The Hat Girl
on Sheila Ash (India), 04/Dec/2017 06:40, 34 days ago
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Shaking with shynessshe strolls silently along The Strand.Her hands hold hatsfolded from felt for daylong hoursinto the night whenmercurial madness moves memoriesfrom her maiden mindas an earie erethism (*) enters in.(*) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erethism-Erethismis a neurological disorder affecting the whole central nervous system derived from mercury poisoning. Known as the mad hatter disease, it was common among old England felt-hatmakers who used mercury to stabilize the wool in a process called felting. This occupational exposure to mercury vapours gave rise to the expression“mad as a hatter”. Its effects include characteristic behavioural changes such as irritability, low self-confidence, depression, apathy, shynessand timidity, and with prolonged exposure to mercury vapours, delirium, personality changes and memory loss occur. People with erethism find it difficult to interact socially with others, with behaviours similar to that of a social phobia and they experience physical problems such as a decrease in physical strength, headaches, general pain, tremors and irregular heartbeat.© Sheila Ash, 4th December 2017ashramblings
