Hay fever, its etiology and treatment : with an appendix on rose cold / by Morell Mackenzie.

Date:
1885
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Hay fever, its etiology and treatment : with an appendix on rose cold / by Morell Mackenzie. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

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    merely touching the back of his hand with a leaf so lightly that lie hardly perceived any sensation ; and on two other occasions, somewhat similar symptoms were produced on merely touching the leaves. The juice of the plant, however, when directly applied to the hands of two gardeners, did not cause any effect at all!1 Where a true idiosyncrasy exists, it produces its effects independently of the consciousness of the person concerned • for it has been proved repeatedly that, when articles of diet have been surreptitiously introduced into the food of those who are susceptible, the characteristic train of phenomena has been invariably manifested. The circumstances which seem to influence this idiosyn- crasy are race, temperament, occupation, education, mode of life, sex, heredity, and age. These various points may, with ad- vantage, be considered in detail. The influence of race is seen in the fact that it is the English and Americans who are almost the only sufferers from the complaint. In the north of Europe—that is, in Norway, Sweden, and Denmark—it is scarcely ever seen,2 and it rarely affects the natives of France, Germany, Russia, Italy, or Spain. In Asia and Africa, also, it is only the English who suffer. As far as I have been able to ascertain, 1 I am not quite sure whether the effect Rhus toxicodendron has on certain individuals is so good an example of idiosyncrasy as Dr. Marsh imagines. Orfila, however, reports a case which supports Dr. Marsh’s view; for he relates that a gardener suffered from a severe attack of poisoning after merely cutting some twigs of the Rhus, whilst Dr. Boullou actually inoculated himself with the juice, without being at all affected. As the conditions under which the plant secretes the acrid juice are well known, it does not appear probable that any fallacy in this experiment could have arisen as regards the circumstances under which the juice was extracted (Orfila, “ Traite de Toxicologie,” 5th ed. t. ii. p. 133. Paris, 1852). Fontana suggests that the invulnerability of some persons may be due to a thick epidermis. As the plant is common in certain parts of the United States and Canada, I would suggest to some of my co-workers in America that they should make a series of investigations with it. 2 Since writing the above I have made a tour (in August, 1SS4) through the Scandinavian kingdoms, and, as the result of many inquiries, I find the state- ment in the text fully confirmed by leading physicians.