The Ypsilanti daily press. (Ypsilanti, Mich.) 1928-1962, 1944-06-13

begin to gaze in suspicious anti
cipation at the skin of his hands
and wonder if that little blister
will grow into a great eruption.
Ivy dermatitis affects only sus-
ceptible individuals. Many at
tempts have been made to devise
a serum which will produce i'm
munity either for prevention or
treatment, but not with any con-
spicuous success.
Other methods Of prevention
have been aimed at washing off
the resin which the plant leaves
on the skin at the earliest pos
sible moment. The offending sub
stance is very sticky and tena-
cious, so much so that ordinary
soap and water will not remove it.
Efficacity of Chemicals
Experiments have been made
to determine how effective the
chemicals often employed to re-
move the resin from the skin are.
The experiments were conducted
in the following manner.
Fresh green leaves Of the poi
son ivy plant were gathered by a
person not sensitive to the plant.
A portion of the leaf was bruised
by rolling it between the thumb
and each finger depositing as
near as possible an equal amount
of oleoresin on each finger. Then
a volunteer who was known to
be sensitive to poison ivy allowed
his skin TO be lightly stroked by
a finger on which the oleoresin
had been deposited. No visible
stain or moisture could be seen
on the skin of the stroked area
but in spite of this, if 4eft alone
on the skin Of a sensitive person
a typical poison ivy dermatitis
resulted going through the stages
from redness and Inflammation
to blister formation.
The first preventive used was
laundry soap and running water.
In different experiments the con-
taminated skin was washed at
intervals varying at one, five, ten,
fifteen, thirty minutes, an hour
and two hours after being touched.
The results varied with the de-
gree of sensitiveness of the vol
unteer. Those who were used TO
having mild attacks were COM
pletely prevented from reaction
provided the washing was done
within one minute. But if as
much as five minutes elapsed the
eruption was just as severe as il
no washing had been done. In a
highly sensitive subject no pre-
vention Of eruption was accom-
plished no matter how soon or
how vigorous the washing.
In all of these experiments the
volunteer was stroked on both
arms. Only one arm was exposed
to washing or chemical applica-
tions. The other arm was left as
a control.
Chloride Of Iron
Chloride of iron has been used
as a preventive application, but
in these experiments a 10 per cent
solution of ferric chloride applied
to the site of contamination at
varying. intervals did not prevent
the subsequent eruption or dimin-
ish its severity. An ointment Of
ferric chloride, calamine (l0Ge),
zinc oxide (l0eo) and talcum ap-
piled to the skin before the con-
tamination was made resulted in
reduced severity Of the eruption.
Potassium permanganate 1870
aqueous solution applied in the
same way did prevent the erup-
ton in most instances and reduced
its severity in nearly all, even if
applied as long after exposure as
five or ten minutes. This seems
TO be the best preparation for this
hAlAl Va DuI III fllGiliN
sensitive individuals even it fails.
Sodium perborate did not pre-
vent the eruption and white Pc
trolatum made it worse due to the
solubility Of the ivy oleoresin in
oily mediums.
The reputation which many Of
these preparations had is based
on freedom from discomfort on
field trips and under these circum-
stances no one can be sure that
he has really been contaminated
by bruised plants. The expert
ments here recorded we're certain
and exact
ers joined with McNutt in com.
mending the city for its produc
tion record. but all reminded the
$4,000 workers in attendance oil