In very troublesome cases of protein idiosyncrasy a method of treatment based on animal experimentation has been advocated. This consists in the production of a condition of "anti-anaphylaxis" by systematic feeding of minute doses of the specific protein substance concerned.[6] S. R. Miller[7] describes the case of a child in whom a constitutional reaction followed the administration of one teaspoonful of a mixture composed of one pint of water plus one drop of egg-white, while a like amount of albumen diluted with one quart of water was tolerated perfectly. "Commencing with the dilution which failed to produce a reaction, the child was given gradually increasing amounts of solutions of increasing strength. The dosage was always one teaspoonful given three times during the day; the result has been that, in a period of about three months, the child has been desensitized to such an extent that one dram of pure egg-white is now taken with impunity." Many other instances of anaphylaxis to egg albumen are on record.[8] In some of these cases the amount of the specific protein that suffices to produce the reaction is exceedingly small. One physician writes of a patient who "was unable to take the smallest amount of egg in any form. If a spoon was used to beat eggs and then to stir his coffee, he became very much nauseated and vomited violently."[9] The dependence of many cases of "asthma" upon particular foods is an established fact. Various skin rashes and eruptions are likewise associated with sensitization to certain foods.[10] McBride and Schorer[11] consider that each particular kind of food (as tomatoes or cereals) produces a constant and characteristic set of symptoms. Possibly certain definitely characterized skin diseases are due to this form of food poisoning. Blackfan[12] found that of forty-three patients without eczema only one showed any evidence of susceptibility to protein by cutaneous and intracutaneous tests, while of twenty-seven patients with eczema twenty-two gave evidence of susceptibility to proteins. FOOTNOTES: [2] General agreement respecting the true physiological and chemical nature of anaphylactic phenomena has not yet been reached. For a discussion of the theories of anaphylaxis, see in Hans Zinsser, _Infection and Resistance_ (New York, 1914), chaps. xv-xviii; also Doerr, "Allergie und Anaphylaxis," in Kolle and Wassermann, _Handbuch_, 2d edition, 1913, II, 947. [3] _Boston Med. and Surg. Jour._, CLXVII (1912), 216. [4] _Amer. Jour. Obstet._ (New York), LXV (1912), 731. [5] F. B. Talbot, _Boston Med. and Surg. Jour._, CLXXV (1916), 409. [6] See, for example, Schloss, _loc. cit._ [7] _Johns Hopkins Hosp. Bull._, XXV (1914), 78. [8] See, for example, K. Koessler, _Ill. Med. Jour._, XXIII (1913), 66; Bronfenbrenner, Andrews, and Scott, _Jour. Amer. Med. Assoc._, LXIV (1915), 1306; F. B. Talbot, _Boston Med. and Surg. Jour._, CLXXI (1914), 708. [9] _Jour. Amer. Med. Assoc._, LXV (1915), 1837.