Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1919-08-12
GUEssEs ABOUT HAY FEVER
Protest Against Some unproven No.
tions Concerning the MaIady.

Protest Against Some Unproven No
tions Concerning the MaIady.
I have been very much interested in
an editorial comment in a recent num-
Der Of The Journal, april 10. 1879
| in which 1t is claimed that hereafter
the goldenrod must be cast out OF the
company Of the Towering plants which
are generally supposed to cause the
onset of the disease falsely known as
hay fever. Whenever have CHANGED,
| in writing or debate. to discuss the al
LEGGED specific influence OF pollen as the
solitary source Of that affection or to
combat the wellnigh universal popu-
liar belief that this particular wild
flower is, among others, responsible for
Its manifestations. is endeavoring to
plead its innocense Of the charge. 1
have always turned involuntarily to
the descriptive verse Of Lowell, in
which he paints, with exquisite deli
cacy, the national flower:
Dear common flower that growest be-
side the way,
Fringing the dusty road with harmless
gold.
The object Of this brief note is not to
open or disturb the pollen question, but
| in avoiding it and leaving it, simply to
say in passing that one by one some. of
the best known and most conspicuous
of the natural objects which by COM
mon consent have been regarded as
unquestioned causes Of the malady and
inseparably connected with the me-
chanism Of its attacks have been shown
by recent experiment to be PATHOLOGY
cally sinless and innocuous. Yesterday
it was the rose; today 1t is the road
sides guiltless gold; tomorrow 1t will
be some other equally "weil-known"
pollen laden carrier Of infection.
The term, hay fever" is a sinGularly
unfortunate misnomer. It's origin is
obscure. It seems to have come into
general use in the first quarter Of the
last century, somewhere between the
Years 1919 and 1929 probably
through some irresponsible, unscienti-
fc, popular medium, and at once be-
came the commonly accepted name for
the affection. Had his contemporaries
listened to Bostock, who repudiated
the employment Of the term, we would
before this have travelled much further
on the road to the solution of the
mature Of a condition which is not
lfever and which is not caused by hay
In the exclusive search for its ex-
PLANTATION in the f1owery kingdom OF
plants, we are in grave danger of liter
ally going very far af1eld, Of losing
sight Of the complex forces concerned
lin it's production which are inherent
in the person himself, and by divertine
the mind from more essential etiologic
conditions and by introducing an ele-
ment of confusion into the investiga-
ton of the complaint, we may in
large measure retard the progress OF
the rapeutic inquiry. Indeed, in the
light of the passing conception of It's
pathology, which at present has pos
session Of the hour, the treatment Is
Inadequate, uncertain, and unsatisfac-
tory, and is carried out often with
much trouble, with considerable dis
comfort and personal inconvenience
and some instances with dangerous
results.
| The true character Of this remark
able disorder is still elusive, battling
and far off, Through the uncertain
and changing atmosphere which sur
rounds it we as yet see dimly. The
solution of the problem must be ap-
preached not hastily by one avenue
alone, but along many paths of patien
search. Let us broaden, not contract
the horizon Of our observation. Among
other things, let us look beyond the
marrow study Of one or more exciting
causes into the nervous power tina
makes their operation possible, and
by viewing if from every angle ant
from a high vantage ground, let u
lhope to hasten the coming of the da!
when the whole subject shall be lifted
out of the dust Of controversy and ou
of the darkness of hypothesis into TIT
light Of imperishable fact.-John N
Mackenzie in Journal of the American
Medical Association.
Richland county has voted for
| eD nm nn0 bopd isane for road DIR.