330 
Serum  Treatment  of  Hay  Fever. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
July,  1905. 
susceptible  to  hay  fever,  but  indifferent  in  its  action  to  persons  not 
predisposed  to  the  same.  This  poison  has  been  examined  chemic- 
ally by  Kammann,  who  arrived  at  the  following  conclusions: 
(1)  The  hay  fever  poison  belongs  to  the  toxalbumins. 
(2)  It  is  thermostable. 
(3)  The  toxin  is  stable  toward  acids,  but  very  sensitive  toward 
alkalis. 
(4)  Enzymes,  such  as  pepsin  and  trypsin,  do  not  destroy  it 
entirely. 
(5)  By  the  complete  saturation  of  its  solutions  with  ammonium 
sulphate  it  is  precipitated. 
According  to  more  recent  investigations  of  Kammann,  soon  to 
be  published,  the  antitoxin  is  (combined)  quantitatively  bound 
with  the  serum  globines. 
The  symptoms  produced  by  the  toxin  in  hay- fever  patients  will 
vary  according  to  the  place  of  application.  With  conjunctival  ap- 
plication of  the  poison,  there  have  been  observed  itching,  lachryma- 
tion,  photophobia,  injection  into  limbus  and  conjunctiva  even  to 
chemosis.  Applied  to  the  nose  it  caused  sneezing,  profuse  secretion, 
reddening  and  swelling  of  the  mucous  membrane  to  the  extent  of 
rendering  discharge  impossible.  Aspiration  of  the  toxine,  when 
brought  about  accidentally  while  weighing  the  substance,  produced 
a  desire  to  cough  with  a  difficulty  to  breathe  out,  and  stridor. 
When  rubbed  into  the  skin  intense  itching  resulted,  accompanied 
by  local  erythema  and  rash.  Injected  subcutaneously,  all  of  the 
above-mentioned  symptoms  were  produced ;  sternutation,  nasal 
hypersecretion,  asthma,  urticaria  over  the  entire  body,  accompanied 
by  a  temporary  light  to  medium  disturbance  of  heart  activity, 
namely,  palpitation  of  the  heart,  a  rapid  and  very  feeble  pulse,  dys- 
pnea and  marked  cyanosis.  The  poison,  therefore,  appears  to  excite 
primarily  the  vasodilatory  and  secretory  nerve  fibres.  These  phe- 
nomena caused  Alberts  to  regard  hay  fever  merely  as  a  sympathetic 
neurosis. 
Sensitiveness  to  the  poison  varies  with  different  individuals  within 
wide  limits. 
Among  those  who  were  the  subjects  of  this  investigation  the 
most  sensitive  ones  showed  a  decided  condition  of  local  irritation, 
both  objectively  and  subjectively,  after  the  instillation  of  ^i^-  milli- 
gram of  the  proteid  of  rye  pollen  into  the  conjunctival  sac.    In  the 
