Arizona republican., 1921-07-05
By FREDERIC J. HAsklN

WASHINGTON, D. C., July A. Are you going into the woods this summer? If so. do not come back bitten by bugs, and possibly by snakes, poisoned by ivy. and generally in state of acute discomfort.
 All of these things can be avoided, but the average man or woman going into the woods for the first time Is equipped with nothing but a rosy and romantic notion of life in the sylvan solitudes. After about week of such life, he is usually in state of pain full disillusionment and joins the hotel porch and palm-leaf f-fan school of vacationists for the rest of his life.
 This is too bad, because vacation ought to be an adventure, and it is good for civilized man to revert to the primitive once in a while, if he can do so without too much injury to his skin and his digestion. And 1t can be done. But it takes time and care to learn how. Getting your self through the woods or over the mountains in comfort is a science.
 The perils from wild beasts in this country have about been abolished, but there are some wild plants that still bite people every year. and the worst of this is the large and varied class of shrubs known as poison ivy
 
 poisoning must run into the hun dreds of thousands every year, and every case represents vacation ruined or a day outdoors severely re- gretted.
 And yet ivy poisoning Is generally preventable. Two things are neces- ssry. First, learn to know the plant. and, second, when there is an dan ger of having been exposed to it. %,r. rrt visibility of this is usually hard to impress upon the man who has never had a dose of poisoning, but after he has spent a. week in state of most acute discomfort. perhaps with both eyes swollen shut, he Is apt to ap- preciate the necessity.
 The Ubiquitous Ivy
 Some form of poison oak or poison ivy occurs in almost every part of the United States, according to the department of Agriculture In some places it is so rare as to be little of !. menace. but in may sections it Is literally impossible to spend a day in the woods without encountering it. This is especially true in parts of Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania and other Atlantic coast states.
 Many people believe themselves to be immune to ivy poisoning, but the department of agriculture says it is doubtful whether anyone is wholly immune. The poison merely takes hold of some skins more easily than others. Neither is immunity ac- qufred by an attack, but. on the other hand. those who have once been poisoned often seem thereafter to be more susceptible than before.
 The different kinds of poison ivy vary greatly in the shape of their leaves, and even in the same species the leaf forms varies. So does the manner of growth. The common eastern form may appear as a low growing shrub. looking like an ordi- nary weed. or it may he flourish ing bush three or four feet high witt light-colored woody trunks It may be small creeping vine, or 1t ma, be vine three or four inches thick twining about a tree, and throwing off aerial rootlets.
 There is only one characteristic which the poison ivy has whereve it grows and in all its forms, that is that the leaves grow in groups O three. The central leaf is on a sten an inch or more in length. The othe two grow directly opposite eacl other and have practically no sten at all. Whenever you see a plan with this style of foliage. whether i  is bush. a weed or a vine. give a wide berth. It may be harmless but it probably is not At certain times of the year some of the poisol | ivy plants bear clusters of white Der ries. but this is not mark of identi fication that can be relied upon. l The poison of the poison ivy is a | acid which gets upon the sSin an | slowly sinks in. Hence tne counter l agent is an alkali Two of the bes l remedies are bicarbonate of sod | Ordinary baking soda) and commo laundry soap which contains uncom l bined alkali. After the poison ha | broken out on you. these things wi 1 help. but the best time to apply ther 1 is after the exposure and before tn 1 appearance of the rash. Once tn
 rash has appeared, the dances ar that you are in for a painful Hines of from three to ten days One fire | quently hears of sure cures for tn l affliction, and t'ere are patente
 remedies on sale, but the experienc | of most persons is that the poiso
 must run it's course. The remed