means of the phagocytes of the body, and that in them it becomes
converted into a colloidal form, in which it is probably eliminated through the
kidney and intestine, mainly the latter.
Further evidence of the englobement of lead particles by amœbic cells may
be gained if sections of the intestines of experimental animals are examined;
in the lymphoid glands particles of lead may be seen situated in the interior of
the walls, and even in the cells. It does not by any means follow that these
particles of lead sulphide present in the cells have been formed in situ; more
probably the lead has been converted into a sulphide in the intestinal lumen
itself, and subsequently taken up by the amœbic cells situated in its
periphery.
Another solution is possible—namely, that the particles seen in the
intestinal wall are particles of lead in process of excretion into the intestine
itself, and that the pigmentation of the vessel walls and cells is caused by the
staining of the particles of lead passing from the blood into the lumen of the
tube, which have been converted into a sulphide during their passage.
The localization of the staining in the large intestine, especially in the region
of the appendix in animals (cats), tends to support this theory. The large
bowel near the ileo-cæcal valve, the appendix, and even the glands in the
immediate neighbourhood, are found to be discoloured, and to contain lead in
larger quantities than any other portion of the intestine. In extreme cases the
whole of the large intestine may be stained a greyish-blue. The bloodvessels
in the mesentery in this region are also engorged. When, however, a salt of
lead, such as lead carbonate or lead oxide, gains access to the stomach, it
may be easily converted into chloride by the free hydrochloric acid present in
the stomach; and, in addition, should there be any chronic acid-dyspepsia
(hyperchlorhydria), particularly of the fermentative type, in which free lactic
acid and other organic acids are to be found within the viscus, small
quantities of lead swallowed as dust undergo solution and conversion into
chloride or lactate. The pouring out of acid gastric juice from the stomach
glands does not take place immediately after the first bolus of food is
swallowed, and it may be twenty minutes or half an hour before the gastric
contents have an acid reaction. During this time any lead salts previously
swallowed may become incorporated with the bolus of food and escape
absorption.
Lead in solution or suspension in the stomach which becomes mixed up
with the food, and at the same time subjected to the action of various
albuminous constituents of the food in addition to acids, causes an
albuminate or peptonate of lead to be easily formed, and as such can never
be absorbed from the stomach direct; practically no absorption takes place in
the stomach, and the presence of food containing albuminate precipitates any
lead in solution as an organic insoluble salt. The bolus of food impregnated
with small quantities of lead passes onwards to the intestine, where further
digestion takes place. As the mass passes through the intestine the action
gradually results in the reappearance of acidity, but at the same time a certain
quantity of sulphuretted hydrogen is produced, some of it from the
degradation of the sulphur-containing moiety of the protein molecule by
ordinary hydrolytic process and intestinal ferments, quite apart from any
bacterial action. A portion of the lead present in the chyme may be set free
again for absorption. The bile is said to assist in the solution of lead in vitro.
In experiments made by one of us, which are quoted later, it has been
shown that an isolated loop of intestine allows the absorption of a soluble
lead salt (chloride) when there is no food present in the loop. As the food
mass proceeds through the length of the intestine more and more sulphur is
set free, and an opportunity arises for the fixation of the lead as a sulphide,
but even as a sulphide it is slightly soluble. Probably, however, most of the
lead becomes absorbed long before it reaches the stage at which free
sulphur or sulphuretted hydrogen exists for the formation of sulphide. It is
highly probable that lead, in common with a number of other heavy metals,
including arsenic, is absorbed gradually in the upper part of the intestine, and
re-excreted in the lower. Such an hypothesis is undoubtedly strongly
supported by the remarkable staining of the large intestine and the ileo-cæcal
valve.
The exact mechanism of the absorption of lead from its compound with
albumin or peptone as a lead peptonate or albuminate is very difficult to state
at present; lead albuminate is undoubtedly insoluble in water or normal saline
and in albumin. The process of absorption, then, of the metal lead from the
gastro-intestinal canal is very closely related to the absorption of other heavy
metals, and the fact that animals after very large doses of lead salts
administered via the mouth show hæmorrhages in the intestinal wall, in
addition to hæmorrhages in other parts of the body, with occasional distinct
ulceration, suggests a localized coagulative action on the vessels in the wall
of the intestine as the probable origin of the ulceration. A consideration of this
problem of lead absorption from the intestine—probably only the minutest
quantity of lead, if any, is absorbed from the stomach direct—is one of
considerable importance in the prevention of such lead poisoning as is
attributable to swallowing lead. No work in a lead factory should be
commenced in the morning without partaking of food, because if food be
present the opportunities for absorption of lead are greatly diminished, and of
all foods the one to be recommended as the most efficient is milk, or cocoa
made with milk.
