Susceptibility of Allergic and Nonallergic Persons to Rhus Toxicodendron

In reviewing the literature of poison ivy dermatitis one observes contradictory trends of opinion on various phases of the subject. The nature of the process is in question. Is it merely a contact dermatitis or a manifestation of allergy ? Vaughan¹expressed the thought that poison ivy dermatitis is probably not allergic. Coca and Grove,²using the Prausnitz-Küstner test, failed to demonstrate sensitizing bodies in the blood of persons sensitive to poison ivy. Rostenberg and Sulzberger³stated that the result of a patch test is much more liable to be positive in contact dermatitis than in the atopic variety. Spain and Cooke⁴concluded that sensitization is transmitted from the original focus to other parts of the skin and mucous membranes by the blood and lymph. Recently Straus and Coca,⁵after experimentation on rhesus monkeys decided that sensitization develops only in connected skin by continuity, and hence,