How does sinclair describe the hands of the men who worked in the pickle room

The Jungle is a novel written by the American journalist Upton Sinclair. The novel portrays the harsh conditions of immigrant workers in the industrialized cities of the United States.

In the novel, Sinclair describes the men that worked in the pickle rooms. When he talks about them, he states that every one of them had some sort of problem and that their health was deplorable. He also discusses their hands, by saying that a tiny scrap would turn into a sore that could kill them, and all their joints could be eaten by acid, one by one.