New Parisian atmospheres during the First Empire: crafts and industry

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Auteur
Date

19 septembre 2012

Type de document
Périmètre
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Identifiants
Source

HAL SHS (Sciences de l’Homme et de la Société)

Collection

Archives ouvertes

Organisation

Centre pour la communication scientifique directe

Licence

info:eu-repo/semantics/OpenAccess

Mots-clés En

Paris Napoleon smell fermentation putrefaction mercury lead

Sujets proches En

Aromas Smells Scents Fragrances Quicksilver Hydrargyrum

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André Guillerme, « New Parisian atmospheres during the First Empire: crafts and industry », HAL SHS (Sciences de l’Homme et de la Société), ID : 10670/1.445d59...

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Résumé En

The Napoleonic Empire turned Paris around from an administrative to an industrial city. A new atmosphere created by sulfuric oxide smells took possession of the Right Bank with sulfuric acid and coal, while mercury fumes and chloride, used respectively for gilding copper and felting hats, poisoned the neighbourhoods downstream and upstream as Paris became the first European producer of luxury items. Before 1789, smells came from fermenting materials and the putrefaction of nightsoil. After 1800, Montfaucon became the world's leading craft district and its stench crossed the Seine and spread as far as the Sorbonne. Along the Bievre River, tanneries and fine leather crafts were so polluted that neither flies nor mosquitoes could ever survive, workers never caught malaria but a lot of lung ailments.

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