Hay Fever

At the present time there are pro bably nearly 50,000 people suffering from what is called hay fever. When this afïection was first recog uized it was supposed that it dependet uponthe irritation produced by the pollen of certain flowers and grasses which floatedin the air in the months of May, .Tune, July and August of each year. Subsequently it was claimed tha: two distinct forma of the disease ex isted, and to one was given the name of "June cold," while the other rëceiv ed the name "autumnal catarrh." Further observation revealeü tin fact that an afïection characterized by symptoms essentially the same as those seen in connection with hay asthma, hay fever, June cold, rose cold, autumnal catarrh, etc.. occurrec in seasons of the year in which none of the supposed exciting causes of the hay fever could opérate, and for some time the reasoning was that it mus' be some other disease than that produced by the pollen of plants. It was also observed that certain persons were peculiarly affected when brought in contact with certain animal substan ces, such as warm milk. These obser vations, and others of like character have from time to time led modifl cations of former opinions regardin the nature of hay fever, and, at las have given rise to a theory which lias been promulgated as one capable of explaining all the phenomena of the disease whenever and wherever occur ring. In this country two books have been written on hay fever: one - the oldest and for a long time the only systema tic monograph upon the subject - b; Dr. Jeffrles Wyinan, of Boston; the other by Dr. Geo. M. Beard, of New York. In Dr. Beard's book we flnd the flrst open announcement of the theory to which we have already referred. namely, the "nerye theory.' Ihis theory is the result of the study of one hundred cases, and it is that hay fever is a neurosis. According to this theoryj the disease is subjective instead of objective ; external irritants which are exceedingly numerous, such is rag weed pollen, etc, are of a secondiry and a tertiary character and powerless in themselves to produce the iisease only when acting on a nervous idiosyncrasv. _ This autliur lias described a new fbrm of disease, which he calis the July cold, or middle form, which links the early form, or June cold, with the later form, or autumnal catarrh. It seems to us that the nerve theory explains many of the cases which have heretofore been regarded as vevy obscure ; for example, those in which the symptoms peculiar to hay fever have continued from May to November, or during the winter months, or all the year round. If the nerve theory be true - and it seems to be fairly sustained- it revolutionizes the treatment of the disease. It must beattacked from a new point of view ; yet it cannot be successf ully claimed that all cases are to be treated alike, or that any speciflc can be found for it. The remedies to be employed are those which are not painful - not even disagreeable. Of eourse, removal from the exciting cause is the primary factor in obtaining prompt relief; but, when this cannot be erïected, the symptoms can be greatly relieved, and many cases cured, by such remedies as arsenic, nux vómica, carbolic acid, belladona, tonics and sedatives, electricity, etc, and their combinations. - Medical lieeord. Some one in Boston has invented a new style of boys' trousers, which is highly recommended, ïhey llave a copper seat, sheet-iron knees, and are riveted down in the seams, and havo water-proof pockets to hold broken eggs.