Pretty Miss Isabella Royce, properly corseted and gowned for a Sunday afternoon in the garden on a warm June day in 1878, daintily touched a handkerchief to her dripping nose and glanced in despair at her young man, Harold Tendrake.

When they had come to the garden for their Sunday stroll she had been quite all right. Now her eyes were red and her nose was streaming. She was hardly an object of desire in any man's eyes.

"Oh, Harold," she wailed between sniffs, "whatever will you think of me!"

"You have a rose cold," he told her solicitously. "You can't help it. Maybe we'd better leave the garden. It seems to help."

"Nothing seems to help!" Isabella said impatiently. "Simply nothing."

"What have you tried?"

"Father had me use a saturated solution of quinine at my nose. Grandmother had me try a tincture of lobelia. But neither really seemed to help me, Harold."

The young man nodded in kindly consternation and guided her away from the public garden with a tender hand at her elbow.

"I spoke to a friend of mine who knows about such things," he said. "He suggested that filling the air with the vapor of chloride of lime is helpful—only I hardly see how we can do that out here when we're strolling."

"It's just a terrible thing for a girl to have," Isabella said. "Just look at my nose and eyes—no, don't look! I must be a sight."

"You're always lovely in my eyes," Harold said gallantly. "And my friend says there is a solution of arsenic that is helpful. Three to five drops immediately after meals."

"But isn't arsenic a poison?"

"Yes . . . yes, I guess it is. Perhaps you hadn't better try that."

"My Uncle Arthur—the one who lived in England for a time—has it, too. In England they made a tea of goldenrod and he took a wineglassful several times a day. But he says it didn't help much."

Miss Isabella was suffering from what also was frequently identified as hay fever, hay asthma, summer catarrh, and rose catarrh.

In those days a good many persons—who could afford it— went to the seashore or to the mountains during the months that they were likely to be afflicted with the uncomfortable malady.

Among treatments, other than those mentioned by Miss Isabella and her young man, there was a frequently prescribed weak solution of tannin in water to be snuffed up the nostrils to toughen the membrane. A solution of permanganate of potash was supposed to bring temporary relief during a severe attack.

It is also quite possible that during the '70s and '80s there was a tinge of status symbolism in having a touch of hay asthma or hay fever. A Mr. Blackley, in his book entitled Experimental Researches on the Causes and Nature of Catar-rhus Aestivus (hay fever or hay asthma), said he found that the singular disease was peculiar to the educated classes, but was not—he hastened to qualify— aristocratic "like the gout," being more common in proportion to the spread of mental culture and the intensity of intellectual occupation.

The author actually was well on the way to pinning down hay fever to its sources and causes. He conducted experiments in collecting pollen from the air, using kites to ascertain the proportionate amount of pollen at high levels in the atmos­phere. Among other conclusions was his belief that hay fever was least common in localities where pollen was least likely to be plentiful.

"Rose catarrh" had been described by the Moslem physi­cian Rhazes, 860-932 A.D. It was rediscovered briefly in the 16th century and in 1819 John Bostock wrote an account of "summer catarrh." In 1870 Morrill Wyman showed how rag­weed pollen could bring on an attack of hay fever by sniffing it himself. But it was not until the 20th century that the real research into allergies began. In 1910 Samuel James Meltzer pointed out that asthma was an allergic process, and he revealed the part played by allergy as a cause of asthma, hay fever, a number of skin diseases, and as a factor in certain infectious diseases.

Since then the study of allergies has progressed swiftly in other areas of medicine.

Some of the folk remedies for asthma were odd. One pioneer treatment required the sufferer—if an adult—to walk around the house at midnight, alone, in the full of the moon.

Inhalations were also advised for asthma. It was suggested that relief from an attack could be obtained by smoking stramonium leaves; breathing air filled with fumes of burning paper that had been soaked in a solution of saltpeter; or inhaling ether, nitrous oxide or nitrite of amyl. Drinking wine of ipecac and tincture of lobelia until nausea resulted some­times was suggested, as well as applying mustard to the feet and shoulders.

Hives and various skin complaints that probably were allergies received a variety of treatments. An ointment of tar and unsalted lard was frequently used. Bathing the affected areas with vinegar was common. Oxide of zinc ointment was popular.

Or a skin itch might be treated with hot water and soft soap to be applied with a corncob, followed by a lotion com­posed of lard and sulphur or gunpowder.

If Miss Isabella Royce suffered from hay fever in 1878, she certainly was not alone with the affliction. If she lived today, she would be one of some eight million Americans who go through the gamut of hay fever's unpleasantries: sneezing, itching, swollen and weeping eyes and, not infre­quently, severe asthma attacks. Hay fever, asthma, hives— all of these are indications of allergy attacks.

Occasionally allergies may be evidenced in other ways.

