Tuesday 23 April 2013

Bill Bryson: Elizabeth Siddal and Fowler'sSolution.

Elizabeth Siddal and  Dr Fowler's Solution


In his book At Home, Bill Bryson refers to the subject of Elizabeth Siddal's health and 
death :

Well into the nineteenth century , many women drank a concoction called Fowler's Solution, which was really just diluted arsenic, to improve their complexions. Dante Gabriel Rossetti's wife, Elizabeth Siddal ( who is best remembered as the model for the drowned Ophelia in the painting by John Everett Millais), was a devoted swallower of the stuff and it almost certainly contributed to her early death in 1862 (Page545)

By the time of her death aged 32 from a laudanum overdose ( tincture of opium in  alcohol), Rossetti's wife,  Elizabeth (Lizzie ) Siddal, was a heavy user of laudanum.  In Victorian England  laudanum, despite being highly addictive,  was used widely as pain relief for all ailments from toothache to stomach cramps as well as a tranquilliser.

At the inquest into her death, Rossetti declared it was not usual for his wife to take 100 drops a time, requiring it to sleep , eat or soothe her nerves.   I'm not sure if it is on record anywhere how much Fowler's solution Lizzie took, but as a popular remedy for a host of health complaints as well as use as a tonic and complexion improver, it could have been  a sizeable amount,  It was so popular some individuals  were said to have  built up to taking as much as 250mgs a week. Even without taking Fowler's solution , the average Victorian was exposed to high levels of arsenic in everyday life as it was widely used as a dye in everything from wallpaper to ballgowns, and even used in soaps.

Although known both for its toxic and medicinal effects since ancient times, Dr Thomas Fowler introduced arsenic into  modern medicine with his work :Medical Reports of the Effect of Arsenic in the Cure of Agues, Remitting Fevers and Periodic Headaches published in 1786. Dr Fowler's solution contained the equivalent of 10 mg of arsenic trioxide per cubic centimetre - a 1 per cent weight-for-volume solution dissolved in potassium carbonate solution flavoured with lavender extract to prevent misuse. Widely used in the nineteenth century for a number of medical conditions including eventual treatment for malaria and syphilis, its use spread beyond the purely medicinal and it became popular as a supposed aphrodisiac and tonic. Its use was said to help the circulation , assist weight gain and confer a fresh complexion in women.

Assuming that Lizzie, particular as a model,  took  a fair amount of Fowler's solution either as a complexion improver or as a tonic for her health, could it have  been a culprit in her ill health ? Noted side effects of chronic arsenic toxicity include capillary fragility leading to flushed cheeks. Interestingly many contempories  praised Lizzie's translucent complexion noting her " pink and white complexion" or "rosy" cheeks  (however  laudanum use could also cause flushing). Other specified chronic arsenic toxicity side effects include gastro-intestinal pain, vomiting and neuropathy .

 The first indications of Lizzie's ill health appeared in Rossetti's letters from 1853 onwards and refer to severe bouts of  gastric pain, vomiting , inability to keep down food and  lack of appetite. Assuming that by this date Lizzie's laudanum intake was restricted, and in the absence of any other malady, it could be possible that these symptons were indicative of arsenic toxicity. After such bouts of sickness  Lizzie would improve temporarily , but  the episodes of gastric pain, and vomiting  became more frequent,  her weight loss more noticeable and her overall condition continued to worsen.  Given the lack of any specific diagnosis  it is fair to consider continual over-dosing of arsenic based products as a possible cause of her ill-health exacerbated by her intake of laudanum.

During the 12 years or so she was with Rossetti, there was no agreed medical diagnosis of the  source or causes of her illness.  His brother William Michael Rossetti stated that she suffered from neuralgia and phthsis ( often considered as consumption). Dr Acland who examined her in in 1855 did not find anything  wrong with her lungs and suggested a more psychosomatic cause: " mental power long pent up and lately overtaxed". Another doctor noted curvature of the spine.

In conclusion it can only be speculation as to the impact of arsenic and Fowler's solution on Lizzie's health. Despite their knowledge of the toxic effects of too much arsenic , the Victorians used it liberally and were exposed to it so much that  it use has  been implicated in the widespread poisoning and ill-health of Victorians generally, including Charles Darwin Within this context then it seems feasible to assume that , irrespective of any other medical conditions Lizzie suffered from and her subsequent  laudanum addiction,  arsenic toxicity, particularly if she was a liberal user of Fowler's solution, could have played part in her ill health.

Saturday 6 April 2013

ROSSETTI'S LOVE - RECOLLECTIONS OF SIR HALL CAINE 1928

THE WEST AUSTRALIAN 28TH SEPTEMBER, 1928


The following article transcribed from the West Australian 28th September, 1928 illustrates how the story of Lizzie and Rossetti continued to fascinate after both their deaths. Sir Hall Caine's original recollections published in 1883, the year after Rossetti's death , had avoided any mention of suicide and Rossetti's feelings of guilt over Lizzie's knowledge of his love for Jane Morris.


Transcribed (from The West Australian (Perth, WA : 1879 - 1954), Friday 28 September 1928.


ROSSETTI'S LOVE


LONDON, . Sept; 26.Sir Hall Caine's
long-expected recollections of D. G. Rossetti
reveals that. the painter and poet
fell in love with the woman who later became
the wife of William Morris. Rossetti was engaged to
Elizabeth Siddall and married her within two years.
Mrs Rossetti divined the secret of her husband's
hidden love and, Sir Hall Caine affirms.
poisoned herself with laudanum, leaving
Rossetti a letter which he destroyed.
Twenty years later during a midnight
journey from Cumberland to London,
Rossetti unburdened his.soul to young Hall
Caine, saying that his wife's message left
a scar on his heart which was never healed


When Rossetti buried his manuscript
poems in his wife's coffin. Sir Hall Caine
says, Rossetti meant, 'these were inspired
by you. If I wronged you by losing my
love for you the poems shall go to the.
grave with' you.'

The ghost of Elizabeth Siddall, the
writer states, haunted Rossetti's later days
and caused Rossetti's hermit like life
arid his taking chloral, often; three times
a day.


Sir Hall Caine does not say that Rossettti
ever told Mrs. Morris the fact that
he loved her. Elizabeth Siddall thus lives
in his poems whereas his love for Mrs Morris .,
lives, in his .pictures.'