The absorption of dust through the lung is probably an exceedingly
complicated reaction, and Armit’s experiments with nickel carbonyl probably
give the clue. He found that in nickel carbonyl poisoning the volatile product
was split up on the surface of the lung cells, the metallic portion passing
onwards into the lung itself, to be eventually absorbed by the serum.
From the pathological and histological investigations described on p. 81,
and from the fact that particles of lead are very readily taken up by white
blood-corpuscles, we can conclude that absorption of the finer lead particles
gaining access to the lung takes place through the medium of these
phagocyte cells, as such cells are well known to exist within the alveoli of the
lung. The stored-up carbon particles found in the lungs in dwellers in cities
show that such transference of particles from the alveoli to the inner portions
of the lung trabeculæ is a constant phenomenon, and it is therefore easily
understood how rapidly any fine particles not of themselves irritant may be
easily taken up by the tissues. Once having gained access to the interior of
the cells, the particles subjected to the action of the serum of the blood in the
ordinary process of bathing the tissues by the exuding lymph—nay, more,
actual particles of lead—may thus be actually transferred bodily into the finer
blood-spaces, and so be carried forward to the general circulation. Such
particles as remain fixed in the lung will undergo gradual absorption, and the
constant presence of carbonic acid in the circulating blood brought to the lung
undoubtedly largely contributes to their solution, and there is no need to
presuppose the necessity of some recondite interaction of organic acid for the
solution of the inhaled lead in the lungs.
In the absorption of the substance from the intestine, it may go direct into
the blood-stream in a similar fashion through the lacteals along the lymph
channels, and so into the thoracic duct, and finally into the general circulation.
On the other hand, a certain amount, probably not an inconsiderable portion,
is taken up by the portal circulation and transferred direct to the liver itself.
Chemical analysis of the liver supports this view, as does also the
considerable amount of stress thrown upon the liver when poisoning has
taken place from the intestinal canal on administration of massive doses of a
highly soluble lead compound. According to Steinberg[16], excretion of lead
takes place partly from the liver by the bile. This is probable, but there is no
experimental evidence at the present time to support the view. If such an
excretion does take place, the form in which the lead is excreted is probably
one in which it is no longer soluble by digestive action. On the other hand, it
may be in so soluble a form as to become reabsorbed from the intestine, thus
setting up a constant cycle. But such a theory is one that would require a
considerable amount of experimental evidence to support it before it could be
relied on.
There is no doubt that, however absorbed, lead remains stored up in the
body in minute quantities in many places, and the close analogy to arsenic is
met with in the curious elimination of the metal by the fæces. Cloetta[17],
quoted by Dixon Mann, discovered that, although dogs were unable to take a
larger dose of arsenic than 0·0035 gramme per day without exhibiting toxic
results, they could nevertheless take arsenic in much larger doses if it were
given in the solid form, and he was able to increase the dose to as much as 2
grammes per diem without showing any toxic symptoms. Examination of the
urine and fæces showed that as the amount of urinary excretion of arsenic
diminished, so that in the fæces increased, and in lead poisoning, even in
massive doses swallowed in error, the amount of lead excreted by the urine
rapidly diminishes in quantity, although the patient may be still suffering from
the effects of lead poisoning. The experiments, also, quoted on p. 100
constantly pointed to the elimination of lead by way of the intestine, and in
practically all the animals that had suffered from chronic poisoning well-
marked dark staining of the upper part of the cæcum due to lead was
invariably present. This staining and excretion of lead of the large intestine
undoubtedly takes place in man. In a case described by Little[18], where
diachylon had been administered, the administration of a large enema
containing sulphate of magnesium came away black. A more detailed result
of the experiments and a consideration of the elimination of lead are reserved
for another chapter, but it is impossible to consider the ætiology of the
disease without some reference to the general histological channels of
absorption and excretion.
Cutaneous Absorption of Lead.—A considerable amount of
controversy has centred on the question of the absorption of lead through the
unbroken skin. It has been shown that such drugs as belladonna applied to
the skin alone may produce dilatation of the pupil; an ointment containing
salicylic acid spread upon the skin and thoroughly rubbed in is followed by the
appearance of derivatives of salicylic acid in the urine; mercury may be
applied to the skin, and rubbed in, in sufficient quantities to produce
salivation; and a very large number of other drugs may be cited, all of which
when applied to the unbroken epidermis with friction produce the
physiological action of the drug.
There is no reason to exclude lead from the category of drugs which may
be absorbed through the medium of the skin, and, as several observers have
shown, animals may be poisoned by lead on applying a plaster of lead
acetate to the skin. Amongst these experiments may be quoted those of
Canuet[19] and Drouet[20] on rabbits. Some observers, among whom may be
mentioned Manouvrier[21], have attempted to prove that paralysis of the
hands occurs more often in the right hand in right-handed people, in the left
hand with left-handed people, and from the various experiments showing
absorption of lead through the unbroken skin they seek to connect the lesion
of the nerve with absorption direct through the skin of the hands.
