The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-03-16

ss sss.s 5 \: :s. q ss;. s.S 3. ss ss
 Tn this column. published every Sum
 jsets related to health. hygiene and
 eosa.n.ss @ sy'naa .tst.msa.. CT 'sA's; sf .rsicis.
 written for HyGsia, the official organ
 of the American Medical association
 tions provided by suthoritiss through
 the sseociaticn. ReQuests for. specific
 medical advice or diagnosis which can
 seeing the patient will be answered by
 note to that effect. This depart
 msnt is sspee,sliy prspared nS.r. for The
 the North American Newspaper Al-
 lance. with the cooperation of Hy-
 ssia. s1 All assticns should Dc secom
 Dermatitis
 DermAtitis means inflammation of tho skin, and there are all sorts of things that will cause it. But during the past few months, as the deyotees of the bridge table have been punging and chewing tho word dermatitis has not been a part of the strange vocabulary acquired with the new game. Never theless as the number of persons initi- ated into Nah Jong increases, there are likely to be more and more who will be interested in the new disease that may go with it. There have, of course, been some to insinuate that a sort of mental disorder is also acquired, but this scien- tific consideration has nothing to do with matters theoretical. Nah Jong dermatitis is something real, that one can see and feel, particularly the lat ter.
 Among the different kinds of der mathis is q group known as dermatitis venenata-inflammat of the skin caused by the action of various animal, vegetable or mineral substance on the surface of the skin. In the case of Mah Jong dermatitis the substance that causes the irritation is the Chinese or Japanese lacquer.
 Already cases have been described in medical literature by Dr. Walter J. Highman, Dr. Oscar l.. Levin and Er- win Zeisier. But long before Nah Jong became popular in this country, specialists in diseases of the skin had described the occurrence of such cases in the Orient.
 One told of gardener who developed eruptions on the skin when repotting some young plants of the Japanese lacquer tree. Dr. William Allen Pusey described the case of Japanese who developed an eruption on his forearmS and hands from handling lacquered canes, and Er. Wayson of the govern ment service told how workers in a pineapple cannery in Hawaii had devel- oped eruptions. because the cans had been passed through a hot bath con. taining one part of commercial lacquer and five parts of gasoline.
 Poison Ivy Part Of Family
 The Japanese lacquer tree, as de- scribed by Dr. I. Toyama, is a member of the same family as the American poison ivy. This family is known botan- ically as the Rhus family, and the Japanese member that causes all the trouble is called Rhus Vernicifera. The varnish employed In Chinese and Jap. anese lacquer work is an extract 6f this plant.
 The varnish is not volatile, it does not evaporate easily, and Toyama was able to produce eruption on the skin with lacquer taken from an antique jar that had been buried in a Japanese room for about thousand years. When the lacquer from the box containing the Nah Jong sets gets on the hands of the sensitive person, becomes moist and oxidizes, the patient usually begins to complain of symptoms.
 Anywhere from a few hours to a week after the contact with the lacquer is made the person affected will notice burning and itching, Sometimes the skin will swell and there may be little blisters in groups or even large ones. After a few days, particularly with satisfactory treatment to neutralize the effects of the lacquer, the condition quiets down and does not reappear un- less the person handles the lacQuered box again. -rts
 Now it should be borne, in mind that not every one that comes in contact with the lacquer develops the skin irri- tation. Just as with poison ivy there are some persons who are not affected and there are others who are so vulner- able that they cannot even come near to the plant with safety. This is what physicians mean by saying that a per- son is sensitive to the poison; they mean that in some manner this person particularly reacts to the poison.
 How The Case Was Proved
 When the first two patients with this peculiar condition came to a physician he suspected that the cause was an ex- ternal irritant. He questioned them carefully as to their exposure to all sorts of substances. This question ing, which forms an important part of every medical examination--techni cally called taking a history-led, how ever, to no definite conclusion. Then one patient mentioned casually that they had been playing Nah, Jong 24 hours before with a new set just im- ported from the Orient.
 The physician knew that laequers may sometimes cause such eruptiOns and he decided to put his theory to a test. ,.
 He scraped some of the lacquer from the box aud applied it on rough ened spot on the patient s. skin. Within half an hour there was reaction on the spot. Then he put e thin coating of the lacquer on the patients unbroken skin and two days later the patient broke out with the typical eruption.
 No doubt hundreds of thousands of Nah Jong sets are now in use in this country. Thus far only seven or eight cases of the skin eruption from the lac quer have been reported in medical lit erature. No doubt there are others that have not been regularly reported.
 If the lacquer on the box or the trays, or that adherent to the tiles. seems soft and sticky, it may be well to expose them for while to the dry air, so that the lacquer will not easily come off.
 Then, too, there are many substances besides Japanese lacquer that may cause eruptions on the skin. It will not do to jump too quickly at the con- clusion that any skin eruption is due to the lacquer. The proof of the skin test, as made by the physicians in the cases that have been reported, is, how ever, sure and convincing.
 Tmh@v.aAinO Rndv GkrunRtsra