B153 

 (leaf 3) 



suit a physician. The standard external remedies include ferric 

 chloride (FeCl 3 ) introduced by McNair, sugar of lead (lead ace- 

 tate), fluid extract of grindelia, and a solution of baking soda or Ep- 

 som salts. Couch 9 recommends an oxidizing agent, such as potassium 

 permanganate. Care must be exercised in using sugar of lead not 

 to induce lead poisoning. 10 Zinc oxide and other greasy ointments, 

 which sometimes spread the poison, should be avoided during the 

 early stages of the infection. Prevention is the best remedy. If 

 exposure to these poisonous shrubs is suspected, thorough washing 

 in several changes of water, using a soapy lather, will usually prove 

 effective. Hard scrubbing, which may cause small lesions in the skin 

 and thus facilitate entry of the poison,, should be avoided. Soap 

 lather, permitted to dry on the skin, is frequently an effective pre- 

 ventive, for susceptible persons obliged to travel in areas infested by 

 these plants. 



The literature on poison-ivy, poison-oak, and poison-sumac poison- 

 ing (rhus dermatitis) is enormous. In a book published in 1923 

 McNair 3 gives bibliographies of about 1,100 papers on this subject. 



The noisome attributes of these plants are, to some degree, compen- 

 sated by certain characters of unquestioned beauty. Their hand- 

 some foliage, frequently glossy, turns gorgeous colors in the fall. 

 The pale, beadlike fruits, pendent in graceful sprays, often possess 

 a pearl-like luster. These aesthetic values, in fact, are sufficiently 

 pronounced to have led to the horticultural use of about 10 of the 

 species both at home and abroad. It seems likely, however, that no 

 one not the fortunate possessor of a high degree of immunity to 

 tirushiol-poisoning would wittingly risk contact with these plants 

 requisite to their planting and nurture. 



8 Couch, J. F. POISON IVY AND WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT. Sci. Monthly 33 : 350-362. 1931. 

 10 Hansen, A. A. POISON IVY AND TREATMENT iron IT. Nature Mag. 2 : 147-148, illus. 

 1923. 



