Show poison by absorption the slow absorption of many poisons changes in some more or less modified form the complexion but arsenic and ammonia show their effect about as quickly as any the popular belief that arsenic clears the complexion has led many silly women to kill themselves with it in small continued doses it produces a waxy appearance of the elan during a certain stage of the poisoning but its terrible after effects have become too well known to make it of common use as a cosmetic the effects of ammonia upon the complexion are directly opposite from that of arsenic the first symptoms of ammonia poisoning which appears among those who work in ammonia factories is a discoloration of the skin of the nose and forehead this gradually extends over the face until the complexion has a stained blotched and unsightly appearance with people who take ammonia into their systems in smaller doses as with their water and food these striking symptoms do not appear so soon the only effect of the poison that is visible for a time is a general unwholesomeness and of the complexion st Paul Globe |