28 DECEMBER 1907, Page 16

[TO THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTITOR."1

SIR,—I was much interested in reading the letter in your last issue about the poison ivy of California. I have had a some- what similar experience from another plant, the Primula obconica. Some time ago I had several of these plants in my conservatory. The gardener who attended to the plants was attacked by a very irritating itching sensation in different parts of his body, which developed into sore places and produced a general condition resembling blood-poisoning. The local doctor being unable to effect any cure, the gardener went to one of the London hospitals, and while the remedies prescribed gradually effected a cure, the doctors who were consulted were unable to diagnose the cause of the complaint. I subsequently found out that a florist in the neighbourhood who had several of these plants in his shop had been attacked in a similar way, and I have since beard of several gardeners who have been obliged to banish this plant owing to their having been also attacked in the same way.—