"That's a great deal to make one word mean," Alice said in a thoughtful tone. "When I make a word do a lot of work like that," said Humpty Dumpty, "I always pay it extra."

Thursday, 1 April 2010

Erethism

Erethism is an abnormally high degree of irritability or sensitivity to stimulation of an organ or body part; abnormal excitement of a bodily organ or tissue


Erethism or erethism mercurialis is a symptom complex of mercury poisoning, presenting with excessive shyness, timidity and social phobia. This was common among hat makers of old England who used mercury to stabilize the wool in a process called felting. Hence the creation of the Mad Hatter by Lewis Carrol in the Alice stories.
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1 comment:

  1. shabby girl4 April 2010 at 15:45

    Felting has become quite popular again today. I'll have to look up to see how it's done now. :)

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