Allergy : strangest of all maladies / by Warren T. Vaughan.

  • Vaughan, Warren T. (Warren Taylor), 1893-1944.
Date:
1944
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Allergy : strangest of all maladies / by Warren T. Vaughan. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    FOREWORD OUT OF A WIDE EXPERIENCE AS A DISTINGUISHED SPECIALIST WHO has written standard texts for other experts in his field, Dr. Vaughan has prepared for non-technical readers a comprehensive treatise on allergic diseases, covering their history, origin, nature, diagnosis, treatment and other phases of the subject, in a facile style as pleasant and easy to read as the pages of a popular novel. Competent exposition of scientific fact and charm of presentation are rarely so well combined as in his latest book, Allergy : Strangest of all Maladies. The new volume is the second of the Advancement of Science Series of non-technical books on science, which are published by Hutchinson’s Scientific and Technical Publications. Dr. Vaughan’s book deals with those curious ailments of man and animals that are due to some form of special sensitization and set in motion by unwitting contact with the substance to which the body is sensitive. Among the common allergic diseases are hay fever, hives, ivy poisoning and ‘sick headache.’ Since these diseases seem to have little in common, it is not surprising that their similarity in one essential respect was long overlooked. So diverse are the manifestations of allergic reaction that investigators of the different ailments in the allergic group have had difficulty in settling on a common word for designating them. One that has found much favour is atopy, from the Greek word drcnioL, meaning literally ‘out-of-the-wayness’ or simply strange¬ ness, from which Dr. Vaughan has taken his title. Dr. Arthur Coca, of New York, a pioneer in the study of allergic diseases, on the suggestion of his friend, the late Dr. Edward D. Perry, professor of Greek at Columbia University, first used the word atopy to designate diseases like hay fever and asthma. Classical Greek writers employed the word frequently, obviously not for allergy, about which they knew nothing, but for strangeness or even absurdity in a general sense in any kind of experience, including disease. The general reader of Allergy will certainly be surprised at the variety of affections now considered by allergists to be the results of special sensitiveness of the body to some particular substance. It is equally certain that many physicians will be startled at the interpretation of phenomena they have long considered to be due to other causes. The majority of the medical profession are prepared to accept hay fever, asthma and hives as examples of distressing responses in patients unfortunately sensitive to ragweed pollen or
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