WAI/IEH STONKHOISE 173 



about England and communicated notes and localities of 30 plants, 

 noted in his journeys or at home to How, who prhited them with due 

 acknowledgement in his I'hy.tolotjia (1050). The notes associated 

 with Stonehouse's name numhei- 30, and include localities in the 

 counties of Wilts, Berks, Oxford, Northampton, Nottingham, I)erl)v, 

 Chester, Lancaster, and York. Stonehouse's notes indicate both 

 botanical observation and literary knowledge : that on '' Cerasus syl. 

 fructu minimo cordiformi non dcscripta " (jPritnus Avium L.) may be 

 cited as an example : " The least wild Heai-t Cherry-tree, neere Stock- 

 port, and in other places of Cheshire. The Country people there call 

 it the Merry-tree. Whence 1 should thinke it the Merasns of the 

 Hungarians (mentioned by Clusius Pannon, lib. cap. 24) had not hee 

 said that hath Black Berries, whereas this hath them of a delayed 

 red ; which notwithstanding they may bee severall species." 



I am indebted to Mr. Britten for this supplementary note, for the 

 scholarly care with which he has noted the circumstances of the first 

 excursions of the " socii itinerantes," and for other suggestions. 



PLANT DERMATITIS.— II. 



By E. Philip Smith 

 (Botanical Department, Oxford). 



Cases of Lacquer Poisoning are not common in this country, but 

 are very frequent in Japan and China where the lacquer industry is 

 considerable. Lacquer is made from the sticky brown sap which 

 exudes from the Rhus veriiicifera plant when it is wounded. The 

 dermatitis is acquired either by direct contact with the lac, or even 

 by exposure to the fumes given off as it is evaporated. The poison, 

 whatever it is, is much less virulent when dry than while in the 

 process of manufacture, although cases have been recorded of sus- 

 ceptible persons in this country being affected while handling old 

 lacquer- work. The symptoms are fever, tension and cedema of the skin 

 of the face and limbs, nasal and conjunctival catarrh, and a papular 

 eruption on the cedematous skin of the legs and forearms. As in the 

 cases of other Rhus poisonings, the best treatment is with soap and 

 water. The Chinese, however, have a quaint method of prophylaxis : 

 " They rub the hands and face with rape-seed oil in which a ham has 

 been boiled, and wear a linen mask for the face and a leathern apron 

 for the body while at work. After work the exposed parts are rubbed 

 with a decoction of chestnuts, pine-bark, saltpetre, and amaranth " 

 (Castellani). This elaborate method does not seem to be very 

 effective, since the workers are attacked in spite of it, and in Japan 

 no such prophylaxis is attempted. It is in any case hardly likely to 

 commend itself to Europeans. 



In addition to those plants already mentioned as causing diseases 

 of the skin, there are a number of industries where the handling of 

 plant-products is known to cause dermatitis. Thus persons engaged 

 in the confectionery trade sometimes suffer from Vanilla dermatitis. 

 This takes the form of a rash on the hands and arms, and is believed 



