Theories of cutaneous sensitization and their application, as advanced by Chandler Walker in the determination of a state of allergy to certain proteins in relation to asthma, have proved of great clinical interest, and when desensitization could be carried out, of inestimable therapeutic value. It is obvious that this method, if applicable to diseases of the skin, would be of assistance in the determination of possible etiologic factors in a large group of them. It is not our object at present to consider at length the various theories of anaphylaxis or sensitization and their application in the cutaneous tests. To enter this maze of literature would, in this instance, occupy unnecessary time and require needless effort. We shall, therefore, limit our remarks to the purely practical aspect of the subject.
To Chandler Walker we are indebted for a method of grouping the various proteins in such a way as to