A young man suddenly developed an itchy, oozing rash on his face. After a time it became so painful for him to shave that he went to his physician for relief. The rash was attrib­uted to an allergy and the hunt began for the origin. Fortu­nately it was quickly discovered. The young man had changed his brand of face lotion at about the same time the rash appeared. He was allergic to the new lotion.

What happens when we are allergic? What is an allergy?

Some persons develop a sensitivity to ordinarily harmless substances. Such a sensitivity is called an allergy. The sub­stance that causes the allergy is called an allergen.

After a susceptible person has been exposed to an allergen, doctors explain, his body produces special antibodies which attack the allergen the next time the person is exposed. As a result, some part of the body suffers an allergic reaction, usually evidenced by swelling and irritation.

It seems that almost anything can be an allergen to one person or another. Common allergens are the airborne ones such as dust, pollen, or animal dander.

Foods may be responsible for allergy attacks, especially foods that contain much protein—eggs, cereal, grains, nuts, fish, meat.

Drugs may be allergens to some persons. Penicillin, the sulfa drugs, and aspirin frequently are.

Fabrics, cosmetics, perfumes, soaps, dyes, nylon, metals— all of these and other substances, too, may be allergens for some.

Common allergies include hay fever and allergic rhinitis, marked by the running nose, and red, itchy eyes, as already described. Pollens, insect dust, or molds usually are respon­sible. Allergic rhinitis actually is a year-around hay fever frequently caused by house dust or animal dander.

Similar allergens may bring on attacks of bronchial asthma, which is considered to be the most serious of the common allergic diseases.

Among children, eczema—the skin eruption marked by itching, swelling, blisters, oozing and scaling—usually is caused by a food allergen. Older persons may also have to check pollens, dust, or soap as possible causes of allergy reactions.

Hives and giant hives may not be caused by allergens, but be the result of infection or of emotional stress. When an allergen is responsible, it frequently is a food, a drug, or contact with some substance.

Contact dermatitis is an itchy, inflamed skin reaction to a chemical or allergen. Deodorants, dyes, cosmetics, or metals may be responsible for the condition.

Sometimes a severe allergy attack can be a far cry from sneezing, wheezing, or itchy red eyes.

One evening, Jim Herbert, a middle-aged accountant in a western city, was watching television with his wife, Elaine, when he became conscious of an intense itching on the palms of his hands. Within a few moments the itching had spread to his feet and then it seemed to cover his entire body.

While his alarmed wife watched him, he seemed to be seized by a frenzy of such intense itching that he appeared to be in agony.

"What is it, Jim?" she pleaded. "What's wrong!"

"I don't know, Elaine! Only this horrible itching. I'm going upstairs and undress. I can't stand clothing on me."

He rushed to their bedroom and stripped to the skin. He stared at himself in a door mirror. He appeared to be completely covered by a mass of hives, all of them driving him mad with the intense itching.

His wife had followed him. With horror she saw the welts and mass of eruptions on his body. Then she looked at his face.

"Your face, Jim! Your lips! They're swollen to almost twice their size. Your eyes—I can hardly see them. You're swelling terribly!"

With a visible effort, Jim kept his hands away from the itching hives. Suddenly he was breathing hard.

"Listen, Elaine," he said carefully. "I'm in trouble. Call Dr. Pringle. My throat is swelling. Inside my nose. I can hardly breathe."

She called the doctor at once and described what had happened.

"Tell him to be as quiet as he can," the doctor told her quickly. "I'll be right there. In ten minutes."

His car stopped in front of the house within his promised ten minutes. Elaine let him in and he rushed upstairs and looked at his patient.

"You really have an allergy attack!" he exclaimed. He felt quickly for a pulse. "Trouble breathing?"

Jim nodded.

"I'm going to give you an emergency shot of adrenalin," Dr. Pringle snapped. "Then, a powerful antihistamine."

The doctor stayed to check his patient after the shots. In about an hour the hives were almost gone and the swelling had gone down. Jim was breathing quietly.

"All right," the doctor nodded. "Now—let's try to figure out what caused it. Did you eat anything different for dinner?"

"No."

"Drink anything different?"

"No."

Carefully the doctor, Jim and Elaine went over everything Jim had eaten or drunk during the day. There seemed to be nothing different—nothing he hadn't consumed countless times before.

"Eat lunch downtown?"

Jim nodded.

"Anything fried? Rancid grease sometimes can cause it?"

"No. Plain roast beef—like I have three times a week at the same cafe."

"No seafood cocktail or anything out of the ordinary?"

"No."

The doctor frowned. "This isn't going to be easy. But we'd better try to tag it. This attack was too severe to fool with. Tomorrow I want you to see Dr. Cicot. He's an allergy specialist."

Jim made his appointment the first thing in the morning and that afternoon he appeared at the specialist's office.

Dr. Cicot took an exhaustive medical history from Jim, probing into all of Jim's illnesses and even into his emotional life.

"Some of these things stem from emotions," he explained. "Usually it's in asthma cases, though."

"Emotional disturbances?"

