COTTONSEED AND KAPOK SENSITIZATION

Very little attention has been paid to cottonseed or kapok sensitization in the extensive literature on allergy, and, to my knowledge, no article has been previously written on this subject. Although Balyeat 1 devotes an entire chapter of the second edition of his book on hay-fever and asthma to kapok as a good substitute for feathers in feather-sensitive patients, he makes no mention of the possibility of sensitization to kapok, nor does he mention cottonseed sensitization. Furthermore, he does not refer to cottonseed or kapok hypersensitiveness in any of his numerous articles on allergy. While talking to Dr. Balyeat less than six months ago, I brought up the question of cottonseed sensitization, and he stated that he had not paid any attention to it as he did not consider it of any importance. Coke, 2 in his book on asthma, also recommends kapok pillows whenever there is sensitization to feathers