POISON IVY

Evening Post, Volume CVI, Issue 85, 20 October 1928, Page 30

POISON IVY

AN AMERICAN PLAGUE PLANT'S SELF-DEFENCE WEEKS OF SUFFERINGThis is the seasou when poison ivy adds -another to its list of deceptions/ says the "New York Times." Its leaves —medium-sized shiny green ones grouped in threes on reddish stems — turn red along with the other autumn foliage, but they become so much more brilliant, so much more beautifully decorative than the more ordinary leaves of the hillsides that to all. but the initiated they seem specially designed to be taken home for the fireplace. With this trap ready for the autumn motorists or "hikers," who may providentially have passed around it at_a safe distance all summer, it makes itself supreme among the scourges await--ing the vacationist. Mosquitos may sing their nightmare-provoking overtures to the guests along the beaches, deer ilies in the mountains may leave their customary fodder for the chance titbits from the cities, raising welts that tingle like small charges of lightning, and hotel proprietors may , construct monumental 'bills, but all these are mere ripples on a smiling sea compared with the wreckage a good touch of poison ivy spreads. . • ■ LURKING FOR THE UNWARY. It is doubly deadly because of its deceptive appearance.- It mingles readily with ordinary shrubs, lying innocently among them as though merely shedding its beauty on-the morning air; it has iiot the gallantry to have a warning smell, as has at least one of man's much-berated woodland enemies, and it is just uncommon enough so that the identification easily becomes vague in the vacationist's mind and leaves him' the more at its mercy. Moreover, it d.oes not confine its presence to the woods or particularly remote spots. It is as likely as not to get a foothold in some completely civilised part of the suburbs, along paths where it is pleasant to stroll or 101 lon Sunday afternoons, or beside tennis courts, where, it provides' a pitfall for the player' looked for a lost ball. POISON IS FOR DEFENCE. The poison, which produces an itching that one of the encyclopedias lias —in too mild terms, as a victim will testify—-called "intolerable," is contained in the plant's sap. Its harsh attack is described by scientists as" a weapon of defence, a' touch-me-not to keep enemies at a respectful distance, but it spreads devastation on the just and unjust alike. Many persons, it is said, have only to., come near it to be affected, while the vast majority become infected by a touch. A few, for some unknown reason, arc immune, and may handle both leaves and branches without a trace of discomfort. The tennis player who leaves court in a perspiration to search for a ball in a thicket of it, or any person who is exorcising, is a particularly favourable subject. His pores are open, so that the poison is almost welcomed in; his clothing is loose and shifting over his body as he runs and jumps, so that the poison can spread; and his mind is so absorbed, in the game that he forgets what little he may know about safe conduct in questionable shrubbery. And finally, when he finishes playing, he probably takes* a quick shower and rubs himself thoroughly with a towel, thereby acting as hospitable messenger to give the ivy's weapon a''thorough reception. DELAYED EFFECT. Hero crops up another deception. The poison has a delayed effect. It takes at least several hours and sometimes a day or two before it. is discovered. In the meantime the victim has spread it with abandon;. ;In the more extreme cases ho has got tho poison into his food and finds himself with a headache and general feeling .of discomfort, for which he is unable to account and consequently at a loss to treat. ' After) a day or two the itching ar-. rives. At first it is only a s,mall place .011 his 'hand, perhaps. He scoffs, and thinks it will soon go away. Next morning, he finds sonic on his arm," but still is mot alarmed. Finally, when a day later it has struck in many unpected places, he decides that he has a battle on his hands that calls for a large-scale defence. He starts collecting medicines, first from a drug store and then' from a doctor. Homo with his collection, he finds, that the first application does not produce immediate results, and he doubles aiid triples the dose and only increases the soreness. TEST OF PATIENCE. Then for several days, 'perhaps a week, sometimes two and even "more, he must adopt and, what is worse, practice the philosophy of tho most advanced stoic. He must be able to feel himself broiled over a flickering gas range, and bear it with equanimity. The little watery nodules on his hands aiTd arms that look so innocent to the spectator—another deception to the credit of this plant—call for days of exemplary restraint. The bearer sits at his desk at work, or perhaps discussing business with a woman . visitor, and wearing all the •while the look of calm resignation sueii as Buddha must have, sought, while within ,him the tantalising question is always bobbing up: Couldn't he let loose and behave like a maniac even for only a moment? A thousand times no; and yet—? To bo; able to stop the flow, of conversation; to be able to raise a hand politely and explain to the visitor that she need not be alarmed, that this little holiday from restraint will last only a moment; and then to send a chair crashing through the window! But no; he is civilised; he will itch to the point of madness, but he will do it with dignity. The affliction eventually passes away, hard as this may be to believe for the personin the throes of it. Deaths from ivy poisoning, though they conceivably might come if the infection spread far enough over the body and developed a poisoning under the skin, are at least rare. One of the few recorded deaths attributed to it came in Massachusetts in 1925, when the State Industrial Accident Board awarded 30' SO dollars to a widow whose husband, a janitor, had caught it while at work and died. But here the victim had a serious disease of the liver to start with. The soreness may continue, however, for varying lengths of time. 'When tho case'is mild,'as when a victim catches a small infection and manages to* keep it isolated, it may go away in a few days. When the attack is more severe it may easily last two or three weeks and keep the victim in bed. DRASTIC REMEDY NEEDED. The respect the shrub teaches for its poison demands, a"s many doctors point out, the application of a drastic remedy as soon as possible after contact. One automobile party who found after a .moonlight swim recently .that they had bocu -rubbing against ii bu-sh of it in their, bathing suits stayed off all but some minor attacks by rubbing themselves with salt. A thorough washing with strong kitchen soap has 'saved many a case when applied in time. For treating it after it has made some headway there is tho old household remedy of baking soda, and anoth?r less common one of a strong solution of vinegar and salt.. James I<\ Couch, of the United States Department of Agriculture, has recommended tho applica-

(ion of a 5 per cent, solution of potassium permanganate, slightly diluted if the skin happens to be fender, ft ml swabbed on with absorbent, cot.toa or soft cloth. The resulting discoloration can be washed off later with soap ai;d water. [Several otlier remedies are also used by various physicians, and a prophylactic, injection lias been devised which has proved effective in some cases.