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While so much is being written of the dermatitis caused by the brown tail moth and other agents, a narration of the following case may be of slight interest: The patient was Mrs. R., 59, married, the mother of four children. While in attendance for an attack which proved to be appendicitis, I noticed a suffusion of the face and made inquiry thereto. She gave a history of having suffered from a most obstinate dermatitis for three years, with occasional exacerbations and remissions. Itching and burning were intolerable and at times a severe conjunctivitis was also present. She had consulted various physicians, together with one or two specialists, and had persistently followed the usual course of treatment with salines, ointments, and alteratives, until finally some one had introduced her to the term "dyscrasia," which she had seized avidiously, becoming resigned to her fate. Accompanying her husband on his annual trips

Dermatitis as a result of contact with the brown tail moth (Euproctis chrysorrhea Linn) was first observed in the United States by White1in 1901. The rash was noted a few minutes to several hours after exposure to the cocoon, caterpillar or adult moth and either remained localized at the site of contact or became generalized. The most frequently occurring lesion2was a discrete erythematous maculopapule occurring singly or in groups, which in the cases of severe disease coalesced to form urticarial wheals. Steele and Sawyer3described wheals with vesicular or shallow necrotic centers. Pruritus was a constant complaint and was described as mild to intense; constitutional symptoms were not noted. The duration of the eruption varied from five to seven days, although in rare instances several weeks elapsed before resolution. While it was recognized early that the dermatitis was provoked by the nettling hairs functioning as

THE BROWN-TAIL MOTH The brown-tail moth or Euproctis chrysorrhaea was one of the first insects destructive to fruit-trees to be described by entomologists. The moth is a native of Europe and is common in all parts, except the extreme north. It is said that it first invaded this country in 1892, infesting a small territory in the vicinity of Somerville and Cambridge, Mass., the method of introduction being the importation of some roses from Holland by a Somerville florist.1It was not until 1897, however, that any scientific investigations were made concerning the insect in this country. At this date the Massachusetts State Board of Agriculture pursued a series of investigations to discover the insect causing the destruction of vegetation in and about the suburbs of Boston and proved the brown-tail moth