It seemed simple enough at first. He was a forty-year-old minister who came to us suffering from hives for the past five years. A glance at his palms and then his soles showed them to be dry and scaling. “Yes, my hands have been dry for nearly twenty years and my feet for even ten years longer.” Our assumption that this was a fungal infection was confirmed by microscopic examination of the scales. It all seemed so simple. Obviously, he had become allergic to these fungi and developed hives whenever the dead fungal elements entered his blood. All we had to do was treat his hands and feet and the hives would go away. Well, griseofulvin did completely cure his decades of scaly palms and soles, but the hives paid no attention. They kept right on coming.

We then found he had developed hives when given penicillin, and thought perhaps this tied in with penicillin coming from a mold similar to the fungus on his hands and feet, which might also have produced a penicillin-like product. But his fungus infection was gone, and he took no penicillin. His case was becoming complex. He had seen an allergist who, by scratch testing, showed he was allergic to eight different foods. However, a strict elimination diet for two months did not help.

Rounding up the usual suspects for hives was to no avail. He took no drugs. His dental, sinus and chest films were normal. But back to his skin tests.