Introduction

Allergy as a disease has a fairly decent historical tradition. In 1819 Dr. John Bostock reported to the Royal Medical and Chirurgical Society of London on his own medical problems of “periodical affection of the eyes and chest,” which he later called Catarrhus aestivus or “hay fever.” He attributed his symptoms, which occurred during the summer, to sunshine and warmth. In 1873 Charles Harrison Blackley first reported the techniques of nasal pollen provocation tests, scratch tests in the skin, and pollen counts obtained by a kite carrying a greasy glass plate. He established thus the basis for allergy practice, which remained substantially unchanged for nearly 100 years.