MEDICAL NOTES IN PARLIAMENT

1884 The Lancet  
wards the can is filled and the cap is soldered on, and the can is put in boiling water ; this drives out the air, and the hole is soldered up. As the can becomes cold the heads bulge in, and stay bulged in. Now, if decomposition sets in, the heads bulge out." In the language of the trade such cans are "swells." It is a well-known trick of unscrupulous dealers to go around the trade and buy up "swells." By punching another hole and heating or "re-processing," the gases would escape and the
more » ... would assume their concave form again. Thus two holes mark a "swell" or "reprocessed can." The cans in the six cases of poisoning were not " swells," but had been soldered with the amalgam. After reviewing the legal aspects of the matter, with
doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(02)12745-0 fatcat:uht2xrgifnaerdsjxoqphwgncm