Erethism
Mad Hatter disease refers to the side effects of mercury poisoning. Mad Hatter disease occurs due to prolonged mercury exposure.[1]
Origins
Mercury was used in the manufacture of felt hats in the 19th century.[2] Furs used to make the hats were treated with mercury.[3] Once the fur has been rolled, beat, and treated with mercury, it is called felt.[4] Milliners, or hatters, who used the mercury-soaked felt to make hats, worked in confined areas.[5] The milliners were exposed to the mercury fumes for an extended period of time. The hatters, after being exposed to the mercury fumes, acted shy in one moment and highly irritable in the next moment.[6] This irrational behavior in hatters became known as Mad Hatter disease.[7]
Symptoms
Symptoms of Mad Hatter disease include red fingers, red toes, red cheeks, sweating, loss of hearing, bleeding from the ears and mouth, loss of appendages such as teeth, hair, and nails, lack of coordination, and poor memory.[8] Other symptoms due to the exposure of mercury include shyness, insomnia, nervousness, tremors, and dizziness.[9]
Effects of Mercury Poisoning
The effects of Mad Hatter disease include mental confusion, emotional disturbances, and muscular weakness.[10] Severe neurological damage and kidney damage can also occur due to exposure to mercury.[11]
Mad as a Hatter
The phrase mad as a hatter is used to describe the chronic side effects of mercury exposure from the process of making felt hats.[12] Lewis Carroll, author of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, formed the 'Mad Hatter' character in the 1800s.[13] The Hatter acts irrationally in the novel and takes a bite of a teacup in the trial of the Knave of Hearts.[14]
See also
References
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- ^ Abbadie, Catherine (2002). V.S. Ramachandran (ed.). Encyclopedia of the Human Brain. Elsevier Science.
{{cite book}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help); More than one of|author=and|last=specified (help); Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ Paul Lagassé, ed. (2008). Columbia Encyclopedia. Columbia University Press.
{{cite book}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help) - ^ Reber, Arthur (2009). The Penguin Dictionary of Psychology. Penguin.
{{cite book}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help); Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ Laufer, Berthold (1930). "The Early History of Felt". American Anthropologist. 32 (1): 1–18.
{{cite journal}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help); Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help) - ^ Mayz, Eusebio (1973). Mercury Poisoning: I. MSS Information Corporation. ISBN 0842270728.
- ^ "Why the Hatter Went Mad". Oceanus. 48 (2). Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution: 26. 2010.
{{cite journal}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help); Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help) - ^ Reber, Arthur (2009). The Penguin Dictionary of Psychology. Penguin.
{{cite book}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help); Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ "Why the Hatter Went Mad". Oceanus. 48 (2). Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution: 26. 2010.
{{cite journal}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help); Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help) - ^ Mayz, Eusebio (1973). Mercury Poisoning: I. MSS Information Corporation. ISBN 0842270728.
- ^ Reber, Arthur (2009). The Penguin Dictionary of Psychology. Penguin.
{{cite book}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help); Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ Mayz, Eusebio (1973). Mercury Poisoning: I. MSS Information Corporation. ISBN 0842270728.
- ^ Abbadie, Catherine (2002). V.S. Ramachandran (ed.). Encyclopedia of the Human Brain. Elsevier Science.
{{cite book}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help); More than one of|author=and|last=specified (help); Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ "Why the Hatter Went Mad". Oceanus. 48 (2). Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution: 26. 2010.
{{cite journal}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help); Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help) - ^ Chambers Dictionary of Literary Characters. Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd. 2004.