2152 



DERMATITIS VENENATA 



Hance, 1880. In 1898 Blanchard made an excellent contribution 

 with regard to Arundo donax, and was followed by Havard in 1899, 

 Reynault in 1902, who detailed facts with regard to the disease as 

 seen in Indo-China, and by Wellman in 1907, who considered the 

 stinging plants of Angola. Then came publications by Balch (1906), 

 Sabouraud (1908), and the Imperial Institute (1909), the last-named 

 discussing satin-wood. After this there are the papers by Kamgies- 

 ser in 1911, Fordyce 1912, Santa Maria 1913, Whitfield 1914, and 

 Letcher's book with the account of the buffalo bean of Rhodesia. 

 In 1914 Hornsey gave a good account of the ' rungus poisoning ' as 

 seen in British North Borneo. 



In 1916 Vadala again referred to Arundo donax, and in 1917 

 Chalmers and Pekkola gave an account of a Sudanese dermatitis 

 venenata caused by a member of the Rutacese. 



Climatology. — ^With regard to geographical distribution, it is a 

 cosmopolitan complaint, being found in all parts of the world. It, 

 however, requires further study in the tropics, and it is for this 

 reason that we have specially brought it forward in connection with 

 skin diseases. 



etiology. — The causation of dermatitis venenata depends upon: — 

 I. The plant. 



II. Personal idiosyncrasy. 



III. Confirmatory test. 



IV. The active principle. 



I. The Plant. — The following list, largely compiled from White's 

 book, but altered so as to agree with our definition of dermatitis 

 venenata and to include tropical plants, gives those known to us 

 to cause the complaint: — 



Anacardiacese : Rhus venenata De Candolle. 



Rhus toxicodendron Linnaeus. 



Rhus diver siloba Engler. 



Rhus vernicijera De Candolle. 



Semecarpus anacardium Linnaeus. 

 Ampelidacese : Cissus pruriens Welwitsch. 

 Apocynacese: Nerium oleander Linnaeus. 

 Araceae: Arisc&ma triphyllum Schott. 



Symplocarpus foetidus^uti. 

 Araliaceae: Aralia spinosa'Lmn^ns. 

 Artocarpaceae: Antiaris toxicaria Leschenault de la Tour. 

 Aurantiaceae : Citrus vulgaris Risso. 

 Berberidaceae : Podophyllum peltatum Linnaeus. 

 Bignoniaceae : Catalpa bignonioides Walter. 

 Borraginaceae : Borago officinalis Linnaeus. 

 Cactaceae : Cactus grandiflorus Linnaeus. 

 Compositae: Erigeron canadense Linnaeus. 



Lappa officinalis~L. majus Gaertner. 

 I^eucanthemum vulgar e Lambert. 

 Solidago odor a Hooker and 'Arnold. 



