The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1921-06-27
TELLS HOW TO ESCAPE
PERILS OF VACATION
Easy to Detect Poison lVy-Mo3qui
toes Can be Kept Away-Some
Suggestions Anent Snakes

Easy to Detect Poison lNy-Mo3qui-
toes Can be Kept Away-some
Suggestions Anent Snakes
Washington, D. c. June 25.-Are you
going into the woods this summer? If
so, do not come back bitten by bugs,
and possibly snakes, poisoned by ivy
and generally in a state of acute dis
comfort,
Al 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 rosy and
romantic notion of life in the sylvan
/ solitudes. After about a week OF such
life he is usually in a state of pain
/ full dist lusionment and joins the hotel
-palm,leaf fan school of va
cationists for the rest of his life.
This is too bad, because a vacation
ought to be an adventure and it is
good for civilized man to revert to the
primitive once in while, il he can do
50 without too much injury to his skin
and his digestion. And it can be done.
! But it takes time and care to learn
how. Getting yourself through the
woods or over the mountains in com
fort is a science.
The per.ls from wild beasts in this
country have about been abolished,
but there are some wild p ants that
still bite people every year, and the
worst of this is the large and varied
lcass of shrubs known as posion ivy
or poison oak. The cases Of ivy pois-
oning must run INTO the hundreds OF
thousands every year, and every case
represents a vacation ruined or a day
outdoors severe y regretted.
And yet ivy poisoning is generally
preventable. Two things are neces-
Isary. First, learn to know the plant
and second, when there is any danger
of having been exposed to it take
preventive measures The ACCESSIBILITY
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 d scom
fort. perhaps with both eyes swollen
shut, ne is ape to appreciate the ne
Cesslty.
The Ubiquitous Ivy
Some form of poison oak or poison
ivy occurs in almost every part of the
I'm ted States. according to the depart
ment of agriculture. In some p aces
it is so rare as to be little of menace
but in many sections it is literally i'm
possible to spend day in the woods
without encountering 1t. This is especi
ally true in parts Of Maryland, Viz
ginia Pennsylvania, and other At
lantic Coast states.
Many Peep e believe themselves to
be immune to ivy pisoning, but the de
Ipartment of agriculture saws it is
doubtful whether anyone is wholly i'm
mune The poison mere takes hold OF
some skins more easily than others
Neitheris Immunity acquired by an
attack. but on the other hand, those
who have once been pc soned often
seem thereafter to be more suscept
ible than before.
The different kinds of poison ivy
vary greatly in shape of their leaves
and even in the same species the leaf
form varies So does the manner OF
growth The common eastern form
may appear as low-grow.ng shrub
ookng like an ordinary weed, or il
may be a fiourishng bush three or
four feet high with light-colored woody
trunk. 1t may be a small creeping
vine or it may be a vine three or four
inches thick twining about tree and
throwing off aerial rootlets.
There is only enc characteristic
which the poison ivy has wherever il
grows and in all its forms, that is
that the leaves grow in groups of three
The central leaf is on stem an inch
or more in length The other two grow
directly opposite each other and nave
practically no stem at all. Whenever
you see a pant with this foliage
whether it is bush, a weed or a vine
give il a wide berth 1t may be harm
less. but probably is not At certain
times of the year some of the poison
ivy plants bear clu ters of white Der
ries but this is not mark of indent
fcation that can be relied upon.
l'The poison of the poison ivy is an
IdClu winch gets upon the skin ana q"
v sinks in Hence the counteragent
is an alka'i Two of the best remedies
are bicarbonate Of soda (ordinary
uahing sUdal ana common laundry
soap, which contains uncombined aka
H. After the poison has broken out or
you the best time to apply them is
after the exposure and before the ap
,pearance of the rash. Once the rash
has appeared. the chances are that
you are IN for a painful il ness OF
from three to ten days. One frequently
hears of sure cures for the affliction
land there are patented remedies on
sale, but the experience Of most per
sons is that the poison must run its
curse. The remedy that usually gets
the credit for affect ng the cure is tnt
one that is applied when nature has