"Psychosomatic," the doctor said. "There's a lot of research going on."

"I doubt if you'll find that it's emotional with me," Jim commented. "I'm happily married and well adjusted on my job."

"I'm inclined to agree with you," the doctor nodded. "I'm suspicious of foods. We'll get some lab tests and then I'm going to have one of my staff do skin tests."

Jim was taken to a small treatment room. A young woman technician asked him to remove his coat and roll up his shirt­sleeve.

Then, carefully and with the skill that comes from practice, she made a series of small cuts in his arm, barely breaking the skin, and in each she placed a sampling of a different substance.

"Foods," she explained. '"We may have to try dust, wool, animal dander, pollens—a great many things. If you get a reaction on your arm, we'll know what allergen caused it."

"If you find one? What then?"

"Whatever Dr. Cicot decides. Sometimes we build up an immunity by giving you shots. And he may prescribe an antihistamine for you."

The doctor already had explained antihistamines which off­set the havoc being raised in the body by the histamine which is produced by the body during an allergy attack.

"There are a great many available," Dr. Cicot had ex­plained. "New drugs are being developed, too. Some of the hormone preparations are helpful—such as cortisone."

The search for an allergen may be long and tedious. In the case of Jim Herbert the skin tests failed to reveal any reactions. Consequently there began a long trial-and-error method of elimination of foods.

After much care and patience, it was discovered that an overload of broccoli might result in an attack, after Jim had suffered two more attacks after eating the vegetable. As he and Elaine recalled, they had eaten it the night of his first attack.

The food was eliminated from his diet and since then he has not suffered a severe attack, although he still carries a powerful antihistamine with him in case he should have one.

Allergies of one type or another are very common, and about 17 million persons in this country are subject to allergy attacks.

Since about half of these people suffer from hay fever, one of the most important developments within the last few years has been experiments with a "one-shot" desensitizer for hay fever victims.

Dr. Mary H. Loveless of New York Hospital has pioneered this field and after more than 13 years of experiments is confident that the one-shot method will work.

Under ordinary circumstances, many hay fever victims must take anywhere from a dozen up to several score injec­tions every year to obtain temporary immunity.

Other doctors followed Dr. Loveless in making single-shot injections. In Boston, Dr. Ethan Allan Brown has reported on more than 5,000 such treatments. Following his first year's experiment, he reported that 75 to 85 per cent of the patients went through the pollen season with complete freedom from hay fever symptoms. Other doctors are reporting similar successes.

Nevertheless, allergists are proceeding with caution in this field until more is known about the possibility of severe im­mediate reactions to the shots and any long-term hazards that may exist.

At the University of Minnesota two doctors, Berry Camp­bell and William E. Petersen, report great success from "immune milk" for hay fever sufferers. The milk, to be drunk by the patients, is obtained from cows whose udders have been injected with ragweed pollen to stimulate production of antibodies against allergies.

Meanwhile, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases is researching to learn exactly which chemicals in various allergens cause allergic reactions.

Pharmaceutical firms are constantly developing improved drugs to deal with the problem.

Allergists say that allergies can be cured in the sense that attacks may be prevented. Immunization shots may be used. Foods, drugs, or drinks may be eliminated from a diet. An air conditioner or air filter may keep pollen or house dust down if they are factors in an allergy condition.

All in all, allergy sufferers can receive a great amount of help in today's world of medicine, and the future looks bright with new aids, treatments, and possibly cures.

ALLERGIES AND EMOTIONS—For a good many years there has been much interest in the possible relationship be­tween allergies and emotions, especially in the case of asthma. The present trend of opinion among doctors is that most asthma is primarily caused by physical sensitivity, but that emotional factors may be contributing causes in many instances.

Studies made by Dr. Franz Alexander, Dr. Thomas M. French and other members of the Chicago Institute of Psy­choanalysis indicated that the asthma attack, in many cases, so closely resembles the child's first cry of protest against the shock of birth that the attack may actually represent an unconscious urge to return to the safety of the mother's body. Other doctors are skeptical about this theory.

A good number of other doctors have commented on the apparent relationship between a patient's emotional upset and an ensuing attack of asthma. The relationship also has been observed, say some, in other types of allergy attacks.

In cases where emotional disturbances appear to be the cause of such reactions, psychotherapeutic treatment may be advantageous in effecting relief or a cure.

Whether or not allergies may be outgrown is a moot question. If allergy attacks seem to disappear, it may be al­most impossible to determine if they have been outgrown, or have disappeared for some other reason.

The question frequently is asked in relation to hay fever and children. It has been answered as follows by Harry Swartz, M.D., well-known allergist.

"The idea that hay fever will be outgrown is fostered, espe­cially by parents in regard to their children. This is for the most part wishful thinking. It is true that on occasion an individual will lose symptoms. But who that individual is can never be predicted, nor when he will lose them."

Are You Ready To Move Onto The Next Lesson? Click Here...