Many objections can be urged against acceptance of this theory. Lead
workers who are constantly manipulating lead in a state of solution with bare
hands do not appear as a class to be more subject to wrist-drop than do
persons who are exposed to inhalation of fumes or dust of lead; in fact,
incidence of paralysis and of nerve lesions generally is more severe among
persons exposed to prolonged inhalation of minute quantities of lead through
the respiratory tract. The greater the exposure to dust, the greater the number
of cases of anæmia and colic, whilst in other industries, as has already been
stated, where lead exists as an oleate on the hands of the workers day in and
day out for many years, paralysis and even colic are of rare occurrence; in
other words, persons especially exposed to the absorption of lead through
their hands show a much smaller incidence of lead poisoning of all types than
do those exposed to lead dust. Further, the pathology of wrist-drop and
similar forms of paresis tends to show that the nerve supplying the affected
muscles is not affected primarily, but that the initial cause is hæmorrhage into
the sheath of the nerve, producing ultimate degenerative change. The
hæmorrhage, however, is the primary lesion.

REFERENCES.
[1] Goadby, K. W.: A Note on Experimental Lead Poisoning. Journal of Hygiene, vol.
ix., No. 1, April, 1909.
[2] Legge, T. M.: Report on the Manufacture of Paints and Colours containing Lead
(Cd. 2466). 1905.
[3] Duckering, G. E.: Journal of Hygiene, vol. viii., No. 4, September.
[4] Meillère, G.: Le Saturnisme, chap. iv. Paris, 1903.
[5] Armit, H. W.: Journal of Hygiene, vol. viii., No. 5, November, 1908.
 [6] Tanquerel des Planches: Traité des Maladies de Plomb, ou Saturnines. Paris,
1839.
[7] Stanski: Loc. cit.
[8] Gautier: Intoxication Saturnine, etc. Académie de Médecine, viii., November,
1883.
[9] Thresh, J. C.: The Lancet, p. 1033, October 7, 1905.
[10] Ibid., January 5, 1909.
[11] Thomason: Report of the Departmental Committee on Lead Manufacture:
Earthenware, China, vol. ii., appendices, p. 61. 1910.
[12] Ibid.
[13] Dixon Mann: Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, p. 495. 1908.
[14] Oliver, Sir T.: Lead Poisoning (Goulstonian lectures). 1891.
[15] Schicksal: Die Bekämpfung der Bleigefahr in der Industrie, p. 38. 1908.
[16] Steinberg: International Congress of Industrial Hygiene. Brussels, 1910.
[17] Cloetta: Dixon Mann’s Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, p. 463.
[18] Little: The Lancet, March 3, 1906.
[19] Canuet, T.: Thèse, Paris, 1825, No. 202. Essai sur le Plomb.
[20] Drouet: Thèse, Paris, 1875. Recherches Experimentales sur le Rôle de
l’Absorption Cutanée dans la Paralysie Saturnine.
[21] Manouvrier, A.: Thèse, Paris, 1873, No. 471. Intoxication par Absorption
Cutanée.
 CHAPTER III
SUSCEPTIBILITY AND IMMUNITY
A large number of poisonous substances, among which lead may
be included, are not equally poisonous in the same dose for all
persons. It is customary to speak of those persons who show a
diminished resistance, or whose tissues show little power of resisting
the poisonous effects of such substances, as susceptible. On the
other hand, it is possible, but not scientifically correct, to speak of
immunity to such poisonous substances. Persons, particularly, who
resist lead poisoning to a greater degree than their fellows are better
spoken of as tolerant of the poisonous effects than as being partially
immune.
The degree of resistance exhibited by any given population
towards the poisonous influence of lead shows considerable
variation. Thus, in a community using a water-supply contaminated
with lead, only a small proportion of the persons drinking the water
becomes poisoned. There are, of course, other factors than that of
individual idiosyncrasy which may determine the effect of the poison,
as, for example, the drawing of the water first thing in the morning
which has been standing in a particular pipe. But even if all
disturbing factors are eliminated in water-borne lead poisoning,
differing degrees of susceptibility are always to be observed among
the persons using the water.
Lead does not differ, therefore, from any other drugs to which
persons show marked idiosyncrasies. Thus, very small doses of
arsenic may produce symptoms of colic in susceptible persons; a
limited number of individuals are highly susceptible to some drugs,
such as cannabis indica, while others are able to ingest large doses
without exhibiting any sign of poisoning; and it is well known that
even in susceptible persons the quantity of a particular drug which
first produces symptoms of poisoning may be gradually increased, if
the dosage be continued over long periods in quantities insufficient