Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1920-07-01
THREE BILLION SNEEzES
Hay Fever Fraternity Preparing
to Do Battle With Flowers
An Ar1stocrntfc Ai1ment That Attacks
Only the super-Aesthetic, But Never
theless No One wnIingly Ao-
Tuires This MsIndy of Dtstinctiop
By Frederic ]. Haskin)


Washington. d. c., June B-The time
for the annual hay fever sneezefest is ap-
preaching.
Togged in close fitting goggles to pro-
tect their eyes, with cotton filters in
their noses. and with lips tightly closed
against invading irritants, the old guard
OF the hay fever fraternity are already
preparing to do battle with the flowers
that bloom in The summer and fall.
OF course they know that they will BE-
unsuccessful In their resolve not to sneeze
once this year. They know that they will
soon be saying. IDS a beaudiful bord-
ing" instead of talking in their usual
bell-like tones They even foresee that
their eyes will be pulled up like a frogs.
and their noses win be red. and their faces
in general will suggest traces of violent
emotion. But they prepare to suffer with
the dignity befitting one who is afflicted
with an aristocratic ailrnent.
For the high character Of hay fever Is
now universally acknowledged. Doctors
who have studied the disease most care
fully testify that II attacks only the
super aesthetic. It is a malady Of distinc-
ton, and one which you can well afford
to cultivate. If you don't mind being
thoroughly miserable while displaying
your superiority
/
about the time of the Civil War. suffer-
ers went about sneezing, and weeping and
weighted down with a sense of appearing
ridiculous Hay fever was then a joke
and a mystery. Now that science takes
II seriously. the million or more people
who sneeze at the mention of weeds are
coming to glory in the idea that they are
souls apart. endowed with representative
noses and perflously high strung nervous
| systems.
ARLSTOCRATIC AILMENT
| Some of the H. F. v. (which stands
for hay fever victims) claim to be so
delcately balanced that they lose their
equilibrium completely if a stalk of rag
weed sprouts within half mile others
60 them one better by insisting that they
have had attacks of sneezing brought
on by looking at an oil pain ding of gold
enrod and daisies.
| II is a well established fact that the
exciting cause of hay fevers is the pol
len Of any of hundred or more plants
and grasses carried about on the wind.
Because the wind cannot be depended on
to carry each grain of pollen to the right
flower TO promote fertilization. a great
many extra grains are produced so that
some will be sure to fulfill their purpose.
Thus, tn the case of ragweed. it is esti
mated that several million grains Of pollen
are scattered on the wind for every grain
which lands on rasweed plant.
These straytng atoms Of pollen some
time travel five or six miles on the wind.
They are in the air we breathe. Ninety
nine people in a hundred have them in
their nasal passages, and the membrane
Is efficiently proof against irritation, so
that no harm is done. But in the hun
dredth nose the mucous membrane is ex-
tra-sensitive. The poison enters the mem
brane and starts an irritation. Mean
| while the possessor Of the hundredth nose
is getting wireless messages to his brain
about a violent conflict In his nasal pas
sage. He sends back an order not to
surrender, but by this time the attack
ing enemy is reinforced by some more
pollen grains and defeat is inevitable.
Susceptibility to hay fever Is mystery
Some people respond only TO rasweed
others to the pollen Of corn and rye A
great many think that goldenrod is their
particular nemesis, but science has show
ed that the pollen is 30 heavy that it can
not be blown any distance by the wind
and that therefore goidenrod can cause
a hay fever spasn only when the pol err
Is inhaled from the plant itself. AS few
feverites ever allow themselves TO come
within this danger zone of goldenrod
the plants evil reputation is obvious IS
undeserved.
WEEDS TO BLAME
Some people arc victims of hay feve,
from childhood Many. however, develop
the disease later, some late as fifty
years of age. One reason for this seems
to he the fact just mentioned, that diff
ferent people are susceptible to different
plants Thus people whose noses woult
not think of having Mysteries over field
grasses or honeysuckle. and who are in
vulnerable to the deadly cockle-bur. may
fzuddenly to laid low IL they travel to q
different section Of the country whers
the air Is loaded with different poller
poieons.
Whether every nose Is vulnerable Il
some pollen toxin is not yet known. il
IL certain that a great many people es
cape hay fever only because they neve,
happes, to get within range Of pollen,
: which would affect them.
Once the mflady attacks you, the doc
tors say that you will most likely hav.
it every year at the same time for the
next decade or so. OF course you may ht
able to avoid IT by seeking out some weed
lezs place. ar n you know what plant.
are antaeorrf3ttc To your eyes and nose
you have simply 10 spend your summe r,
where those particular plants are I'm
known. The majority Of II. F. VS. re
spond violently TO numerous plants Som,
Of them seek refuge the high seas
or on the top OF a mountain peak, in tn,
heart of city. or in the depths OF oul
few remaining virgin forests.
few resorts, notably those ut hfyi
attitudes and on the sea coast do seen
to be comparatively free from wind born,
p<1en. Up in New England the r. F