[ 173 ] 



(The IPntholoo^ of pollen in HiEstivie, or 



Iba^'^jfevcr. 



By Prof. Samuel Lockwood, Ph.D. 

 Plate XV. 



CERTAIN places in the White Mountains of New Hampshire 

 have become notable as summer resorts for sufferers from 

 ^stivis, or Hay-Fever. A number of these sanitaria lie 

 more or less contiguous to the sources of the Saco river, on the 

 one side, and the sources of the Connecticut on the other. 



When the South winds prevail in either of these long tracts, 

 there is a lowering of the barometer, and at the same time a 

 nervous depression of the subjects of Hay- Fever. There is also 

 another change in the atmosphere, which is then laden with the 

 dust-produce of these valleys. A marked element in this dust is 

 pollen, chiefly that of Rag-weed and Golden-rod, which, especially 

 the former, abounds in the South, in the months of August and 

 September. At such a time the suffering among the Hay-Fever 

 guests is severe and general. Happily it does not continue, but 

 passes off with the change of wind. On the theory of a ne?irosis 

 the cause seems plain to me. With the sudden humidity of the 

 atmosphere, and low barometer, the tonic of the mountain air is 

 dissipated, and nervous depression results. Then, since the air in 

 this condition is surcharged with pollen, and other impurities, the 

 nerve endings of the respiratory passages are irritated unto acute 

 inflammation. 



At the closing session of the United States Hay-Fever Asso- 

 ciation, last September, at Bethlehem, N.H., a long-cherished 

 desire was revived to learn the relative hygienic quality of the 

 favoured sanitaria, and that of places where the malady prevails. 

 Owing to my official relation, it fell to me to state the factors in 

 such a determination. 



The problem to be solved might be called the Hygiene of the 

 atmosphere. It would involve, all through, consideration based 

 upon instrumental work. This would need such records of the 

 winds, humidity, range of the barometer and thermometer, as fall 

 to the meteorologist. The impurities, organic and inorganic, of 

 the atmosphere must also be considered, which side of the work 



