Ivy Poisoning

Every physician is aware of the extent to which ivy poisoning may at times proceed; in the severer cases the affliction may amount to more than a nuisance and interfere not only with the comfort of persons who enjoy the great outdoors, but also with the function of military bodies, boys' summer camps, and other institutions that are so closely related to it. Local treatment is unsatisfactory, as indicated by the seven-page list of vaunted remedies in McNair's1recent monograph on Ivy Dermatitis; and this has led, conformable to the present-day immunity trend, to the development of preventive and curative systems involving both the intramuscular injection of an extract of the plant and the administration of its tincture by mouth. Introduced by Schamberg2in 1919, and developed by Strickler3in 1921 and 1923, such favorable reports have subsequently been published by Alderson,4Bivings,5Williams,6