œdema are discussed in Chapter VI, on Hay Fever as Urticaria, to which the reader is referred.

An additional reason for regarding all these varieties as superficially differing forms of the same disease is the fact that all of them are curable by the same methods. I am aware of the danger of error in this argument, the persuasive but misleading Analogieschluss, and would not advance it too strongly. However, for all practical purposes except the vaccine treatment, described in Chapter XII, all these hyperæsthetic cases may be regarded as varieties of the same disease.

With a patient suffering from hay fever, as with a patient suffering from any other disease, the first thing to do is to take the history and make an examination. Usually, the nature of the case will be clear from the history, but it is a mistake to rest here without looking into the nose and throat. In the nose, you may find anything from a polyp to a shoe-button, any of which may require mechanical removal before you will make any progress with your medicines, no matter how well selected. Usually, you will find nothing but a swelling of the mucous membrane of the turbinates with free discharge. If you are an adept at examining the nose, you will probably search for the sensitive areas, touching of which causes a spasm of sneezing. These may be found anywhere in the nose, but most commonly at the anterior and posterior ends of the middle and inferior turbinated bones. I apply ichthyol to the naso-pharynx to test the sensitive area described in Chapter III.

What constitutes a gross lesion requiring surgical removal? Competent men differ widely and the practice of the same man has differed widely at different stages of his career. For a time there was enthusiastic cutting of septal spurs and burning of redundant mucosa and cauterizing of sensitive areas. I think that the relation of the nose specialist to hay fever is similar to the relation of the abdominal surgeon to neurasthenics. The more experienced he becomes, the more he advises letting them alone or using gentle measures. Distinct polyps should be removed.

Having finished the examination and found no gross lesion requiring surgical removal, the treatment must be decided. The easiest plan for both patient and physician is to give rosin-weed, as described in Chapter II.

The most painful for the patient but often effective in severe cases is the application of ichthyol, as described in Chapter III.

If the patient is systematic and will attend to it, the ichthyol may be replaced by the frequent spraying with menthol and eucalyptol, as described in Chapter IV.

The best treatment of all, but that which takes the most time of both patient and physician, is the use of electricity, as described in Chapter V.

Consider the possible importance of diet in the case, as described in Chapter XIII.

Finally, ponder on the nature of hay fever, as discussed in Chapters VI to X, and the advisability of using vaccines or pollen extracts, and you will have done your whole duty by your patient and by your art.

CHAPTER II

ROSIN-WEED

For many years the fluid extract of rosin-weed has been known in my family as a remedy for rose-cold and hay fever. This use of it was discovered by my father, Dr. Alexander H. Laidlaw, in the epizoötic days of 1872, when horses were dying by the thousands all over the United States and Canada. Though he knew it first as a horse medicine, its use seems to be forgotten in veterinary practice, for I find no mention of it in available veterinary books, old or new.

In my father's practice this remedy acquired considerable fame, and I still receive a letter or two every summer from distant cities from some one who has heard of the miraculous medicine. For many years it was his intention to give this remedy to the world in proper form, supported by competent testimony; but, in a busy life, with many projects unfulfilled, this was never done. During my own professional life I have been interested in many things that seemed more important than hay fever and have not heretofore taken up the matter of publishing our experiences with the drug. Realizing that there were many hay fever victims both in this country and in Europe who might just as well be getting the relief that this drug would give them if they only knew about it, and having no desire to profit by my possession of the secret of this remedy, I made the announcement last summer, first to the American Institute of Homoeopathy and next to the United States Hay Fever Association. I announced it first to my old society, the Institute, believing that my friends there, who have known me many years, would credit my statements as made in good faith and give the drug a fair trial.

The Dose. Beginning ten days before the expected attack, give ten drops of the fluid extract of rosin-weed in a little water four times daily, after meals and on retiring. To children, give five drops. If the symptoms of hay fever appear, increase the dose to twenty and even thirty drops and continue this dose through the entire hay fever season.

It is better to begin ten days before the expected attack, for, in hay fever, as in all periodic diseases, prevention is better than cure, requires smaller doses, and is more certain. However, few patients are wise enough to anticipate trouble. Most patients apply for treatment when, literally, the disease is in full blast, and most of my observations have been made on the latter class. In case the disease has already begun, start with the same dose, ten drops. If not relieved in three days, increase the dose by five drops every third day up to thirty drops. If the symptoms should be relieved by the smaller dose, it is unnecessary to increase it.

Cure or Palliation? In regard to the permanence of the cure, most patients require it for several seasons. Some need it every season for many years. A few are permanently cured in one season.

For further information about the plant, rosin weed, its preparation and use in medicine, the reader is referred to Chapter XIV.

CHAPTER III

ICHTHYOL AND THE POINT IN THE NASO-PHARYNX THAT CONTROLS THE SYMPTOMS

While the use of rosin-weed was discovered by my father, the value of ichthyol in the treatment of hay fever and the point in the naso-pharynx that controls the symptoms are discoveries of my own or, at least, I fondly think so. In current medical literature, I find no reference to it. In Merck's History and Preparation of Ichthyol, a summary of its use to 1913, ichthyol is advised in hypertrophic and atrophic rhinitis, but hay fever is not mentioned. Reference to recent books, as Coakley, Ballenger, Ivins, Bosworth, Kyle, Grayson, show no knowledge of the use of ichthyol in hay fever nor of the spot in the naso-pharynx that controls the symptoms.

The point of the matter is this. In hay fever, the itching and redness of the eyes, nose, and throat are controlled from a sensitive point in the naso-pharynx. Local applications to this point will relieve almost instantly not only the itching of the throat but also the itching of the eyes and nose and all symptoms of the disease. In some cases such relief carried out for several seasons makes permanent cures.

My knowledge of it came about in this wise. At about the age of sixteen I developed a rose-cold that began in June and extended into September. A few years later it