One of Adolphe Sax's many health problems was carcinogeous melanosis of 
his lips due to long term contact with raw brass from his saxhorn 
mouthpieces. I am not sure if the alloy is the same today as in the mid 
1800's, but the fact that it can turn your skin green should have you 
seeking out a replating service. 

Adolphe Sax was referred to as "the ghost child of Dinant" in Belgium.

I have searched far and wide for any reference to brass toxicity, as did a friend who is a materials specialist. If you have any links they would be much appreciated. There is no link AFAIK between any form of cancer and brass.

Toby

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: gwindplayer 
  To: MouthpieceWork@yahoogroups.com 
  Sent: Thursday, May 03, 2007 1:17 PM
  Subject: [MouthpieceWork] Raw Brass and Adolphe Sax


  One of Adolphe Sax's many health problems was carcinogeous melanosis of 
  his lips due to long term contact with raw brass from his saxhorn 
  mouthpieces. I am not sure if the alloy is the same today as in the mid 
  1800's, but the fact that it can turn your skin green should have you 
  seeking out a replating service. 

  Adolphe Sax was referred to as "the ghost child of Dinant" in Belgium.



   

First time I ever heard of this... can you cite a source?

To what appearance or qualities would the "ghost child of Dinant"
appellation be referring?

Barry

>
>   ----- Original Message -----
>   From: gwindplayer
>   To: MouthpieceWork@yahoogroups.com
>   Sent: Thursday, May 03, 2007 1:17 PM
>   Subject: [MouthpieceWork] Raw Brass and Adolphe Sax
>
>
>   One of Adolphe Sax's many health problems was carcinogeous melanosis of
>   his lips due to long term contact with raw brass from his saxhorn
>   mouthpieces. I am not sure if the alloy is the same today as in the mid
>   1800's, but the fact that it can turn your skin green should have you
>   seeking out a replating service.
>
>   Adolphe Sax was referred to as "the ghost child of Dinant" in Belgium.
> 

Sax's melanoma is discussed in the Horwood, Hemke, and Kochnitzky bios,
as well as maybe others. I recall one of them speculating that raw brass
might have had something to do with it, but I don’t know of any evidence
to support that.  Oddly enough, shortly after his doctors gave up on the
tumor as incurable, it was successfully cured by an ayurvedic healer
from India, and it never returned.

As to the "ghost-child" nickname, here's something excerpted from my
forthcoming book (stay tuned for more information soon…)

Adolphe Sax was the son of Charles-Joseph Sax, who was originally a
carpenter and cabinetmaker by profession, but who became well known as
an excellent instrument maker and inventor by the time young Adolphe was
growing up. However, growing up was not a foregone conclusion for
Adolphe, as he was plagued by an almost unbelievable series of serious
mishaps. Around his hometown of Dinant, he was known as “young Sax the
ghost” as a result of his frequent near-fatal accidents. This began
early in life: at age two, he tumbled down a flight of stairs, hitting
his head, which put him into a coma for a week. By his tenth year, he
had been poisoned on a variety of occasions by sulfate of zinc, white
lead, copper oxide and arsenic. He accidentally swallowed a needle, was
very seriously burned on a stove, was blown across his father’s workshop
by a gunpowder explosion, and was put into another coma by a blow to the
head from a falling roof tile. As if poisonings and bodily trauma
weren’t enough, asphyxiation nearly finished him twice, once in a
millpond and once in a room full of toxic fumes. In each case, it was
only due to the timely action of others that he was dragged unconscious
to safety at the last minute.

Enjoy,

Jay Easton
www.northstarholistic.com
www.jayeaston.com
 
"As to me, I know of nothing else but miracles."
- Walt Whitman

--- In MouthpieceWork@yahoogroups.com, "Jay and Adrienne Easton" 
<jay@...> wrote:
>
> Sax's melanoma is discussed in the Horwood, Hemke, and Kochnitzky 
bios,
> as well as maybe others. I recall one of them speculating that raw 
brass
> might have had something to do with it, but I don't know of any 
evidence
> to support that.  Oddly enough, shortly after his doctors gave up 
on the
> tumor as incurable, it was successfully cured by an ayurvedic healer
> from India, and it never returned.
> 
> As to the "ghost-child" nickname, here's something excerpted from my
> forthcoming book (stay tuned for more information soon…)
> 
ALSO REFER TO:

"THE DEVIL'S HORN" by Michale Segall FSG Farrar, Strauss and Giroux 
publisher.  See Chapter 1 "THE GHOST CHILD".

Le petit Sax, le revenant...the ghost child. It is only by his 
tenacity to live and a few miraculous recoveries that he went on to 
give us the saxophone. 

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